Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 95- Settling Down

CHAPTER 95

SETTLING DOWN

Karan had to tell Colonel Batra. It was a necessity. He was his supervising officer. But he was also the man who had been the closest thing to a father- if he didn't count his brother. And he was nervous. His brother had approved but would he? His approval mattered just as much to him.

So, it took him two whole days to convince himself he needed to tell him. It was after a meeting with just him and Faizi, discussing about the agents and the internal, regular affairs of the academy.

Karan looked at Faizi, giving him a look. He smiled, nodding and walking out. Karan relaxed when he was out, pulling back the chair and sitting down. He needed to tell him because he was his supervising officer but for the moment, he was just Karan- in blood, the son of the Colonel's long martyred best friend, but in relation, his own son.

He raised an eyebrow, smiling at him. "Kya hua, Karan?" He asked. "You look happy."

Karan smiled slightly, leaning forward. "Mujhe aapko kuchh bataana hai. Something important to me", he said. Colonel Batra kept the file aside, leaning forward and giving him his full attention. Karan opened his mouth before closing it. Perhaps... he should have thought of how to phrase it before. He knew the words- having told Faizi and his brother- but he just couldn't find them at the moment. "I have a recent development in my life."

"And what is that?"

"I... love someone", he said. He swallowed. It probably wasn't the best way to start it. The older male's eyebrows shot up. "And she loves me too. So... we are together. In a relationship."

Colonel Batra smiled. He relaxed slightly, offering him a small, hesitant smile in return. "Kya iss 'someone' ka naam Monami hai?" He asked. Karan nodded. "I can't say I didn't see this coming."

"Do you have a problem with it?" He asked, the question he was afraid to even ask. He loved Monami, he did. But he loved just as fiercely the members of his family that had raised him, loved him, adored him. He didn't want to have to pick sides.

"You can date your cadet, Karan. Rules mein-"

"Main aapse, as your junior, nahi puchh raha hoon", he cut him off. "Main aapse aapke bete ki tarah puchh raha hoon. Kya aap mere relationship ko approve karte ho?"

The man stood up, moving around the desk and sitting down on the other chair in front of him. He smiled at him gently, keeping a hand on his head. "Main bahut khush hoon tere liye", he said. "I am happy for you and Monami." Karan smiled, exhaling in relief. A smile spread on his face, and he closed his eyes, basking in the warmth of his hand that encompassed his head.

He remembered that hand running through his hair when he found out his father had never even known about him. He was just 4 then but the memory had stayed. He remembered that hand running through his hair when he admitted his guilt at his brother's amputation, the one thing he had told him before he had told even his brother. He was more his father in that moment than he ever was. He remembered that hand patting his head when he was given his uniform for the first time after it had lifted it to his own temple to salute him. He remembered that hand patting his head when he used to run up to him after he returned from missions, hugging him close.

No, he had never called the Colonel his father. He wasn't, in many ways. But in the ways that mattered, he was. Karan allowed him to tease him over his girl, answering his questions vaguely, teasing him with eluding details just like he had teased his brother and Faizi. Karan couldn't be happier.

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

Sid wasn't happy. He was great at acting, and even his eyes had lied to lit up when he smiled at her. But Monami had known him all her life and she knew when he was really happy, when the glint was real and when it was forced. She knew why. It took her two days to have the courage to acknowledge it.