Arranged In Love!

Bonfire

The next morning, Sonakshi was the first one to wake up. When she opened her eyes, the sight in front of her, made her go all 'Aaww'; Dev was sleeping like a baby, with his lips slightly parted, his disheveled hair cascading on his forehead and a faint smile playing on his lips. She kept staring at her man for a while and then realizing their whereabouts, she woke him up, before anyone else could come up on the terrace. She turned around and found that the door had been kept slightly open. "Dev! Dev, wake up!", Sona said, moving her hand through his hair. He automatically smiled at her soothing touch. "Dev, wake up na baba. Koi aa jayega!", she said. Finally, he woke up and wished her good morning; as she too did the same. Both of them gathered the stuff around and went to the door to check if anyone was around. Seeing that their path was cleared, they both walked to their rooms, which thankfully, were near the terrace itself. Stuffing everything in the rooms, they went to get ready.
After she had dressed up, Sona walked down to the terrace, to check whether they had forgotten anything over there; which they had not. After getting done with the checking, she walked up to the terrace railing and noticed Anant walking around on the lawn. She smiled to herself and walked down to meet him.

"Good morning, Dad.", Sonakshi greeted Anant, with a smile intact on her face. Anant too had a smile on his face, when Sona addressed him as 'Dad'. "Good morning, Beta.", Anant replied, patting Sona's hair. "Umm...Dad, you had sound sleep na? You had no discomfort na?", Sona asked him with utmost and genuine concern. He smiled and replied, "No discomfort at all. This place is so calm. To be honest I had the best sleep in ages last night." Sona just 'Hmmed' in response. "By the way, what do you plan to do further? I mean academically/careerwise?", Anant asked Sona, taking her by surprise. Sensing her hesitation, he added, "Sonakshi, just remember that you are family now. All my kids, including you, are equal to me and Ishwari as well. So please don't hesitate to put forth whatever you need or anything, in front of us, okay?" Sona's eyes moistened and she felt like the luckiest girl in the entire universe, to have found Dev and his family. Brushing away her tears with the back of her hand, she replied, "Yes, Dad, I shall keep that in mind. Thank you!" "Aha; no sorry and thank you with your Dad!", Anant replied with a wink and engulfed Sona in a fatherly hug, and Sona more than happily returned his gesture. This time too, Dev had witnessed the moment between his father and fiancee; just like he had witnessed Sona and Soumya's start of friendship; and this time as well. He was ecstatic, to say the least.

The new father-daughter duo spent some more time on the lawn, chatting. Anant, who had complete faith in Ishwari's decision to choose Sonakshi as Dev's wife, had his faith confirmed after having a one-on-one with Sonakshi. The two of them walked in together smiling over something. Ishwari who was coming out of the room was happily shocked to see her husband and soon-to-be daughter-in-law together (that too in a merry mood). And by the looks of it, she knew that Sonakshi had won over her husband within a matter of time; just like she had, over everyone in the family. Sona noticed Ishwari and walked toward her, ahead of Anant. "Good morning, Maa. Slept well?", Sona greeted Ishwari and hugged her. "Yes. And good morning to you too, Baccha", Ishwari replied, reciprocating the hug. "I will check on the breakfast arrangements.", saying which, going to the kitchen. Ishwari saw Anant affectionately looking at Sona's retreating figure and smiled to herself. Once Sona was out of sight, he said to Ishwari, "Ishu, like always...your choice is the best. She's perfect for Dev!" "Indeed she is!", Ishwari said and embraced Anant.

Soon everyone else joined them for breakfast. DevAkshi were nervous as they thought that the deadly group of their cousins-slash-friends, would indirectly tease them to no end, but to their surprise, none of it happened. The others had a knowing smile on their faces though. They could make out of DevAkshi's face that the night had been a great one and that made the others happy since their efforts had paid off. So, deciding against teasing them, the rest of the younger clan just smiled at DevAkshi. DevAkshi silently thanked them, through their eyes; only to have it brushed off.