In Another Universe

Isha Gill Kishan

Four years later.

‘ Shubhi, are you ready to ….’

Ishaan stopped in his tracks at the sight of Shubman.

Shubman turned around to him, smiling, clad in a white linen shirt and white jeans.

‘ Yeah, I'm ready to go…’ he answered.

Ishaan moved towards him and wrapped his arms around his waist, his hands slipping into Shubman's shirt, feeling the goosebumps spread across his skin.

“ Ish!’ Shubman laughed as he tried to remove Ishaan's hands away.

‘ Oh, you knew this would happen when you decided to wear all white…’ Ishaan whispered against Shubman's ears.

Shubman let out a deep breath and moaned a little as Ishaan left a string of kisses on the curve of his neck, leading up to his ears and his jaws before he kissed Shubman deeply. Shubman wrapped his arms around Ishaan's neck, his fingers slipping into Ishaan's soft hair.

Ishaan pulled Shubman towards him, pressing Shubman's body against his, his fingers going up Shubman's shirt, outlining the curve of his back, the shape of his abs.

‘ Baby, we should go..’ Shubman said breathlessly, pulling away from the kiss.

Ishaan whined and tried to kiss him again, but Shubman teased him by pulling his face away.

‘ Oh, Mr Gill, you are going to regret that tonight!’ Ishaan growled, pulling Shubman into his arms.

‘ I hope you make me regret it, Mr. Kishan,’ Shubman whispered, his face a few inches from Ishaan's face.

Ishaan and Shubman walked down the staircase, hand in hand and made their way to the lawn. They had shifted out of their apartment, to a beautiful two story house with a big backyard, in the first year of their marriage. The past three years had been a bittersweet time for the couple. The news of their marriage had brought a lot of anticipated backlash. Shubman's chances at cricket had diminished drastically, some of his fans turned their back on him. Relationships with their extended family was strained as well, but to their consolation, the people who mattered, stayed with them.

They walked out to the lawn and smiled immediately at what they saw.

“ Papa…” a beautiful, chubby little girl in a pink tulle dress came running and fell into Ishaan's arms.

‘ Hi baby..” Ishan softly kissed her cheeks.

“ Papa, I want a puppy…” she said, her little hands tightly holding Ishaan's shirt.

‘ Dada and I will think about it, baby …’ Ishaan said as they walked towards their family and friends.

‘ Baby, are you excited to open your gifts?’ Shubman asked.

‘ Yeah!’ she squealed, and extended her arms towards Shubman.

Shubman took her into his arms and snuggled her against his chest. Their little princess, Isha Gill Kishan.

Isha was born, via surrogacy in the second year of their marriage. The day she was born was the second happiest day of their life, they were ecstatic beyond words as they welcomed the little bundle of joy into their home. Watching her grow, hearing her say Dada and Papa brought joy to Shubman and Ishaan which was beyond comprehension.

Shubman held Isha in his arms, with Ishaan's hands wrapped around his waist as they posed in front of the white backdrop, decorated with pink crepe paper, and a glittery banner with ‘ happy birthday’ written on it. The table in front of them had a two tier princess themed cake, with gifts from their family and friends on both sides  of the table.

Isha was still for the pictures with Shubman and Ishaan, and with her grandparents but eventually got bored and started fussing about wanting to play.

“ Dada,....I want to…I want to play with moony!’ she whined trying to get down.

‘ okay okay…’

Shubman let her down and watched as she ran and hugged Moony. He let out a deep sigh and looked around him. Everyone he loved was there. His and Ishaan's parents were there, not caring about what the society said about their sons. He looked at Tilak and Shreyas who were helping Isha scratch Moony. Shreyas refused to be in the special forces and took up the opportunity to be a training officer in the academy instead. Tilak had opened another successful bar and made a name in the party scene of Mumbai.

He smiled and watched as Aditi and Dhruv shared a plate of cake together, Aditi who was 8 months pregnant eating most of it. Aditi made a place in the fashion industry as an established designer, and Dhruv had risen through the ranks in the police before both of them had decided to settle and try for a baby. To their surprise, she was pregnant with twins.

His eyes wandered near the gazebo and caught sight of Ibrahim and Simran there, laughing about something. Ibrahim was holding tickets to a gathering where a famous classical singer and sitar player named Mayank Markande was playing. Ibrahim tucked a strand of hair behind Simran's ears and kissed her cheeks before he left to go back to his duty as head of Shubman's security detail. Simran blushed as she watched him go.

Shubman was so happy and content despite all the hardships him and Ishaan faced. He got everything he had ever prayed for, now there was nothing left to ask.

‘ Khush ho, Meri Jaan-e-jahan?’ Ishaan whispered, his hands slipping into Shubman's hands.

Shubman looked at Ishaan and smiled through the tears as he nodded.

‘ We made it, Ish….we made it..”