Unedited.
Aarna's POV:
"That idiot. Let him come home, I will break his legs for sure. How dare he leave me like this?" I was still fuming in anger whenever I recalled the contents of his letter.
[Aaru,
Hope you won't be mad at me because of my sudden departure. I won't say it was completely uncalled for because I know about this business trip before itself but I never told about this to anyone because I never intended to go in the first place without settling the issues between us.
But what I never expected is, for you to regret our marriage. I know I am not a great husband, to begin with, and we always have so many issues between us but irrespective of the indifferences, I always thought, at the end of the day, we are husband and wife, and nothing can change that fact and separate us.
However, hearing you express your regret, I realized, I can't bind you with me forever. I tried, I really tried hard to soothe your pain and to give you the happiness you deserve but I guess yet again I failed in doing so.
So what I want to say is, I apologize for all the intentional and unintentional hurt that I had inflicted on you till now. I don't know how long this business trip is going to be but I expect you to give me an answer by the time I would come back.
It will be really hard to live without you but if you don't want to stay in this relationship that has become so burdensome on you, I promise I will let you go.
For now, take care of yourself and my son.
-Dhruv]
That was what he wrote in that letter and after reading it, I wanted to tear it into pieces but I controlled myself and kept it safe to settle the scores with him later.
And in more than half a month where he had left, he never tried to contact me neither did I but I was sure he was keeping track of everything on my whereabouts as he got so many informants in this house because everyone had almost cooled down and started worrying about him as in their words, this was the first long business trip that he had taken the initiative to go and I already knew the reason.
"Bloody jerk!" I seethed out angrily and heard the cute giggles of someone.
Tilting my head, I looked at the little man who had just woken up from his small nap and started playing while throwing his hands and legs in the air. Witnessing his toothless giggles, whatever anger I felt initially had disappeared.
With a smile, I stood up from the couch and walked over to the bed before putting the pillow aside, that I had put to prevent him from falling down in his sleep.
On the very day he left, Arjun Bava sent someone over here to sign some adoption procedures, and then I realized the driver was informing the same too on that day. Since it had been over a month that we applied for adoption, we already got the approval to adopt him legally but that needed the presence of both of us and it was impossible as he was not here.
"Hey, little boy! You should always have to choose your mom's side when the time comes..okay? Don't drool over your idiotic dad when he returns. You have to promise me that you will show him your pretty attitude and will refuse to go to him for few days. Deal?" I asked him in a very serious manner while holding his little fist in my hand and he kept on looking at me with his big innocent eyes.
After keeping on looking for a while, he must have gotten tired of this little staring competition as he yawned lightly and retracted his gaze after passing me another smile that would melt my heart at any time.
"You cheeky fellow! If you don't obey my words, remember I will give you some good smacks!" I warned him playfully as he ignored me royally and started looking at the balcony fascinatingly.
"Good! I will deal with you later and remember, you have to show the same attitude to your dad too when he comes back."
Just then I heard a slight knock on the door and after asking them to come inside, I saw that it was Athayya and she was cautiously closing the door as if she was afraid of disturbing someone.
"Geez! I thought he was sleeping!"
She exclaimed the moment she turned around and saw him looking wide awake. I chuckled lightly and coming near the bed, she took him in her arms as he got settled comfortably in her embrace.
"This boy becoming too handsome with each passing day!"
I nodded at her as I couldn't agree with her more. He must have really inherited his parents' pretty good genes as he was becoming too cuter and beautiful by every day. Not to start with that smile because with just a damn smile he already wrapped the whole family around his little finger.
"Aaru, Go and get freshen up. It's getting late already. Meanwhile, I will look after him."
Nodding at her, I grabbed the inner skirt and the blouse of the saree before rushing inside the washroom.
We had to go to Adi Anna's house for the success party of the recent collaboration. I didn't know many details but from what I knew, they both had the collaboration for a fashion pageant, and it was a huge success. So Adi Anna arranged a small celebratory party at his house to celebrate this success.
Actually so many shocking things had happened during this period. One day suddenly Adi Anna announced to us that he registered his marriage with Ankitha Akka. I didn't know the whole story and never tried to know it as I didn't get a chance to talk with Ankitha Akka after that tiff and Yuktha Akka's marriage which had to be taken place by the end of this month was postponed to next month. Another news was Dhruv's other friend, whose name was Dharshith was returning to India soon.
Everything was too much for me. Neither I had the time nor I had the mood to bother about others matters as I already had so much mess to take care of in my life.
Wearing the skirt and blouse after I was done with my bath, I went outside as I saw Athayya again entering the room and Chinnu was nowhere to be seen.
"I gave him to Aadhya. Now hurry up and come here. I will help you with the saree."
She ushered me and I handed her the saree.
"Athayya! Any... Is there any news about him? Will he be there at the party?"
I asked her in an expectant tone, seriously hoping for him to come back.
" I don't know anything at all but even I want to see him. I started missing my son already. *sigh*. You know, if there are any indifferences or issues between the couple, they have to sit together and have to talk it out instead of running away from each other. Since what's done is done, at least when he returns, instead of avoiding each other, sit and have an open-hearted talk. Will you?" She asked me while adjusting the plaits of my saree as I nodded at her slowly.
Smiling at me, she patted my cheek softly and said, "Dont think too much. Everything will be fine. Now do your hair and come out fastly. I will go and prepare milk for chinnu. I can't trust that girl at all even with these little chores"
"Aadhya? Is she not coming with us?"
"Yeah. She said that she wanted to spend some time with her nephew as she is not getting much time because of her university stuff."
I shook my head with a smile and turned around to look at myself in the mirror. Looking at the nuptial chain that adorned my neck, I bit down my lips and my eyes instantly teared up a little.
"Come back. Will you? I promise you that we can start fresh. So just come back. I miss you so badly." I muttered to myself as the traitorous tear escaped my eyes. Wiping it off hurriedly, I composed myself to not start crying again.
Not having the mood to style my hair, I just left it down and applying some lip tint and sindoor, l grabbed my phone and wallet before rushing down.
When I was descending the stairs, I heard the loud giggles of an adult and a baby. Knowing who they belonged to, I smiled slightly and went to the living room only to witness that Aadhya was loudly saying 'Aunt-Nephew time' in a sing-song manner and he was laughing while making coherent sounds, sleeping on the lap of his aunt.
I took my phone and clicked some pics to capture this moment as Athayya and Mamayya came down too at the same time.
"Aadhya, we are leaving. Take care. Check on your grandpa whether he has taken his medicine on time or not later. Bye."
After passing her the set of instructions, Athayya went outside after asking me to come with her as Mamayya smiled at me lovingly before following his wife.
"Bye, Aadhu. Bye-bye, my little darling." Saying this, I smooched him as he scrunched his face at my action. Chuckling I went out and seeing the car, I got in and settled on the backseat.
When Mamayya started driving the car, I looked outside the window, ignoring the talks between them while fiddling with the edge of the saree.
As we were getting near to Adi Anna's house, my heart grew even more nervous, seriously awaiting his presence there as something was nagging me that he would definitely come back today.
But when I reached there and after not finding his presence, I sighed in disappointment and went to the garden after greeting everyone as I lost all interest in the party itself.
Sitting on the swing, I slowly started pushing it with my legs while gazing at the sky with the disappointment radiating from every fiber of me. Just then I sensed the presence of someone and I looked up to see who it was but immediately turned my face back after noticing who actually it was.
"Are you still angry at me?" I shook my head instantly and chuckling she slowly sat beside me.
"I guess you are still angry as you are even refusing to look at me."
"No," I instantly denied while shifting my gaze to her face which was shining with maternal glow, and looked down a little to take a glance at her belly which was even more apparent now as she was nearly at the end of her second semester.
"I am not angry at you. Not anymore. I understand you must have your reasons for hiding that matter and I was also wrong. I shouldn't have barged into your house and acted so irrationally. Just thinking of my actions itself making me feel so embarrassed. So let's forget about it for good." I asked her in a low voice as she shook her head at me.
"No Aaru, that day all your actions were completely justifiable. Any sane person in your place would have reacted in the same way and you were completely right on your part. So no need for self-blaming. Just like you have said, let's forget it. Now tell me what's going on with you guys?"
Hearing her question, I just don't know how to reply as I, myself, was clueless about the whole scenario.
"I don't know. Enough about me and tell me about you and Adi Anna? How did you guys get married in the first place? Tell me tell me?"
I could visibly see her stiffening up at my questions as the light in her eyes dimmed but still she managed to pass me a small smile.
"It's a long story. I will tell you later. When will Dhruv come back? How long do you guys plan to stay like this? You even have to take care of a little guy but will it possible if things are like this between you both?"
Facing her words, I just bent down my head silently and pursed my lips.
"Akka, you know, this is not the life I have imagined at all. I thought getting married to the person who you love the most is the blessing but no, it's not when you clearly know that they can never reciprocate our feelings.
"When he told me about his past, I thought love wasn't necessary for our relationship, later I felt my love was enough for our relationship to survive but I became greedy as the days passed by. I started to crave for something more than just his care but he can never give me what I really want and it got proved when he shouted at me at the hospital without having an ounce of trust."
"That moment I decided to not stay in this relationship which was just an obligation to him but when he chose to stay away from me, I understand how painful it is to not having him beside me. The fact that I can't see him hurts me more than the fact that he can't love me. I just... I just don't want to leave him. Even if as a stranger, I want to be part of his life.
" I don't know when he became this important to me but I can't imagine my future without him at all but he left me. He left me just like that because of my stupidity. Now I don't even know when he will come back and I don't know whether he even wants me in his life. That idiot. I hate to say this but I still love him. Now I don't need anything except for him to come back safely."
I vented out all the words that I was hiding inside my heart and wiped my tears angrily while huffing and puffing but I stopped doing so when I saw her looking behind me. Frowning, I nudged her a little and questioned her with my eyes when I didn't find anything unusual.
"What happened?"
"Nothing!" She just shook her head with a meaningful smile and brushed the remnants of my tears away.
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