Episode 26
“Well..?” Pragya asked, awaiting his answer.
How should he reply, he wondered.
What should he say?
That he couldn’t find the will to leave once she’d snuggled her body close to his…? That, in that moment, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else but with her…?
That he’d slept with her because he wanted to…?
He couldn’t tell her any of these, he realized.
Instead he replied, “Oh believe me, the family members were there…well, actually, one family member…” “What?” Pragya asked, not quite understanding.
“Dadi came looking for us this morning.” he said.
“And…?” Pragya prompted.
“And…she found us.” he replied, adding a naughty grin on his face as he continued. “Both of us…together…in bed…in each other’s arms.” “What?!” she exclaimed. Oh no! Dadi saw them like that? Pragya thought, covering her face with her hands.
Was that the reason she was so happy?
“How did you get into the room in the first place.” she asked, “…because I’m one hundred percent sure you didn’t ask Dadi for the spare key.” “I picked the lock.” Abhi replied.
“Why?” she asked
“You were missing…I was looking for you” he said.
“Yeah” she said, “Only because you didn’t wanna get in trouble with Dadi.”
“And that’s exactly why you locked yourself in there, right?” he said. “To get me in trouble.”
“Don’t try to make this my fault, Abhi. You locked me out on the freaking balcony!” she said. “You’re acting as though you’ve been there all night.” he said.
“If I hadn’t climbed down that ladder, I would have been!” she yelled.
Oh, so that’s how she managed to escape from there, Abhi realized.
But how did she manage to get into the house? All doors were locked.
As if reading his mind, Pragya said, “I moved the ladder to Akash’s window and he let me in.”
“Oh” Abhi said in a whisper.
“You still haven’t told me why you were sleeping next to me” she stated.
” I opened the door and saw you sound asleep. I was about to bring you back here, to our room, but then, Dadi started looking for us. And as she was about to open the door, I jumped in beside you and closed my eyes.” he told her. Pragya looked at him in surprise. “And then you fell asleep?” she asked, referring to the fact that he was still there when she woke up. Ok Abhi, he thought to himself. This is the tricky part. “I stayed…you know…in case Dadi came back.” he lied.
“So wh–…” Pragya started to say, when a knock at the door interrupted her. “Come in” Abhi said.
The door opened slightly and Aliya poked her head in. “Bhai, Dadi is asking for you.” she said.
“I’ll be right there.” he replied.
Aliya removed her head from the door space, and left, pulling the door shut behind her.
Abhi turned to Pragya, continuing their talk. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, ok. It’s not like I wanted to sleep next to you.” he lied. “I did it so I wouldn’t get in trouble and at the same time, I managed to convince Dadi that you and I are happy together.” “Whatever” Pragya replied and turned to go.
She stopped and turned back to him.
“Oh… and don’t think this is over. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily, Mehra.” she said warningly and left him standing there, staring after her.
A few hours later, Pragya was chatting with Mitali Bhabhi, when Aliya came to up to them. “Pragya Bhabhi!” she said, happily. Can I borrow you for a little while?”
“You girls go ahead, while I check on the twins.” Mitali Bhabhi said, referring to her extremely cute three year-old son and daughter, Bunty and Babli, who were taking their daily afternoon nap. “See you later, Bhabi.” Pragya said. “Ok Alu. What’s up?” “Actually, I have a surprise for you.” she said excitedly.
“What is it?” Pragya asked.
“Come with me.” Aliya said, dragging Pragya to her room.
When they reached Aliya’s room, she went to the closet and came out with a packet.
“Open it” Aliya requested.
Pragya opened the packet to to find a gorgeous lehenga.
“I designed it for you. It’s simple and beautiful…just like my Pragya Bhabhi. It was supposed to be your birthday gift, but then you’d decided to run off to Canada and I scrapped the idea.” she said. “Do you like it?” “I love it. But Alu, how did you do all this in so little time?” she asked.
“It was no big deal. I already had the design and got it made in no time.”
“Thank you so much, but, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me.” Pragya said.
“Bhabhi, you’re forgetting that this is what I love doing. Fashion and designing is my life!” she exclaimed happily. “Now, go try it on. I wanna see how it looks on you!”
Pragya came back.
Aliya turned to look at her.
“Wow! Bhabhi you look amazing.” she said.
“Really?” she asked. “Don’t you think too much of my waist is exposed?”
“No.” Aliya said. “Quit whining. You look absolutely gorgeous. But if you’re really that uncomfortable, we can always drape your dupatta to cover most of your waist, ok?”
Pragya nodded.
“Ok, you go get changed and then we’ll decide on your hairstyle.” Aliya ordered. “Oh, come on Alu…you know I am not interested in all this…hair, make-up, nails….” she said.
“Bhabhi, this is your wedding party. You have the outshine all the other girls.” Aliya said.
“I don’t care about that.” she protested.
“Bhabhi, please do it for me..”
“Fine” Pragya replied. “Just for you.” and went to change her outfit.
After changing, she came back and she and Aliya chose a hairstyle and then started working on her nails….
“Where are the rest of my children?” someone yelled.
Aliya and Pragya looked at each other.
“Indu Dasi!” they exclaimed simultaneously.
They immediately went downstairs to meet her and Swarna Dasi. “There they are!” Indu Dasi said, spotting them coming down the stairs.
“And where is my Abhi?” Swarna Dasi asked, looking around. “Right here, Dasi!” he called from the top of the stairs, behind Pragya and Aliya.
Aliya took their blessings first, but when it was Pragya’s turn…Swarna Dasi stopped her.
“Beta, you are seeking our blessings for the first time after marriage.” she said, caressing Pragya’s cheek. “So you will take our blessings together with your husband.” and signalled Abhi to come forward. Abhi and Pragya stood together and bent to touch her feet first, as she was the elder of the two. On their way down, they made eye contact with each other and Abhi stuck his tongue out at her. Pragya glared at him.
Swarna Dasi rested her hands on their heads and said. “May you have a long and happy married life filled with lots and lots of kids.” Abhi and Pragya’s eyes widened at her words and they immediately glanced at one another. Next up was Indu Dasi.
“Bless you both. May your marriage prosper.” she simply said and patted their heads. And as she was finished and they were about to straighten up, Pragya reached out and pinched Abhi’s arm. “Ouch!” he jumped up.
“What’s the matter?” they asked all at once.
“Nothing” he replied, looking at them.
Pragya smirked at him.
“Come on kids…let’s take a selfie!” Swarna Dasi announced.
“Oh you and your selfies..”replied Indu Dasi. “Ever since she got that phone, it’s only selfie every minute of the day.” “You are just jealous because you are not photogenic like me.” she replied.
“Everytime I take a picture with her,” Swarna Dasi continued, “…her eyes are either closed or she wears this worried expression on her face as if the camera will attack her if she smiles.” Everyone was trying their best to contain their laughter.
“That’s because yo-” she started to reply, but was interrupted by Dadi.
“That’s enough, you two.” Dadi said. “Time is running out. The guests will be here in a little while.” Dadi called out some last minute instructions and then she said:
“Aliya, you help Pragya get dressed in her old room…Abhi, you go to your room.The rest of you…go get ready!”
And then they all went their separate ways.
An hour later, Pragya stood in front of the mirror, studying her reflection.
She wore a beautiful lehenga.
Her blouse was gold in colour while her long, flowing skirt was in dark burgundy and gold.
Her matching dupatta hung from her shoulder.
Aliya and Mitali Bhabi had managed to convince her she would be hiding the beauty and style of the blouse if she draped the dupatta across to hide her waist.
Seeing as Aliya had gone through so much trouble, Pragya gave in to them.
Dadi came in at that moment and marvelled at how beautiful she looked, which made Pragya feel alot more confident about wearing her outfit like that.
She wore matching gold accessories, which included her earrings, a bangle, necklace and her beautiful wedding ring. Her hair was loose and tumbled around her shoulders.
After much deliberation, Aliya had decided that style suited her the best. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t realize Abhi had walked into the room and was standing behind her, watching her through the mirror.
Wow! he thought. She looked absolutely gorgeous.
Pragya looked up and saw him in the mirror.
He was wearing a black suit, white shirt and a dark burgundy tie to match Pragya’s outfit. He was looking absolutely handsome, Pragya thought. Both of them eyeing each other’s reflection in the mirror, totally mesmerized….
Precap: Fun and mischief at Abhi and Pragya’s reception…
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Hey guys!
Was supposed to upload a double epi…but I’m saving that for the next update.
To all our beautiful and talented KKB authors… keep up the brilliant writing…
Thank you to:
Sheerapthini, Varsha, Aishwarya, Princesskrisha, Abhigya, Madhu,
Asmithaa, Ammu, Di, Madhura, Reshma, Haritha, Maha, Saranya,
Maahi, Priyanka, Prabhi, Nirmal, Kumkum, Mukund, Monesha and YAD
for your beautiful and inspiring comments….
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