Ever After - IshRa OS (12/3) Note Page 4 (12/5)

The sounds of her family members enveloped her as they screamed rather than sang her the Happy Birthday song. Her ears searched for the voice that her day started and ended with, the voice she couldn't think of spending another day without. Her ears lost the battle - she was sure that a plane could land on the terrace, and she wouldn't be able to distinguish it from the vicious sounds erupting from Ruhi and Shravan's mouths, as they competed on who sang the loudest. Why did she love these two tykes again?

Her eyes won the battle her ears lost and she finally got a glimpse of her husband. He looked all sorts of dapper in his signature suit with that red tie she loved so much. She could literally eat him instead of the giant three tier cake she was in the midst of cutting. "Ishita! Control yourself. You are standing in front of your kid. And nephew. And parents. And in-laws. And you're having erotic thoughts about your husband! How perverted is that?", her subconscious snarked.

She reverted her eyes before she erupted from desire at the look in his eyes. "Crap. He saw that. Well, how wouldn't he? There she was, blatantly checking him out, not to mention probably drooling. On second thoughts, even he seemed to be swallowing a bit too hard. On air. Was he.."

Her dirty thoughts were interrupted by the raucous laughter of her family and the persistent cries of the kids for a piece of cake.

She could feel Raman rolling his eyes as she fed the first slice of cake to Ruhi. And the next to Shravan. Yes, she had said that she would give him the first bite. But look at all the pleading and those puppy dog eyes those kids had! In fact, she reached him last. He raised an eyebrow as she stepped in front him as if reminding her of her promise. How did he do that? Had he botoxed the other eyebrow? Because on top of the quick-witted one liners, this raising one eyebrow was really unfair to have in one's artillery.

"I thought I was going to have the first bite," he whispered.

"I'm sorry. The kids were shouting and I.." she started but was cut off by Raman's words.

"Wanted to stuff their mouths before they burst our eardrums off?" he supplied and then smiled that smirk of his with just one side of his lip going up. Maybe he had botoxed the other side of his face as well, Ishita thought offhandedly. But that phrase brought a smile to her face too.

As she started to turn back to her family, she felt him grab her arm and stop her. Her eyes grew wide as she took in his hungry expression. Definitely not for cake.

"You forgot to give me the cake," he reminded her helpfully, not releasing the hold he had on the hand she had the piece of cake in.

Before she could even react to his statement, he had brought her hand to his mouth and proceeded to take a bite of the cake and licked the extra frosting from her hand. She could feel her heart pounding on the smallest of touches, and as she watched the way his eyes were stuck on her lips, she wanted her family to disappear somewhere and just him and her together in the room. Her thoughts were broken once again, this time by a very soft pain right there, on her hand. "Ouch" she said, before she realized that her husband was smirking yet again, and that the pain in her hand was his doing. He had bit her. The nerve of him!

"I told you I'd have the first bite. That, my wife, was the beginning," he replied and sauntered away, leaving Ishita fuming and blushing all at once. And she'd thought she was the one with dirty thoughts.

***

"Ishimaa, open mine first," Ruhi screamed as her voice reached a pitch that could only be understood by dogs. Probably. Ishita smiled and obliged her by opening the badly wrapped gift box her daughter was holding out and proceeded to ooh and aww at the black jumper in the box. And so began the saga of looking at all the presents from her family. A few gift vouchers from her sister and her parents, a saree from her in-laws and a pair of earrings from Mihika.

Of course, the final gift left to open was her husband's. She was actually excited for this one - the first birthday when she was happily married. Finally.

Maybe it was jewelry; or maybe an expensive saree. She couldn't wait to open it - but Raman's smirk was halting her from completing her task. Something was amiss.

It seemed heavy, she thought to herself. Jewelry, she decided. As she opened the box, she saw a glint of silver. Sure, it was jewelry. Maybe a necklace. Or bangles. Or a bracelet. Or...pliers?

"You got me a set of pliers?" she screeched at the top of her voice. Subconsciously she realized that she had probably reached Ruhi's pitch.

His smirk kept getting bigger and bigger, until it was spread across his entire face. "Did you already have a pair?" he asked.

Oh, she wanted to rip that smile off of his face and burn it into ashes, while she danced around at its funeral. The cheek!

When she did not oblige him by responding, he went ahead and expanded, "I thought you duplicate doctors, you know, dentists, were required to own one of these. Instruments of the trade, if you would."

Arghh, she growled but bit her tongue from shouting at him. What will the kids think? Rein it in Ishita!

Their family had disappointed looks on their faces, but they looked resigned as if they had expected it. And to be fair to them, it did happen often.

Let it be reiterated that the male species has evolved to do many things; however, they have not yet grasped the impossible task that is reading a woman's mind. Probably some trait they get as a package deal with their Y chromosome. Which was why, it was to no one's surprise that Raman couldn't read her murderous glare and simply laughed before walking away.

"Leave them be. Inka toh laga hi rehta hai," said her mother-in-law, ushering everyone towards the dining area for food.

"What'd he say earlier? He wants the first bite? Oh! I'll give him a piece of me for sure," Ishita thought mutinously and glared in the general direction of her husband. Lord save his life today.

***

Ishita packed away the leftovers into containers and placed them into the refrigerator before making her way towards her bedroom. Everyone had retired for the night and Ruhi had left for her sister's for a sleepover with Shravan. With the sugar rush both of them were on, she wished her Vandu and Bala would be alive to see the daylight tomorrow.

"Arrogant, selfish, uncaring, prat..." she mumbled under her breath as she closed the door, only to be pinned against it.

"Who are you singing such high praises of at this ungodly hour?" he asked as he held her hand and forced her back to the closed door.

She shot daggers at him which made Raman inhale rather dramatically, "Me? What did I do?"

His theatrics were not amusing to Ishita. Not at all. Okay, a little, she had to admit. But then the knucklehead had to add, "Did you not like my gift? Did you want a pair of screwdrivers too? To complete your medical kit?"

Was he serious? "Yes, yes I did. I want it to screw your tongue to your mouth so that you do not open your trap again and annoy me," she retorted. His answer was to snort. Because he was too busy exploring the side of her neck. Ishita felt a ripple of excitement go through her body as he kissed his way to the sensitive area behind her ear. She felt him caress her there with his mouth, before he licked the receptive hollow there. "If you do that, how will I be able to do this?" he whispered in the same ear he was paying attention to, before making his way back to her neck and simply placing small kisses there.

"Stop distracting me. I am extremely pissed at you right now."

He stopped his necking and Ishita had to stop herself from groaning at the loss of contact. "Come on. You would miss it if I didn't take the mickey out of you." He punctuated his sentence by placing a hard kiss onto her lips. This time, Ishita could not stop herself from crying out loud from the loss his lips. She brought her hands behind his head before forcing her lips onto his. Their tongues slipped in and out of each other's mouths as they lived up to the passion in the personalities in their kiss. Finally out of breath, could have been seconds, or months, they didn't care, they stopped and started gasping for air. She realized that her saree was halfway undone, while his tie was off and shirt open. Had she done that?

Taking a lungful of air in, she remembered the conversation they were in the middle of before she had gone hazy with lust and replied, "It was my birthday, you imbecile. And you couldn't give me a gift?"

"Your birthday isn't over yet honey. And I plan on giving you lots and lots of gifts before it ends, "he said with a shit eating grin on his face, before dragging her towards their bed. Ishita and her self-control did not have it in them to start a negotiation right then.

***

Ishita lay on her side, facing her husband with her head settled in the crook of his elbow, as he played with her hair, while she drew imaginary patterns on his chest. She could feel his sated breath beneath her, as his chest moved and it was lulling her to sleep. Before she could give into the need to take a nap, she had to talk to him though.

"What's eating you up?," his voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"What? Why would you ask that?" was her reply as she judged whether he was growing some innate ability to read her brain. Now there's a scary thought.

Raman snorted before he answered, "Your body is as coiled as a wild animal who has been cornered. It doesn't take a mind reader to figure out that something is cooking in that haystack you have in your brain."

"Not funny, husband. I was just thinking."

"I know that, farzi doctor, I meant what were you thinking?" She belatedly realized that his hand had stopped at her waist and was tracing her spine. The effect was hypnotizing - and suddenly sleep was the last thing on her mind.

"If I ask something, will you promise that you won't go up in flames, and instead answer truthfully?" she said and then on realizing that he was quiet and hadn't agreed immediately, she added, "It can be my birthday gift."

"You didn't like the pliers? Did you want them in green instead of red?" he questioned, mock offended.

She pulled the tiny hairs on his chest in reply and ignored his cry of pain.

"Fine. Fine, you crazy cat. Ask away," he huffed.

"Do you think we would be together if it weren't for Ruhi? I mean, I love her and couldn't ask for anything better from God, but sometimes I wonder where we would have been if we didn't have to marry for her custody. Would we still fall in love? Would we have a life together?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. The question was eating away her insides like some flesh-eating termite, so much so that she had started having nightmares where Shagun had never betrayed him, and she had never made his acquaintance, being just his lonely neighbor who saw the happy family from afar and would someday own thirty cats.

Raman didn't answer for a few minutes and she wondered if he had fallen asleep. However, before she could lift up her head to check, he began, "I have never really thought about it. If it weren't for Ruhi, we would never have met.. "

"I know that Raman. It's just that sometimes I feel as if I am living someone else's life. Like someday I'll wake up and not find you beside me. Like this life will just turn out to be a mirage," she interrupted.

He took his hand out from under her, and turned on his side, so that they lay facing each other. His eyes looked golden in the light that enveloped the room, she thought.

"Hey hey. Where do you grow all this rubbish in your head?"

She opened her mouth to tell him where to stuff it, when he placed his hand over her mouth as a gesture to quiet her. "Shut up and listen. Sometimes, you should try listening to the other person. Might help your brain a little. I don't think I have ever wondered what would have happened if it were not for Ruhi. Or any of the other circumstances that led us together. Because they were meant to happen Ishita. Just like we were. What ifs are a very dangerous thought. We were meant to meet because of Ruhi and then fall in love because of her. I don't regret anything - not even Shagun, mind you. You know, Mom always says that everything happens for a reason. And if it were not for Shagun's betrayal, then I would never have had a chance to share a life with you. So, I have to thank God every day for even her fling with Ashok," he said with a smile.

Ishita, however, could not manage to even fake a smile. "Raman, I know that. It just worries me sometimes, when I see with Adi and Ruhi, when I see your eyes shine with pride for them, knowing that if it were not for extenuating circumstances, our relationship would never be enough for you. I wouldn't be enough for you."

"You mean your inability to conceive, don't you?" he asked exasperatedly, while Ishita lowered her eyes. "Good Lord woman. Let it go, will you? Ishita, the fact that you can and cannot have children does not bother me. Is it sad? Yes. But can I live without it? Yes. I know that you fear that one day I'll have to choose between you and them, and I'll choose them and move on. But that isn't true, Ishi. If such a situation arises, I don't know how I'll react. What I do know is that you are as much a part of me, as my children. Whether I choose you or not, I'll not leave you. At least without fighting for you. For us. I love Adi and Ruhi. They are my blood, they have my bloody DNA. But I love you too. Much differently than I love them of course, but still it's love. I love them because from the moment they were born, they've been my responsibility; they have always been half of me. But I love you, not because it's ingrained in me, but because the person you are made me fall into love with you, you're the other half of me. Your silliness, your strength, your morality, your hair, your philosophical rants, your kindness, everything you do and think, every damn thing attracts me to you. Makes me love you a little more every second."

This time the smile that came onto her face was involuntary. "Even when I ask questions?"

He sighed, but then grinned, "Even when you ask stupid questions. But especially when you're naked."

Ishita giggled and rose up so that her head was supported on her folded arm. "Then I have another one."

This time he simply raised his eyebrow and waited. "It's stupid really," she began and he said, "When is it not?"

She swatted his bare arm and continued, "If you had met me before Shagun, before the kids happened, what do you think would have happened?"

He turned onto his back and brought her onto his lap to straddle him, before answering, "Well for one, I wouldn't have let you get as fat as you were." He held up his hand to stop the hand that was coming to punch him reflexively, and said, "I was pretty romantic back then, so I would have probably written a few shayaris and poems on you before I would ask you out, but I was also shy, so I would have never gone forward to asking you at all."

Ishita laughed out loud, before she said, "I would have noticed you though. With your oily hair and glasses, you were exactly the sort of nerd I would have gone for. And I would have asked you out."

Raman's hand began his exploration of her curves, the ones with which he was very well acquainted, as he continued, "Then I would take you out to a roadside dhaba for dinner one day while you'd be charmed by my thoughtfulness when I would bring a bottle of water from home so that you don't suffer from diarrhea the next day."

"Amma would beg me to marry you. Mummyji would not like that I was a South Indian, but would finally agree to having me as family. I'd tell you about my inability to have children..."

"And I would say that I don't care," Raman added, and then carried, "I would propose to you in front of our entire family, and before I could hyperventilate, you would agree."

"Are you sure I would agree? I mean, I used to have a lot of offers back then," was her cheeky interjection before Raman started to tickle her in response.

Gasping for breath from laughing too hard, she said, "Sorry. Sorry. Fine, I'd agree. And then we would get married on the beach."

"We live in Delhi, sweetheart. Unless Yamuna turned into beach when I wasn't looking that wouldn't be possible."

"Fine then, we'd have a destination wedding."

"Ha. I wasn't rich then, Ishi. We wouldn't be able to afford it," he replied.

"Argh. Then why am I marrying you?!" Ishita asked, smirking and looking a lot like her devious husband.

Raman, surprisingly, did not get offended but instead grinned, "Because of certain of my other qualities, of course," placing a kiss on her neck and rocking his hips into hers, reminding her of exactly what qualities he was talking about.

Ishita took a shuddering breath and said, "Yeah. Okay. We..ah...we would get married and.."

"Live happily ever after," they both finished simultaneously.

They both smiled, and their eyes couldn't have conveyed any more love for each other - no questions, no qualms, no conditions. Just love and contentedness.

"And I would give you tickets to a very late honeymoon to Maldives as your fifth gift," Raman added.

Ishita smiled in surprise at his words before thanking him with a very enthusiastic kiss. As they broke apart, she grew confused as she registered his words.

"Fifth gift?" she asked.

His answering smile was mischievous. "The first one was your set of pliers."

She rolled her eyes. "What about the other three then?"

His answer was roll over and balance himself on top of her. As he looked into her eyes, Ishita realized that she recognized the emotion in his eyes. She was pretty sure that her eyes carried the same emotion. Lust and Love. "Well, I have already given you one and I'm sure that I could squeeze in two more before you're too tired to move again."

Her affronted gasp was smothered as his lips joined hers. Well, she figured, she didn't mind his gifts at all.

Thanks for reading. Leave behind your thoughts and reviews. Criticism is appreciated.

NeNe