Destiny's Game

Ch. 7 The talk of marriage

Naina's POV: 

Aryan dropped me off at home and I thanked both of my friends before heading in. I slung my bag over my shoulder and waited patiently for some one to open the door. Papa opened it with his lips curved upwards into a smile and gave me a hug. "How was the sleepover?" He asked, once I was in. "Good." I replied and kissed my mother's cheek, who shrugged me off as she watered the potted plants lined up against the window sill of the living room. For some reason, Maa had this inner urge of being a gardener and every inch of our house had some sort of plants. She said it was to keep the air clean and fresh inside our household but I think the real truth was that she had a strange obsession with them and was afraid to admit it openly. 

I raked my eyes around and when they landed on my Dad trimming some stems of a rose plant, I questioned, "Is your friend gone?" 

"Yes. He had some work to do." My dad responded, putting the scissors away. Mumma appeared behind him with another plant and kept it on the window sill across me. "Deepak, this looks good, doesn't it?" He turned to her. "Yeah, it looks fine Jaan. Wait, is this a new one?" 

My mother looked at him bit her lip before nodding her head. "But it looks so beautiful." She tried justifying her action and he chuckled. "Yeah it does." He said cheekily gazing at her. Maa blushed. 

"Umm...I am right here." I said and they both faced me. 

"Don't be so awkward, Naina. This romance is the reason why you exist today. Be grateful my princess."  Mumma whacked him in the head gently and he grinned. "See...still in love." 

I shook my head. "Moving on from this lovey-dovey convo.... are you happy to have met your old friend?" 

My dad nodded delightedly. "It was nice to be catching up with him. I enjoyed it...it was like old times and he invited all of us to Mumbai as well." 

"That's nice." I agreed. 

"Well...don't you think you should go and have a shower?" My mother raised her eyebrows at me when she finally finished admiring her plants. I dragged myself upstairs without saying a word and took a steaming-hot shower. My skin turned a little red from the temperature but I fricking loved it. Getting dressed, I decided to scroll through my Instagram and when I got bored after an hour, I left for the living room which was empty. Hmm.... wonder where my parents were? I moved towards their room and suddenly paused in front of their door when I heard Maa say my name. 

"...but do you think Naina will agree? Even I don't know what to feel about the proposal." 

"Swetha...think about it this way, okay? She is our only child and we are her only support. Both sides of our family have practically disowned us and if something happens to us, then what will happen to our daughter? Our relatives won't even think about accepting her and she will be all alone in this huge world. And...I can't see that. She is my little girl after all." 

"Yes, but marrying her into your best friend's family that your haven't met for decades? Do you think that is wise?" My mother inquired and her words froze me. Marry me? What do they mean by that? My heart increased its pace as I leaned my ear onto the door to hear my father's response in anticipation and slight confusion. 

"I believe in Sanjay, Jaan. And my daughter will be happy there...she will get what she wants. she will have a family to take care of her, a husband to lean onto and a home, when we leave her forever. You know I have cancer, right? Who knows it might kill me one day..." I heard him chuckle and tears started to well up in my eyes. How could he think like that? I can live alone. He raised me to be independent and strong, then why, why was he speaking in such manner? Did he really think that he was going to die so soon? Because I wasn't going to let that happen. No, he was my dad, my hero...why would I ever let him die? I was definitely going to make sure that he is cancer-free.