Love Happens

Chapter twenty-four

Up in the sky
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Anand wanted to give Shraddha a surprise as his form of appreciation for forgiving Poonam when she tried to kill her. He thought of what he could do, and what else was better than taking her to meet her mother in Ladnun. Before going to Delhi, he decided to go there for a brief while, but conceived the news from Shraddha. The plane landed in Ladnun. Beknown to him before landing, there were going to be tremendous thunderstorms with rainfall that would occur in Ladnun. Anand ignored all facts, just to please Shraddha because she did a lot for his daughter.

"Are we in Delhi yet?" peeking at the window, Shraddha recognized Ladnun's airport. Her brows furrowed as her gaze moved around all through the window. It was really Ladnun's airport. It was the same place they went to with her mother-in-law.

She looked at Anand. Her face was puzzled by a questioning expression.

"We're in Ladnun." Anand cleared her misconceptions.

Her lips widely parted from shock as tears of happiness filled her eyes. Her mother, she was about to be reunited with her mother again.

"We're still going to Delhi today. You'll have an hour to spend with your moth........" he paused along with his breath after she hugged him.

"Anandji!" her happiness was boundless. The only way she could express it more was through her hug which she hoped will convey the message to him since when he hugged her yesterday, it also made her happy. Maybe hugs could make people happy. She didn't know. But since it made her, she hoped it will make him too.

Anand's breathing gradually returned as his lips stretched into a side smirk. He didn't make any effort to hug her back, however, in some way, the sweet scent of lavender flourishing from her hair that was going through his nose into his head lulled him. Not only because of that, but Shraddha's ardency towards his children has also made him soft. Every father would want to get his children a mother that would love them a lot, and out of a billion people, he found her. He found the only one remaining. Which was Shraddha.

On second thought, she was worthy of him hugging her back. He does. His hands moved around her back and rested there to hug her back.

"You have no idea how happy you've made me. What can I do to repay you?"

Her fervour lured him more into her. The hug got tighter and more intense. Shraddha began to perspire heavily while blushing. She tried to pull away, but Anand's grip on her grew tighter. She stayed with him on the spot.

"Mr Anand, we've reached."

The attendant's voice made him back out. He looked at Shraddha that was smiling widely as she returned some straps of hair behind her ear.

He smiled too. It was a simple hug. A normal hug. She definitely wouldn't take it the wrong way. She was sensible enough to understand that. That was his thought.

They move out of the plane and the terminal. Outside where the cabs await passengers, they volted into a yellow taxi.

The clouds formed dark coatings. Breeze blew strongly from all directions throughout the journey to Shraddha's home. They reached. Shraddha gazed at Anand to read his expression on what he thought of her home. It wasn't big enough like theirs. Nor did they own a private compound like them. Or a fountain, or even a gate. They had a small home. Even their family's hall was bigger than it.

"What are you staring at? Aren't you eager to meet your Mother?" he asked her and plunged out. She does after him.

"No. I am. But why did you bring me here? Do you plan to leave me and go?" she asked. The realization suddenly dawned on her. It was decided their marriage was only going to last till the election was over. And now, it was over.

The corners of her heart became heavy waiting for his response from his neutral face.

"You're correct. I brought you here forever. You were already aware of the contract. You were meant to live with me only during the election."

Her heart got wrecked with daggers of pain. She looked at him through her teary-eyes.

"You brought me here against my wish. You were aware I would never have come had I known you were bringing me forever. I won't stay here. We're married, we'll remain married." she exclaimed and reentered the car. She wasn't ready for any negotiation that would make her leave him, hence, she drew the door to close it. She looked ahead, trying hard to stop her tears from falling. Her face was cropped up with a scowl of being tricked by Anand. He behaved sweetly to make her trust him because he knew had he told her to come, she wouldn't have. So he tricked her.

Anand couldn't hold the laughter inside him. He broke into a burst of uncontrollable, fierce laughter. Shraddha's brows slowly rose. From the corners of her eyes, she could see him laughing.

"He is laughing while I'm upset. Great. What a husband you blessed me with God." she mumbled in rage. "But I still want him." her voice faded as she explained through the words.

"Come out Shraddha." he opened the door for her.

"I'm not going. We're going to sister Riya's place." she crossed her arms adamantly refusing to look at him.

"Come on Shraddha. We're wasting time. We have none to spare in joking around. You've seen the current weather of this village." he held her arm and took her out even though she retaliated a lot on coming out.

"I'm not going in Anand if it's for forever."

"Don't you miss your Mum?" he asked.

"I do. But even she won't be happy to welcome her daughter home permanently."

He chuckled. "It's not permanent. You forget things easily. I told you on the plane that you will visit your mother for an hour."

"You said forever."

"I was joking."

She heaved a long sigh of relief. Her tears magically disappeared and dried up.

"I brought you here to meet your mother. Her daughter fell ill and she entrusted your safety to me. I didn't even inform her about it. I feel there are many things you both have to talk about."

Her eyes starred at him with more admiration than she already does for him. With more love.

"I won't hug you. You deserve more than a hug," she said.

"Then what do you think I deserve?" he asked with curiosity.

She smiled. "You deserve this." she went on her knees. He studied her carefully and attentively. She leaned and planted one kiss on each of his legs.

"Come on. Stop this. We've long passed the era where women go down on their knees to express their gratitude. Don't do it again." his hand went below her neck as he raised her head to match his face.

"We passed the era, but those people loved more than us. My heart loves like they did. And my heart wishes to be a servant to your love. Grant it this only wish."

The screen freezes.........😂.

Hey! Saw the votes reached 40✅. Even though the comments aren't up to 20 as I said, they could have reached had I replied to each of your comments. By the way, thanks for completing the condition. So🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️, I wonder why Aristotle came into this world. For real, like his complex theories he propounded should never have been accepted. Why do we even study things he said😭? I'm weeping. This will probably be the last chapter I will publish and the next won't be anytime soon. We're writing serious tests, and exams will follow immediately. This new month didn't come with anything good for me. Let me leave you guys like this. Bye-bye 👋. Don't forget to vote, comment, and wait for the next chapter.