PUNARVIVAAH - ARRANGED TO LOVE (L&M #3)

SHOT 3

Vaiga's pov!

"Vaiga.." I got startled out of my thoughts when I heard that voice filled with love. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see the person standing in front of me.

"Anjana Maa.." I called out softly and felt my eyes brimming with tears once again.

She rushed to me and pulled me into a tight embrace. And I couldn't hold back anymore. I broke out into loud sobs.

"Oh Vaiga! Please don't cry, bacha." Anjana Maa said repeatedly, as she held me close to her bosoms.

Anjana Agnihotri! She is Appa's friend Niranjan Uncle's wife. She was the first person from whom I experienced a mother's love. But it was short lived, as I didn't get enough time with her. I met her for the first time, when I was nineteen. I met her only a handful of times after that. And whenever I do, she showers me with lots of love.

And then I got married, and my life changed completely.

"Enough, that's enough. Come and wash your face. Then eat your lunch. Raghu Anna said, you haven't eaten anything since morning.." Anjana Maa said, scolding me and I tried to smile through my tears.

"How can I eat anything, Anjana Maa, when my Shivaa got married to another woman today? How can I?" I couldn't help the sob that broke out of me once again.

"Vaiga, don't waste your tears on someone who doesn't deserve it. I know, it is easy for me to say. Only you will understand your pain. But you cannot waste your life crying, beta. Life has to move on. You have to move past Shiva and his betrayal." Anjana Maa said.

"How could he marry someone, Maa? It has only been a few months since we had that fight. He didn't even give me a chance to prove my innocence. And within two months, the divorce got finalised. There weren't even any counselling sessions. We were not given a chance to mend what was broken. And within a month, he married someone else. How could he, Maa?" I asked, the pain and disbelief warring within me.

Before either of us could speak, I heard the shrill crying of a baby coming from the living room. My heart beat picked up its pace as I listened to those cries. My hands, subconsciously went to my belly, where my baby lived for merely two months. She wasn't strong enough to handle all the emotional turmoil her momma had to go through.

My eyes welled up again..

"Anjana.." I heard Niranjan uncle calling out from the living room.

"I think Kriti is awake. It's time for her milk.." Anjana Maa said and hurried out of my bedroom.

Without even me knowing, my feet took me to the living room from where I heard the baby's sound.

Kriti. A baby girl. Anjana Maa's son's child. A child who lost her mother when she was born. Just like me.

I felt an unknown affinity to the child I haven't even seen yet.

As I reached the living room, I stood transfixed at the sight of the baby in her bassinet, clutching her little bottle in her chubby little hands and gulping down the milk greedily.

"Oh Vaiga! You came out.." I heard Appa's voice, which was a mixture of joy and disbelief.

I never come out of the bedroom. For the last few months, I had cooped myself in the room, only coming out the three times I had to go to the court. Even then, my only motivation was that I could see Shiva, talk to him and make him understand. But he never gave me a chance to speak..

In a trance, I walked towards the baby, my eyes stuck on the beautiful little child, whose eyes were wandering around the new place, as she kept gulping down her milk.

If things hadn't turned out the way it did, Shiva and I would have been waiting for a little angel like this now.

Does Shiva even know that I was pregnant? Did Amma tell him? No? Why would she, when she had all but painted me as a scarlet woman as soon as she got to know about the baby.

I kneeled down in front of the baby and looked at her greedily.

My heart ached with longing. I can never hold a baby of my own ever again..

I reached out gently and caressed her little feet and I couldn't help leaning down and pressing a soft kiss on her feet.

She might have felt ticklish, because she pulled her feet away and a little frown made its way to her face. She looked absolutely cute with that frown and I couldn't help the smile that made its way to my face.

"Oh baby.." I mumbled as I looked at her..

Third person's pov!

Raghuswamy watched his daughter with a mixture of joy and pain.

In the last few months, this was the first time he was seeing his daughter smile from her heart. And it was the little baby who did it for her.

He could understand the pain his daughter was going through. She had loved Shiva deeply. But Shiva didn't trust her. His mother played a card and he fell for it, distrusting Vaiga.

He could have fought for his daughter, trying to prove her innocence. But Durga Devi had visited him once and showed him the pictures she had taken when Vaiga was unconscious. The pictures were of Vaiga in a compromising position with a stranger. Durga Devi threatened to expose the pictures in social media, if they didn't agree for a quick mutual divorce. He had no other choice.

Even if his daughter was proved innocent later on, once the pictures were out, her reputation would have been completely ruined. And Vaiga will never recover from that. And what is the point of proving her innocence to Shiva anyways and holding onto a marriage that doesn't have trust in it.

He watched as Vaiga leaned forward and gathered the little baby into her arms.

The eight month old child wiggled in Vaiga's arms, as she was held by a stranger and then she broke into a loud scream, expressing her dislike of being held tightly.

But Vaiga wasn't seeing any of that.

She held the baby closer and breathed in the soft smell of baby powder and milk and felt a strange sense of peace filling her entire being..

"Vaiga..."

A/n

Here goes the next shot..

I am trying out a punarvivaah theme for the first time. 

Please do vote and comment and let me know how it is coming out..

Love,

SF❤️