My (fake) Wedding

REMINICISING CHILDHOOD

I remember, I remember,

The house where I was born,

The little window where the sun

Came peeping into the morn;

He never came a wink too soon,

Nor brought too long a day,

But now, I often wish the night

Had borne my breath away....

"Hot chocolate?"

Annika turned from the window and to her chachi as she offered her a steaming cup of chocolate adorned with a fair amount of whipped cream and some sprinkles. Just the way she liked.

"Thank you," she smiled before glancing back outside her window.

Jyoti sat next to Annika with her own hot chocolate in hand, pulling a short shawl over them and snuggling into the worn out pillows. "When you were a little girl you used to sit in that exact same spot and no matter how tired you were you'd wait for your parents to get home. I would sit with you and pray that sleeps come to you. Viren and Gauri would already be in bed, but not you. Whenever Harsh was out you were even more impossible to placate, Harsh would say that you were his candle, lightning his way back to us. That's why he always made a point to return home and not to take many cases outside Mumbai."

A: "I hated that they wouldn't come back, and I hated when chachu was away."

J: "He knew that. It's why he decided to take up the office load and stopped travelling so much; to make sure he never missed a single thing when it came to you three. He loves you all equally, and he doesn't express it much but you children are his world."

Annika takes a sip from the chocolate, practically scalding her tongue, but needing something to focus on besides her nerves.

J: "We will miss you gudiya and your chachaji the most."

"Your hair is getting long," Jyoti notes, leaning forward and running a hand through Annika's dark locks. "Maybe we should cut it before the wedding."

A: "I like it long." Shivaay likes it long. Is what she meant.

J: "Alright. How was your brunch with the girls. Gauri surely enjoyed so much shopping. I wonder where did she got so much money from?"

A: "It was fun actually. It was a welcome break and it was nice seeing Gauri so happy, and Shivaay was desperate to spoil his saali. Sometimes I feel like she hides her pain from us for some reason."

J: "Why do you say that?"

She shrugs. "Haven't you seen that she has this far off look most of the time? Her eyes glaze over and it's like she isn't really here."

J: "She is behaving a bit too optimistic despite her situation. You don't worry gudiya, I will have a talk with her after your wedding. Maybe we could give her some space till then to get use to this situation."

A: "Yeah! She is entitled to live her life on her own conditions."

J: "Too much talk about others. It's your big day gudiya. Tell me you are happy aren't you?"

Closing her eyes, she nods. "I am. He is so great chachi, I never thought I would mean so much to one person. He is this epitome of strongness to strangers but when you see him, really see him you will notice their is this sweet kid inside him that loves unconditionally and will do anything for the person he cares about. And it helps that he is handsome, too handsome. Definitely polite. A gentleman in true sense."