Becoming Sweethearts [✓]

Part Thirty One

As newlyweds, Omkara and Gauri folded their hands in prayer and sought blessings from the deity of the God and Goddess at the temple. Then, after seeking the blessings of Daadi, who beamed with pride and happiness, Gauri looked at Omkara with a smile, as if telling him that getting married in a short time was worth her happiness.

Om, on the other hand, pretended as if he didn't really bother, but deep down was happy to see his Daadi happy, despite the tiredness and frailty with which she blessed them with trembling hands. Omkara would never admit to another soul, including Gauri, that he was inwardly happy to have fulfilled a wish that Daadi never thought she would see. He felt slightly guilty while thinking for a fleeting moment, that this time, instead of her Billu, it was he who made her happy.

True, that Annika and Shivaay deserved all the happiness in the world and whatever troubles they were going through he wouldn't wish that even upon his enemy, but he couldn't help but recall all those times during his childhood when Shivaay was her favourite grandson, while he was always the black sheep of the family who was rebellious, brooding and in solitude. It wasn't Shivaay's fault at all, neither was he blaming him for Daadi's biased behaviour. However, all his childhood and teenage, he wished Daadi would be as proud of him as she was of Billu. But now, to see Daadi look at him like the way she always looked at her Billu made him feel a strange sense of peace and happiness in his heart – that it was he who fulfilled her wishes, not her Billu, as always.

Gauri and Omkara sought Janhvi's blessings, who simply hugged them and blessed them with lifelong happiness. "Always keep her happy. From now on, she is your priority. Everyone and everything else is secondary." Omkara couldn't help but kiss his mother's forehead at her words. He could see how strong a woman she was. Gauri smiled warmly as Janhvi exclaimed to her, "Welcome to our family. We can get crazy at times, but you'll eventually learn to get along and love us." Gauri smiled, knowing how true that was from all the incidents she'd heard from Oberoi, who right now was giving her an 'I told you so' look.

Gauri was about to go towards Pinky and Shakthi, when Omkara stopped her by holding her forearm. "Your parents are waiting for us," he whispered to her soft enough for no one else to hear. Gauri saw the look on Pinky's face when Omkara stopped her, as she taunted that for a woman, her sasural should now be a priority than her maayka. As Gauri looked at him, he simply turned a deaf ear to whatever Choti Maa said, and gently dragged Gauri to her parents.

"Hamesha khush raho; Bhagwan tum dono ko iss duniya ke saari khushiyaan de," Shalini said in an emotional tone as she placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, whose eyes were slightly misty. Omkara nodded with a smile, as he touched his mother-in-law's feet and then hugged her.

"Papa!" Gauri's voice turned a bit shaky, and Omkara immediately placed his arm around her, knowing how sentimental she had gotten. Perhaps, he did understand what she was going through at this moment. Staying away from the family that one grew up in – who could understand better than him. And he wasn't even so attached to anyone other than his brothers and his mother. Here, Gauri was so close to her parents, wherein she was treated like a delicate flower all her life.

Arvind smiled warmly, noting how his son-in-law had comforted his daughter, resting his heart at peace, that he now had nothing to worry about her. His daughter had definitely been blessed by having Omkara as her life-partner. Gauri simply hugged her Papa wordlessly, as her emotions and her tears did all the talking. Arvind, whose eyes had welled up with tears, smiled as he wiped his daughter's cheeks.

Looking at Omkara, Arvind said to him, "Ever since Gauri grew up, I knew that someday I had to give her away. I now realize, no amount of preparation could ever make me feel ready to give her away. But Omkara, if there was anyone in this world, I always saw my daughter happy with, if there was anybody who could make her smile through her tears, who could support her unconditionally, it was always you. I don't think I've ever felt more pride than in this moment to call myself her Papa, and now, yours too!"