She opened her eyes expecting to see him but instead of him, there was a wrapped box on the bed. Sitting upright with a wide smile, she took the box and opened it only to see a small cute teddy bear making her pout.

“Teddy bear again?” She thought and took it out only to see a note along with it.

Since it's your twenty sixth birthday, let's get you twenty six teddy bears starting from this small one. What say?

She read that and her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh my God! Twenty six? What will I do with so many teddy bears?” She asked horrified and turned the paper to see another note.

Kidding girl! This is a key chain. Consider it your first gift. 1st gift means for your 1st birthday. You were that small so this small teddy bear. By the end of the day, you'll get your twenty sixth gift.

“God! He is mad!” She muttered and walked to the washroom only to see a gift box on the floor making her chuckle.

She picked it up and opened it to see a pair of earrings making her smile.

Cliché I know but I had seen you looking at this with so much longing when we went for jewellery shopping of our wedding. I don't know why you didn't buy this. May be you thought it's not needed but trust me it looks really good on you.

She read the note and looked at the earrings once again.

“It's the same” She told taking it in her hand.

“Oh God! This small stud costed around three lakhs” She told whining as that was the only reason she didn't buy it that day.

“He is completely mad” She thought shaking her head but then smiled and proceeded to get freshened up.

She came out and was drying her hair with a towel when she saw another box on the table.

“This was not there when I went inside” She thought and looked around to see coffee on the table in front of the couch.

Smiling she took the box and opened it to see a nose-stud.

“Nose stud?” She asked confused and took the note which was there along with it.

Not that the one which you're wearing right now is bad, but this will look pretty on you too

She read the note and blushed as she looked at the mirror.

Shaking her head, she removed the nose stud which she was wearing and put it on, then smiled looking at both the earrings and nose stud.

There was an arrow mark pointing to the next page and she turned the page.

Drink your coffee and open the wardrobe. ONLY AFTER DRINKING THE COFFEE

She read it with a chuckle and sipped the coffee as she opened the wardrobe to see a single red rose making her smile.

She took it along with the note under it.

This is not your fourth gift but this will lead to your fourth gift

She read the note and looked at the rose confused.

“Did he mean garden?” She thought confused but walked to the garden nevertheless.

She spotted a box on the bench there and smiled before walking to it. Opening it, she found two bangles and smiled understanding what he was actually doing.

By now, you might have understood what's my plan. So wear it and go to the kitchen

“Kitchen?” She asked confused and walked there only to see a big box of dairy milk making her eyes go wide.

She took one from it and opened the packet happily to see a note under the box.

“Happy? Now straight to the mandir” He told and she smiled widely before throwing the chocolate back in the box and rushing to the mandir as she almost guessed what would it be.

Huffing, she reached there and spotted the gift box. Taking it, she opened it and her guess didn't go waste. With brimmed up eyes, she read the note along with it.

Took quite some time but found it finally. Keep it safe somewhere and go to guest room

She took the idol of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati sitting on a swing. She always wanted it but never found it anywhere.

Holding it in her palm, she shook the swing slightly with a teary eyed smile. Walking to the room, she kept it in a corner of the wardrobe before walking to the guest room. It was not the gift that brought tears in her eyes. The fact that he took so much effort to get a thing that she wished to have, made her heart swell.

As she entered, she took in the scent of the room and looked around with a smile.

“You're here right? Keep hiding. I'll find you” She told as she took the gift box from the table while he who was standing behind the cupboard looked at her with a smile.

She opened the box and looked inside to see a red stoned ring.

“For my Ruby” She read and blushed as she remembered he had called her Ruby once in some situation. Wearing it, she turned the note.

“To the bedroom again” She read and went out to the bedroom.

Just like that, she went around the whole house and found all the other gifts by the evening. She sat on the couch wearing a saree, fully dressed after finding all the left out nineteen gifts which included every little things she once wished to have and had told him many a times causally.

(A/N: The actual truth is, your author ran out of ideas. I planned all these twenty six gifts idea but after typing half of the part, I couldn't come up with so many things. Sorry *pout*)

Final gift was still left and there was no clue in the twenty fifth note. She was curious to know what was the twenty sixth gift he was talking about.

With a pout, she was sitting on the couch looking at the last note again to find some clue in it but there was none. Nobody was there at home except the servants, him and her.

“Missed me?” She heard his voice and looked at the door with a wide smile to see him standing there grinning.

She rushed to him and hugged him tightly making him smile. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

“I didn't miss you because I knew you were around here itself” She told and he hummed.

“But your hug says otherwise” He told and she parted from him with a fake frown.

He extended his palm towards her and she kept her palm on his with a smile.

“Come” He told clasping her palm in his.

“Where?”

“You know I won't say then why bother asking?” He asked as they walked out and she chuckled.

Once they reached out and was about to enter the car, he held her wrist and pinned her to the car.

“Wh-what?” She asked holding his shoulders.

“Don't you want your twenty sixth gift?” He asked and she looked at him with a blushy smile as from the look in his eyes, she could guess what was it.

“What is it?” She asked nevertheless and he smiled before cupping her face with both his palms and kissing her forehead.

“That's the gift?” She asked with a pout and he shook his head slowly.

He kissed both her eyelids making her shiver. Then, kissed both her cheeks before raising his head to look at her face. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

“I'm an year late but better late than never” He told and she looked shocked at him.

Before she had time to react, she felt his lips on hers making her knees go weak. If not for her hold on his shoulder and his hold on her waist, she would have fallen flat on the ground. She gripped his shoulder in a tight grip as he pulled her closer to him. Butterfl——scratch it, a whole zoo of —God knows what— animals created a ruckus in her tummy as she tried to keep her concsiousness intact.

Was he killing her? Well he was just showing her the way to heaven it seems. How was she supposed to describe what she felt that moment? Soft? Smooth? Amazing? Excellent? Exquisite? Extravagant? No, none of these words could describe it. Was it, this man's first kiss? Nah! No way! She won't believe it even if he write it on a paper and sign under it.

After what felt like eternity, she felt the warmth going away from her. She opened her eyes with a jerk and looked into his eyes, for that was all she could do.

They kept looking into each other's eyes completely oblivious of the world until his phone rang breaking the peaceful aura that surrounded them.

He took his mobile from his pocket while she kept looking at him as she found it too difficult to control her eyes at that moment.

“H-ha we're coming. On the way! Ya I know” He told and hanged the call before smiling at her while her cheeks were already red.

“We have to go” He told and was about to take his hand off her waist when she shook her head and hugged him.

“What did you just do?” She asked in a whisper.

“Was it so difficult to understand what I did?” He asked and she closed her eyes as she took in his scent.

“Let's go. We're late” He told and she shook her head again.

“Anika, everyone are waiting” He told and she shook her head again.

“They'll kill me if we're more late” He told and she raised her head to look at him.

“Ok” She told and he was about to go when she held him back again.

“What now?” He asked.

“Was it really your first kiss?” She asked softly and he chuckled.

“Why?” He asked as he slowly rubbed the smudged lipstick from the edge of her lips with his thumb while she shook her head with a blushy smile.

She pointed at his lips and he winked before getting inside the car leaving her heart to pace with time.

••|To Be Continued|••

PRECAP:

“Haww! You both idiots! Because of you both, my life got spoilt” She told huffing making him laugh out loud.

“I will kill you today! After killing you, I'll go to Bhaiyya and kill——No! If I kill him, bhabhi will turn a widow so, I'll just kidnap him and torture him for one month. And you! I'll throw your body in dustbin and put all the worms on you. Yuck! What am I even saying?” She scrunched her face in disgust and he sat on the bed laughing his heart out.