Deciphering His Love

16 | The One With The Engagement

Madhav stood on the terrace at Shree's apartment, alone, looking at the sky while somehow managing to ignore the deafening honking of the vehicles that were caught in the traffic. He sighed in peace as the soft cold breeze blew past him. He looked up at the night sky covered with a blanket of clouds and bereft of stars. "I wish you were here today, Ma." He whispered as a star shone from behind the clouds.

The engagement was a simple and elegant affair. Shree's saree was simple too, a red silken saree with a green border. She paired it with a red sleeveless blouse. Her hair was braided and a decorated with fresh jasmines. Madhav couldn't take his eyes off her as he walked into her apartment with RK and Yashoda. He wore a blue kurta and a pair of dark blue silken pants.

Shree blushed throughout the ceremony as she felt his eyes take in every ounce of her beauty. When it was time to exchange the rings, Madhav pulled out a ring from his pocket, it was a gold one with a small diamond encrusted in the middle. It fit perfectly on her slender fingers and he was glad his mother's ring fit her; a sign that she would have wholeheartedly accepted Shree as her daughter in law.

To everyone's dismay Shree refused to offer the shiny gold ring Lakshmi had managed to buy with such short notice. She instead asked Devi to bring her father's ring from the cupboard in their mother's room. Madhav's heart leapt inside his chest as Shree made him wear her father's ring. He smiled and leaned forward as he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

Madhav turns as he hears the someone walk towards him.

"Did I startle you?" Shree asks as she comes to stand beside him.

"No-no, I-I-I was just standing here, uhm-thinking ab-ab-about the meeting we had with Sabyasachi." He mumbles.

"You cancelled that at the last moment, Madhav." she said and held his hand. "There is something else bothering you. I am your wife; you can share it with me."

Madhav let out a shaky breath and held her hand is his. "I was a lone wolf for all these years. I had no one to care for me. I had no one to call family, until now." Shree remembered how he used to tell her about RK who had married Yashoda soon after his mother, Rukmini passed away. Rumors circulated around the city that RK was having an affair with Yashoda prior to Rukmini's untimely demise. Madhav despised RK and Yashoda ever since. He refused to acknowledge Yashoda and RK as his parents, maintaining his distance from them. Devakshi, his sister was the only relative he had, excluding Rukmini's bed ridden mother. Following Devakshi's tragic death, Madhav had no one to call family. Shyaam idolized and admired his elder stepbrother. Madhav loved him, but he hated that Shyaam was the son of RK and Yashoda.

Shree looked into Madhav's eyes.

"But now, I have you, my beautiful wife." He says as he studies her slender fingers. "I swear protect you in such a way that no even one ray of harm touches your shadow. You are the only family I have." He says and presses a kiss to her slender fingers.

"For now." She completed, blushing a deep shade of red as he held his hand.

"Yes, we can have as many babies as you want to have." Madhav whispered as he cradled her face with his hands. "I'll marry you, take you around the world-"

"I want to go to Kerala!" she added as she looked into his eyes, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "A little house, in the middle of a beautiful garden."

"I'll take you to Kerala, build you a beautiful house amidst the most beautiful garden you've ever seen."

"With a swing fixed to a big mango tree!" She added again.

"Anything you want, Shree. We'll have a beautiful room, looking out to the garden. I'll make love to you every night; more passionate than the previous night. I'll cuddle you to sleep and watch our babies grow in this-this little stomach of yours."