Knotted in Love

Part 16

"But I will be." Haseena smiles as she reaches to move Karishma's messy hair in place.

"How do you feel?"

"Bothered." Haseena answers after a second of deep thinking. "I don't know. I just don't like that he died and all the horrible things he had done went invalid. You saw his gravestone; a husband, a dad and a great man. That bothers me. And. I don't want to go to that stupid 'family meeting' shit."

Karishma looks at Haseena pouring out her mind like a waterfall. She lets her and waits for her turn.

"He died. How long are they are going to drag this out for?" Haseena sighs and rests her head back on the backrest of the couch. "And mom chose to put 'a great man' there when he was a fraud and he wasn't exactly nice to her or anyone really. Meanwhile, me. I was an awful daughter for dating this wonderful beautiful girl and humiliating mom. She'll probably put that on my gravestone.'

"She can't." Karishma immediately gets offended; too offended that makes Haseena a bit stun by her over-the-top reaction. "As your lawful wedded wife, I get to choose what goes on your gravestone. Haseena Singh. An extraordinary wife, mother, sister and friend. She will haunt you for a laugh."

Haseena giggles at the last part. "That's true."

"Give me a hundred year to choose the right words to describe how amazing you are, okay?" Karishma holds her pinky up and Haseena links it almost right away. "Now, what else is on your mind?"

"Mr. Lucas." Haseena mentions the topic they should have talked since Christmas. "I know we still have two years..."

"Listen, Haseena." Karishma tries to stop Haseena. "I..."

"Karishma, I..."

When Haseena doesn't let her speak, Karishma jumps on and straddles her. She chuckles playfully before pressing her lips against Haseena's. Haseena smiles but that doesn't stop her.

"Hear me out." Haseena puts both of her hands on Karishma's cheeks and shoots her the warmest smile. "I'm not good with changes. I'm not good at getting to know new people. Actually, I'm a disaster for all of those things."

"I know." Karishma whispers with her sparkling eyes. She knows where this is going and she starts to get emotional because of it.

"But we still have time. Your residency will be over in two years. I have two years to learn to be better at those things. If you want to go back, we'll go back." Haseena says each word with a strong determination. She is truly convinced of the words that have come out of her mouth. "You need to know this."

"You also need to know that I want to stay." Karishma looks at Haseena with a smile on her face that begins a fight with Haseena's puzzled eyes. "I want us to stay here in New York but if Maine really grows on you, we'll move to Maine."

"Maine is your home." Haseena confusingly states the obvious.

"Maine is my hometown. This is my home.
This place with you." Karishma smiles and crinkles her nose as soon as she sees how swoon Haseena has become. "You know what? Let's set up a shared doc and put in pros and cons of moving to Maine. And a year from now, we'll consider them."

Karishma looks around and realizes her phone is still on her nightstand. Haseena wraps her arm around Karishma to prevent her from falling down and gets her phone from her sweatpants pocket. The phone is handed to Karishma and she types in Haseena's PIN like it is her own.

"Okay. I'll start." Karishma tucks her hair behind her ear making way for her beauty to shine through. "Pros. It is Karishma's hometown. Cons. Karishma feels like New York is good for our family. When we have kids, their buddies will be Harry and Kara."