First Wife, First Love.

38. Patching Up.

"Mom!" Parth exclaims and hides his face in Mami's lap.

"Hey, why are you all teasing my son?" Mami says as she caresses his head, "Also we did not find him in the temple. We found him under a bridge."

"Mom, you too." Parth says, looking up at her in shock.

"I am sorry, dear. I am sorry." Mami says and laughs with us.

"When did you arrive, Vedant?" Nani asks as she comes out hearing our commotion.

We look behind to see Vedant poised at the door with a bag in his hand. So he came to apologise. But I don't want that. I was furious in the morning, but now that I have time and space; I have calmed down. That does not mean I would leave him so easily. He has to pay up in some way.

"You look tired." Mami says as he enters, and I look at him to evaluate myself.

"No, Mami Ji. I am fine. Just too much work today." He says, but I know he is lying with his smile only.

Something is off. Did something happen at home after I left? I hope not. I totally forgot that my leaving, even for a day after the proposal, can be taken in another way.

"Come, son. Sit here." Mami says, and he nods.

He greets my brothers and takes Nani's blessing and asks, "Nana Ji and Mama Ji are not here?"

"Your Mama Ji is busy with watching the news in his study." Mami says.

"And your Nanu would be back any minute from his walk." Nani says.

"I will send Uma with your coffee and also I will make your favourite kaali dal. Boys, behave." Mami says and goes into the kitchen.

I see him talking with Nani as she asks him about the family's whereabouts. He looks fine from the outside, but I know the storm I saw in his eyes when he said he is fine. It warned me that something major had happened at home. He gets busy meeting with my brothers and they tease him about calling Shaurya Bhai boring, which, according to Parth, is the correct assessment.

"I am sorry." He says as soon as he enters my room, our room.

"For what? I thought you said you didn't make any mistakes." I say without looking back as I ready the bed.

"I made a mistake. I made a grievous mistake of hurting someone ‌precious to me." He says, and I feel him close behind me.

I turn around and look in his eyes to ask, "You do?"

"Yes. I am sorry for what I said as it was wrong. I really love you and your family, and I didn't mean to sound rude. You can punish me anyway you want, but please never leave me." Vedant says taking my hands in his and kisses them.

"I am sorry too." I say with a pout.

"Why are you sorry?" He asks, confused.

"I became angry with you and didn't listen to you. I don't know why I got so angry so suddenly, but when I calmed down, I felt I may have overreacted a little. Only a little." I say.

He kisses my lips and says, "Thank goodness you forgave me, otherwise I thought I had to literally beg for it."

"Who said I will leave you without punishment? You are going to pay, but I will decide that later on. Right now, I want to know what happened?" I ask, putting my arms around his shoulder.

"Where?" He asks, confused as he puts his arms around my waist.

"At home. Something has happened. What is it, Ved? Tell me." I ask.

He sighs and says, "Fine."

He sits on the bed and tells me everything that happened this evening at home and my eyes widen in shock. I was away from home for just a few hours and this much has happened already.

"Is Mom okay? And what about Mayra? Why did you leave home? You should have stayed there, Vedant." I say.

"Mom sent me here to patch up with you. And I left to let them patch up their own way. I didn't want to come between them, unlike other times. Now that everything's out in the open, we should let them deal with their emotions. The only thing we need to do is to be there for them in every way." Vedant says and I rub his arm.

"Okay. If you say so." I say, and he takes me in his arms and kisses my forehead.

He kisses me then and I know his intentions, but I stop him. He looks at me and asks, "Is there a problem?"

"Yes." I say.

"Are you still upset? Then tell me my punishment so we could be done with this fight and enjoy the night." He says.

"It is not that. We are at my home. I feel a little..." I say, but feel embarrassed to finish the sentence.

"You feel what?" Vedant asked, confused, then his eyes widened in understanding and he looked away after saying. "Oh!"

"I mean, we can wait till tomorrow, right?" I ask and he nods, but doesn't look at me.

"Yes." His voice sounds weird and his shoulders shake. Is he crying?

"I am sorry, Vedant. Please don't cry." I say and he falls back on bed... laughing.

"Oh, my goodness!" He says while laughing and holds his stomach.

"Vedant! You are done." I said and hit him with a pillow.

"I am sorry. But you are so cute." He says, and I hit again and again.

"You are really on fire today to piss me off, Ved." I say and hit him again, but he catches my wrist and pushes me down on the bed.

"So are you. Making me see your new side. You know what? I love it when you hit me in anger. Your face goes all red. Your breathing gets all uneven, just like the time when I do this." He says and kisses my neck, "And this." then behind my ear, "And this."

He kisses me and I try to resist only for a second before I give in to my own desires and hold on to him with my life. Now I know why couples fight because when it is over, they can show their love. And that is what Vedant and I do.