Chapter 29:
Rachna was very excited to know what her surprise was. But
before she could leave her room to go downstairs, Shail asked her to change her
dress. Going towards Rachna's cupboard, Shail took out a gorgeous lehnga for
Rachna to wear.
"Rachna, I want you to look just perfect for this special
day. So please get ready in this dress and then come downstairs into the living
room."
Shail handed Rachna the lehnga and left the room so her
daughter could ready. Rachna was confused as to why her mother wanted her to
change into this outfit, but nonetheless she got ready quickly and went downstairs.
When she walked into the living room, as she had been
instructed to do by her mother, Rachna was amazed to see the entire room
decorated with lights and flowers. She could not figure out what was going on
and the oddest part of the situation was that she couldn't find any of her
family members.
A rain of fresh, fragrant rose petals surprised her. She
looked up to see the source of the flowers, but she could not spot anything besides a basket.
Suddenly a pair of hands covered her eyes and guided her into a chair.
"Who is this? And what's going on?"
Rachna only heard giggling in response to her questions. But
the hands covering her eyes felt oddly familiar...but no, they couldn't
be...could they?
"Kabir? Is that you?"
The hands came off of her eyes and she found Kabir standing in
front of her, looking smashingly hot in a black kurta.
"Kabir? What is all this? I mean...you're here like this.
What's going on?"
Shail and Dayal walked into the room along with dadi.
Shail smiled. "Rachna beta, this is your surprise. Today is
your shagun ceremony."
"Shagun? But I don't understand...how did you all know about
us...I mean Kabir and I? I just told you about it a little while ago mummy...so
how did you plan all this?"
Everyone smiled brightly and laughed, bursting with the
secret that they had been keeping for the past few days.
It was Kabir who spoke then. "I guess I should come clean
now Rachna. After I proposed to you, I informed dadi about everything that happened
and she planned this whole surprise for us."
Rachna was stunned; her eyes filled with tears of hurt. "Wait,
so everyone knows about what happened in London? You broke your promise and
told everyone? I can't believe you Kabir..."
Nobody had been expecting this reaction from Rachna. Shail
placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Rachna beta, you have been truthful with me today so I also
want to be honest with you. Before you and Kabir left for London, Kabir
informed your papa and I of everything...that you were going to meet Rajiv, not
to attend a conference. Kabir also expressed his true feelings as well his intention to marry you. He was
very clear though that he wouldn't take any steps until you yourself were emotionally
ready. He made us promise not to reveal anything to you. Rachna beta, Kabir loves
you a lot and we can see that he is the perfect person to be your life partner."
Rachna was shocked to find out that her parents had known
the truth behind the trip to London all along. Kabir held Rachna's hand.
"Rachna, I'm sorry for not keeping my promise to you. I know
I had said that I wouldn't tell anyone the real reason behind why we were going
to London, but I couldn't lie to your parents Rachna. My conscience wouldn't
allow me to do so. I hope you can understand why I did what I did."
She looked up at Kabir's face. He truly seemed to be sorry
for breaking her trust...his eyes said it all. Rachna squeezed Kabir's hand
reassuringly and smiled.
"It's ok. I guess in a way it's good that mummy and papa
knew the truth...it makes our life much easier now."
Everyone became relieved to hear Rachna say that. Dadi moved
towards the lovely couple and blessed them.
"May God bless you with all the happiness that you two
deserve. So, should we start the shagun ceremony?"
Rachna and Kabir take their seats together on a beautifully arranged
sofa.
Dadi starts the shagun ritual by covering Rachna's head with
a red dupatta and gifting her some clothes and jewelry along with other auspicious pooja items. Shail and Dayal then do the rituals with Kabir. They put a red
tikka on his head with kumkum and gift him with clothes, fruits, and cash. Once the rituals are finished, Kabir and Rachna take the
blessings of all their elders by touching their feet.
After the shagun ceremony has been completed, everyone moves
into the dining room to eat dinner. Kabir is sitting across the table from
Rachna. The two lovebirds are so lost in each other's eyes that they don't even
hear their marriage plans being discussed. It is only when Gunjan bumps Rachna's
shoulder that both Rachna and Kabir break their romantic gaze.
"Ok so it's decided then, we will go to the temple tomorrow
and ask pandit ji to finalize a date for the wedding." Dadi smiles excitedly
and the rest of the family agrees with her.
After everyone has finished with dinner, dadi sits with all
the adults to discuss wedding plans, while Rachna, Kabir, Mayank and Gunjan go
outside for a moonlit stroll in the park.
Mayank and Gunjan decide to walk around, while Rachna and Kabir sit
together on the bench.
"I hope you're not mad at me Rachna."
Rachna looks towards Kabir, puzzled by his statement. "Why
would I be mad Kabir? You did the right thing...and it worked out for us in the
end, didn't it?"
He smiled and took her hand in his. "Yes...I guess it did. I love you Rachna Rasna."
Rachna blushed. She still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have found love in the form of her best friend. It seemed just like a fairytale...a dream come true. The prince charming that she had been dreaming of all her life had been right in front of her all along...
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Let me know what you thought of this update. I have some interesting things planned for the next few chapters so stay tuned!
๐ Nivi
Edited by nividances - 9 years ago
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