Maybe In Another Life | ✓

⁕EPILOGUE⁕

*** 7 years later ***

The cool breeze brushed my face as I lay with my girls. They exchanged a glance, and before I knew it, they were both tickling me.

I rolled onto my back and laughed loudly as they attacked. They were squealing happily and kept tickling my stomach with their tiny fingers.

"O-okay okay stop! My stomach hurts." I laughed and returned my attention to them. Then I returned their tickling attack and soon their faces started to turn red.

Chandira was the first to yell at me to stop, and Rudrakshi quickly followed. "Papa, stop it!" they shouted together.

I immediately stopped, and they took long, deep breaths to calm down. Chandira spoke while pointing her little finger at me. "I am going to complain to Mummy."

She turned to face her mother's grave, as did her sister, who nodded in agreement and gave me stern looks.

"Arre arre nahi, unse mat boliye aap dono. Acha baba maaf kar dijiye mujhe." I drew them to me and wrapped both of my arms around them, keeping them close to me.

(Oh no, do not tell your mother about this, you two. Please forgive me, my ladies.

They pretended to glare at me, so I jutted out my bottom lip and blinked my eyes. Their frowns softened into a sweet gummy smile as they both kissed my cheeks.

"Okay, you have been forgiven. We will talk to Mummy about the good stuff. Happy?" Rudrakshi said, wiggling her brows and squishing my face. Then she laughed adorably.

They both stood up and began to walk between their mother's and grandmother's graves. Sitting down, they began speaking one by one, discussing everything and anything as they always do.

It is Chandini's death anniversary today.

She was buried rather than cremated, as was her wish. Everyone comes to visit her once in a while, except Athwa. He still finds it difficult to accept that she is no longer with us. He was devastated when he saw her on that particular day. His angel was gone, and he would never see her again after that day.

But we consoled each other; I never left his side in these last years, never made him feel alone, and never made him feel as if I had before.

I did, and I am still doing my best to keep it together with everyone.

And it is extremely challenging.

There is an emptiness inside my chest that I can not seem to fill out, no matter what I do, no matter how much I try to do anything in my power to fill that void. It is still there, though, and I doubt it will ever be filled out.

But I am keeping my promise to Chandini that I will be good to both the girls and myself. I adore them, and I believe they love me as well.

I am going to sound rude and ungrateful, but I have never felt loved or cared for like I did when Chandini was here. After her, everything becomes dull and exhausting.

I had also killed Rohit. I promised Chandini that he would not live another day. I had killed him before Chandini's burial, fulfilling my final promise to her.

The gentle touch on my cheeks made me jerk, and when I looked up, I saw the girls. Their eyebrows knitted in worry, and I became aware that I was crying. I quickly wiped away my tears and smiled slightly, to which they immediately returned.

"So you told her everything?" I inquired.

"Yeah, we did." Rudrakshi indicated her sister with a gesture. "But Papa, she told granny about you and complained."

Chandira gave me a mischievous giggle, and I raised my eyebrows at them. "You told me not to say anything to Mummy, but you did not say anything about Granny."

"Oh, so this is what we are doing now, huh?" I said, feigning anger, and carefully extended my hand to take hers. However, she burst out laughing and dashed into the cottage.

I chuckled and looked at Rudrakshi, who was staring at me with concern in her eyes. Her eyes can have a concern for me in them at times, or they can look so serene and chandini-like at times. Even though she is never met her mother, she acts like one nonetheless. My little girls have no idea how wonderful their mother was or how much positivity she brought into everyone's lives.

But all of their family members tell them stories about their mother.

"What happened my lady?" I pulled her to sit with me.

She takes a seat next to me and holds my hand. "Papa, I do not like it when you cry,"

Her words brought tears to my eyes as her tiny fingers stroked the back of my hand. But I blinked them away, I did not want to sadden my sweet girl.

"I was not crying, sweetie; there was something in my eye. You know I do not do anything to make my daughters sad, right?" She quickly nods her head, revealing a broad smile. "Now, go inside and stay with your sister." Let me talk to your mother for a while."

She, too, dashed inside and rose to sit by her grave.

I sat there, unable to think of a single word to express how I felt every single day. However, I inhaled deeply and placed my hand on the hard surface. "Hey, my love... Uhm... I am sorry for not visiting more often. I just do not have the guts to do this regularly. It hurts chandini... So bad. Sometimes it is so difficult to breathe, the pain in my chest is so intense that all I want to do is end all of this. But I can not... Continue to break your word; I am doing everything in my power to be the father they deserve." I wiped my face and sniffed. "But darling, I can not handle this loneliness, the anguish, and the emptiness... Everything is eating me alive."

I bit my lip to control the sobs but they escaped anyway. "I- it should not be you... It was supposed to be me, not you." My throat burned. "Chandini, everything hurts. I do not want life without you. I... I just wanted to be with you and I have to live without you. Mom said it gets better... It doesn't, though. All of this pain persists even after seven years. I ache for you. I miss you so much, Chandini. I miss your warmth, the feel of your hair, your touch, and the ability to look into your eyes and make you laugh."

I whimpered and averted my blurry gaze to the sky. "You entered my life like an angel, Chandini, and you became my patience, my hope, and the reason I was able to survive. And above all, you have taught me how to love. You have taught me how to live, how to appreciate other people, how to be happy, and how to get excited about the first drop of rain. But, darling, you forgot to teach me one thing-how to live without you."

I sat down next to her, using my sleeves to dab at the moisture on my face as I forced myself to breathe deeply and deliberately. Every damn time I come visit her, it is always like this. Every time I promise myself that I will not cry when I visit her, I find myself crying at her feet. But it is just difficult not to.

"The girls are the cutest and most grateful girls in the world, and you know they will soon turn seven. They are keeping me sane, Chandini-only them and our memories. Rudrakshi is such a mature girl, much like her mother, and I just wish you could see how big they have grown." I laughed and continued. "Muktha had told them many stories about us, and now the girls threaten me to complain to you. Taara has been spoiling them, and she likes being the older one. Athwa is doing well and do not worry about him, he will come around soon."

"You know I love you, Chandini... Maybe In Another Life we will be together." I rose to my feet and smiled at her.

Then I went inside to look for the girls, and they were sleeping in their room. A smile spread across my lips as I watched them sleep together, holding each other's hands. Their mother's photo frame was also next to them; I lay next to my girls, holding the frame to my chest.

***THE END***

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