Hope Believe Magic

New beginnings

AK's heart felt light when he left  Shivu's house that day. His happiness knew no bounds but he also knew that he had a huge challenge ahead. It was all nice and lovely that they love each other and promise to be there for each other but he had two years to prove his worth to her parents. To be very honest, he wasn't in the best position right now and the task in hand was not going to be easy at all but he knew he will get there. Their love for each other will be his strength and motivation.

Except for a couple of very close people like Pugazh, AK and Shivu decided to keep their relationship extremely private. They still enjoyed using social media for their code language. They met privately, whenever possible but never failed to call each other and chat on video calls. Both of them focused not only on each other but on self improvement as well. Shivu focused more on singing, dancing, theatre etc and she also decided to learn a new art, cooking, and she surprisingly enjoyed it. AK focused on honing his acting skills but he too started learning new things such as negotiating, editing and back end production work in the area of film making. He seemed out to mentors in those areas and they were more than happy to help him understand the movie business.

Two years flew by and it was time for AK to meet Shivu's parents. He was confident though. He had started a production house and had produced some good projects that he was proud of. He had played the lead on an OTT released show which turned out to be a huge hit. He also had grabbed meaty roles in some small budget but beautiful movies. On the personal end, Ak had bought a beautiful 3BR home and every inch of the house was decorated by both of them. She was very much a part of the house which was going to be their home one day.

Shivu's parents noticed this but more than anything, they recognized the positive influence AK had on their daughter. So when he sat on that couch, across from her father, he held his head high and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage, with confidence. The smile and yearning in his daughter's eyes told her father that no other man could love his daughter as much as AK did and the only man she would want to spend the rest of her life with, could only be AK. So he agreed and within 6 months their marriage date was fixed.

It was a very elegant wedding. A very private affair with just close family and friends. A nice, quaint resort in Kerala was booked. It was an outdoor wedding, very aesthetically decorated. In the presence of their parents and the blessings of the five elements, AK tied the nuptial thread around Shivu's neck. She was over whelmed with emotions and so was he. He pulled his wife close to him, kissed her forehead and lovingly looked into her eyes and said, "I promise to be be there with you through, thick and thin. We stood by each other yesterday, today and will continue to do so tomorrow. You are my biggest blessing my Shivu maa. I love you so much." Between her tears of happiness she said, "I love you so so much AK. I am so happy today and am excited to spend the rest of my life with you."

They had a grand reception in Chennai which was attended by several film personalities. Big shots from the fields of cinema and music all gathered there to wish the young couple. One of the biggest venues in Chennai was booked for the occasion. They were styled by celebrity stylists. Food came from the best five star hotel in the city. After an exhausting wedding, the two love birds could not wait to go away to a quiet little resort in Andaman for their honeymoon. They spent a week there. It was beautiful. They explored not only the island but also each other.

Both AK and Shivu loved kids and right from the beginning they had decided that they were not going to wait to start a family. They weren't scared to get pregnant. On their flight back home Shivu was lost in thought. AK kissed her hand and asked, "Enna yosikkarey?" She smiled and gave him a quick peck on his cheek and whispered, "Illai naama honey moon la namma pannina veshamathukku namma pregnant ayirupoma nu yosichen." AK chuckled and said, "Irundha naan happy then. Naama Rani ponna en kaila kudu. Naan paathukaren." She smirked, "Appidiya? Ungalukku onnu theriyuma? Kutty paapa thoongeende irukkum, night la azhum, paal kudichu spit pannum, kakka pogum, Adhellam Neenga paapeengala?" AK smiled, "Adhu ellam pannanum nu romba aasaiya irukku maa. Nee mattum paaren avala eppidi paathukaren nu." Shivu gave him a fake glare and said, "ippove ennoda Ungalukku ava important ayitaala. Irukattum irukattum. Enakku ennoda rajakumaran iruppan. Avan enna paathuppan. Ungalukku unga ponnu na enakku en paiyan."

They both looked at each other and laughed. She looked out of the flight window. The flight had begun to descend. Their fingers entwined, they were excited for the new beginnings.

Brinda Subramanian