Chapter 44: Chapter 44
*Palak Pov*
I smiled when Aunty and Jasmine continued to fuss over Eli the moment we returned on Sunday night itself as both David and I had to go to work the next day.
I know we have to talk about his reaction when I said I don't want to hold any ceremony for others, but it is better to do it alone instead of involving others right now.
"Palak! Let her stay with me for today." Aunty suddenly asked and I can say kind of just stated her intention more than asking about it.
It is actually not a problem as she is comfortable to sleep anywhere and not fussy about anything when it comes to sleeping. I nodded and she left as it is already time to sleep.
"Bhabhi! There is a surprise for you." Jasmine whispered and David glared at her hearing those words and she immediately left before he can scold her.
"You already got the changes done?" I asked, turning towards him and he nodded smiling.
"I took Jasmine's help to get your things shift too. You need to do any work." He replied forwarding his hand and I smiled holding it.
We stepped into the study room and I immediately found a small table beside his table. Did he actually make changes to the study room too?
He had to change his table to adjust this and tone of the room also changed to a light color. It feels more like his style now and I guess this is needed.
When I took a step into his... our room, I paused, looking at the clear changes he made with the bed and the wall color too. There is even a painting of the moon and stars on one side of the wall.
"Elisha will sleep here and I placed a movable partition. It's like her own room, but we will be closer like this." He explained while showing the partition.
"When did you get it done?" I mumbled, looking around and found even the wardrobe is changed.
"I was planning for long and was in talks with a few people already. When you stayed at your Dad's place, I immediately got them to start working. Mom overlooked it and she enjoyed doing it." He explained scratching his forehead.
"David!" I mumbled, reaching closer to him before holding his hands with mine.
"You don't like it?" he asked looking around.
"Thank you! I wouldn't have done any of these changes and wouldn't have put this much concentration for sure. I... thank you." I replied, staring at his face and he stared back smiling.
He leaned down before kissing me, but I took a step back asking, "Did Aunty took Eli because she thought..."
I couldn't finish the sentence while he chuckled when I cleared my throat. He shook his head before pulling me into his arms before I could take another step back.
"Even if she hadn't I wouldn't have left you alone. I stopped to take a step towards this in the other room thinking we should have our new start from our own room. I couldn't do it at your Das's place, of course." He mumbled while I glared at him for talking like that when I am trying to control my weird thought.
"Why do you think I placed this partition?" he added, raising his eyebrow and I rolled my eyes at his plan before pushing him away to reach the wardrobe.
"I need to go to work tomorrow and I am tired." Saying that I left him alone to freshen up before he could see the smile on my face.
The smile slipped from my face entering the washroom remembering the last memory I had from this place. My hands trembled the moment I touched the wash basin.
I stepped out of the washroom without waiting for a second before saying, "Is it possible to remodel the washroom?"
"Washroom?" he asked in a surprised tone and I gave him a nod before stepping out of the room and calmly walked into my old room to freshen up.
When I returned to our room, I found him sitting on the bed, frowning and stared at me in surprise when he found me near the bed.
"What is it?" I asked, pulling the blanket before lying down on it.
"I thought you would stay back in that room and not return." He replied shifting to lay down beside me.
I closed my eyes, realizing he must be confused by my reaction and thought I would just stay there. I snuggled closer to his body and his arms automatically circled my body before pulling me closer.
"I don't have a good memory inside that washroom and I don't want to think about it again when I finally decided to just ignore everything except for our new life." I explained not clearly but he can understand I guess.
"I am sorry! I should, I thought about it before. Why don't we go back to that room for now?" he asked rubbing my back.
"Stop apologizing for everything from now on and do it when you really do something wrong. I want to stay in this room and maybe there is no need to change the washroom. I will try to get adapted to it." I mumbled shaking my head.
"No! I will get it done." He whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"You really try to understand me even with small things, right? Will you understand one thing I am going to say now?" I asked, lifting my head to stare at him.
I thought to wait until he raises the topic, but I don't know whether he will actually ask me what he wants to and may even keep quiet about his thoughts.
It will not be weird if he really doesn't bring out the topic as after everything we both will be kind of wary to say or do something to not disturb the pace we have right now.
"I am just going to explain and not trying to blame you or something. So, don't feel guilty with whatever I am going to say. Okay?" I asked making sure I am not making a mistake of expressing my thoughts and he slowly nodded.
"That day... when... when you walked away before saying 'I do', that moment kind of gave me nightmares for so many days after that. Sometimes I used to dream like all that didn't happen and sometimes the scene used to get played in my head. It kind of left a scar in my mind and I don't want to go through it again. I am not saying you will leave me again, but... but I don't think I am fine with it." I explained, trying my best to make it short.
"Isn't it fine that we are already married and there is no need to actually conduct the ceremony? Everyone knows that we are married." I pointed out not looking away while he continued to stare at me without stopping me.
I kind of waited for him to say something, but he gave a weak smile before hugging me tightly. I closed my eyes, realizing even after all the words he is still feeling guilty.
"Don't! Don't think about it." I whispered, hugging him back tightly before lifting my face to press my lips to his and kissed him showing my feelings instead of the scar which I already pushed back and it's not like I am feeling it every second and it's just for the time when the talk started about the ceremony.
He stilled for a second before kissing me back showing his feelings in return making me smile and I pulled him over saying, "Let's not waste Aunty's efforts to help us."
"She was not thinking like that." He whispered, but I just ignored him to unbutton his shirt while he placed his arms over my waist under my shirt to pull it up.
"I will... I will do everything to remove that scar, Palak." He whispered, turning to lay over me and I didn't pay much attention to his words feeling lost because of his actions.
****
'Do you take Palak Anand as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?'
I stared at him in shock while he simply mumbled, "I do!" before picking up his phone and continued to talk about some work as the call is from his secretary.
Is this what he meant by everything? He just picked me up from work like he does whenever he is free with no work in the evening and I couldn't help but get startled hearing that ringtone from his phone and he let it play until the end.
"Is that Satish's voice?" I asked, not knowing what else to ask the moment he cut the call.
"He said he owes me a favor and I made him pay for it." He replied shrugging.
"David! You will be present in many meetings and meet many important people. How can you use this ringtone?" I asked him frowning.
"They have to understand or just ignore it." He replied again, shrugging as if all this is nothing while I am having a mini heart attack.
I thought he lost his charm in surprising me after I started doing it back. But legends will always be legends no matter how much others try.
"I want to show you that the past will never repeat and how deep it goes under my skin to say those two words the moment I hear these words." He added and I stared at him frowning.
"Do you really want to hold the ceremony that bad?" I asked, thinking maybe I can try or see how it goes.
"No! I don't want you to feel the past with any moment and turn every bad moment into a good one as much as I can. And I already got the washroom fixed." All I can do was to stare at him with no words to say after hearing that.
He didn't want to pressure me, but as everyone could hear it, they kind of divided themselves into groups to support either my decision or his wish.
Satish and my Dad along with Aunty are on his side while Shruthi and Jasmine on mine surprisingly. I don't have the majority, but even David is on my side so there is no problem and it turns out I have a majority.
I closed my eyes, hearing the same ringtone and had to stop from taking a bite from my dinner. He happily waited until last before saying those words and picked up the call.
"My brother is really weird. How did he think of this?" Jasmine asked, whispering and I shrugged because even I don't have any idea how he got this plan.
"This time I will take care of everything." Aunty assured me, but then again added saying only if I want to.
"Is he still irritating you with that ringtone?" Shruthi asked after two weeks of this incident when she visited us.
"It is not irritating." I couldn't help but defend him and she smiled hearing that.
"It is for us, but then I think he will say those words if it rings even in his sleep. It's like a kid trying to remember an important poem or the answer." She commented and I stared at her thinking it is not that bad for sure.
****
After thinking about Shruthi's words I couldn't sleep that day immediately and glanced at his sleeping form. I sighed drifting off into sleep but ended up getting up before him.
I have to check it before I lose some more sleep for sure. With that thought I took out my phone before glancing at Eli's side to make sure she will not get disturbed as we didn't close the partition today.
I took a deep breath before calling his number and it started ringing with Satish's voice saying those words. I leaned closer to him and stared at him in shock when he mumbled, "I do!" even in his sleep.
He didn't even get up and I cut the call immediately. He actually said those words, even in his sleep like Shruthi expected while I thought it will not be the case.
I closed the partition before reaching closer to him to call him again and when he whispered those words again, I pressed my lips to his, kissing him.
He woke up feeling this and his eyes widened with surprise. He came out of his shock whispering, "What about brushing our teeth?"
I used to complain about it all the time, but this time I don't care about any of that. I ignored his words and just continued to kiss him while he finally snapped out of all the confusion before kissing me back.
****
'Do you take David Mattew as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?'
"I do!" I whispered in his ears while he was staring at my phone in shock the next day when we just finished watching a movie in our room for our date.
"Palak!" he whispered, staring at me.
"I do!" I repeated the words and he smiled, holding my phone in his arms.
"I said those words and not the phone." I pointed out, but he shifted to make a call to my phone using his and made those words to repeat.
I smiled repeating the words again and again and he pulled me closer while pressing kisses all over my face and his expression was definitely worth asking Shruthi to say these words so that I can record it.
"But let's hold the ceremony after Eli grows more. I want her to be able to be the flower girl if possible." I whispered and he immediately accepted without opposing it.
"She is already walking slightly and she will be able to do it soon." He mumbled making me chuckle.
"How can you make her do that so soon? We need to wait a few years." I explained and he again nodded fine with even this.
"I already told you the ceremony was not important but your feelings." He whispered caressing my cheek.
"Thank you!" I whispered back hugging him tightly, feeling a sense of relief that I didn't make a mistake by choosing to be happy more than anything else that day and decided to just be with him.