81 - EPILOGUE
"Your aunt was a very brave girl. On this day eleven years ago, she had done a very beautiful thing," Sanyukta said to her eight year old daughter, who was sitting on her lap. "You know why? It is because she stopped thinking about herself, and instead thought about someone else. The hand that is held out to help others, is the hand that the universe will take. So my dear, the moral of the story is to be kind. Don't fight with people at school. If someone needs help, help them. It won't hurt you to give them your pen."
The eight year old looked up at her mother, pouting her lips.
"Mommy, but it's so hard!" she whined. "I don't want to give them my pen! What if they do better than me?"
Sanyukta squeezed her daughter's cheeks lovingly.
"So what? If they do better than you, and you have lent your pen, do you know how much value you have added into the equation?" she asked her daughter. "It's like this darling. What if you were on the other side? What if you didn't have a pen and you needed to write an exam, but nobody gave it to you because they were scared you would do better? Always remember, it could always be you on the other side. It is better to help than not to help at all. Plus, if they had to do well, they would do well regardless, with your pen or without."
Her daughter sighed.
"Fine," she said bitterly. "It's so hard though."
"It's near impossible," Sanyukta said giggling, "But that's why you're my daughter, aren't you?"
They heard footsteps come into the room, and they looked up to see Randhir walk in with a briefcase in his hands.
Her daughter got off her lap and ran to hug her father. Sanyukta smiled, watching the beautiful sight in front of her. Her daughter was eight years old, and she still couldn't get over how quickly time had passed.
After Randhir picked up their daughter he asked Sanyukta, "What's for dinner? I'm hungry."
Sanyukta stood up and walked behind him before placing her hands on his shoulders and squeezing them.
"You must have had a long day today. You go freshen up, I'll serve food," she said softly, and he nodded, before putting their daughter down.
"Maya, you too - freshen up in your room. I'll call you when dinner is ready," she told her daughter with a loving smile.
Maya ran upstairs and Randhir turned around before pulling Sanyukta to him in a tight hug.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear and she hugged him back just as tightly.
"I love you too," she replied softly.
When they broke the hug and Randhir went up to their room to get ready, Sanyukta smiled to herself. Even after ten years of marriage, she hadn't lost the connectivity she felt to her husband. Perhaps it was because the understanding was there. Before she said something, he knew what was going on in her mind, and before he did something, she knew what he would do. They knew each other inside out, and perhaps that was the strength of their relationship.
As the three of them were having dinner, Maya asked, "Daddy, what do you think? If I have an extra pen should I give it to someone who needs it?"
Randhir looked at Sanyukta and then to his daughter, while Sanyukta smiled.
"Of course," Randhir answered. "Because it could always happen to you."
"Mommy said the same thing," Maya replied. "But I don't like sharing."
"Who got you the pen Maya?" Sanyukta asked softly.
"You and daddy," she replied.
"It has to belong to you, for you to even say that you don't like sharing," she told the eight year old. "Mommy and daddy gave the pen to you. The store gave the pen to mommy and daddy. The factory made the pen and gave it to the store. How about the parts of the pen? Where did those come from?"
Maya placed her head in her hands.
"Nevermind," she grumbled. "I'll share."
"Nobody is forcing you to, but remember it will take you a long way if you can forget about yourself and think about someone else, even if it's for a small moment," Sanyukta told her daughter.
"Okay mommy," Maya responded, and then finished her dinner. "I'm going to do my homework."
Randhir finished his food too and helped Sanyukta carry the dishes to the kitchen.
Tucking some of her hair behind her ear, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over her earlobe as she placed the dishes in the sink, "Come up."
"Now?" she gasped.
"Yes," he said, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Come up quietly or I'll carry you upstairs."
"I'm coming," she giggled, and then kissed his cheek quickly before following him upstairs.
In their bedroom, they locked the door and Sanyukta took his hand. She sat him down on the bed and then sat behind him, before placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Relax, let me give you a massage," she told him. "Your muscles are so tense."
Randhir smiled.
"Remember when you first gave me a massage?" he asked her with a smile.
"Ah, yes," she said with a grin. "That was the day we had our first kiss."
"I still can't believe you were about to give me a full body massage. You scared me that day," he chuckled, and as she was tending to his shoulders, he leaned back and placed his head on her lap.
"It's good you got scared. I had to intimidate you a little didn't I?" she asked him, giggling. "After all, how else was I supposed to take care of a grumpy guy like you?"
Randhir smiled up at her and she bent down so her lips could brush over his forehead.
"I love you," she said to him and kissed his forehead lovingly.
"I love you too," he replied with a smile. "Do you think Maya will actually understand though? She's only eight."
"No. Look at how old we are and we still don't understand it fully," she responded softly. "But it's better to get her acquainted with the idea so she doesn't hit a roadblock later on in life."
Randhir sat up on the bed and moved her hair to one side of her neck, clearing out the other side so he could plant kisses there.
"Randhir," she gasped as he started to plant wet kisses on her neck.
"I can't get enough of you," he replied, and she wrapped her arms around him with a smile.
"You're lucky because I can't seem to get enough of you either," she responded.
Removing his lips from her neck, he looked into her eyes again.
"I know I told you this many times before, but I will say it again. Every day, every second, every moment, I will keep you in me, because I have loved you from my soul. Every breath I take, every step I take, through every struggle and each accomplishment, I will never forget your name," he told her lovingly. "I have lived for you, and even when I face death, I promise your name will still roar loudly inside me."
"I love you," she replied with tears in her eyes, before pressing her lips against his lovingly.
After breaking the kiss, she cupped his cheeks and pressed her forehead against his.
"You already know, but let me repeat again as well. I vow to never ever forget your name. I don't even have to remember to not forget, because your name is always playing on repeat within me. It's like every cell, every proton, every electron inside me is quivering in frequency to your name. I can't even begin to express how much I love you, because words fall short," she whispered to him.
He kissed her tears one by one before kissing her lips again. She responded to his kiss, slowly but lovingly. It was like they were taking every moment they could to feel each other completely. It was not the first time they were feeling each other, but everytime they made love, it always felt like it was the first time.
When she was laying in his arms after, he smiled, still in awe at how her promise to chant his name until her last breath had consumed him completely. He had no idea how he was engulfed in the fire of her love. It was due to his good fortune that he had been struck, perhaps by this strange force called destiny. Destiny, whose other name was love. This love had given him a single-pointed focus and had directed his life to his last breath.
Every breath they took now was in unison. They felt each other through their breaths. Their connection had reached perhaps the highest of heights. It was nothing short of a miraculous act by destiny when her last breath had combined with his last breath, to form their last breath.
--
The End 😳
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