Raavi came to Pandya house in the morning. It was karwachauth and she wanted everything to go perfectly. She could help Dhara di with the arrangements because she was also technically, the bahu of the family. Raavi brought her clothes for the evening with herself. Shiva was sitting on the sofa and talking to Gaumbi. It was also her plan to be with him all the time. He would see her not eating and finally realise that she actually loved him.
Dhara was busy with the decoration and Suman kaki was giving her orders. Raavi went there and staring helping her Dhara di without any prompting. Suman kaki smiled which told her that she was happy with her efforts. Raavi was sure she would win Suman kaki's heart soon.
"Raavi maine breakfast laga diya hai. Tum bachhe kha lo." Dhara said.
"Nahi Dhara di, mera vrat hai." Raavi said absent-mindedly.
"Vrat?"
She hadn't really thought about this, but now she realised how surprising that actually was. She looked at Shiva for support, but he just looked amused. Her evil husband was useless. Dhara was still waiting for her answer so Raavi quickly decided to cook up some story.
"Woh... Anita di ne ek time pe bataya tha ki karwa chauth ka fast rakhne se man chaha pati milta hai." Raavi said.
"Aisa hai toh Anita di ab tak kuwari kaise? Unko kaise nahi mila manchaha pati?" Krish laughed.
"Krish, tu chup kar!" Dhara said. "Mujhe pata hai tu yeh vrat Dev ke liye rakh rahi hai. Hain na Raavi?"
Raavi looked at the sudden change of expression on her husband's face. His amusement turned into anger and he looked away. For the first time Raavi was mad at Dhara for spoiling her efforts. Her fast was for Shiva, not Dev. She considered telling Dhara everything about them, but then she considered against it. First, she had to make Shiva trust her. Then only she would tell Dhara and the others.
"Achha koi nahi. Tu meri shaam ki puja ki taiyyari mein help kar." Dhara said. "Aur Krish, Dev, Shiva, tum teeno khaa lo."
"Bhook nahi hai bhabhi." Shiva left from there.
Dhara sighed. "Ise pata nahi kya ho gaya hai aaj kal. Khair, tu chal mere saath Raavi."
***
Raavi helped Dhara with the decorations. She was already thirsty. In her entire life she hasn't kept any vrat. But for Shiva, she was completely willing to do it. Shiva was around her the whole time, stealing glances from her, and helping her with the decoration.
She was distracted by the smell of laddus. Dev had brought laddus for the puja and Raavi's stomach growled as she smelled them. Why did her sense of smell heighten when she wasn't supposed to eat anything? Shiva saw her face and gave another smile. Raavi tried to distract herself with more work, when suddenly the smell of the laddus came closer. She turned to see Shiva standing with the laddus.
"Yeh le. Khaa le laddoo." Shiva said.
"Shiva mera vrat hai!" Raavi said.
"Khaa le. Main kuch nahi kahunga."
"Pagal mat ban. Aaj karwachauth hai." Raavi said. "Tu mujhe laddoo dikhake vrat todne par majboor nahi kar sakta Shiva."
Shiva rolled his eyes at her and left. Raavi got back to work. By lunch time she was done with all preparations. She then sat on the sofa comfortably looking at Suman, Dev and Krish eating. Gaumbi was also keeping a fast for Dhara and it was so cute. Raavi loved seeing them break each other's fast on karwachauth. She had always wanted her guy to do the same. But her gadhera wasn't even present in the aangan.
"Yeh Shiva kaha hai? Subah se kuch khaya bhi nahi isne." Dhara exclaimed.
Suddenly Raavi understood. Her bhootnath husband had kept a fast for her too. She got up from her seat and ran into the storeroom where he was working. Raavi hugged him. Shiva lost his balance at the sudden force, and fell onto the floor with Raavi on top of him, still clutching onto him tightly. He groaned in pain, but Raavi was too happy to even care. She kissed him and hugged him again.
"Tune bhi mere liye fast rakha hai!! Pehle kyu nahi bataya?" She asked.
"Pehle uth mere upar se. Kamar akar gayi meri." Shiva said.
"Bilkul bhi nahi. Ab toh humesha tere sarr pe baithke nachungi main." Raavi laughed. "Shiva tune sachhi mere liye vrat rakha hai? That's so cute! I love you..." She gave him a few more kisses.
"Ae maami ki behen ki beti," Shiva pushed her off him and sat up, "Aise koi kudta hai kisi insaan pe."
"Shiva main vrat ki baat kar rahi hu!" Raavi said.
"Haa. Rakha hai vrat tere liye. Galti ho gayi! Pata nahi tha ki teri aisi harkatein hongi. Budhape mein bhi aise mujhpe kudi toh bas ho gaya!"
Raavi couldn't believe her ears. He wanted to spend this old age with her. Shiva realised at the same time what he had said, so he got up awkwardly, avoiding any eye contact. Raavi got up and hugged him from behind. Shiva didn't push her away.
"I love you Shiva." Raavi said. "Tu sachhi meri jaan hai. Main nahi jee sakti tere bina. Tujhe jitna waqt chahiye le le. Saari zindagi intezaar karungi tera."
"Raavi." Shiva turned to face her. He held her close and kissed her forehead.
She hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and kissed the crook of her neck. They started like that for a few minutes, enjoying the intimacy and the warmth of each other's arms. Raavi knew he couldn't ignore her forever. After all, they were magic together. As he pulled away, Raavi captured his lips into a kiss again. He kissed her back with equal fervour.
"Aaj tu mera fast todega na? Aur sindoor lagayega na mujhe? Warna main kuch nahi khaungi." Raavi warned.
Shiva just smirked at her and left without answering her.
