Duty of Love

Chapter 6

Meera's POV

I was nervous. I was thinking about what the teacher will say... Suddenly someone nudged my shoulder. I looked to see Deva smirking at me.

" She is not going to eat you" he said

" I know that and I am not nervous"

" Oh I know, you are Meera"

My surprise must have shown on my face that he started giggling.

Giggling ..can you  imagine . The great serious, few words Adidev and giggling. Today , sun must have risen from west.

At that moment, the teacher called us

" Hi, you both are Devansh and Devastuthi 's parents, right?  What to say about them , they really are great kids. Devastuthi  is little talkative but very intelligent,  we don't need to tell anything  twice to her and Devansh is brilliant with words . Even at this small age he writes so well. You people should  encourage his talent"

Hearing the teacher talking about Anshu's writing, I felt so proud after all he got that from me.

" All credit goes to their mother only"

I was dumbfounded  when he said that. Don't know what is happening  but from past few days, he has been giving me surprise after surprise. He must have sensed my confusion that he just winked at me.

WINKED... Now I am sure I am in a parallel universe. 

" Thank you so much , Mam"

I came out of my thoughts when I heard him thanking the teacher.

On the drive home, I was stealing glances at him. I was still in shock over his behavior.

" You know you do have full rights to look at me "

I immediately  turned my head away and he started laughing. Hearing his laugh, a small smile spread onto my lips.

Suddenly  I noticed that we were not traveling home

" Where are we going ? This is not the way back"

" Kids have a long weekend so I also took leave. Thought we all will take a short trip as a family"

I was pleasantly surprised, but hearing the word family from him my smile dimmed.

" Trip ... hurray"

I heard my kid's scream. Their one voice was enough to bring back the smile on my face

" But I didn't pack anything... " I started panicking

" Don't worry, your husband has packed for all of us"

" Really....." this was from all three of us.

" Hey, what do you mean by that"  he fake glared at us

" Dad , we know that you are bad at packing" Anshu said

" I am sure you would have forgotten  one thing or the other" Devu said

" Wow , I am touched by your confidence in me"  he said sarcastically

I was still looking at him with a worried glance

" Payal packed "

It was hilarious to see that all three of immediately let out a big relieved sigh

Seeing our reaction , he scowled at us and we had a hearty laugh at his expense.

It was late at night when we reached the resort. The children have already slept on the way. We each took one and proceeded to our room.

It was a spacious suite with a living room, a big wide balcony and two bedrooms.  He directed me to one of the bedrooms where we put down the kids .

" Do you want anything to eat or drink"

" Tea would be nice"

" Ok then, order two while I just freshen up and come"

After ordering tea, I moved to the balcony. The sky was twinkling  with stars.

I was so lost that I didn't know when the room service had come until he came in with the tea.

He started talking about his college, friends,  office and I was just listening to him. His voice was a balm to my soul.

" Why am I the only one speaking?"

" Because I love to listen to you talk" I said in a flow. Immediately  I felt very conscious especially when he started staring at me.

" Now I want to hear you talk" he said after  a while

Adidev's POV

She was getting flustered by my stare but her words were floating  through my mind

I love to listen to you talk

First duty of love is to listen

I still could not fathom why I took these many years. As Saahil said , it was clear as day that she is not capable of what happened and there must be a valid reason. How can I punish someone without once hearing them.  Today I saw how her smile dimmed when I mentioned family . I felt guilty and disgusted of myself.

" What is your hobby?" I asked to overcome the awkwardness

" Hobby.... I don't have one but I love to write"

She had a beautiful  smile on her face when she said that . It was really enchanting.

" Oh, so our Anshu's talent has a source"

" I didn't  do anything, today only I came to know that he can write"

But I could see how proud she felt.

Suddenly she asked, " Why did you bring us here?"

I was thinking of how to talk to her about us when she herself gave me the perfect opportunity.

" I wanted to talk to you about us and it will not possible at home"

On hearing my reply, she went really pale but nodded her head.

" We can talk tomorrow " seeing her palor I said

" No, let's get it over with" I could see the determination in her eyes

I was not able to find words for a while, again she was the one to break the silence

" I know you are not happy in our relation maybe from the first day itself . But can I ask you something, if you did not want the marriage , why did you bring your proposal  for me" she asked me with pain in her voice and tears in her eyes.

For a moment I was stunned by that pain , then what she said began to register in my mind

" What...we sent you my proposal?"

She nodded

I couldn't understand  anything because we never sent my proposal. It was her uncle who brought her proposal and that too for Anaant and not me...