FF: Rishtey (Completed) - Page 7

When Paro and Pia finally has some free time, they were conversing in Pia's room. They were reminiscing about their childhood and promising to keep in touch this time. Under certain circumstances they weren't able to keep in contact, but they weren't going to let that happen now. It seemed that the last few hours managed to fill the void they had been feeling without each other.

"Paro do you know what tomorrow is?" Pia asked after awhile of silence.

She thought but then shook her head no.

"It's bhai's birthday tomorrow."

Paro's eyes lit up, "I remember now! We should do something for him."

"I was thinking that! It will be just like old times."

"Yes, but what should we do?"

Before they could continue, they heard Maithili's voice, "Parvati! Pia!"

She appeared at the doorway a second later. Pia jumped up from the bed and ran to Maithili. She grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed. Maithili tried to protest, saying that she still had work around the house, but Pia was not one to listen. Instead, she forced Maithili to sit down with them.

"Bhabhi-sa," Pia said. "You have the best timing. We need your help."

"With what?" Maithili asked curiously.

"Woh actually, tomorrow is bhai's birthday."

"Really?"

"Yes, and we want to do something for him, but we're not sure what."

"Well, what did you use to do?"

"Well, in Mumbai we made a cake and had a small party."

Paro spoke, "Why don't we make his favorite sweets, hide them, and give it to him at midnight?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Maithili agreed. "What do you think Pia?"

"Brilliant idea, only one problem." Pia said holding a finger up.

"Gaurav doesn't have a favorite sweet," Paro remembered.

Maithili came up with a solution, "Well what are his favorites? We can make two or three."

Pia and Paro grinned and spoke in unison, "Gulab jamun and besan ki laddu."

Maithili laughed, "Okay. Why don't you two make it then? I'm sure he would love sweets made by both of you."

"Won't you help us bhabhi-sa?" Pia asked.

"I would love to, but I have other chores I need to finish in the house."

"We could ask maa-sa to help us!" Paro squealed.

Pia nodded then hugged Maithili, "Thank you for helping us! Paro was right! You are the best bhabhi!"

Maithili laughed and patted Pia's cheek, "And you are nothing less than the best little sister Paro could have."

"You have me as a little sister too!"

Paro watched as her two sisters interacted with each other. She loved seeing them talk with each other and get along so well, since the two of them were very important to her. Only she knew how Maithili was touched by Pia's affection towards everyone. She even confided to Paro that she wished she and Gaurav would stay longer. Their happiness only increases with them around, and after they leave it will feel empty. Paro smiled as she remembered this.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Pia, "Paro, shall we go and find maa-sa?"

Paro nodded. She and Pia went to find maa-sa, who was busy putting clothes away in her cupboard. They informed Mala about what they wanted to for Gaurav, and she was willing to help them. The next thing they knew, they were in the kitchen, making gulab jamun and laddu for Gaurav. By the time they finished and hid everything, the delicious smell engulfed the haveli and the Ranawat men peeked in to see what was cooking. Soon, the entire knew about the plan to surprise Gaurav at midnight, and wanted to be a part of it. Pia could feel the tears of happiness threatening to spill. For the longest time, it had just been her and her brother against the world. Now, Parvati and her family had taken them in and made them a part of the Ranawat clan. Even though Pia knew they couldn't stay forever, she wished she could. The love that they all have given her and Gaurav would never be forgotten.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as Pia felt something soft hit her face. She jumped and looked to see Paro and Mala looking at her in shock. Then she turned to find Sumer standing next to her, his hand covered in flour. Pia touched her cheek and found traces of flour. She then understood that Sumer threw some at her.

"Did you just-," she asked him in disbelief.

He smirked, "I was talking to you for the last five minutes, but your thoughts were somewhere else."

Pia had talked to Sumer a few times during her stay in the haveli. Although he was nice, he had a tendency to make her uncomfortable at times. He was always flirting, and although Pia lived in Mumbai, she didn't like such behavior. It seemed that Gaurav noticed as well because whenever Sumer was around, Gaurav stayed near Pia, preventing Sumer from going near her. Usually she tried to keep her distance, but this time he started a mini Holi war, and Pia was determined to finished it.

Paro and Mala knew what was coming next. They knew Pia long enough to know that if someone started a fight with her, she would always be the one to finish it. They watched as her jaw tighten and she glared at Sumer. He hadn't expected such a reaction out of her. He took one step back as he saw Pia grab a handful of flour.

"Pia...what...what are you-," he backed away.

She raised her eyebrow and ordered, "Run."

For once, Sumer did as he was told and ran out of the kitchen. Pia chased after him with a handful of flour, ready to throw it in his face the second she caught him. He realized he shouldn't have thrown flour on her face, but this chase was amusing to him. He liked having Pia chase after him. One day it will be with love, he believed. Sumer ran down the halls, and she continued to trail not too far behind him. He was forced to halt in his tracks as the entry door opened. Thankfully, he stopped before he ran into it, but he turned to find that Pia had caught up with him. For a minute they looked at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Sumer, who still had a little bit of flour in his hand, blew it in her face.

Pia closed her eyes to prevent any of it getting in them. Without opening them, she threw the flour in her hand. She waited silently until she heard a small coughing sound. Believing she got him, Pia slowly opened her eyes.

"Next time you'll think twice before-," she began.

She couldn't finish her sentence however. Her eyes grew wide as she found Sumer was gone. Instead, standing before Pia, was Aman with his face covered with flour. He was wiping it off and looking at her.

"I'm..I'm so sorry," Pia said apologetically. "I didn't see you. I thought it was...I'm so...I didn't...I'm really really...here let me help."

Pia took one end of her dupatta and began wiping Aman's face. He was about to forgive her for the accident, but now he was speechless as he watched the woman in front of him try to clean his face. Her words weren't reaching him as he continued to stare at Pia. Her large brown eyes continuously stared back at him, filled with innocence. Her hair, which was partially pulled back with a clip, was now falling in her face. One cheek had flour smeared on it, which she hadn't even wiped off yet. He could see her panicking as she was continuing to apologize and wipe off the remnants of the flour from his face. Aman found it cute.

"Almost done," Pia said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "I'm really sorry, Aman."

"It's okay," he replied with a smile. "Really."

"I thought you would get upset. I know Rudra would have."

"Not everyone is like him."

Pia laughed, "No one is like him. Where is he anyways? And Gaurav?"

"Sir is coming. He is taking a call outside, and Gaurav said he had some work to do and he would be back at the haveli before dark."

"I'm sorry again about the flour."

"It's okay Pia. Really."

She smiled as she completed wiping Aman's face. She was about to continue talking to him when they were rudely interrupted by Sumer roughly grabbing Pia's arm.

"You missed," he said. "My turn."

"Let go of my arm," Pia ordered. "Now."

Aman thought it was a game, and slowly backed away and walked out of the haveli. Pia tried with all her might to break out of Sumer's grip, but he wasn't letting go. Pia suddenly bit Sumer's wrist, hard, causing him to let go of her and yelp loudly. Sumer looked at her angrily, and reached out to grab her again. Pia didn't back away. If he was going to try again, she would hurt him again. Before Sumer's hand could get anywhere near Pia, Rudra appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it.

Sumer gulped as he watched Rudra block him from Pia. His hand was now beginning to lose the feeling in it. The tingling feeling began and it would only be a matter of seconds before his hand went numb. By now, Paro had arrived to see where Pia had run off to, only to stumble upon the scene before her. She silently observed how her husband was protecting Pia for some reason, but she wasn't sure of what so she stayed back and continued to watch. Sumer looked at Rudra, nervous about what he was going to do. The Major looked like a lion trying to protect a lioness from his pack. Sumer realized he had gone too far, and was going to pay the price.

Through gritted teeth, Rudra spoke, "Don't touch her."

"Bhai-sa it's just a game," Sumer tried to defend himself.

"I saw her bite your hand to get you to let go. Obviously, it was no longer a game when you started getting aggressive."

"Bhai-sa...ouch...my hand..."

"You're lucky it's still attached to your body. Listen to me, because I'm only going to say this once. I've seen the way you've been looking at her, watching her. I can see she doesn't like it either. You will not touch Pia. You will stay away from her. If I catch you trying anything, I promise you will regret it."

Rudra let go of Sumer's hand, but hadn't moved away from Pia, who was still standing behind him. Sumer rubbed his hand to get the blood flowing through it again, then he looked smugly at Rudra.

"Wow bhai-sa," he said. "So much care, and for a woman other than Paro?"

Rudra grabbed Sumer by his collar and pulled him forward so their faces were inches apart, and in an angry voice said, "Only a low person like you could think such thoughts. Pia is like Paro's family. Her family is my family. And I will protect my family from scum like you. We may be blood, but that doesn't mean I have to like you. You better think twice before speaking again."

The minute Sumer was released, he walked away in defeat. Rudra glanced over his shoulder at Pia, "You okay?"

Pia nodded, "Thank you."

Rudra nodded and walked into his room. Paro followed him, leaving Aman and Pia alone in the hall. In their room, Rudra took out clothes for him to change into when he saw Paro running up to him with a smile on her face. He was still angry about what had just occurred, but seeing his wife's smiling face calmed him as usual. After she had seen what had happened, Paro couldn't wipe the smile from her face. Rudra considered Pia family. He protected her from Sumer. It seemed that Pia even got through to Paro's rough and tough Major saab. She hoped that he would accept Gaurav too, but I suppose it would take one step at a time. The acceptance of Pia as family made Paro love Rudra even more, if that was even possible!

"What Sumer said," Rudra began. "About Pia and me. You know I would never-."

"Major saab, you don't need to explain anything," Paro said. "I trust you more than I trust myself."

He looked at her and saw a large smile on her face, "What?"

"What you said a few moments ago about Pia," she said. "Did you mean it?"

"Yes, why? You accepted my family as yours. Is that something only you can do? I can't accept these people you consider family as my own?"

Paro shook her head and smiled. Leave it to Rudra to argue about something like this. She covered his mouth to put an end to his rant. He looked at her surprised. Then he watched as she stood on her tiptoes and leaned into his ear; he realized what she was doing.

"Thank you Major saab," she whispered.

Paro removed her hand from Rudra's mouth and tenderly caressed his cheek. Slowly, she pulled his face closer to hers and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. The warmth from her pink lips seeped into his cheek, and he closed his eyes to savor the moment. The unconscious smile appeared on his lips as well. His arms slid around her waist, stunning her as she pulled away to look at him. Rudra opened his eyes and saw the beautiful pink hue on her cheeks along with her large eyes staring at him with adoration. Before he could thank her in his way, Paro pulled out of his embrace and ran out, but not before turning back and showing him her million dollar smile. Even after all these months, her heart skipped a beat whenever he got close to her. But he was no different. When she looked at him like that, Rudra felt like the luckiest man in the world, because he was the only one that could call Paro his. He touched his cheek where she had kissed him. The goofy smile appeared on his face, as it always did when she thanked him like that.

When Gaurav returned to the haveli, he was greeted by Pia. He thought she would still be angry with him for not letting her come along with him today, but instead she was excited. When questioning her, she told him what happened today while he was gone. She told him how Sumer threw flour at her and how she was going to get him back and accidentally threw it on Aman. Then she bit Sumer because he grabbed her, and Rudra protected her and said he considered her family. Gaurav stood in shock as he listened to everything that happened in his absence. His first reaction was to go find Rudra and thank him for doing what he did. He found the Major coming out of his room, intently working on rolling the sleeves to his black kurta up. He looked up and stopped as he saw Gaurav walking towards him.

"Rudra, Pia just told me what happened with Sumer," he said.

"And?" Rudra said indifferently.

"You protected her?"

"Yeah? If you can care for Paro, then can't I care for Pia?"

"Thanks for being there for her. It means a lot."

"You're Paro's family, and her family is my family. Simple as that."

"Still. Thanks."

It was now ten minutes until midnight, and Paro was sitting on her bed. She was impatiently fidgeting her legs. Her eyes watched the clock, waiting for it to be 11:55 so she could meet everyone in the main hall to go and surprise Gaurav. Rudra was sitting next to Paro, watching her as she continued smiling while watching the clock. It had been awhile since he'd seen her so excited about something. He had been contemplating a question for awhile now, but didn't know how to ask her.

As if she was reading his mind, Paro looked at him questioningly and asked, "What?"

"Paro, I...w-wanted to ask...you s-something," Rudra said nervously.

"Ask away."

"Woh...are...are you happy?"

"Yes. Very."

"No. I mean...are you happy...with me?"

Paro stopped fidgeting and looked at Rudra as if she had been insulted, "Of course I am happy with you Major saab. Why would you ask me that?"

Even though he had difficultly expressing himself, he tried to explain, "Paro...I'm not the best husband. I know that. I get angry easily. I take you for granted at times. I-."

"Stop Major saab."

Rudra stopped speaking as Paro cupped his face with her hands. The pained expression on his face was reflected on hers.

She continued speaking, "Rudra Pratap Ranawat, you listen to me. I am happy with you. You may say these things about yourself, but you're still the man I love. You're the one I always have loved, and always will love. My happiness lies with you. It always laid with you, and always will. Please, don't ever think I'm not happy with you."

This was the first time Paro had so boldly expressed what she felt. Rudra felt his heart skip a beat as she told him she loved him and was happy with him. He had seen her so happy in the last few days that he didn't know if she would be happy with him after Gaurav and Pia left. He wondered if that glow would remain on her after he left. He wondered if he was ever the reason for her happiness, and ever would be. Rudra was glad he asked her and cleared his misconception. He slowly caressed the hands that were holding his face so tenderly. Paro placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Paro," Rudra whispered huskily against her lips.

"Mmm?" she murmured.

He pointed to the clock. Paro looked and saw it was three minutes until midnight! She let go of his face and gasped.

"We have to go! It's almost time!" she said.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him with her out of their room towards the hall. Everyone was already there, they were just waiting for the two of them. Maithili already had the sweets ready in a tray. Pia was lighting a candle she had placed in a laddu. Everyone gathered around as they were trying to silence each other before entering Gaurav's room to surprise him. Paro helped place the sweets properly. Pia slowly backed away from the small crowd huddled together, and pulled Rudra back with her.

"Rudra I think I figured out how to narrow down the search," Pia whispered.

He instantly became alert, but whispered back "How?"

"I realized this while I was planning to surprise Gaurav for his birthday. We can narrow the search down by searching for married couples who moved to Chandangarh after 2nd November 1993."

"Is that your birthday?"

"No, that was the day I was adopted. The pundit had said my parents were leaving for Chandangarh after they dropped me off at the temple. So you'd only have to look for married couples that had moved here in the last 21 years. Do you think that will help?"

"It's not much, but it's a start."

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That's all for this update! Tell me what you think! Leave your comments and feedback below! Can't wait to hear for you all. Next update might be held on Monday, although I'll try to post it sooner.

Thanks for reading!