"Bas kuch saal aur, Sidharth ki padhai poori ho gayi hai. Kaam karna shuru karega phir mere bete ke liye mai ek sundar si ladki dekhungi." Rita, Sidharth's Maa, said while they were on their way back from a relative's wedding.

"Not again please!" Sidharth rolled his eyes at her, she'd start planning his wedding inside her head every time she would see someone getting married. He was just 23 back then.

"Tum kyu iski shaadi ki tension leti ho? He'll find one for himself." Ashok, Sidharth's Papa, commented.

"Why not!? Taki wo apne dost ko tarah kisi foreigner ko ghar le aaye?" Maa asked him. Making a comment about her son's friend, Vicky started dating a foreigner while he was pursuing his education.

"Okay, Maa ab mujhe lag raha hai aap kuch zyada hi soch rahi hai iss bare me. I'm totally going to focus on work. That's it. Kal mera pehla din hai office ka toh please let's not talk about me getting married?" Sidharth replied.

"Hmm, mai kal teri favourite sabzi banaungi." Maa mentioned, making him immediately smile.

"Aur mujhse office me koi favour expect mat karna." Baba said, didn't settle with the others.

"Mere bete ko zarurat nahi hai aapke so-called favours ki! Aap sirf Sharma ji ke bete ke liye rakhiye apne favours! Favour denge yeh?" Maa taunted Papa for saying that to their son. It reminded her of how he had warmly welcomed their friend's son into his company but wasn't going any softer with his own baby.

Sidharth laughed and high-fived his mother for taking this stand. His family pampered him with love, guided him throughout the stages of his life and were yet again ready to back him up when he was about to start working in their company.

Sidharth recalled one of those days with his parents while he sat across a small hawan kund and heard the Pandit chant a few mantras.  His father, like any typical father, was a strict and disciplined one who trained him well to handle the company ahead. His mother, just like every other Indian mother, was his backbone, his biggest supporter in the whole wide world. And like any other child, he was slightly closer to her because she would have the solution to all of his problems, even when he would get into trouble when he was a child.
Shehnaaz was sitting beside Sidharth and her parents were seated behind them, they were also invited since they were also a part of his family now. Apart from them, he used to invite very few people who were close to his parents, just some of his father's old colleagues, no business delegates and no one from the so-called social circle, it was just a pooja followed by lunch for every one.

"Sidharth beta, you know, I remember I met your parents once in an event. Jaan pehchaan nahi thi humari, sirf thodi baatein ki unse. Didn't get to know them well but they just seemed nice people. Tab nahi pata tha ke unke bete se meri beti ki shaadi hogi lekin aaj tumhe dekh kar lagta hai ke wo bohot acche log the aur unki parvarish bhi acchi thi." Parminder said when they were having lunch together.

"Hmm." Sidharth nodded, he was already so full of emotions at that moment, he fought his tears and blinked his eyes a little.

"So true! But I knew your father! He was a wonderful businessman. I bet he'd be proud of you!" Sukhbir said, he felt the need to say something like his wife just said.

Shehnaaz was silent, she chose to be her husband's side all day because she knew she couldn't make him feel any better with words. She simply stood by him and joined her hands when the guests were leaving including her parents.

"Can you, umm- come with me." He said, fumbling with words.

"Yeah." Shehnaaz nodded, followed him while trying to hold back her smile. He took her to a bedroom adjacent to theirs in the corridor. It was always locked, she had guessed it was his parents' room.

"There's a- this thing, Maa left something for you." He said, going through his mother's locker inside her cupboard.

"For me?!" She was quite surprised because his parents passed away 10 years ago.

"Um-hm." He nodded, still looking for something he mentioned.

"Yeh kitna sundar hai!" She said as she took a few steps around the room and saw a beautiful painting of a couple enjoying the sunset on a beach.

"Ha, Maa liked to paint." He replied and joined her there with a small box in his hands.

"Kya hai isme?" She asked him excitedly.

"Bangles hai, Maa ne banwaye the jab Papa ne mujhe pehla raise diya tha. She had been planning to get me married since.. I don't know? Forever?!" He chuckled, opening the velvety box and revealing a pair of golden bangles with small intricate designs on it.

"Oh wow!!" She really liked those bangles, they were definitely made a long time back because they weren't made with the latest designs, there were small lotus patterns on them.

"Try them." He suggested.

"Are you sure.. yeh tumhari Mummy ke hai!" She was quite hesitant because they were his mother's and since it was her death anniversary so he might be a little too emotional.

"Haaa!" He rolled his eyes at her, pulled out those bangles and handed them to her the next second.

"Thank you!" She gushed, wore them and almost jumped at her place like a kid wearing new clothes for her birthday.

"Kaisi lag rahi hu?" She chuckled, asking him.

"Lovely!" He smiled and held her hands, he kissed those bangles and then her knuckles.

"You look lovely." He repeated himself and kept staring at those bangles. He had completely forgotten about these bangles when he got married because the event took place in such an hasty manner but today, during the hawan when he recalled that getting him married was one of his mother's wishes and then those bangles came to his mind. And boy, weren't they gifted to the person who deserved them the most? Totally, they were! He wished if his parents could meet Shehnaaz, they would have definitely liked her.

"Thank you." She thanked him again and took him in for a hug, a big and long hug that she felt he really needed.

"Hm." He just hummed and hugged her back, it felt so good.

She rested her head on his chest and held him tight, caressed his back and then finally felt him keeping his head on hers. She smiled, somewhere bit her inner cheeks as well, this was probably the first time they were giving each other a proper, couple-like and heartfelt hug. She felt as if a huge load had been lifted off her chest the moment he hugged her back, she understood she was forgiven for what she did or he'd have never gifted her those bangles but didn't ask him to make it obvious and ruin their moment.

Their days got better with that, he took her out for dinner in a couple of days.

"So how's work?" He asked.

"Eh.." she replied, uninterested.

"What does 'eh' mean?" He asked again.

"Kuch khas nahi. The same old board meetings, some annual trade, shareholder meetings. Kabhi-kabhar conventions." She shrugged.

"If I'm not wrong, you're a corporate event manager. Right?" He joked.

"Sidharth! I mean, kaam milta rehta hai but this corporate thing is so boring. Wohi limited clients, unke same events!" She elaborated, toying with the spoon a little around her plate.

"Then why are you doing this?" He asked back, why she was doing something she didn't like.

"Because.. koi khas reason nahi hai. I do this because I'm good at it." She shrugged, answering.

"It's just not making any sense to me though." He commented and she glared at him.

"I mean- why would you do something you don't like and how are you good at something you don't like?" He asked curiously, hiding his smile.

"Now you're making fun of me! It's just what I do. Can we talk about something else!?" She replied and saw him shrug.
"How's the pasta?" She asked them, changing the topic.

"Good actually, good choice." He replied, enjoying the Tuscan chicken pasta she ordered for them for a change from the usual Indian food. Done with their meal, they took off soon, taking a longer way back home.

"Kitna acha lag raha hai na?" She asked, leaning against the door frame on the opened window. The breezy wind felt cold and it seemed like it might rain soon.

She turned to look at him, smiled and kept her hand on his bicep.

"Hm?" He gave her a look and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry. Maine itna sab jo kiya uske liye I'm sorry." She apologized, it took her some good courage to bring this topic up again.

"It's okay." He nodded, intervening their fingers together.

"Aunty ne mujhe bataya." He sighed, bringing this thing up was pretty courageous for him as well.

"About your father and his- I mean how their relationship was not at its best back then." He said and improvised something he was about to say.

"Not at its best? Yeh bola Mummy ne?" She chuckled, knowing how he was trying not to say it directly.

"Shehnaaz, frankly, mai nahi chahta ki wo insecurity aur wo darr tujhe kabhi ho meri wajah se. I would never do such a thing to you, I promise you that." He replied and felt her squeeze his hand a little.

"Thank you." She whispered then, not having anything else to say. Her heart felt like it would explode anytime soon because he had just knocked off the door and made his way in through her heart like a hero.

"Toh shuru se shuru kare? What say?" He asked her, a fresh start seemed like a good idea.

"You know what, log pehle ek dusre se milte hai, date karte hai, propose karte hai aur phir eventually shaadi karte hai. In my case, sabse pehle hi shaadi ho gayi! Toh mujhe nahi pata, shuru kaha se karu?" She said and he laughed out loud at that. It had been a while since they had such a good time, some jokes and laughs.
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Hello there! Read this out and be ready with napkins in case you're an emotional person..

Nah just joking..

How about sidnaaz getting back to their normal??!
Exciting? Adorable? Emotional? Cute? Awesome? Wholesome?