My Vulnerary Husband- our journey towards love - Chapter 265

TWO MONTHS LATER

***

|Innaya|

Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out had I not met Eshan. A small voice always keeps telling me that we were destined to meet. There was something strong, an unexplainable force that always pulled me towards him, and I could not find words to pinpoint what exactly it was.

Perhaps, it was that red string of fate people believed in. Both of us were tied with that invisible thread, and although, it would get tangled sometimes… We handled the knots in our relationship carefully, not letting it get broken.

Two months had gone by in a jiffy with us burying that horrid mother-daughter, and their unspeakable deeds behind. Many good things happened in these two months. First and foremost, my ankle recovered well, and Eshan lost his excuse of carrying me around, though he sometimes acted sneakily and picked me up nonetheless.

Then my in-laws turned out to be so understanding and loving that I never felt like a stranger around them anymore. In the beginning, it was hard to be around Eshan’s mother, but then she took the initiative to clear up her intentions and her feelings regarding me. They dropped everything back at home to stay with us.

I slowly warmed up to them, and here we were, after two months, close as one family. It took one month for me to start calling my mother-in-law as a mum. It was hard to forget her scornful words, but once I realized that she did all to protect me, they faded away. Moreover, I saw her sincerity and noticed that she was not faking it. So, why hold grudges? She was a great human being, and I realized it after spending time with her. How could parents of a person like Eshan be bad? It was utterly impossible with how amazing their son was.

I stirred the daal once before turning off the flame. My eyes wandered to the man whose one smile, stirred butterflies within the pit of my stomach. With his head thrown back, he laughed over something Granny said to him. The sudden fuzzy feeling cocooned me, seeing how warmly he treated my family.

Yes, Mom and Granny had returned from their trip yesterday. The first thing we did was to receive them together from the airport and bring them to the new villa that was just around walking distance from ours. Now, my family was closer to me than ever, and I knew I would not repeat the mistake of allowing secrets between us.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Eshan excusing himself and making his way towards me.

What could he possibly want now?

In the span of one and half hours, I was in the kitchen, preparing our lunch, Eshan made almost half a dozen trips, sometimes in the pretext of water, some times asking if I needed a hand or simply, for searching his mobile, which was put on the charger in our bedroom.

I held back the smile and turned to him with a stern glare. “What’s a new excuse, husband?”

“Umm… Nothing? I am going to set the table if you are done.” Picking up plates, he hurriedly padded out of the kitchen.

“Alright, go ahead.” I turned back but gasped in surprise as the warm lips pressed an unexpected feather-light kiss on my cheek.

Eshan.

He left winking cheekily, and this time I didn’t hold back the smile as well as the blush rising on my face.

*

Sameer, Barun, and Ayush dropped everything and accompanied us for lunch. The lunch was a very happy and joyous affair with our friends and family.

Mum, mom, dad, and Granny left to their rooms after our lunch. All of us youngsters sat comfortably in the living room.

Sahil had come once to apologize. He had actually fallen on his knees to beg for my forgiveness, and Eshan had chased him away. I tried to stop him because I did not want Eshan to lose his friends.

I learned later that Siya had left the country as her company sent her to their branch in Canada. So there were three people amongst our friends who were missing from today’s lunch.

The third missing person was Arjun. And, I missed him terribly. After that day, I never saw him again. It broke my heart, every time I recalled how foolishly I had hurt him with my words. I had wanted to apologize, but there were no signs of him. I could only sulk, and curse myself. There would be a day when he would return. I knew it deep down.

“What are you thinking, sweetheart?” Eshan whispered softly in my ears as he casually sat beside me and out of habit his hand came around my shoulder pulling me closer.

“Stop it, Eshan,” I glared at him moving away from his arms.

“You stop it, sweetheart. I know you are angry but at least listen to me.”

Why should I listen to him after knowing he had shifted Amma to Ayush’s home? Only this morning I discovered that Amma never left for pilgrims. Though I was not that angry at him, in fact, I was not angry at all. I understood his reason but who said I couldn’t have fun at his expense?

“I was also not aware of it, Innaya. I am getting to know about everything just now along with you.”

I maintained the impassive face and didn’t reply. I inwardly grinned and sneakily stole a quick glance with Ayush.

They all actually knew I was faking it but who would have thought that my husband was so thick-headed.

“Why are you being mute now? Explain to her right at this instant, or I’ll smash you up!” Eshan growled lowly at Ayush.

“What is there to explain?” Ayush simply shrugged his shoulder uncaringly.

Sameer further added, “It was your plan all along to spend some quality time with her and—”

“You promised that we would get our niece or nephew sooner that way. So when are you going to give us good news?” Ayush interrupted and sulked like a child. However, he grinned suddenly, his eyes too shone brightly as he cheered, “Yup! We want good news! We want good news! We want good news! We want good news! We want good news!”

‘God! What an embarrassment! What is with our kids every time?’ My face flushed rapidly, and all thanks to shameless Ayush. I almost ran out of the room, afraid of what would fall on my innocent ears.

“Argh… What kind of monsters I have in the disguise of friends. God, why me?” Eshan complained. I could feel his eyes on my back, moments later, he called out, “Innaya?” As if, I would stop for more comments. I bet he was still hung on the lie that I was angry and he didn’t even realize where the conversation was headed.

“You moron. Do you think she will still stay and wait for us naming those who are yet to make their entry in this world?”

I heard Barun putting sense in my husband’s head. Loud laughter erupted in the living room, which in turn caused me to fasten my pace.

“Stupid,” I muttered under my breath before rushing outside in the garden.

***

“Why are you hiding here?”

Startled, I whirled around but the abrupt motion resulted in me losing my footing. Automatically my hands flew outward in an attempt to stabilize myself and at the same time similar action from the person behind startling me happened. Before I could kiss the dirt, my husband pulled me safely into his arms.

Sighing to myself, I glared at the man who appeared out of nowhere.

Wasn’t he inside with his friends?

‘As if, he would leave you alone.’

“Sorry,” he apologetically whispered.

“So shall we start preparing?”

“For what?” Confused, I racked my brain to understand the context he was referring to.

“For fulfilling Ayush’s demand,” Eshan whispered naughtily.

“Shameless.” I swatted his chest before running out of his arms.

His loud laughter boomed around me before he took off behind me. We continued playfully chasing around as our laughter and giggles filled the air with happiness and love.

***

THE END::: Towards their happily ever after…