After the conversation with Neena, Sujatha thought deeply about it. While she does not want her son to make such a huge sacrifice, On seeing Meera, she felt guilty for denying a bright future for such an innocent soul, and Finally, she agreed to team up with Nakul!
Meanwhile, Jaidy was keenly observing the elders around him. Though everyone still considers him as a kid, he is a teenager after all! He had doubts about Nakul even when they were back in India. He had seen Nakul watching his mother, just like how his friend Alex used to look at his girlfriend, Irene! But he was not sure, as they never talked or acted as his friend did around Irene! Initially, he thought it could be a grown-up way of expressing love. But when he noticed that they never went out on a date or anything, he thought against it.
But recently, he noticed that Sujatha was trying to give them some alone time. He was sure that something was fishy!
Jaidy knew that he should not talk to Meera about this. He had made that mistake once when he told her about Alex's girlfriend! Even though she tried to act cool, it was clear to him that she had entered her mother mode!
He was going to ask Nakul when Sachin had called him. While talking, Jaidy told him about his doubts, worrying about whether his Uncle would scold him for getting out of line. Sachin instead ensured Jaidy that he would talk to Nakul. He also asked Jaidy not to mention this to Meera!
When Nakul came to know about Jaidy through Sachin, he felt sad and jealous of Sachin. Sad that Jaidy did not trust him enough to ask him and jealous that it was easier for him to talk to Sachin than himself!
Sachin: "Anyway, he didn't sound defensive. So I guess he won't be against it. Anyway, I will ask them in some way."
Nakul: "No. I will talk to him. After all, I should at least be able to do that if I am planning to become his father!" Sachin was not sure about it as it could backfire. What if the kids didn't like it? But he let it go as Nakul had a point there.
On the next day, Nakul picked up Jaidy from his soccer practice and had a chat with him. When Jaidy asked for some time to think about it, Nakul was worried. But he was over the moon when he got a green signal from the kids three days later!
Nakul was planning to propose after two weeks as he wanted to do it grandly so that she wouldn't say 'No' at least thinking about the effort he had put in! Unfortunately, since Jo and Jeff knew, it was hard to keep their mouth shut for that long. So they planned to do it that weekend.
It was a usual outing day at the nearby park. Kids were playing with Nakul, Vishal, and Ravisankar. While Meera, Neena, and Sujatha were busy chatting with each other, sitting at a picnic table. A few minutes later Kannan came behind her and tapped on her back. When she turned around, he told her that Nakul was asking for her and started running back to wherever he came from. It was then Meera had noticed that the kids were not playing there anymore. Instead, they were standing in a line holding something, but couldn't be seen as they were hiding it behind them.
First Jaidy came forward and revealed what he was hiding. A placard saying "'Will you". Then, Jessi came forward holding "make him", followed by Jaiky with the image of a hand with the index finger pointing downwards. Jo was holding 'Our' and Jeff 'Dad?' She was shocked and read it together,
'Will you make him (hand) our Dad?'
She was confused and couldn't figure out what they are up to and whether it is some kind of prank. But, then she saw Nakul's Parents standing behind the kids holding similar placards with different wordings, Ravi was holding 'Will you be' and Sujatha's placard said 'Our Daughter?'
'Will you be Our Daughter?'
She was dumbstruck and didn't know whether she was dreaming or not. As if the shock wasn't enough, she saw Nakul on his knees just below the hand image Jaiky was holding, with a placard saying, "Will you marry me?"
Meera couldn't control her emotions and she started crying hiding her face behind both her hands. She didn't know what to say and wasn't even sure if she is hallucinating or not!
Nakul got frightened and didn't know what to do. People were also watching them. But they disperse, not to embarrass the poor fellow anymore!
Nakul: "It's ok, there is no compulsion. Don't cry." He stood there looking dejected.
Everyone felt sad for Nakul. Kids ran towards Meera saying not to worry and not to cry, and they don't want a dad. But, she shook her head still crying. After wiping her tears, she says she is fine and kisses the kids, saying "YES", nodding her head.
Everybody looked at her confused, while Meera looked at Nakul and smiled, repeating "YES".
But Nakul who was busy blaming himself for listening to others and rushing out things didn't hear it. Sujatha was the first one to understand. She laughed, clapped, and told the kids and everyone else. The kids were jumping around, and everybody was too happy.
Neena was beyond happy for her friend and ran to hug her along with her son. While Sujatha and Ravi hugged their son.
Nakul came out of his trance when his parents hugged him. He was confused to see everyone happy. Sensing no response from Nakul, Vishal shook him, saying she has agreed! He looked at her in disbelief and then at Meera, who was smiling at him with unshed tears while hugging Neena.
When he looked into her eyes, there was only one emotion, and that was gratitude. Realizing that all this while, he was misinterpreting her reaction, he laughed and lifted his hand in triumph. Kids hug him too.
He laughs and hugs and kisses the kids, and goes to Meera. She smiles at him, fighting hard to control her tears. But, when he thanked her, tears spill out again. He hugs and consoles her.
Sujatha tell the kids that they both are ok and those are happy tears, and take the kids away to get ice creams and celebrate the occasion with Ravi, Neena, and Vishal
Nakul releases the hug once Meera stops crying. He kissed her forehead and touched his forehead to hers. Both of them chuckled.
Meera looks at him with gratitude and admiration.
Meera: "Thank you!" Nakul shook his head and hugged her again, kissing her forehead.
Nakul: "Shall we go and get our kids?" She nodded in agreement and they walked hand in hand toward the ice cream stall.
The End!
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Dear readers,
So That's it! The story has ended. I hope you all liked the journey with Meera, the kids, and Nakul.
Once again, thank you for your support.
Regards,
Ritu
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Just Another Mother
General FictionMeera was always treated as a small kid by her family. Her life's decisions, including her marriage, were taken by her parents, and she never had any issue with it. But when she decided by herself for the first time, it had changed her life complet...
