Epilogue:
"Maan!" she screamed across the room while scattering things on the dressing table. "Maan uthiye na, mera magalsutr nahi mil raha hai!" She hurried across the room towards the bed and tossed the comforters again. "Maan!" She shook him awake causing him to stir in his sleep. "Maan please help keejiye na," she whined pulling open the drawers and ruffling through all the items while trying to find the black-beaded chain.
Maan reluctantly turned to the other side groaning. "Kya Geet, tu bhi na," he muttered, his voice heavy with sleep. "Subah subah tujhe koi aur nahi mila tang karne ke liye," he complained covering his head with the comforter.
Geet stopped her search to look at her in shock. She stomped to the bed as anger bubbled inside her. Forgetting the main task at hand, she jumped on the bed and sat on him causing him to yelp in pain. "Main, tang karti hoon aapko?" she screamed angrily pushing away the comforter over his head. "Main?"
He squirmed under her not expecting her sudden onslaught. "Haan tum!" he shot back with irritation. "Aur tum yeh savaal udhar se pooch nahi sakti. Did you have to break my hip for this?"
"Maan, main ek doctor hoon. I very well know how to break your hip for real if you don't help me find my mangalsutr," she threatened holding his cheeks and forcing him to look at her.
"Yaheen kahin hoga. Look around properly," he replied nonchalantly. "Aur mujhe sone do. You never let me sleep a wink last night," he complained like a kid.
"Haww! Don't you dare lie Maan!" she said leaning onto him, her curves pressing into his shoulder. "Aap ne hi kal raat usko nikala tha. Kaha ki chubhta hai."
Maan smiled at her innocent declaration. Only his Geet would blurt out something this intimate without realizing what it did to him. She was the best thing that happened in his life. Of course, he had been stubborn to accept it but she had fought for him, for them. She had been adamant on gaining her place in his life. He had never fallen out of love yet her presence back in his life had scared him. Since his adolescence, anger had become his best friend. It was the best solution he could find to keep anyone from breaking him. Only a few had managed to break the walls of his anger and make a place in his heart. The moment he had accepted to trust her with his heart, there was no looking back.
"Haww," he imitated her. "Yeh toh na insaafi hai Geet. Aur mere khyaal se yeh apshagun hai. Agar muhje kuch hua toh, you are responsible," he said ruefully.
"Maan!" She looked distraught, "stop scaring me!"
She had always been the reason for him to live after his parents passed away. Yet there are moments in life when one starts questioning the very existence of life. And it was the same thing that happened to him. He had fought to keep her in his life, but the moment she stepped out, he fought to keep her out of his life. Life was always filled with surprises. His life was definitely filled with ups and downs but at no point would he change anything.
She got off him and ruffled through the pile of laundry in the corner of the room hoping it was stuck to her clothes. A smile tugged his lips as he watched her run around trying to find that small piece of jewelry. She looked ethereal with her hair tied with a towel. Strings of wet hair that escaped from the towel brushed her face causing her to continuously trying to clip it back. She wore his plain white kurta that reached up to her knees. The oversized kurta was quite a loose fit for her yet every bit of her looked appealing to him.
"Vaise on second thoughts tumhaari suhaag ki nishaani main hoon. Usse rehne do and wrap me around your neck instead." He remarked shamelessly, hugging her from behind.
"Nahi! Mujhe aap nahi chahiye, mujhe mangalsutr hi chahiye," she complained like a child pushing him away before flipping more things out of the laundry basket.
Maan walked to stand in front of the dressing table mirror, hung the piece of jewelry she was searching for, adjusted his hair and replied nonchanlantly, "Fine, usse dhoondo or use hi gale laga lo." Adjusting his track pants, he turned to look at her. "By the way, I'm going to the gym, would you care to join?"
"Maan, yeh joke tha?" Her voice was dangerously serious.
"Tha toh?" he asked unperturbed.
"I don't like jokes."
"But, I love you!" he smirked.
Geet scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at his answer. Seeing him wink at her and walk out, she huffed in anger and turned to the bathroom to change into her white salwar and see if she left the chain over there.
Few moments passed as Geet searched through the nooks and corners only to not find it anywhere. Just as she was about to search in the bathtub when she heard someone familiar call out to her. She paused what she was doing and came out of the bathroom to find a very familiar figure grinning back at her.
"Charan!" she screamed in excitement. "Tum yahaan?"
"Of course! How could I miss a chance to see you guys after giving us such a huge surprise?" he said while giving her a tight hug. "Congratulations! But bechara Maan he has to deal with your heightened mood swings," he joked.
"Oh shut up Charan. You are supposed to be on my side not against." She whacked him slightly.
"How are you beautiful?" he asked cupping her cheeks.
"Good, very good." She smiled contentedly.
"Uff aise mat muskurao, main mar hi jaaunga," he said holding his heart dramatically.
"You haven't changed at all," she laughed shaking her head. "So any progress with you?"
"Yes, I have a new hindi movie releasing. My cousin Arjun is going to be married soon. Dad's political venture is going good. My sis""
"Wait wait I'm not asking for news updates. Voh sab news channels mein kehte hai. Tell me if I get to meet your special someone anytime soon," she interrupted looking eagerly at him.
"You wanna see her?" he asked with a calm smile causing her to nod excitedly. He brought her in front of the mirror only to look shocked. "Hey bhagvan yeh kya zamana aa agaya?!" he exclaimed much to Geet's surprise. "Agar mujhe pata hota tumhaari shaadi naatak hai, I would have married you the next instant."
"What?!"
"Voh dekho," he said pointing the dangling chain causing Geet to gasp.
"Maan!" she hollered before running to take out the black beaded chain and screwing it around her neck. "I swear I am going to kill him today!"
Charan laughed heartily as he watched Geet flip out before running out of the room to find Maan. Boy, was it fun watching these two fight!
The man had the guts to mess with her! She stomped her way into the outhouse where Maan's gym was located. He would get a piece of her mind today. His antics were getting way out of hand. Right after the confession night, daadima decided to have a family picnic at the farmhouse since everyone was already present. They had hired a minivan to the place so everyone could enjoy the ride. Maan had eyed her to sit in the back with him in spite of her denial. Having no choice she sat beside him in the last seat much to his glee. She hoped he wouldn't pull any monkey stunts on her but she was certainly wrong. He had asked Nakul to pack jalebis separately for him. She distributed snacks to everyone mind-journey and came to sit beside him. And the devil decided to play his tricks. Right when everyone was chatting and eating she felt him forcefully kiss her before shoving a piece of jalebi he was chewing. And an exact moment later Anu saw her to ask where did the jalebi she was eating come from only to see the only other person chewing jalebi was Maan. She wanted the earth to swallow her as Anu shamelessly spread the news much to everyone's glee while Maan smirked at his act. She wished he had stopped with that incident but he dared to have his way the other day while she got ready to leave for hospital. He walked out of their bedroom with a huge lipstick mark on his lips. Thanks to his cute puppy dog eyes for a morning kiss. She missed wiping them off in a hurry but he walked out proudly showing it off to everyone at breakfast table. Now everytime Nakul looked at her, he didn't leave without giggling. Just last week he had barged into her hospital ward causing a ruckus in in the hospital much to her embarrassment. He barged in announcing she had dared to cross her work time into baby making time right in front of her seniors. She refused to go back to work for a few days so she wasn't subject to mockery. Who would have thought the rough and tough Maan Singh Khurana who terrorized the world of construction business had such a streak of naughtiness? She huffed determined to put an end to this monkey business.
Geet barged into the outhouse and walked directly to the main hall where he practiced his tai-chi. He stood with his back towards her as he stood stiff while his hands stretched away from him.
"Maan!" she barked breaking his concentration. Even before he could react, she took long strides to reach him and pulled him along with her.
Maan didn't expect her to haule him away like that and her sudden onslaught had slightly caused him imbalance making him almost fall on her. Not wanting her to fall, he secured her tightly as he leaning on the pillar before looking down to see if she was okay.
Geet had her eyes closed tightly as she clung to him. Tense lines creased her beautiful face as she expected a bad fall. Her cheeks were slightly tinged the color of freshly bloomed rose. Just the thought of her lips against his sent his heart reeling in intoxication. He smiled as he observed her glowing face while she looked like an angel in white chudidar. She was the reason he woke up every day morning and now she was carrying a part of him within her. He sighed deeply allowing another one of these moments to absorb into his memory.
Geet opened her eyes realizing there was no fall while Maan stared at her lovingly. She was about to be carried into the moment when she realized the purpose of her visit.
"Kyun pareshan kar rahe ho mujhe? Bada maza aa raha hai na aapko mujhe aise halat mein phasa kar?" she asked pouting her her lips. "Maine aapko kitne acche se kal rat surprise di aur aap," she paused sternly looking at him, "forget appreciation, you just put me in that embarrassing situation in front of Charan!" she cried. "Not only that, pata hai every single person I know makes fun of me. Before it was just giggling behind my back but now they openly snigger when I am around them! And you seem to never stop! Jab dekh""
"Geet." She stopped her banter only to see him calmly look at her. She fronwned at his calm reaction. "Itna pass aaogi toh kuch kuch hone lagta hai." She was bound speechless at his sudden declaration out of the blue and stared blankly at him. "Haan Geet?" he smiled indulgently slightly rubbing his thumb against her bottom lip.
Geet opened her mouth to reply only to let out gasp of air. Only then she realized that he stood half-naked wearing nothing but his tai-chi pants. Suddenly the air seemed to grow hotter rendering her breathless. He placed a kiss near the corner of her lips causing her to close her eyes while her hands automatically curled around his shoulders. "Maan," she croaked almost inaudibly. She didn't know if it was her early pregnancy hormones or his warm breath on her nape, or rather she didn't want to know. She held him firmly as she reached to kiss him that when he is around her, bahut kuch hone lagta hai.
"Wow Mrs. Khurana," he rasped breathlessly few moments later. "I think I'm going to have to get you pregnant more often. I'm loving this side of you!"
"Ah you speak too soon Mr. Raja, let's see if you keep your words end of this pregnancy," she said smiling mischievously.
"Maan Singh Khurana is scared of nothing darling," he smirked undaunted by her warning.
"Well there is always a first," she shrugged.
And she was right! The following months were almost close to a nightmare for Maan with Geet's weird cravings and unprecedented anger. He really hoped his baby girls didn't inherit her anger. He thought people feared only him but this lady was worse than him! But all that was worth it when he saw her forward their babies to him. The world had stopped as he held them close to him. At that moment, something changed in him. He sat beside her adoring them when he felt her wiping away the tears he didn't know were flowing all along.
"I love you," she whispered leaning on to him.
Love. A simple four-letter word yet the world revolved around its complexities. It wasn't something that came easy yet never left without fight. It wasn't a fairytale yet its what everyone wanted. It was an easy word to spell yet so hard to define. It kept one always vulnerable yet could move mountains. It changed everyone around it yet remained unchaged. It was an emotion yet defined by its actions. And he was eternally bound by those actions, actions of love...
A NEW BEGINNING.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Cricket
197