It’s Love
Shaurya had hoped to reach there when the crowdhad thinned out so that he could unobtrusively meet her, without too much of anaudience, but had had no such luck. Even now, so late in the evening, the two of them still had a good crowd around them; family and friends keen to meet them on such a momentous occasion to confer their congratulations and blessings. In one way that was good; as the attention on them meant that none had been spared for him. If anyone were to realize that he had come, then certainly none would leave. Leave and miss his reaction; hell no. They would all be too greedy for the outcome of this meeting.
And judging by the terrible clenching in his middle, they would be well served if he were to approach her at this exact moment.
His Mehek – no that wasn’t precisely correct anymore- not after today, Shaurya thought as he stole a first glance at him: the one who held his wife so enthralled that already his beautiful Mehek hesitated to be parted from him. He was the basis for her immeasurable joy; the reason she was glowing tonight. She had to be exhausted; yet even from across the room, Shaurya could tell how very happy she was, and he knew the rationale for it: pure, unadulterated love. It shone in her eyes; ardor so intense that there was little doubt in his mind who had had the ability to evoke such feelings in her.
He took a deep breath to settle himself. He would have to make his presence known at some point. To prolong it would just be playing into the doubts he was riddled with, now that he was no longer number one in her eyes.
What was to be his new role in her life, he wondered?
Adjusting to this new reality, where he had been supplanted in her affections would take some getting used to. Even though he liked to think that he hadn’t taken her for granted, the prospect of not being the sole focus of her attention from now seemed a daunting prospect, but one he had to face. Change was inevitable, and he had no choice, but embrace it. That it would have to happen today; on Valentine’s Day, well he thought with a sigh, that seemed to be par for the course for the two of them: somehow invariably their plans for this day always seem to go awry, but never to this extent. He immediately brought an end to that line of thinking, but one thing was certainis that what had once been their day exclusively to celebrate their love, ceased to exist today.
Shaurya was unexpectedly given the chance to gain her notice, when he left her side, whisked away by another. As it could be his only opportunity for an one on one meeting before her attentions were once again swayed, Shaurya, didn’t hesitate and entered the room, making a beeline for her.
“Shaurya”
“Beta….”
He ignored them all until he reached her; and even after that. He only had eyes for his beloved.
And only then when he was beside her could he huff a breath; a sound expressing his relief that she appeared fitter close-up. Or maybe it was how she was staring at him that let him know that somehow everything was okay.
It’s love he sees reflected in the doe eyes that hold him fast: constant and unchangeable, and even he cannot understand it, he is grateful.
*****
It’s Love, and yet a whole lot more she sees inhis face.
But above all, its love she sees when she studies him, Mehek thinks as she searches the eyes of her darling; reading the myriad of emotions that registered as he stood there, rendered for once, unusually silent. And that’s all that mattered.
Uncaring of their audience, or the supposed impropriety of what she was about to do, Mehek reached up, and waited, accepting him into her arms when he crouched down beside her, and pulled him close to her. She kissed him thoroughly, swallowing whatever protest he mumbled, only letting him go when she was satisfied. She brushed back a lock of hair from his forehead, displaced by her actions, and grinned at him.
“Happy Valentine’s Day…You’re very late, Shaurya.”
“Nahi, meri dost, you are early; too, too early,” he croaked. “I died a million deaths reaching here; please tell me everything is okay.”
“Was my kiss, not message enough Shaurya?” she teased. “I’m fine, Jaan,” she whispered in his face. “Not 100% but you, arriving at last had made that number rise expeditiously,” she assured him. “I hope you like my Valentine’s gift to you.”
“The fact that you are okay is all the gift Ineed, that I will ever need, Mehek.”
She had the audacity to smirk at him.
“If that’s the case, then I think you have an important lesson to learn my husband.”
“Khanna Saab?”
Shaurya reluctantly tore his eyes from his wife to turn to the sister who had addressed him. At the same time, he noticed, that everyone had vacated the room, leaving just the four of them present.
“Would you like to meet your son, now,” the genial nurse queried, as she cradled the tiny infant in her arms.
“He would,” Mehek answered when, overwhelmed, he could not. She watched as the aid guided Shaurya how best to hold his baby, and then waited for her husband to reach the same conclusion she had. It didn’t take long.
“Oh God, he is beautiful,” Shaurya whispered reverently, already unable to imagine what life was like before their child had come into their lives. He stilled in abject terror when the child squirmed just a bit.
“He recognizes your voice, Shaury, he always responded it to it, don’t you remember? I think that how love works for babies, they first latch on to that which comforts them, and respond to it appropriately.”
“It’s love,” Shaurya responded.
“Haan Shaurya, can’t you tell?”
He could he realized. He understood now how very absurd he had been in thinking that Mehek’s love for him would diminish now that their son had come. That there would not be enough of it to spread around. His love for her hadn’t, he realized, even as his heart made room for the perfect being he cradled. “Beta, your father is a fool, already you far more intelligent than him. But we are lucky because we have the most excellent teacher, who will keep us in line, and who will teach us everything we need to know about love.”
Another squirm determined that it was probably best to hand the baby over to his mother, but unable to part from either of them, Shaurya pulled the chair beside the bed as close as he could. In awe he watched as, with the sister’s assistance, Mehek settled the little one at her breast.
At the sight, Shaurya’s heart expanded even further with the emotion he had foolishly imagined as being finite, mere minutes before.
Not that the besotted mother noticed, as she locked eyes with her child as he suckled eagerly. “He needs a name, Shaurya. I was thinking Prem would be a good one. After all it does mean love.”
“It’s love, and it’s perfect,” Shaurya uttered.
Mehek looked at her husband, whose eyes were stuck on their feeding son: their little Prem.
“It was love indeed,” she thought.
Edited by crtkelly - 6 years ago
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