Dil tadap k kehta hai

22

[Annika - A, Shivaay - S, Rudra - Ru]

Annika thought about Shivaay's proposal all night and Gauri's words echoed in her ears.

As Shivaay got ready to go to work, his phone pinged. A text message from Annika. He opened the message "Okay".

His heart fluttered. He called her

S: Hi

A: Hi

S: Are you absolutely sure about this?

A: Yes

S: Okay, I'll speak with my family then

A: Wait, I need to talk to them before they make a decision

S: Oh. Should we do it this evening?

A: Will everyone be there?

S: I'll make sure of that. Come by around 7

A: Okay

Shivaay felt a little nervous as he informed his family that he needs a family meeting in the evening.

Annika on the other hand was very calm. For her, this meeting was more than a wedding proposal, it was going to decide not just her but also her siblings' future. Losing her nerve now would not help her case.

She dressed up in a nice kurti and rode her scooty to the Oberoi mansion sharp at 7. Shivaay had been pacing the garden for the last 5 minutes, waiting for her. His anxiety reduced when he saw her getting off the scooty.

S: Are you ready?

A: Yes

S: let's go

They walked in together and Shivaay ushered her to the study where everyone currently waited for him. He closed the door behind them, took a deep breath, and addressed everyone

S: The reason behind this family meeting is that I (he corrected himself), we wanted to tell you something. Annika and I have decided to get married

A variety of emotions could be seen on their faces.

Pinky was definitely elated, she was dancing internally. Daadi was pleasantly surprised and so was Jhanvi. Shakti and Tej were a little skeptical because Shivaay had never shown any particular interest in getting married.

But Om and Rudra knew exactly what was happening. Om was not okay with this but Rudra, he was extremely happy like Pinky, he always felt his brother was obsessed with his favorite didi.

Om: Shivaay, why?

S: Because we like each other

Annika looked at Shivaay, surprised by what he just said but quickly composed herself.

A: Before you take any decision, there's something you all should know, about Gauri and me.

Daadi nodded, waiting for Annika to proceed

A: We are adopted. Our biological parents died when I was 5. We were rescued from a flood and luckily we were together. We lived in the orphanage for about a year before our father Harshvardhan Trivedi adopted us.

Om was the only one who knew about the adoption.

A: I don't remember anything about my birth parents. We had our school bags with some documents in them when we were rescued and that's the only reason papa found anything about them. We consider the Trivedis our parents because they raised us and they gave us so much love growing up that we never felt for a single second that we were adopted. They fought with their own family for us. We got more time and love from them than Sahil could ever get, even though he's their own flesh and blood. Our grandmother did not approve of this adoption so they broke all ties with them. 8 years ago, our parents passed away in a car accident, Sahil was the only survivor but he suffered severe damage to his leg.