A Familiar Love- A Radhakrishn Retelling

8. 𝖧𝗂𝗌 𝖥𝗅𝗎𝗍𝖾

Radha was awoken by her rather pleased looking brother the next morning.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIDI" He yelled in her ear as soon as she opened her eyes and ran out of the room, leaving a very startled Radha wishing she could get away with murder.

It was her birthday, but the day didn't seem as special as it used to when she was a kid. She let out a long sigh and got ready for the long day ahead. Her parents on the other hand seemed rather excited for her birthday, there was her favourite food ready on the dining table when she came out of her room.

"Happy birthday my sweet girl, may you always be happy," her grandmother said, fondly patting her head.

Radha smiled and took all their blessings and was about to leave the house to catch the school bus when her grandmother's voice stopped her.

"It's your birthday Radha, please come to the temple and take God's blessings before you leave."

Now usually Radha would make up an excuse and run to her bus stop but she felt quite restless since the morning and temples did manage to somehow calm her down so she decided not to argue and adhere to her sweet grandma's request.

She folded her hands, glanced at the idol of Lord Krishna that stood among many other idols, closed her eyes and sighed,

"I feel restless today Kanha, I feel like something is going to happen but I can't quite point out whether it will be good or bad. You're the almighty, you know everything, please give me strength to deal with this" she stood up and started walking out of the room but turned back around to whisper-yell one last thing, "Oh and it's my birthday Kanha! Thank you for getting me through another year of this life. Hopefully something good happens today, I really don't want to cry on my birthday again" she said, the last part was mostly to herself and with that she was off to the bus stop not knowing that someone just metres away from her had vowed to make this day the most memorable one for her.

Radha couldn't help but let a small smile frame her face when she saw Krishn that morning, the long curls on his forehead, and that dazzling smile just couldn't let her petty anger towards him keep her from admiring the perfect divine beauty that he was. She didn't question the absence of anger inside her, just the night before she had decided to let things happen and not overthink anything so that's what she did.

She decided to let things happen without questioning that day, but unfortunately, Krishn had also decided to have some fun just the night before, and Krishn's definition of fun included many questions and headaches from the ones he loved, and oh, he loved her so.

"Huh, what am I seeing right now? Did the sun rise from the wrong direction? How is Radha smiling at me at 7am in the morning?" Krishn teased as soon as she came into earshot making her shoot a look of annoyance at him.

"YES! There it is, that's the look I'm used to"

Radha rolled her eyes and smiled, Krishn stared at her for a second before fully turning towards her and leaning down just a little bit so his eyes were levelled with hers. She leaned back instinctively, eyebrows raised in question and heart pounding in her ear

"Happy Birthday Radhe" he whispered, staring into her eyes with a look that Radha had never seen a man wear, a look so vulnerable yet calming. Her breath hitched at the way he breathed her name, it filled her with such vibrance that it showed on her face.

Her smile turned brighter, "Thank you" she whispered back, eyes gleaming with undiscovered emotions.

She couldn't understand why Krishn's birthday wish made her light up with joy when her family couldn't but she reminded herself that she was not going to question anything. She was happy and it would be foolish to contemplate the exact reason behind it, instead of enjoying it.