Khushi looked at the clock it's 12.0 a.m .. a new day, another day without her Arnav ji.. she sent the message around 6.0 p.m so it has been 6 hours since the email was sent but he didn't reply.. she switched off her phone for a while, disconnected the internet, asked Payal to send her an email to check if everything is working.. yes everything is perfect but still there is no reply from him.. she tried to act normal in front of Akash and Payal but only she knows how her inside was burning.. she was feeling she will die because of the pain she was feeling... one second she was cursing herself for coming into Florida, did she lose her chance of being with him by coming here.. next second she was thinking why is he not replying, is he thinking she abandoned him.. what statement he is trying to make by not replying that she doesn't matter to him, doesn't matter what ever she is saying, he doesn't trust or want her anymore.. what else she would think about this action of his, she tried to control her sobs but couldn't..for few seconds she was thinking if he is okay..is there any other reason of him for not replying..after patiently waiting for his reply from so long she burst into tears..
'why are you doing this Arnav ji..why dammit..why?? '
She could not sleep whole night due to sadness as he is not replying, due to anger how come after such an open letter she wrote he didn't feel the necessity to reply, due to stress does it mean their relationship is ending, if yes then what gonna happen to her and her unborn child, how are they going to live with out him and due to little bit of hope may be he will reply..
She slept only at the wee hours after lots of crying but her slept broke after few hours as she felt she is not able to move, some one is holding her protectively from behind in a tight hold...
With little difficulty she turned and opened her eyes..seeing the sight in front of her eyes,she was surprised would be an understatement..Arnav was sleeping beside her, holding her protectively..
It's a dream, there is no way it's not.. how can he be here at this hour.. she looked at her surroundings and yes it's Payal and Akash's home..ok, now it's confirmed she is dreaming...
She moved herself up from the pillow and leaned towards him.. she tapped his cheek, he moved a little, she jerk his shoulder slightly and he snatched his eyes.. she cupped his face with one hand and he snuggled more into warmth of her hand.. oh my gosh..she can feel him, she can smell the perfume he always wears, she can clearly see him sleeping,holding her.. that mean it's not a dream.. Arnav is here..he is really here.. finally Arnav is here to his Khushi...
She was numb for few seconds not understanding what to do.. should she smile or cry.. should she hug him or kiss him or she should scold him for ignoring her for almost a week.. she should fight with him for hurting her like this.. she was extremely happy as Arnav is here but she was sad and angry too..she was almost dying to meet him but seeing him in-front of her eyes, she was going through a lot of emotions including sadness too..
She jerked his shoulder..'Arnavji,Arnav ji..'
' offoo khushi.. Let me sleep.. I am tired..'He replied in half sleep and holds her more tightly.. She tried to come out of his hold but couldn't.. she started struggling at his hold...
He opened his eyes half and said annoyingly' what are you doing..'
' what are you doing and why are you here..??' she said showing anger..
' I will answer everything but now let me sleep, I am jet legged..' he said closing his eyes again...
' its just 2 and half hours flight and you are jet legged.!?' She asked seating on the bed as he loosen his hold on her waist but as soon as she sat he puts his head on her lap and said..' I took a 4.00 am flight.. I couldn't not sleep whole night.. Will you please save your argument for later and let me sleep..'
She looked at him unbelievably, he is always like that, sleepyhead and look at him, he is behaving like nothing happened between them.. as if they never had any fight, as if they never hurt each others..
He stayed on her lap closing his eyes for a while and she kept looking at him.. She was trying to believe it's not a dream he is really here, so near to her.. she quietly puts her hand in his hair and caressed them, oh she missed him so much, she was crying her heart out for him, for one glance of his and see he is here, sleeping in her lap like he sleeps after a tiring day and she is caressing his hair like she does whenever he tries to find solace in her arms..As if everything is normal, nothing went wrong between them ever..
After a while he tightened his hold on her waist and pressed his head against her stomach little strongly..
Khushi gasped ,' Arnavji, please carefully..'
She was afraid unknowingly he might hurt their unborn baby..He opened his eyes and looked at her removing his head from her lap..' what happened.. are you alright?? '
She nodded and he puts his head on her lap again but this time he loosened his hold on her waist and didn't press his head on her stomach..she removed his hair from his forehead and asked..' why you came here??'
He stayed quiet for a bit and then said,' You wrote such an huge message.. my hand was hurting too type a reply, so I thought I should give you a reply in person.. you know, it's easier than typing..'
Khushi took her hand from his hair and asked not looking at him almost fringing..'So, what is your reply..'
He sat in-front of her and cupped her face.. Tears were shining on his eyes too.. he kept looking at her for few seconds while caressing her cheeks with his thumb and then he said..
' Sorry Khushi, Ane mein thodi der ho gayi, per ana to tha hi...' (Sorry Khushi, I got little late, but I had to come)
Khushi's anger, sadness, happiness all emotions took a back seat, hearing him she was feeling only one thing that he is here, he is here for her..twisting her lips she started crying like a baby..He pulled her into a hug..
'Ssshh.. I am sorry jaan, I am sorry..' Arnav said caressing her hair and tightened the hug as much as possible..Khushi also hugged him tightly rapping her hand around his neck as if her life is depending on it..
After a bit she smiled with tears in her eyes and said..'Hum jante the ap ayenge..hum jante the ap hum a kabhi akela nahi chorenge..' ( I knew you that you will come, I knew that you will never leave me alone)
' kaha tha na, tumhare bagar nahi ji payunga..' ( didn't I tell you, I can't live without you)...
'But I am still upset with you.. very very upset..' She said like a baby..
'Sorry baby, I am very sorry..please forgive me..' saying that Arnav broke the hug and wiped her tears, Khushi also wiped his tears and he kissed on her palm..
'I am also sorry Arnav ji,I hurt you a lot.. I am sorry.. trust me I never hugged Dru..'
Arnav cuts her removing her hair from her face and said,'ssshh..shhh.. you don't need to say anything, I know you didn't..I know you can't..it's just from where I saw it's looked that way and than I heard you were forced to marry me,you didn't have any problem with marrying..' he stopped a little and gulped the lump on his throat ..' that idiot.. you didn't even tell me anything, you thought you will tell me after saying sorry to him..everything was harsh on me and I overreacted...I didn't listen to you and treated you very badly..I am sorry..'.
' You trust me??..' Khushi asked with tears..
' of course I do..how can I not?? I know, meri Khushi thodi si buddhu hai per buri bilkul vi nahi hai..'
( My Khushi is little foolish but not bad at all..)
'Hawww.. buddhu ap hai mein nahi, apko itna waqt lag ga yeh sab samaj ne mein..'(I'm not fool you are, you took too long to understand everything)
'Sorry my jaan, my baby.. I am sorry for hurting you Shona..' he said putting a long kiss on her cheek..
She shied but putting her shyness away she pecked his lips and tried to kiss him.. she missed him a lot and he is looking so cute in his light paste color button down shirt, she just wants to eat him and her pregnancy hormones are also high..
He moved a bit and didn't let her kiss him.. Khushi got shocked and alarmed seeing his action.. she was feeling dejected, she softly asked..' what happened??'
Arnav holds her both hands and said, ' Khushi don't you want me to reply your message..'
Khushi nodded and Arnav joins their forehead together and said,'Baby if I kiss you now, I will not be able to stop, you have no idea how much I missed you.. I was in hell without you..I know if I kiss you now I will end up making love to you but I really want you to listen to me before everything else..'
She smiled,' than tell me, I am all ears..'
He sat leaning on the headboard of the bed and settled her in between his legs..she rested her head on his shoulders and he hugged her from behind...
'Khushi, as you were princess of your home, I was the Chote of my home, every one's little one.. Do you know who gave me this name chote, my mother.. I was her over loving little one..Anws not only mumma or papa but also Di, they always pampered me a lot as I was the little one and tried to hide all the trouble they were going through from me but like every little one I also grew up and understood my parents relationship is not normal.. They fight a lot.. They taunt each other's a lot.. all this anxiety was too much for mumma, she started being sick often, and suddenly we saw there were few changes in the relationship of them, as mumma was always sick papa started giving her time and attention..mumma was very happy may be equation of their relationship was changing and mumma's happiness touches me and Di too but all went in Vain when one day Mumma caught him with his girlfriend..he was having an extra marital affair..' he looked on the other side to hide his tears..but Khushi turned his face towards her and shook her head negatively.. she told him by her gestures that he doesn't need to hide his tears or any emotion from her..understanding her gestures he nodded his head and holds her hand..
'You know what happened after that I started hating my father, hating him for breaking my mother's trust, her heart, her love and for breaking my family.. my perfect family..at least I thought my family is perfect when we were anything but perfect..Mumma left him immediately with us and filed for divorce.. just in a night my world was upside down and it didn't end here, it ended with mumm's death followed by my father's suicide..' he sighed and took a pause..
'Di was in love with a guy at that time, who broke up with her as he doesn't want to involve in a messed up family like ours..' Khushi removed her head from his shoulder and sat face to face with him..
'My life was terrible over there, every one was showing there sympathy for us and we were nothing but an entertaining gossip for all.. Nani encouraged us to move here and luckily Di managed to come here with me..the new environment helped me a little too calm down.. my school had a therapist I have started seeing him too and that helped me a lot.. I was always a good student and started engrossing myself with studies and study related extracurricular activities.. soon I went to Harvard..'
He again paused seeing her moist eyes..' Khushi for a long long time I didn't feel happiness.. I forgot how it feels like to be happy.. honestly I was living a normal life and in some occasions I was enjoying too but I was not happy.. I forgot how to be happy.. even going to Harvard,i was not happy or content.. yes I was feeling good and proud but not happy..'
'Soon Di informed me she wanted to marry Shyam jiju..he was Di's friend since she moved here but I was terrified about the possibility of Di getting hurt like mumma.. I never been into a relationship as I hated the concept of love and relationship seeing my parents condition.. so I was afraid for Di..you have no clue how many times I did background check on Shyam jiju, my fear was so strong I even followed him silently for few days..' Arnav chuckled and Khushi too..
'Once Di got married, I saw her happy and content with her life.. Shyam jiju was a very good partner for her and that made me little relaxed about relationships and also about Akash and Payal's too.. Akash always talked about his relationship and I felt good for him..by the way he used to talk about one more person, Payal's sister Khushi,like how bubbly she is, how she plays with kids who is much younger than her, how she almost stole milkman's scooter to drop her Babu Ji his medicine bottle, how she teased Akash, Akash and Payal both were very fond you, about the fact that how well you hold yourself after losing so much on life, both of them were proud of the fact how you smiled all the time for yourself for others when may be there is a lot going on in your heart, unknowingly I started feeling close to you Khushi, I never saw you or met I only heard about you from Akash and Nani.. Nani used to love your nature a lot and she mentioned me once your smile is like my mother.. unknowingly I was super attracted to you already..'
He looked at Khushi who was overwhelmed with happiness..he smiled at her and said,'before I continue with your story let me clear you one more thing one more time which I already told you more than once.. Khushi I had only 3 friends in Harvard, Mike, Aman and Lavanya..' Arnav sighed..
'Lavanya proposed me when we were at the end of our graduation..I never knew she had any sort of feelings towards me and I politely denied her but when I shared it with Di and Akash they both thought I should at least give it a chance as both of them are in love with their friends they thought I should give it a chance..'
Khushi made a annoyed face and Arnav couldn't control to peck her lips as he knew she was feeling jealous..'There was nothing between me and Lavanya.. we just went for few dates and I understood I don't want her, the thing is I knew it I don't love her before entering the relationship, she was a good friend and I thought to give it a try but somewhere I knew it's not worth it and I didn't want to waste her time..so I broke up..'
'Now let me come to you..Khushi though I never saw you before, I had a connection towards you as just like me your life also changed over night, as just like me you also lost your parents, your house and your city..I had an admiration for you hearing about your antics from Akash, I had a mental image of yours as Nani said your smile and nature is like my mumma.. So, my beautiful lady I couldn't hold myself to fall in love with you when I saw you and I felt I concurred Mount Everest when you agreed to marry me.. I was happy, I was very very happy after a long time..'
Hearing him Khushi was feeling pain in her chest as now she started understanding why Arnav reacted like that when he saw her with Druhv..
'Khushi you always showered me with love with care.. you decorated our house the way a couple's house should be..you didn't change it completely but added your touch..you tried to make it like a couple's apartment from a bachelor's one..still I got mad at you, said something very wrong that I am ashamed to repeat..Even when you redecorated the house you made sure my study room stayed as it is, you made sure in this process no harm is happening to my trees or my comfort..I am sorry I was unfair to you, I know I told you once you need to ask me before making changes and probably that's why you said sorry for restricting me to interfere in house hold matters.. Khushi that house is yours baby,way more than mine, that is yours and I was a stupid back then to react like that, Khushi I thought you forgave me for that but..'
Khushi cuts him,' Arnav ji no.. you gain my forgiveness on that day itself when you said I can do whatever I want as I have the full rights and at the first place it was my mistake to bring change in the house without your consent..'
Arnav said in a stern voice,' No that is your house and you don't need anyone's freaking permission to do anything with it.. I like it this way and if you forgave me why you said sorry about that in the message..'
' Because I never let you do any changes and always get mad at you if you misplaced anything.. while I keep changing stuff and replacing things..'
' Because you understand this things better and as I always say you are the queen Victoria and our house is yours kingdom and no thread should be moved without your permission in your kingdom..'
Khushi slapped in his chest and said, ' don't make fun of me Arnavji..from now on I will always consult with you but remember my decision will be final.. I love that house,that's my heaven and I will take care of it..'
'I repeat again, whatever you want my queen..' after a pause he said,'if that house is your heaven why did you leave it Khushi, If I did any mistake is that a solution to leave me,to leave our house, Khushi??.. Do you know how lonely I was feeling..that house was biting me without you..'
Khushi was looking down and fidgeting..' You said I suffocates you..you said you wished you never met me..'
Arnav vowed his head holding her shoulders and said..' I said very very wrong..please forgive me, if you want you can punish me too but never ever think that I meant anything I said, Khushi as I mentioned before I was very happy after you entered in my life, after I saw you and fall in love with you.. I couldn't bear the fact that I was unwanted to you, while I was so much into you and you were forced to accept me, I couldn't tolerate it..for me you were perfect..you were the blessing of my mother.. you were the answer of all my misery.. so when I got to know about the truth of our marriage and I thought you were in love with Druhv, also you went to see him without my knowledge.. my biggest fear that love and affection hurts were coming true.. I didn't know how to react and I overreacted.. I am sorry..'
'I am sorry I made you feel like this but trust me I never loved him and I never thought of meeting him with any other intentions.. I was afraid of losing you and..'
Arnav cuts her saying,' I know jaan, I know..you said everything in your message and even before receiving that I kind of knew that but I was still upset thinking you didn't tell me ever about anything and I took it to my ego when you left the house without informing me, in this process I was rude to you for a long period..'
'I am sorry I didn't think rationally, I should have told you everything much much earlier..' Khushi said..
' I agree but again I understand your insecurities, you always saw me over reacting with emotional stuff, you were afraid of my reaction which kind of my fault and you said you considered our relationship as beautiful bond and I agree with you something this beautiful can not be forced'
Khushi threw herself in his chest and hugged him tightly..oh she got her Arnav ji back..she got her jaan back..
Arnav caressed her head and said 'Khushi you not only took full charge over our house but my health too.. You don't let me eat junk much, you reduce my alcohol consumption, though I hated those herbal remedies you made me drink I can't deny how much I appreciate your efforts to make my health better.. I made a lot fun of yours on that too.. I am sorry baby, I was inconsiderate towards your feelings'
'You made me fight with my past demons, you made me make a peace with my father even if it's a little.. though what he did is still unforgivable but he was repenting a lot.. Thank you for making me learn how to let go and there is no gain of holding grudges against a person who died repenting and at first I was mad at you for that too..sorry Shona'
'Do you remember in the beginning of our marriage, I used to wake up seeing nightmares and though we were still little distant, you used to hug me as close as possible and let me sleep in your lap.. I know in this process how many times you sacrificed your sleep but next morning you used to behave like nothing happened because all you wanted not to make me feel uncomfortable and only because of your warmth I have started seeing those nights mares very less.. Thank you Khushi, you are truly my happiness..'
'Do you remember when I showed you my life insurance and property papers which is going to be yours if anything happened to me.. you shedded big big tears saying that you don't want to live in a world if I am not going to be there..you made me feel out the world,you made me feel I am important, my life is precious to someone and literately I have someone who's life depends on mine..I felt content that day experiencing the person I love the most, love me back same way.. I started loving myself more, loving my life more as I knew if anything happened to me everybody will cry and feel sad but soon they will back to their normal life even Di but my Khushi's life will definitely change forever without me, she will be devastated and who can bear her tantrums except me.. I felt the same feeling on that day too when you asked my ent dr.almost 10 times if he sure that my nose bleeds are not serious, getting annoyed he said why don't we take a second opinion and you said it's a good idea on his face.. I had to convince you a lot and only then you understood..you made me feel how wanted I am over and over again jaan and I can't ever thank you enough for that..' After a pause he continued..
'Khushi..I lose my heart seeing you only once and I agreed to marry you as soon as Nani and Di asked me if I want to marry you..on the other hand your bua ji black mailed you to marry me and you took more than 3 months to love me..now tell who is who's out of league..My darling I know you are way out of my league but if I get this life 1000 more times, I will ask for you and you only..'
Khushi chuckled and breaking the hug he kissed her forehead..'Now let me tell you the most important thing.. we need to communicate with each other without fearing the reaction of others because our love is the biggest guarantee that whatever may come our ways we will always overcome it..Khushi not communicating properly destroys a lot of good bonding,so we will not do it..'
' I promise Arnav ji.. I will not hide anything from you ever..' Khushi replied..
'Me neither.. so let me tell you something I didn't share with you and I think you need to know..'
Khushi's heart started beating extremely fast...oh Lord whats now..!!!
......
Author's Note
Hey guys let me know how you liked Arshi's reunion.. As last chapter made you cry I hope you will smile reading this one.. By the way, you can cry if you want to.. aren't these two too cute to handle..
As there conversation was becoming too long I ended it here.. I will be back with next part maybe after a little break.. I may back soon if your response is well..lol
Love and gratitude.. enjoy reading ❤️❤️❤️