"Sathvik, you sly dog. You have been hiding her from us?" A voice came from behind them.
Sathvik looked up to see Ishwar and Vedhika coming towards them.
"Devangana, this is my best friend Ishwar and his wife Vedhika. And guys, this is Devangana," Sathvik made the introductions.
"And who is Devangana?" Vedhika asked with a teasing smirk.
"Devangana Sathvik Acharya. My wife," Sathvik said as he placed an arm around Devangana's shoulder.
Devangana's eyes widened at the gesture, and she looked up at him with the same expression.
Sathvik grinned, seeing the look on Devangana's face.
Her face is so expressive, especially her eyes.
Her beautiful hazel-coloured eyes.
Sathvik stared into those eyes, a feeling of drowning suddenly enveloping him.
Ishwar coughed, and Sathvik snapped out of his daydream.
"Uh, well..."
"So, tell us about your story, Devangana. He kept you a secret from us. We never knew Sathvik was in a relationship," Vedhika said.
"Oh no, we were not in a relationship. It's a long story. Tell them, Sathvik ji," Devangana said, gently nudging Sathvik with her elbow.
"Aww, Sathvik ji. How cute?" Ishwar teased, making Devangana blush even more.
Sathvik grinned, seeing her blush.
He realised he loved her blush.
Oh, how pretty she becomes when she blushes.
Not that she is less pretty without the blush, but she turns positively stunning when she blushes.
"God, Sathvik. Stop staring at her like you want to gobble her up," Vedhika teased, managing to turn Devangana an even darker shade of red.
Devangana hoped Mother Earth would split up and gobble her instead.
The new couple who had come by were mercilessly teasing them, and Sathvik was simply grinning as if he was enjoying every moment of it.
He casually took her hands in his, and Devangana felt her heart jumping out of her ribcage and getting stuck somewhere near her throat.
Oh shiv ji, what is happening to me? She thought to herself.
She is not seeing Sathvik for the first time, nor is she being in close proximity with him for the first time.
But why is she suddenly feeling all these weird flip-flops in her stomach?
Devangana tried to discreetly get her hand out of his hold, but he tightened his grip on her hands.
"So, why such a sudden marriage? Couldn't wait to organise a wedding, Sathvik?" Ishwar asked.
Sathvik proceeded to explain everything that had happened so far.
"Damn," Ishwar cursed.
"These jobless aunties, I tell you," Vedhika began to curse the Babita character in her own colourful language.
"And her brother punched you too? Damn! I missed the main part of the show," Ishwar said in regret, earning a kick from Sathvik.
"Oh, but the guy inside didn't look like someone who goes around punching other guys. He was so sweet with Muskaan. And he happily took Ishwari with him," Vedhika said, remembering the cute guy with muscles.
She had never thought guys with huge muscles could actually look cute.
Devangana's brother seems to be an exception.
"Ishwari?" Devangana asked.
"Our daughter. She is Muskaan's age," Ishwar said.
"Anybody here? Somebody, please help," they heard frantic cries from the house.
"That's Ishaan bhaiyya," Devangana said and ran inside with the other three hot on her heels.
She came to a halt, seeing Muskaan and another little girl, both with their chubby little fists on Ishaan's hair, pulling it tightly, and Ishaan trying to get out of their grip without hurting them.
"Oh God!" Ishwar and Sathvik rushed towards them to pull their kids away.
Devangana squatted next to Ishaan, who was rubbing his head.
"What happened, bhaiyya?"
"I made the mistake of giving Muskaan's toys to Ishwari to play with," Ishaan said.
"She is very possessive of her things," Sathvik said, clutching onto Muskaan.
"Yes, I learned the hard way," Ishaan said dryly.
"What happened then?" Devangana asked.
"Muskaan grabbed her things back from Ishwari. Ishwari didn't like it. She fought back. They grabbed onto each other's hair tightly. I tried to intervene and separate them. They ended up grabbing my hair instead," Ishaan said.
Sathvik laughed out loud. He simply couldn't help it.
Devangana and Ishaan glared at Sathvik, whose laughter died down seeing the Kashyap siblings' glare at him.
"Uh, where is Mom and Dad? And your parents?" Sathvik asked, not seeing them around.
"They are being given a tour of the house," Ishaan said.
"Okay, guys. We don't have much time. Why don't we get down to planning the reception?" Vedhika said, going into her business mode.
"Yeah, that would be nice," Sathvik said, and they all took a seat in the living room.
Surprisingly, Muskaan and Ishwari seemed to get along together, sharing toys and playing with each other.
"Seems like they bonded over pulling my hair," Ishaan said dryly.
"Okay. So tell me, Sathvik and Devangana. Indian or Western? How do you want the reception to be?" Vedhika asked.
"I will call Momma and Papa. We can decide together," Devangana said.
"It's our reception party, Devangana. So it should be our choice," Sathvik said.
"I agree," Ishaan agreed with his brother-in-law for the first time.
"What if Mommy gets angry? She seems to get angry about anything and everything nowadays," Devangana complained.
"Let her get angry. You are not under her thumb anymore," Ishaan said with a mischievous grin.
"What?"
"You lucky girl. You escaped from Mommy," Ishaan said, acting all jealous.
"Bhaiyya, please," Devangana pouted.
"Okay, now decide. How do you want it to be?"
"Devangana, I have to give the office employees a party anyway. So how about we have both? An Indian-style reception for the family and a cocktail party for the employees. What do you think about it?" Sathvik asked.
"That sounds good. We will be inviting family for the reception. If we keep the theme western, I don't think the older aunties and uncles from our community would find it comfortable," Devangana agreed.
"Great. So, there are two parties to arrange. In a week," Vedhika said, making notes.
"Yeah, it would be nice to have a two-day gap between the two functions," Sathvik said.
"Done. And Devangana, our main go-to designer will be here by evening to take your measurements. You're okay with that, right?" Vedhika asked.
"Yes," Devangana agreed.
"Now, about catering. Tell me your favourite foods and sweets, so that I can give orders real quick."
"About that, a reception cake is a must in these functions, right?" Sathvik asked.
"Of course. What's the reception without a huge cake?" Vedhika said.
"Devangana, why don't you make the cake for our reception?" Sathvik asked, surprising Devangana.
"Me?"
"Yes. You love baking, don't you? And obviously, this would be a good opportunity for marketing. There will be lots of women from Mom's club attending the parties. We can spread the word around that the bride made the cake. Trust me, if the cake is good, you will be showered with orders starting the next moment," Sathvik said.
Devangana looked at Sathvik with her heart in her eyes.
Could she really be this lucky?
She had prayed for a husband who would understand her dreams and support her.
And here she got a man who is taking the initiative to help her achieve her dreams.
"Thank you. I would like that," Devangana said huskily.
"Just get me a list of things you need. And yeah, there is a baking set here. Mom bought that when we were in Paris last year. Mind you, it has never been used. She bought it because it took her fancy, and then she totally forgot about it," Sathvik said with a laugh.
Ishaan smiled, feeling relieved.
He wasn't very keen on his sister remaining married to this impulsive man.
But he seems good for Angana.
Maybe everything happens for a reason.
A/N
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SF❤️