A Suitable Husband

Daadi's Announcement

Late the next afternoon, Daadi called the entire family down to the hall.

Abhi was the last to arrive. He walked slowly down the stairs with his hands in his pockets and his thoughts a million miles away. He chose to sit in one of the armchairs rather than sharing a sofa with his family members, as he wasn't in the mood to be close to anyone.

He was having the absolute worst week of his life.

First, his wife declared she could never love him, and he'd badly mishandled his reaction and actually slapped her. Then, before he could apologize and clear things between them, she had an overnight personality change and started causing discord and drama with his family.

After that, he'd found out that his (wish-she-was-ex-) girlfriend was claiming to be pregnant by him - and his wife actually believed her.

And worst of all, now his wife was hell-bent on leaving him and bringing the other woman in her place. She'd even set a completely insane deadline of five days to finalize their wedding if he couldn't find a way to disprove that he had fathered the supposed baby.

Abhi didn't think it could get any worse than that, so he wasn't really paying attention as Daadi explained why she'd asked them all to gather. Instead, he stared steadily at Pragya, wishing he could see into the mysteries of her dangerous mind. More than anything, he wanted to find a way to make her trust him again.

Of course, she refused to look back, pointedly keeping her gaze off of him. But he could tell from the stiff tension in every line of her body that she clearly felt his eyes on her. She claimed not to be affected by him, but he knew in his heart that she was lying.

"And that is why I would like Pragya to get re-married at the same time as Abhi."

Abhi's attention snapped to Daadi as these unbelievable words hit his ears.

"Wait, what?" Abhi demanded, getting to his feet in agitation. "Daadi, what are you saying!"

Indu Daasi clucked her tongue. "Abhi, beta, weren't you listening? Your Daadi has finally accepted your marriage with Tanu." She gave him a wide smile and came to stand supportively beside Daadi's chair.

"What? But why?" Abhi felt a sudden urge to tear his hair out in frustration at this new turn in the conversation. But his mind was still stuck on the previous point, so he added, "And what is this about Pragya getting married?"

Daadi started to explain gently, "Beta, if you are moving ahead in life, then so should she, naa? As I said -"

"But I'm not! Daadi, I'm not!" Abhi went straight to Daadi and dropped to his knees in front of her. He took her hands in his own and met her eyes. "Don't you believe me Daadi? I could never lie to you about this. It's not my baby, Daadi. I think Tanu's not even pregnant! Believe me Daadi, I never went to her for - for that - after marrying Pragya, I wouldn't -"

Daadi squeezed his hands comfortingly, but her voice was firm as she answered, "Beta, tujhse galti hui hai, toh maan ley. ("My dear, you have made a mistake, and you need to accept that.") I want to believe you but we can't argue with the reports. It must have happened at a time you don't remember -"

"No!" Abhi felt his rage about to overcome him, and with an effort he controlled himself. Daadi wasn't a fair target for his anger. He got to his feet and kept his voice calm as he said, "No, Daadi,  I know it never happened. And I'm not going to marry Tanu. Not in five days, and not ever. I'm already -"

"Who am I going to marry?" Pragya interrupted.

Abhi turned to her and snarled, "No one, you're already married, so -"

Pragya glared at him and got up to approach Daadi. She nudged him out of the way and knelt in front of the older woman just as he had.  "Daadi, you said just now that you feel guilty about ruining my life. Please don't. Even though this marriage has to end -"

"It doesn't have to end!" Abhi cut in, glaring at them both.

Pragya ignored him. "I am still grateful for the time I got to be a part of this family. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Daadi reached out to pat her head fondly. "I know, beta, but you are going to so much trouble to set our house to rights. I can't just send you back to your mom's house, I owe you more than that -"

"Daadi, you don't owe me anything!" Pragya insisted.

"Bas, beta. I won't force you but I hope you will consider it. I will accept Abhi's new bride -"

"I won't have a new bride!" Abhi snapped.

"- But I want to accept a jamai for my beti at the same time." Daadi finished her statement without seeming to notice that Abhi had spoken at all.

Abhi could not believe the conversation was going so far. "What jamai?" he demanded, but again Daadi did not acknowledge him.

Pragya looked into Daadi's eyes and said with a trembling voice, "Daadi, if this is your condition to accept Tanu and her baby, then of course I will accept. I will marry your choice tomorrow if you wish -"

"You're already married!" Abhi shouted. Neither woman reacted, continuing their exchange as if he was no more than wallpaper.

"Only - where - how will you find me a groom?" Pragya's voice suddenly shrunk, as if she was describing the most impossible task in the world.

Abhi was glad to hear that. There was never going to be a need to find Pragya a groom as long as he lived, so it should be considered both an impossible and an unnecessary task.

Indu Daasi leaned over and helped Pragya up. She smiled and softly touched the cheek she had slapped after Rachna and Aakash's wedding. "That's our good girl. I'm so happy you agreed. We do have someone in mind. Come with me and let me tell you about my grand-nephew."

Abhi could not believe everything was spiralling out of control. Was this his life or an Ekta Kapoor serial? Obviously he needed to remind everyone of some important facts.

"Wait a minute!" he barked. "Daadi, what is this madness? Pragya and I cannot marry other people. We're not divorced -"

"Woh sab ho jayega, beta," ("That will all be resolved,")  Daadi answered calmly. "We'll file the paperwork soon. In five days you can both have your religious ceremonies, and the legal marriages can happen later."

Abhi shook his head in disbelief. "Daadi, this is nonsense! You can't suddenly -"

He was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Robin quickly went to open the door.

And then a hero walked in.