Marrying my mistake

43. Ishani's POV

Sorry for not updating earlier but work has been super busy.
This is the last one. There will be one additional chapter I will upload tomorrow.

The past few hours in the hospital and given me the realistic view of life. Had I hurt myself or anyone else my life could have ended or I could be jailed. Neil was willing to go that last mile to make sure I was safe and in the end it was the safety, comfort which mattered.

Andy had proved his loyalty and Lata had taught me that not everyone can be what you expect them to be. I told Neil to drop the police case and let her be. There was no point of confronting her. Apparently she was obsessed with Neil a tad too much and was annoyed with our 'sudden love story', as she put it. She was sacked all thanks to the evidence Andy took with him to office. He would be coming to the Punjab part of our wedding.

When we stopped for tea I went out and deeply inhaled the fresh air. It was cold and the sun made the vast open lands look beautiful. The yellow mustard flowers glittered with the sunshine. "Ish have this dhaba style chai," Neil yelled from across the rustic hay shed. I slowly walked towards him. He knew I was shaken up and needed some space. "Neil thank you," I felt shy. "For chai Ish?" Neil looked confused.

"No for everything. For believing in me. If I died I would have never" before I could continue I felt Neil put a finger on my lips and hug me. "Stop Ishani. Don't think about such horrible things" his voice was thick with emotion. "I love you deeply and I cannot imagine life without you. Besides we still need to get married and have 4-5 children and grow old together," he tried to keep his tone happier but I felt his emotions. "Neil I love you." "A lot" "but we will have to have this children discussion sometime soon." 4 was a scary number.

After the tea finished we drove towards our native village. My medicines made me sleep most of the way. Now like most Punjab villages there of nothing native about these villages. The streets have more luxury cars than Delhi. As we entered Neil's palatial bungalow I quickly checked my makeup.

Our first family dinner was tonight. By family I meant about 70 of people who wanted to see us! As we entered a band started playing and after an Aarti and touching gazillion feet I endured, we entered the house.

I went to my room only to see maa and Chang in deep discussion with a doctor. "Ishi beta we arranged a doctor. He will change your bandages before Chang dolls you up for dinner. It well be a quick dinner, you can come back and rest in an hour or two," maa was on an over explanation mode. "We will see maa. Have you seen Reet, Rianna or Sid?"

On cue the door opened and in came Reet wearing a gaudy green suit complete with a choora, mangalsutra, bindi looking every bit of the newly married bride. "Ishani you okay? I cannot believe Lata is such a bitch! Andy told us," she hugged me hard. We both sat down as I explained what really mattered and planned ahead.

"Reet is the preparation done?" "Yes but isn't your health first?" She looked at me. "Oh my God! Finally you realised your love for Neil! I can see it in your eyes." I smiled shyly.

I went down dressed in a long velvet anarkali in deep plum with gota work on it. The doctor had actually reduced the bandage to quarter of it's size and Chang had hidden pretty much most of it with makeup and a side braid.

I waited for Neil and gave Andy a thumbs up when Neil entered. Andy switched on the fairy lights and the big courtyard was filled with a beautiful glow. There were wind chimes all around. There was also my piece de resistance a car, which was gift wrapped to hide it. I was broke and will probably be paying loans forever.

Neil looked at them, then at me and smiled. Before he approached me, some relatives came to meet him.

After twenty minutes he came to me. "Ish how did you do all this. It's breathtaking." Now I put a finger on his lips I needed to say this before it was too late, "Neil you once told me to ring the wind chimes if I needed you. I need you forever and I want to ring all these, to tell you how deep my love for you is. Over the last few weeks we have grown and I know we fit together perfectly."

Neil rushed to hold me in his arms, orthodox relatives be damned, I held him in a hug and kissed him. "Neil I love you" "Me too Ish. Me too." He looked at the big gift wrapped car with questioning eyes.

I pulled apart and gave him the biggest present I could, keys to his own BMW Z4 it was a pretty red convertible, much like our Singapore one. "Ishani how did you?" Neil was shocked was an understatement. "Did your parents?" He looked at my parents as Andy removed the covers to the beautiful red car and his relatives gathered around it.

"No Neil. It's my gift to us, so that we can go on long drives." I smiled shyly. I saw Neil's parents approach mine to ask about the car. "Neil I brought it with the money I won in Singapore plus a small loan."

Neil hugged me hard, "did you win the whole damn casino my love?" He asked and kissed me again. "Let's go on a drive," and we went  following the clear skies and open roads to a field nearby to kiss and makeup for the lost time. We still have ten years of catching up to do.

I was marrying the best mistake of my life and I'm glad I made that mistake.

Ohh god! I feel so sentimental finishing this novel. It was my first time I finally sat down and wrote a whole story. It was great fun, I lived Ishani, I lived Neil, more importantly I lived love and passion through my story. Thanks for taking out time to read and comment. Your support has taken me to new heights!