How to Woo Your Bride

9| The Baby Speech

   When you do something with a lot of honesty, appetite and commitment, the input reflects in the output.

   A. R. Rahman

   Chapter 9:

   "Aakash," Mrs. Sharma called out.

   Aakash turned around, fear written on his face.

   She walked toward him and hugged him. "Thank you for that, Aakash. Thank you so much," Mrs. Sharma said, tears brimming in her eyes.

   Aakash was surprised. He did not see that one coming. And for some reason, he was not angry with her. He should be. After all Riya's parents are the ones who wrecked their relationship that would have lasted a lifetime had it not been for them.

   Aakash nodded curtly. "Anything for Riya, Aunty. Anything for her. It's her happiness I want for her. You probably took it away from her already, but I did my best to ease her from the guilt. The relationship I shared with her is one that was unbreakable. It's going to take her a long time to get better, but she'll be fine. I promise."

   He walked away without further ado, not wanting to hear anything Mrs. Sharma was going to say next, but he heard her next words anyway. "That's why I thanked you, son. For everything you've done to keep her happy till now, and for what you told her just now, to ease her guilt. Thank you."

   Riya walked to and fro in her makeup room. She asked for some time alone after the wedding, and her mom did everything to ensure that she got what she wanted. She still had the reception to go, and she was not looking forward to it. Wasn't a girl's wedding supposed to be the best day of her life?

   Her thoughts went to starting a family, and she felt like puking. Her mind went racing to other less intimate alternatives. Test tube baby? What about adopting? She'd ALWAYS wanted to adopt a child. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do. But before that, she wanted a minimum of three years to get settled with her married life, and the US. Somehow time flew and it was time for the reception.

   She had to admit, she felt so beautiful. She had always dreamt that looking at her husband in a kurta-pyjama during the reception will cause butterflies in her stomach, but one look at Madhan and she wanted to crawl underneath the ground.

   He did look better than he normally looked, but he didn't give her butterflies like she wanted. How she wanted to love her husband, but the fact that she couldn't pained her. Not even if she tried so desperately.

   She didn't care if anyone thought she was so shallow. For chrissake, she just got out of a relationship with the most perfect human being on earth. Sue her for being judgemental and shallow. She knew she wasn't exaggerating when she said Aakash was her soul mate. She could swear on her parents that Aakash was the best partner for her.

   There was a lot of tension between her and Madhan as they posed for pictures. People came up the dais and congratulated them. Riya tried her best to smile. It was what she was best at. No one could tell she was faking it.

   Madhan was getting very worried about how Riya was acting. He wondered if she was forced into this marriage. What was he thinking. Of course she was. Who would in their right mind choose someone like him. He never made an attempt to talk to her, and neither did she. But he inched closer to her time and again, to avoid any awkward confrontations about why they weren't talking.

   By eleven in the night, only Riya's and Madhan's close relatives were remaining in the hall. It was a big hall which could hold upto five hundred people, and the floor was tiled in marble. They all placed their mats on the floor, and plopped the pillows and blankets.