Retiring to her room fully drenched in Haldi ( turmeric paste) Anaswara stood in front of the mirror glancing at herself. The image infront of her had glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes but the heart was thumping like the history repeating.

Her eighteen year old self was once too drenched in haldi , adorned henna paste in her hands , she had natural blush but all exited as the life dived in .

" You didn't shower didi."

Rocking her 1 year old baby , Anaswara' s youngest sister asked .

" I was about to."

" You happy na "

" I'm '

Rudra placed the last box in his room , the room which was his sister's before. The room was spacious with large windows , cupboards and a table of wood.

" aur bhaiya ise kaha rakhe "Akash , his cousin asked breathing heavily.

" Arre , main le leta na tu kyu le aaya, wahi chodd ab use "

" kya bhara hai bhaiya aise isme "

" books hai bhai "

" aap kitabe abhi bhi padte ho? "

" na re school ki hai , baba ne dilaye the na woh saare"

An astounded Akash walked out of the room seeing Rudra caressing all the worn old books , indeed he was in love with all those books.

Back in school time, his family couldn't afford books so he used his sister's till tenth class and then he too received new books but those books held a special place in his heart as those were the sweats of his dad.

An emotional being as Rudra was , Anaswara had no idea.

She looked at her hand , his name adorning her hands, the only question that puzzled her was " will she live upto his standards?"

Feeling the numbness of her heart , she let the tomorrow decide everything .

Sangeet was a small ceremony, like the one happens in small villages with the whole village.

Anaswara grunted and sat grumpily , she had no idea why she was annoyed and frustrated.

"Anu, seedhi bait kyun muh bana rhi hai"

Mrs Janaki Agnihotri beeseched as her daughter seemed uninterested in her own functions.

Smiling at her mom mockingly, Anaswara straightened her back and looked at the groom's family's performances.

Rudra leaned towards her and she gave him a horrifying look.

" Give me your hand "

" What, why "

" okay, just forward your right hand "

Anaswara unwillingly forwarded her hand , he gently took her hand in his hand and smiled , she keenly studied his expressions, her heart thumping deciphering his expressions and whispering to herself how much love this man infront of her had been showering on her.

Slipping a gold ring , he whispered " for the missed engagement "

" This..... "

" come on , it looks beautiful, I'll get you a diamond or platinum, soon but not very soon "

Smiling sheepishly he uttered and for the first time in her life infront of him , she smiled wholeheartedly.

" it's indeed beautiful "

She looked at the ring which had a big heart engraved on it and two small intervened hearts inside it.

" You know what it means ?"

She shrugged and looked at him . Taking her hand in his hand and touching the hearts he explained ,

" These two intervened hearts are you and me, so soon to be this big heart "

He smiled showing his dimples and for a second she looked at him stupefied , smiling she looked down and he held her hand gently .

" Did I disturb you both ?"

They were disturbed by Radhika's voice , she gave a teasing smile to Rudra for which he glared at her.

" Hey I'm Radhika , his elder sister "

"I'm Anaswara "

" I know , this is my husband Jagan and those there are my kids "

After the formal introductions from both sides , they winded up the Sangeet ceremony.

Anaswara's phone chimed , a text message from certain someone .

12:35 am

"I'm counting the stars
alone today, might have a
chance tomorrow to
count with you "

😉

Good night Mrs Wife

😴😴😴😴

Chuckling she kept her phone aside and laid down glancing at the ceiling. Her life took a drastic change without her doing anything. She vowed to herself to never love anyone but she fell for this certain someone who accepted her with all her flaws.

The genuine efforts of him made her trust him even when she didn't want to.

Sighing she took her phone from the side table and replied

02:00 am

Good Morning .

Shaadi sampann hua , ab varmala pehnayiye ek doosre ko.

Married no remarried, she stood posing for pictures. Him gently holding her hands and asking her time and again if she was okay.

When was the last time someone being this gentle to her , someone made her their priority?

The after marriage rituals exhausted Anaswara who didn't sleep a bit yesternight.

Shaking her head as if shaking herself out of her sleepy self , Anaswara held the plate for Pooja. A hand held her hand and supported the plate , she knew that hand .

Rudra held the plate knowing his wife will drop it down soon , he can feel the figure next to him swaying slightly .

" You okay?" His concern received a nod.

" rest a while Anaswara, I'll let Rudra know you're in my room and also I'll come to wake you up for the evening rituals "

Saying this his sister along with his cousin's wife dashed out of the room .

Anaswara looked around the room and sat on the bed , the next second she remembers putting her head on the pillow.

A hand gently caressed her head and whispered something into her ears, she could feel someone's presence near her but her eyes couldn't open to look at that person.

Rudra gently put the blanket on her and smiled shaking his head.

Looking at her sleepy form once more ,he walked out of the room .

Sometimes the love we crave is received after the storms wash out our trust in love .

Author's note:

😁😁😁😁😁