एक मांगे अगर सौ ख्वाब दूं 

तू रहे खुश, मैं आबाद हूँ 

तू सबसे जुदा जुदा सा है 

तू अपनी तरह तरह सा है

Author's POV

"Vivaah Sampann hua" the priest announced, making the couple look at each other with heartwarming smiles, as they knew it was the beginning of a never-ending bliss of togetherness. The eyes shining with happiness were committing the sin of ignoring the world as they exchanged promises none could hear. As they were about to walk towards their elders to take their blessings, shivangi's heavy lehnga got stuck in the protruding decorative edges of her throne. She huffed, knowing how difficult it would be to bend and take it out considering her dress weighed twice more than her. If not for the royal wedding accommodating lakhs of people, she would have never let her mom do this injustice to her.

Shivangi's mother started to walk towards her when she gasped as she witnessed like every other breathing soul in the room, the Rudra Pratap Suryavanshi who was no less than a king bowing down in front of Shivangi to free the lehnga from the clutches of the throne tenderly. Shivangi saw him in shock as she nervously looked around at the whole damn world, including the media, looking at them with disbelief in their eyes. Rudra simply smiled at her as he said, "Ab hamare ilava aapko pakad ke rakhne ka hakk toh iss lehenge ko bhi nahi hai"

His words eased her as she laughed at his possessive statement. Every camera captured the scene as they saw Rudra smiling up at her sitting on his knee as he admired her laughing self. Shivangi's laughter ceased as she felt something cold touch her ankle. She looked down to see her man tying anklets made of seven rare gemstones depicting seven different shades as if sunlight had been passed through a prism. What stunned her was the feel of something soft touching her skin instead of the metal used to make it. It didn't take her long to realize that a velvet ribbon was integrated into the anklet as he wanted her sensitive skin to stay protected while representing his enormous love through his passionate gift. He got a mesmerizing anklet made using seven colorful jewels enveloped by a velvety texture made especially for her. He looked up at her as he said, "Just like you have filled my life with heavenly shades, I am grateful that you are entering my home to illuminate it as well. This is my first gift to my wife to let the world know how the world's best seven gemstones pale in her comparison"

The sparkling red ruby, dazzling orange sapphire, yellow diamond, green emerald, blue sapphire, Indigo Tanzanite, and shining violet Amethyst studded in her anklets bowed to her grace as they found themselves incapable of competing with her. The charm wasn't in her beauty. It was in the way her eyes full of love glanced at him. Nothing compares to a loving heart. Neither diamonds nor beautiful faces. As he got up she tiptoed on her feet, overwhelmed by emotions, as she cupped his face and placed her soft lips on his forehead. The entire world witnessed their love as he responded to her forehead kiss with a peaceful smile as if a wanderer had reached home after ages. Men make their women feel special through their forehead kisses, and women embrace them as the worth of their lives.

He balanced her keeping his hands on her waist as they both joined their foreheads, relishing the serenity of the moment. Their parents standing nearby warded evil eyes off them while an absolutely excited Deeksha threw all the left flower petals on them, turning it into a picture-perfect moment.

2 years later

"Velvet, drink this juice right now" Rudra glared at her while she simply ignored him and walked toward the decorator. Rudra sighed at this as she kept roaming here and there without having a morsel of food down her throat. He was sure of his wife having spring in her feet as since morning he had only seen her look after the guests, decorations, and arrangements. She went ahead to feed a guest's puppy while he kept following her like a lost puppy and as he saw her petting the little creature, he wanted to snap.

"Pammi aunty ke doggy ka bhi dhyaan hai inhe, sirf apna nahi hai. Koi na bete rudra yeh teri lifetime duty hai madam ka khyaal rakhna" he muttered to himself as he finally had enough of her tantrums. He followed her into the kitchen, pinned her to the fridge, and blocked her path with his one hand while there was a wall on the other side. Her breath hitched as she saw him so close to her face. Her mind went blank for a moment as she looked at his intense eyes. He simply raised a brow, sipping from her glass before opening the first button of his shirt. As her eyes landed on the V of his neck, she was too lost to notice anything else. She openly ogled at his muscular build with fascination while he forwarded the glass of juice to her, making her gulp the same quietly. She didn't know what was making her swallow the liquid, the urge to touch the muscles of her husband, or her hunger strike since morning.

As she finished the juice, he stepped back, bringing her out of her daze. She glared at him for still using this trick on her after years of marriage. He simply smirked. They were too lost in each other's eyes when suddenly Shivangi looked at the cooking station and gasped. Quickly rushing to the milk pan, she switched off the stove as the boiled milk was going to spill, which was considered inauspicious in their household. Milk is a sign of prosperity in a household and this carelessness would lead to stupid guests murmuring stupid things. She breathed in relief but it was short-lived as someone took away her breath once again by wrapping his arms around her bare waist, peeking from her saree. His lips landed on her neck but before he could start his sweet torture by sucking her creamy smooth skin she looked back at him and signed, "Kya kar rahe hai aap? Shaadi wala ghar hai hazaro kaam pade hai aur aapko romance soojh raha hai"

"Hamein aapke ilava kabse kuch aur soojhne laga jo aap itna hairan ho rahi hai?" Rudra asked tightening his hold on her. She blushed crimson at his words, forgetting she had to look over more of the arrangements of Deeksha's wedding. Rudra's next sentence made her gasp, "Anyway when the person who's getting married has shamelessly sneaked away to romance with her fiance, why should I feel ashamed of romancing with my wife?"

"WHAT! Deeksha isn't supposed to meet him before marriage. Mom would kill her," Shivangi exclaimed with a super cute worried expression. Instead of answering, he pecked her nose and said, "Stop being so cute velvet or we both won't be attending the function that starts in an hour"

He leaned towards her to take her lips in his when someone cleared his throat from behind. Shivangi immediately turned towards the empty pan kept near her to save herself from embarrassment when her father-in-law asked, "What was happening over here?"

"Shivangi was cooking. What else?" Rudra shrugged nonchalantly as he behaved like an innocent devil while his father smirked looking at his wife and said, "Haan vo khaana bana rahi hai aur sahabzaade hamein bana rahe hain"

"If you are innocent, my dear son, then you must know it's only my innocence that resulted in you and Deeksha. Save our very innocent eyes and continue all this in your chamber" Karam teased his son, who smirked at him before picking up his wife in his arms and saying, "As you say, dear father. Don't expect us in the veneration today"

Shivangi looked at him astonished as he walked away, ignoring the loud chatter of the guest teasing behind him as he crossed them to take her to his chamber. His wife needed to be fed with lots of food and love, and he was going to do both. First, he would make her favorite cheese pasta to give some energy to her and then suck it out in the most pleasing way possible.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, hitting his chest.

"Your husband's indirect love confession in front of the guests" he winked at her, making her hide her face in his chest. She remembered being teased by a few women some time ago that Rudra never openly said 'I love you' to her. Every time someone said something like that she wished he wasn't around because he believed in action and wouldn't let her come for breakfast on time and sometimes even on lunch to tell them without using words that the only person he needed to show his love to was his wife. He kissed the cheeks of a cutely blushing Shivangi as he said, "Aaye haaye koi toh roklo. Hamara nazuk sa dil kahi aapke gulabi gaalon pe mar mitt gya toh sambhalna mushkil ho jayega"

Shivangi wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "Hamein sambhalna ache se aata hai apne pati ko bhi aur unke dil ko bhi. Vo kya haina dono hamare hi hai. Hamesha se"

Rudra chuckled and said, "Don't tempt me or we won't even be able to reach our room"

As it was time for Deeksha to go away with her husband, the entire atmosphere turned from lively chaos to an emotional mess. Her car left behind a sweet sting in the hearts of the family members as they reminisced about every moment spent with her. Rudra looked at the passing car emotionally as his eyes refused to shed tears of parting from a sister he was used to teasing now and then. Shivangi stood beside him and intertwined her fingers with his. She kept her head on his shoulder and said, "You didn't even compliment me today. How do I look?"

He smiled at her attempt to divert his attention as he gazed softly at his beautiful wifey dressed in an enthralling pink lehnga looking like heaven on earth. He looked around at the empty hall with a smirk before pulling her to himself and saying, "You look killer"

"Pain one or dangerous one?" she asked, biting her lip even after knowing what he meant. She intentionally asked him if she looked like a painkiller or a deadly killer to involve him in a conversation. He simply sang, "Chalao na naino se baan re jaan lelo na jaan re one"

She giggled at his dramatic answer while he laughed along with her.

"Velvet, now the wedding is done and as promised, you are gonna take off from the office and rest at home for a week," Rudra said sternly, making her whine. She tried to use his words from the past and said, "You said a CEO never gets a holiday, so how can I get one?"

He glared at her innocent expression as she repeated the words he told her while‌ training her for the post of CEO. They were now Co-CEO of the organization as Rudra refused to let her be anything less than his equal when she was deserving enough for the post after relentless training. The most interesting part was that their assistants stayed on a floor different than theirs, making Shivangi question Rudra, "But I used to work from your cabin as well at times"

Rudra shook his head, knowing she wouldn't understand how many rules of the company he broke to have her closer to him both in the past and even now. When it wasn't allowed for assistants to stay on the same floor as the CEO, he changed the rule, especially for her and now when they were allowed; he changed the rule once again to have her only for himself.

"These are company policies velvet. They keep getting revised by the board," he answered as if he never had anything to do with it. Coming back to the present, he said, "My wish! Now let's sleep. We have bagged the best CEO award once again. We have to attend the event tomorrow"

__________________

Shivangi was looking at herself for one last time in the mirror, ignoring the weird feeling bouncing in the pit of her stomach, when Rudra entered the room, looking dapper in his Armani suit. He made her sit on the bed and sat on his knees before her as he tried to convince her once again, "Velvet, please let's stay at home. You don't feel well since morning. Let's not risk your health."

"I am fine," she said in her sign language, refusing to let him skip the opportunity of getting the prestigious award yet again. He sighed and nodded, knowing how adamant she was. She got up and before they could walk together toward the hall, he felt a weight on him and saw a dizzy Shivangi leaning on him. He quickly patted her face and picked her in bridal style, but till then, she had lost consciousness. He quickly rushed out with his wife in his arms to take her to their family doctor. To stop a pacing rudra who was giving him a headache, Karam asked, "What about the award event?"

"Bhaad mein jaaye award aur bhaad mein jaaye saari duniya. I am not going anywhere leaving my wife," Rudra said furiously, glaring at his father for even thinking about anything other than the health of his wife at the moment. Avantika simply laughed at her husband's expressions, as she already had an idea of what had happened to her daughter-in-law. She had been waiting for this moment for years. As soon as the doctor came out he smiled and said, "Congratulations, Mr Suryavanshi"

Before he could say anything else Rudra held his collar and roared at the nearby standing head of department, "The gynecologist in your hospital needs a neurologist immediately. No! Mentally stable employees are what you need. Here my wife fainted, and he is saying congratulations. Why doesn't he say 'I don't love my life anymore instead?'. Useless hospital"

"But sir–" he tried to speak when Rudra's red eyes marred with raw fury shut him up.

"If you speak once again, I'll bury you alive," listening to his threat, the doctor nearly required a cardiologist more than a neurologist. He prayed to god to spare his life this once and he would never announce any happy news to anyone with his tongue ever again.

"Sir, you are pregnant," the head hurriedly rushed out. Rudra's parents looked at him wide-eyed and corrected, "I mean, your wife is pregnant"

Rudra left the doctor and marched towards the head, who shivered looking at him. As he was about to run away seeing Rudra's anger, Rudra stopped him and hugged him. This shocked the hell out of the old man who looked at Karam and he smiled nodding at him. The HOD relaxed and patted Rudra's back.

"Thank you so much, uncle, for announcing the best news of my life. You are great and so is your hospital. From next time be less dumb and say you are pregnant only because it might be a woman who gives birth to a child, but it's the couple that becomes parents so even I am pregnant if she is" he said and walked towards his parents leaving the old man wondering if that one line held more meaning that those tons of parenting books because accepting your new role is more important and learning it.

Rudra entered the room of his wife, who looked at his million-watt smile in amusement. Before she could question him, he said, "Velvet, I don't know if magic exists for the world, but when I look at you I know it does. Like how can someone manage to blow away my heart every time without even realizing she owns it? You are unreal at times, but what's more unreal is the number of times you give a new life to me. Thank you so much for existing"

He hugged her tenderly and kissed her forehead while his words went above her head. She tapped his chest and made a questioning sign. He smiled at her and answered, "My magic is getting me a little miracle in 9 months and I am going to be their lifetime treasure keeper"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes before saying, "Thanks for being the reason behind my existence, Rudra. Thanks for being the cure to my every yearning in life. Our little miracle is going to be so lucky to have you as his father"

"Not as lucky as me for getting his mother as my life partner," Rudra replied.

"You THOR! Why can't you ever accept I am more right than you?" she asked angrily. He frowned and said, "You accepted that you are more mine than yours then you also have to accept that I am more right"

For the upcoming months, they found new ways of fighting, pampering each other, and resolving those fights to keep the love cutely sparkling between them. Maybe it wasn't only for upcoming months they planned on following this schedule for the rest of their lives because every night they had to land at the same venue. Each other's embrace. Their home. 

Jab aap saath hai toh kya shuru kya khatam 

Bas aapse ishq karna hi hai iss dil ka dharam

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

And here we go! When I wasn't thinking straight while writing the story then maybe I wrote this epilogue in my sleep. I tried to make it worth justifying the tale of Rudra and Shivangi but I don't know how I did so do tell me about it....Was it worth it?

See you soon with another short story of mine very soon. 

The best part of epilogue?

The best part of the entire book?

The cutest scene?

One thing you are never gonna forget from this book?

A trope you love?

One word for the epilogue...

Thanks a ton for all the love you have showered upon Rudra and Shivangi. Your support means the world to me. Kindly grace me with tons of inline comments and votes. I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter. Did I?

Love you guys with all my heart. 

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1. Worth it

2. Satisfied, elated and sighing happily after reading this story

3. Loved their kind of love'

4. All of these

Will be eagerly waiting for your response. For you the update ends here while mine starts the moment your comments start dropping in. For updates kindly give me heartwarming comments and the response would be automatic. You guys are what keeps me going. Your support is my biggest motivation. Have a blessed day ahead!

With love

Ms. Bhatia