"Happy Married Life, Shivya Pathak" I weakly smiled seeing my condition, mangalsutra dangling in my neck, vermilion in hair and both hands filled with gold bangles.
"Come out quickly or do you want me to break the gate," my husband knocked again...
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After the exhausting day, Vedant finally stepped into their bedroom, only to find his wife sitting cross-legged on the couch with her laptop open in front of her, completely absorbed in whatever she was working on.
Beside her, her so-called "son" was curled up peacefully against the pillow, fast asleep. The sound of the door opening made Shivya glance up, and whatever she had been about to type immediately vanished from her mind when her eyes landed on the small bundle in Vedant's hand.
Her mouth fell open. For a heartbeat, she simply stared at him, as though her tired mind couldn't quite process what she was seeing, and then an excited little shriek escaped her as she abandoned the laptop without a second thought and hurried towards him. "From where did you get her?"
Vedant's lips curved into a smile at the sheer delight lighting up her face as he stopped in front of her and carefully lifted the tiny white kitten a little higher.
"She came in front of my car out of nowhere." He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her forehead, but Shivya barely seemed to notice the affection because, the moment he finished speaking, she practically snatched the kitten from his hands, gathering the tiny creature against her chest.
"Omg, she's so small and so pretty." She gently stroked the kitten's tiny head, her eyes shining with wonder while the little creature nestled instinctively against her warmth.
There was something almost magical about the way Shivya held her, as though Vedant hadn't brought home an abandoned kitten but another small piece of happiness for her to collect and protect.
Unfortunately, someone else had noticed the sudden arrival of a new rival. Zumo woke at the sound of Shivya's excited voice, blinking sleepily before jumping down from the couch.
The moment his paws touched the floor, he marched straight towards her and began tugging at the fabric of her pants with his teeth, punctuating every little pull with an increasingly offended series of meows.
Vedant folded his arms across his chest, watching the scene, the same battle he had witnessed countless times before while being a part of it; only this time, Zumo had finally discovered that his not-so-beloved human had brought home competition for him.
Shivya looked down at him and the kitten in her arms, and then back at Zumo, whose tail was flicking with the irritation of a creature demanding immediate attention.
"Zumo, see, now you got a partner to play with all the time," she cooed, lowering herself onto her knees while carefully keeping the kitten supported against her chest. ("Zumo, see, now you have a partner to play with all the time.")
Zumo responded with another deeply offended meow before immediately pushing his head beneath her free hand, rubbing against her palm as though reminding her that he had been there first and deserved to be remembered accordingly.
