Ishqana Dil

Part 56

A/N: I forgot to say it earlier. Happy New Year everyone! 15 weeks of hell coming up... *sighs*

"Kya tum mujhse shaadi karoge, Mantu?"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, she felt her face contort into an embarrassed grimace. He stared down at her, frozen with shock, for the longest time. Just as she began to feel that this was actually a huge mistake, he kneeled down in front of her and gulped. "Abhi?"

He looked so serious, she couldn't help but laugh. "Nahin, buddhu! Abhi nahin!"

Mantu nodded thoughtfully. "Kab?"

"Pehle yeh toh bataan do ke tum... Haan ya na?"

"If I'm asking you when it must be a yes, Amaya," he chuckled. "Tum yeh bhi nahin samajh sakti?" She giggled, searching for a witty answer but her brain didn't want to function and without thinking, he had pulled her in a tight hug. "Usually it's the boy who asks," he muttered. "Well, his family. To the girl's family."

She gripped his shirt tight. "Have we ever been like the usual? And Amaya Mathur likes being unique, okay?"

He pulled away. "Still, Amaya... I should..."

"Kisse poochhoge, Mantu?" she sighed. "Dekho, Rachi Di aur Jazz se baat ki hai maine and they don't have any objections. I know ke Mom bhi tumhein bohot pasand karti hain. Aur Superman... voh bhi hote toh he would like you so much! Tumhaare Amma-Babuji?"

Mantu chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "They would love you. Chiklu already does."

"Everything is good then, na? You just need to sort everything out with Uma and get her approval too."

"Lekin Amaya," he frowned. "Tumhaare Nanaji... He won't-"

She shook her head. "Honestly, Mantu, the way things are now, he does not matter. If I don't mean anything to him, why should I care about his opinion? You know that he will not consent to this anyway... He hates you and my happiness had no value for him. I needed my family to be happy with the man I would choose and my family is happy with you. That's all that counts."

"And your mother? We can't get married without her, can we, Amaya?"

Smiling, she shook her head again. "No. Which bring me to the second thing I need to ask you. Will you wait for me, Mantu? I need six months from you before we get married. It has only just been six months since Dad... and I want to wait until after a year since his... you know what I mean? Rachi Di's wedding happened under different circumstances but if I could... And Rachi Di said that she would try to get the proof against Dev Sir as soon as possible, then clear Dad's name before his barsi and after that we could bring Mom back too so... Mantu-"

"Yes, Amaya," he interrupted her with a smile. "I will wait. I can wait as long as you want. What's the third thing."

"Voh... Shaadi ke baad... Instead of leaving my dad's name and taking yours... can I keep both? I mean, I love you but I love dad too and I-"

He started laughing. "Amaya Mathur Shrivastav. It sound very good. Of course you can, Amaya! You didn't have to ask."

"I wanted to!" she pouted, then giggling, she sat down and looked at the sight before them as they returned to the Gaay Ghaat. He sat down next to her, not too close and she glanced at him before wordlessly taking his hand to slip the watch in its rightful place, on his wrist. "Yeh lo."

"Can I ask you something?"

She looked up at him to find him frowning at her. "Yaad hai jab baarish huyi thi aur tum bimaar pad gayi thi?" Amaya nodded and he shifted uneasily. "Tumne kaha tha ke tumhaare kamre mein koyi ghuss aaya aur kuchh chura ke le gaya... Kya le gaya?"