IshRa TS: Yesterday (June 16 - Updated all parts)

"No, Mihir. You'll need to change the plan. I can't take off on such a short notice anymore, all my girls will kill me," smiled his tired, yet content self into the phone. "You need to take this contract up, and talk to the clients. Either we have a conference call, or they can fly down here, or, in the worst case, you'll need to go to Bangalore and meet them, but try and get them to agree to our conditions. And remember, if it's a conference call, it most definitely can't be tomorrow. It's a Sunday, and if I get even an inch closer to my laptop, Adi will disown me. Chal, cya then!"

Keeping his bag on the sofa in the hall, he scanned the place from left to right, surprised to find the house all empty. A family of 12, and not a single person in sight. The silence hurting his eardrums, much more than the chatter that usually hits him the moment he enters through these doors.

"Where is everyone?"

"Raman Bhaiyya, you're here? I have cooked your dinner and kept it in the fridge, you can re-heat and eat it whenever you want."

"My dinner? Where is everyone else, Neelu?"

"Ishita bhabhi is still at the clinic. Everyone else from this house and the next has gone for a movie outing. They'll probably eat out and come late."

"Why didn't they inform me?"

"They made plans at the last moment bhaiyya, informed Ishita bhahi and immediately left as they were getting late. I'm also leaving now."

"What? Where? Why? I mean I've just come from the office, and I'm not going to sit in the house all alone. So stay."

"Bhaiyya, Ishita bhabhi gave me the day off to go and meet my family. I have also completed all the remaining household work, so she won't have any trouble after she comes back from the clinic."

"Ok, you should leave then. Take care, and be safe, and call me or Ishita once you reach."

"So I don't even deserve to be informed about anything? My parents, my siblings, my children, my Neelu.. no... not my Neelu, but everyone runs around Ishita and takes her opinion and I'm left to tackle with all the surprises on my own. Let the madrassan come back from her daanton ki dukaan tonight, I'll show her what it feels to be neglected and ignored," muttering he climbed up the stairs that led to their bedroom, hoping to quickly catch a hot shower before his madrassan returned.

"What the..."

He was taken aback by the vision in front of his eyes. Their huge bedroom with dim lights, covered in milky moonlight sprinkling in through those wide open windows, near the sill of which was the most beautiful sight in the whole wide world.

His madrassan, in a simple white saree, her hair let down and flowing carelessly through the light breeze blowing in through the windows, defining the meaning of simplicity once again. The time stopped, and so did his steps. Leaning on the frame of the door, he could do nothing but stare at her.

Breathtaking.

All through the time they have been together, she keeps throwing him off-guard, and every single time, his breath gets hitched in his throat, his heart starts to beat faster, and his eyes, unable to leave the gorgeous face and form of his wife. Every single time, he is drawn towards her, into her, till the time he completely loses the handle on his thoughts, or, senses.

"Raman!"

Her clicking fingers snapped him out of the trance he had gone into.

"Stop staring," giggled she.

"I wish..."

"Ramannn!"

"Weren't you at the clinic? And everyone else out for movie and dinner?"

"Everyone else is out for a movie and dinner, and possibly, a stay-over," she winked at him. "But I'm definitely not at the clinic."

"What's happening?"

"Offo buddhu kumar, you forgot? What's the date today?"

"5th of February"

"So..?"

"So what?"

"So what's the date tomorrow?"

"This is why I keep telling you to read the Mathematics book from elementary school. They help in clearing basic concepts such as addition and dates. If today is 5th, tomorrow will definitely be 6th, and day-after 7th, and then 8th, and then..."

"Ohho! Stop your rambling. If tomorrow's 6th of February, sooo..."

And it struck him then. Funny how he had it in mind this morning when he woke up, but work and other things drove the thought out.

It was their wedding anniversary. 10th, to be precise.

"Wow! It's our 10th Wedding Anniversary."

"Yess!" she positively beamed.

"It is an amazing feeling..."

"It sure is!"

"Yeah, I mean I didn't think I would survive a year with you, maximum 2, but here I am, after 10 years of tolerating you, and your kapdon ki thaan, and your lectures, and your madness, and still alive. I should get an Ashok Chakra or something for bravery."

"How rude! This is how you treat your wife moments before we complete a decade of togetherness? Why did I even bother to give you a surprise - a night just for ourselves. I should have just let you live in oblivion and forget all about it, as I'm sure you were going to if I had not reminded you. I mean I worked so hard, took a day off, shooed everyone away, decorated the room, got dressed up myself just like you like to see me, but here you are, obnoxious as ever, taunting..."

His lips came down on hers, before she could complete her lecture. She never noticed in her irritated babbling when the clock struck twelve, he, however, had eyes on the clock, and her lips, that moved in unison when she formed words, and pouted in mock anger.

"Happy Anniversary, meri madrassan!" He whispered when they broke free, gasping for air.

"Happy Anniversary mere raavan kumar!"

"Sun, I love you yaar!"

"I love you more," she muttered, her head buried deep into his chest.

"Want to prove?"

She could sense the traditional smirk hidden beneath his words.

"I already did, by sending everyone away"

"You still make me feel like a giddy teenager Ishita"

"... a giddy teenager who makes his girlfriend go weak in her knees..."

"The giddy teenager can make his girlfriend go weak somewhere else as well..."

She gave her consent, by raising herself on her toes and planting feathery kisses all around his face, the forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, ears, hollows, and ended up sucking on the side his neck a bit more than he had expected.

Ten years, and he hadn't had enough of her.

"When will they come back?" his husky voice made her spin her head.

"Not before morning"

That piece of information was enough for him, to gather her up in his arms, and take her to their bed, where they would spend another night revelling in each other's love, celebrating a decade of IshRa.

He felt something feathery light climb up his chest as sunlight peeked through the now shut curtains, and tug at his night shirt's buttons. Yes, night shirt. They had gotten into the habit of dressing themselves back up after they'd had their ways with each other. It happened after a few casualties that took place ages ago, when they would forget to lock the doors in their passionate haze. The then young Ruhi would barge in whenever she felt like sleeping between her Ishima and Papa, and would find them both covered upto neck in their shared duvet. It was only after repetitive claims of having an unknown fever that made their skin and bones feel like ice, and posing an inability to pull the duvet down even for a second, that she went away, disappointed. Of course, it would inadvertently lead to them becoming the center of the elders' jokes for weeks, ranging from Romi bringing in duvets at the dining table lest they feel cold, to Amma buying a thermostat for their room and insisting on getting it installed.

In short, now they wore clothes as soon as they were done; and hence, the pull at his shirt.

"Madrassan! Let me sleep yaar. You kept me awake the entire night!"

Wait!

How could she catch hold of his shirt buttons, when she was lying peacefully in his arms, her hands clutched tightly between his. He opened one eye to find what it was that was disturbing their restful slumber so early in the morning.

"Papa! Madrassan nai, madrassan junior junior! Level 2!"

"Pihu!" He woke up, startled to see his youngest hovering over him and her mother in her Hello Kitty night shirt and shorts, nudging them both.

"Pihu!" yelled madrassan junior (level 1) from the foot of the bed, holding a tray with kettle and coffee mugs, with guitars printed on her sleeves.

"Pihu, I told you not to wake Papa and Ishima like this, didn't I? Why don't you listen? Papa, go back to sleep, I'll wake you both up gently in 2 minutes," ordered Ruhi.

"What's happening here?" Finally, the mother woke up.

Pihu and Ruhi looked at each other, unable to contain the excitement anymore, and burst out,

"Happy Anniversary Papa - Ishima!"

"THIS IS NOT FAIR! I told you both drama queens that all three of us will wish them together, but you went ahead without me," sulked a fully bathed and dressed Adi, standing with a food trolley, on top of which sat a heavenly chocolate cake, and omelettes and dosas lay besides.

"So we have coffee, and breakfast, and cake. Who made what?"

"See kiddos, your mother is only interested in food. Not once did she say thank you yet."

"Offo Raman! I don't need to specifically say thank you to my children. Besides, I will thank them on my own after we cut this cake."

"Adi bhaiyya, Ruhi didi, you have celebrated 2 anniversaries more than I have. So I will get the first piece."

"Ohh chhutanki! What new logic is this now?"

"Pihu... Papa and I will feed the first piece to all our kids at the same time"

"No Ishima, you will feed the first piece to each other, and not to level two. This is not a joint celebration."

The cake was cut, and fed to all three of their kids. With one piece in Ishita's each hand, extended towards the elder two, while Raman made the youngest one eat it. Adi, now being a man, shied away from hugs and all other displays of affection, and so he nonchalantly put his right arm over his mother's shoulders, before Ishita pushed herself into his side, while being crushed by Ruhi from the other end. Pihu, meanwhile, had made herself comfortable on her Papa's lap. Despite Pihu being her biological daughter, and despite claiming to love all her children equally, Ishita adored her two elder kids a tiny bit more, because they gave her the title of a mother, while as Pihu was the apple of her father's eyes. After all, she was IshRa incarnate, in flesh and blood.

"Papa, I will pour coffee for you and Ishima."

"No Pihu, the kettle is heavy, the beverage is hot, wait... Pihu," cried the other four, but it was too late.

The kettle fell to the floor with a deafening crash.

He immediately sat upright. It was a long thirty minutes before he could take in his surroundings. The darkness in the room, cricket match soundlessly running on the TV, AC in full blast mode, his body in half-sitting-half-lying position on his bed, and the rhythmic sound of someone's balanced breathing.

His eyes darted towards the couch on their own account, and reality hit him hard in the form of that curvaceous figure hugging her duvet, with one hand on her stomach and the other on her forehead full of worry lines. Her now curled hair, were tied in a low bun and buffered as a second pillow beneath her head, the sleeping frame of his wife, or, his ex-wife? The mother of his children, or, the ex-mother of his children?

So it was a dream, so vivid that even after waking up, he remembered the stars on Ruhi's night shirt and the kitty on Pihu's shorts with a clarity that made his heart ache. How badly he wanted that dream to be true! Them, and their little family - Raman, Ishita, Adi, Ruhi, Pihu. From what they could have been to what they now were.

He managed to put his foot down on the floor and walk towards the infamous couch. He sat down on the floor, gazing at her tenderly, all his unsaid feelings pouring out through his eyes. She was not peaceful, and he felt bad. He did not want to feel hurt at her distress, but hurt he did feel. When it came to her, his reactions were involuntary, anger, love, hurt, pain, happiness. Every emotion that he experienced for her or because of her or with her, was always at its extreme, and always beyond his control.

"Sirf Ruhi ke liye?" He had asked.

"Sirf Ruhi ke liye!" She had replied.

Once again, they were sharing the same house, the same room, sirf Ruhi ke liye. The more he wants things to change, the more they become the same. The more he wants to not be affected by her, the more he opens up to her.

His words to her a couple hours ago, about his loneliness, about this TV being his companion forever, about shattered dreams, and about no hopes - they were an impulsive reaction. He had never shared his feelings with anybody in these 7 years, yet, with her one statement, they just came tumbling out, he didn't even realize how or when.

Stirred from the very realistic dream, it hurt him even more to realize that it was just an illusion. He was as cursed as she was. He was destined to be left alone, and their kids, to grow up on their own. AdiRuHu loved them, he knew. They both loved the kids, he knew. Yet the family could never be a family.

He knew if they had been together, if they had not lost Ruhi, if they had not lost each other, his life would have been dream like, or even better. With her by his side, he would have overcome any hurdle, be what it may.

And now it hurt to still love her so, and it hurt to hate her too. It hurt so much, he felt as if he would bleed to death for the pain of it.

They ruined each other by being together. They destroyed each other's dreams.

Yet.

They changed each other forever. And they'll never forget that.

He removed the hand from her forehead, and patted her. Immediately, the lines on her forehead smoothened on their own, removing the crinkles of worry around his eyes too, as if she was waiting for his touch, as if he was waiting for her to be calm.

"Ishita, please tell me what we had was real... Please tell me I didn't dream of those two years... Please tell me there are a few moments in my life that I can replay again and again in my mind and try to feel content," he whispered into the night.

"Did you see what just happened? How I woke up from a dream so beautiful, that waking up from it was one of the toughest things I have ever had to do? Did you see that I'm still not over you? That I never can be? I dream about you every night. I watch our videos over and over just to hear your voice. Does that make you happy? I know I never made you happy, and even if I did, I took it all away in a blow. You think I don't know that? My temple throbs so much all day every day, I don't know how to live with it, yet I do. I wish I could tell you all this and more..."

He got up from the floor, and walked towards the bathroom, to splash water on his face to jerk himself up, unaware of the salty droplets now making way towards his neck, after traveling through the length of his face. Switching on the music player to play an old Beatles number that had become his favorite these days.

She opened her eyes and found his retreating body, moving farther and farther away from her. The first day of Ruhi ke liye, and they were already breaking apart. They belonged together, mind, body and soul, and they didn't. They felt each other, and they didn't. They were together in this moment, and they weren't. They were closer, and they were far apart. They had a life, and they didn't.

Originally posted by: Zoyamalik2005

Res

you're going to get me emotional when i read this, aren't you?

Originally posted by: -Nidoo-

Kind of my speciality, don't you think? 😆 😆
But I promise I'll make you smile too 😳