Saying nothing, sometimes says the most. -Emily Dickenson

**

The scintillating constellation of stars adorning the endless horizon seemed inexplicably befitting as the royal blue color of the vast ocean space kept gradually metamorphosing into darker shades, finally attaining the pitch black tint, with the shimmery tinge reflected from the sparkling stars of course.

Was nature always this beautiful or sharing the whole epiphany to rejoice its beauty with one special person made the whole hullabaloo over its admiration all the more colossal?

Perhaps, the second theory was more apt.

The gust of winds piqued as darkness infiltrated with each passing minute, taking its own sweet time to envelop the air around them, while the golden tinges coming from the prepossessing lights outside Shangri-La's Villingili Resort only accentuated the aura and magnanimity of the ambiance; getting their quintessence registered to the couple wrapped in each others' arms on the milky sands, with the increasing magnitude of the darkness of the night sky.

"And then?"

Her voice was merely a whisper as she snuggled closer to him, her back brushing against him, sitting in between his legs, while his hands remained wrapped around her from either side.

The winds only turned colder and the surreal waves from the ocean had their own uncanny rhapsody to play as he slowly exhaled and whispered against her hair, making her shiver in return,

"Maldives is beautiful."

He could already envision the adorable little pout adorning her face although it was her back facing him, as she playfully slapped the back of one of his palms that was protectively holding her in his embrace.

He let out a soft chuckle at that gesture of hers, something he had grown extremely habituated of in the last few years that they had been married to each other.

"Kahiye na!" (Please say!)

She insisted, in a tone rather irked and childlike than one could ever think of someone to be like at the age of 26.

"Stubborn woman"

He muttered under his breath playfully as he drew her further closer, his favorite defense against any cold, his favorite feeling in the whole wide world.

".. And then I had felt that you have got lovely eyes. Also that you more or less looked like a fragile doll, a beautiful one that needs to be handled with care."

He said softly, inhaling her soothing vanilla scent as the winds tried to mess with her hair.

In return she only managed a frown, her eye brows gradually reaching the arctic circle as she assimilated and comprehended his words before turning her face towards him, and speaking accusingly,

"Acha! Matlab aapko hum khoobsoorat sirf us calendar photo shoot ke din lage the pehli baar, usse pehle aap hume badsoorat samajhte the?" (Oh! So you mean that you found me beautiful only on the day of the calendar photo shoot for the first time, before that you considered me ugly?)

Good gracious god! Was she really a grown up woman? Little Aarav had a better understanding and patience level most of the times compared to his wife, who was also the proud mother of Aarav, ever since they had legally adopted him all those years back.

Tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ears, Arnav tried to gather her in his arms again properly, when she kept pouting like a kid, waiting anxiously for him to rectify the grave mistake he committed with his words.

"You know that's not true," he began, his words a mere whisper.

He couldn't help the small smirk that appeared on his face, teleporting him back to that one eventful night when this lady clad in green ethnic lehenga choli had fallen into his arms. Yes, he was a stone hearted man. Heck, he wasn't even worth being called a man, for his lack of empathy, understanding, and tendency of demeaning others spoke volumes, making him the invincible yet helpless crude business tycoon ASR.

But his smirk deepened as he recalled that even that crude exterior couldn't refrain him that night from assessing the quivering pink soft links of the delicate beauty in his arms, who he at that point considered to be a weapon sent by the rivals; he couldn't deny that her hazel iris had captivated his attention pretty instantaneously as he had looked into her eyes; he couldn't defy his heart's confession as on today that he wasn't really callous that night feeling her warmth in his embrace as he pretty much portrayed it to be.

His little hunky dory solitude, which too by the way consisted of his moments with his wife, saw an abrupt closure as he heard Khushi's voice, and that instantly brought him out of his reverie,

"Acha chordiye," she uttered, her mouth all set to throw the next chain of words at him, which her mind had already processed.

"What about that Diwali night?"

If Khushi wouldn't have been sitting in a position between his legs where her back was facing him, she surely would have been taken aback seeing Arnav's lips parting in a tiny winy shock as she asked him that question.

More than four years to that Diwali night and yet the conundrums that had taken over his mighty head that moment couldn't find definite answers as he sat today on the magnificent beaches of the Maldives, with the very same lady in his arms, who was now his legally wedded wife.

Come on Arnav!

You have kissed her senseless infinite times in all these years, made love to her like crazy, innumerable times, heck, you guys are even parents now! And still the unexpected halt recalling those moments?

Well, maybe that's the beauty of some precious moments of life.

He knew that if he dodged this question too or gave a vague answer, his wife will surely get angry at him, and under no circumstance was Arnav Singh Raizada going to jeopardize this one happy getaway he got with his wife, away from the hustle bustle of Delhi, as well as Shantivan for seven days.

Composing himself, he caressed her arms with the pads of his fingers as he said,

"You looked hot."

Khushi gasped as she turned to face him in one quick motion, her small mouth shaping up in a perfect O as she exclaimed, "Hawww!"

Arnav tried fervently to maintain a straight face lest his wife ended up thinking he is making fun of her, and to thank his stars, he managed well.

Was he lying about the compliment? No way!

She looked hot! More than that, she looked ethereal. Pure. Innocent. Like she had always been.

He smiled as he recalled the whole vision of Khushi sitting on the floor of Raizada Mansion, all surrounded by beautifully lit diyas. But seeing the whole "hawww" reaction coming from his wife, he tried hard, really hard to stifle the chuckle that he felt was too agile to show up, but he controlled.

"Haww kyun? Tum hi ne toh poocha! Jo sach hai, use accept karo!" (Why hawww? You only asked me! Now what is true, accept it!)

He said, as a matter of factly, while she only nodded with a small smile and then took her previous position, her back once again facing him.

For a moment they kept quiet, taking in the cool breezes, relishing every ounce of this getaway time that they actually managed to get after so long, all due to the packed schedule of Mr. Raizada at work, and pretty similar routine of Mrs. Raizada, who kept busy with her catering company, and then of course, brand endorsements ever since she won that 2012 beauty pageant.

Arnav brought his lips closer to her hair, kissing it softly, as he slowly shifted his attention to her earlobe, biting it gently, and then pecked her temple. She smiled to herself as she silently enjoyed her husband's loving gestures, framing each frame of the moment deep in her mind.

He continued with his little ministrations when Khushi thought she should once again try to ask him the question he had tactfully dodged the previous night when they had been in this very same position, the very same place"a spot that became their mutual favorite ever since they reached the resort two days back.

Trying to gather herself, and also putting some efforts to not melt under his expert loving hands, she managed to speak,

"Arnavji?"

"Hmm?"

He whispered in between kissing her shoulder blades, his one hand softly pushing the volume of her hair on one side.

"Aapne humare kal ke sawal ka jawab nahi diya," (You didn't answer my question that I had asked yesterday), she said softly.

She felt him flinch as if as a reflex, he stopped doing what he was doing and reluctantly pulled back, bringing a small distance between their otherwise collided bodies.

He remained silent for a brief amount of time, very well knowing what she was intending and also that there was no chance today for him to evade the question like he did yesterday.

What's the point of evading, anyway?

His conscience whispered to him.

True. What was the point? Wasn't trust, transparency and understanding the vital elements in every relationship? And here, they were married.

He let out a sigh, trying to the best of his ability to come up with the best way to put it, when she stunned him unexpectedly,

"Did you really hate me when you married me forcefully Arnavji?"

He was taken aback. Why did you have to say this Khushi?

.

When yesterday she had asked him about why he had forcefully asked her to get married to him, not even bothering for a second to ask her whether what he saw was valid, without asking her to explain her side of the story, he had no answer. True, he knew that whatever happened was never right and what followed much later after he read the very different book of revelations of their lives, things changed for better, became intense, and finally led to their happily ever after, but under no circumstance could he deny that it never fixed, compensated, or validated the kind of misery he put her through, the preposterous instances she had to bear, the heartless entity that she had to face in the name of her husband.

But keeping her in dark should not be the case.

In his conscious mind, the whole phase was a surreal blur. Correction, he tried making it so. But subconsciously, with every little semblances, he would on many occasions be reminded of how much he had ill treated her. No, these instances weren't big reminder circles in his present happily ever after, but puny bits from usual days that would even though for a tiny second, make some unwanted images flash in his head.

Like when he would be watering his plants in the poolside back at Shantivan, and if accidentally he would be on the verge of tripping across the pool's slab, her face would flash from the horrific nights when he had coaxed her to sleep there, pushing her out of his own room; although the present scenario would still have a happy Khushi watching TV in their room the same instant, but guilty heart as they put it, it knows what it knows.

He licked his dried lips with his tongue as he slowly turned Khushi, this time completely, so that now she was face to face with him. She searched his brown orbs as the ripples from the ocean created a brilliant symphony of tranquility yet so many voices on his countenance.

Looking intensely into her hazel eyes, he composed himself as he spoke, not because she asked him, but today, because he wanted to, once and for all,

"I hated you."

She held her breath as he spoke. Things were all good now, she knew how much her husband loved her, more than his own life. Yet, why was it so that wounds from the past still ached like crazy? Oh well, first cuts are always the deepest!

"..That's what I tried to convince myself," he murmured.

After a brief pause, he continued, "Khushi.. That night.. that night-"

He paused again, as if even the slightest memories of that night could make the bile rise in his throat, as if the mighty ASR suddenly believed in the saying that spoken fears can come true, as if he was living that dreary moment once again. He changed course of his words as he found himself at a loss, and finally with one last thought averred,

"The night I lost my mother and father was the worst night of my existence."

".. Until I saw you in that Shyam's embrace. And then, the previous nightmare didn't seem to be the worst any more. Because, the previous night made me lose the one I loved, my mother. But the other one.. It made me lose the one I loved, and also broke my trust on love irrevocably."

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she heard him speak his blatant words of confession, but she didn't flinch, she wanted him to say it all. It was needed, not just for her, but him as well.

"Na chahte hue, na jaante hue, tumhe apna samajhne laga tha, haq tha mera, tumpe, aur ek hi pal me, it seemed like it was all over. The only thing that got stamped in my mind was him touching you, and you insisting him to leave my sister." (Without wanting, without knowing, I started believing you to be mine, I had rights, on You, but just in one moment, it was all over.)

She waited as he looked down at their joined hands, not trying to categorically avoid her gaze but not trying to look at her either.

"But in all those games, all that hate, all that pretentious indifference, I never realized, that if I really hated you, if I really wanted to throw you out of our lives, if I really blamed you, why would have I married you?"

He lifted his gaze to look at her as he said that and found her moist eyes already staring at him.

He cupped her face with his right hand as his fingers brushed off the wetness caused by the lone tear that escaped her eye and said,

"Khushi, I didn't believe in marriages, but I married you. I didn't treat anybody as my own except my sister, yet I exercised my rights on you like you were my property, I tried to unsee what I had seen that night on the terrace but I couldn't, but I also tried to unfeel what I felt for you all the while and there too, I couldn't."

He stopped there as she still looked at him, thankfully, the tears weren't that threatening in her eyes currently, as if even her tears listened to the man's confession minutely, refusing to fall down.

"I hate to admit it Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada," he slightly nodded in mock defeat with a small smile and added,

"But Arnav Singh Raizada was already in love with you, way, way before than he even realized it in his stubborn mind, and maybe that's why he wanted to keep you locked with him, because he feared he might lose what he believed was always his.You."

Khushi now smiled through her tears as Arnav too felt his eyes moist, speaking from the core of his heart, feelings that he never knew could be etched as words and conveyed to the only person in his life he loved and cared about more than anyone else, his wife, his Khushi.

He brushed the pad of his index finger on her nose making her flinch in reflex as he softly said, "Phir se laal ho gayi!" (Again it turned red!)

She smiled at that as she suddenly felt the urge to bend towards her husband and kiss the life out of him, and well, she certainly would have but Arnav halted her in her tracks as he said,

"By the way! That night I wanted to confess it to you."

Whoa! Since when did Arnav Singh Raizada spill old secrets?

Khushi looked in surprise while he gave her a pretty casual look, no qualms that he was being straightforward about what he had actually intended to do that night.

"Kya?" (What?)

She asked in return. Oh, didn't she already know that? Women! Word from the horse's mouth, else it's not a home run baby, you are out!

Arnav was taken aback. Really? I know Khushi itni bholi tum nahi ho(I know you aren't this innocent Khushi)

Matlab ab nahi ho! (I mean, not any more)- he mentally corrected himself.

But fine, if she wanted it straight, he would give her straight. Twisty Raizada is real, but when dealing with Mrs. Raizada, a few amends won't hurt.

"Yahi, ki mujhe kyun fark padhta tha.." (This only, that why did I care!)

He stated at one go.

Khushi stared at him for a good five seconds at that and soon after, without a second thought acted on what she was about to do before her husband had halted her. Holding both his muscular arms in her soft, tiny hands, she bent forward as she brushed her lips against his, seeking access to his mouth and he gave that to her readily, willingly. His arms snaked around her on their own accord as desire pooled inside him, making him ruffle her hair, while her hands now remained wrapped around his neck.

After sometime when they both unanimously missed the vital element of life called oxygen, they parted, still looking at each other, as Khushi's face displayed a true shade of crimson, making Arnav feel the urge of taking her right there right now.

But his thoughts had to wait, not just because they had audience who were busy taking walks across the beautiful beach, but also because his ever talkative wife had made up her mind to again say something.

Gosh! This woman could always talk nineteen to the dozen!

"Arnavjiii," she spoke with sudden enthusiasm, deliberately enunciating the extra "i" phonetic of his name, trying her level best to bring levity to their otherwise intense situation.

Arnav signaled her to continue as he nodded and she tried straightening herself up as she prepared herself for her next words:

"Hum soch rahe the...," (I was thinking...) she paused as he waited, and then continued, "Hum soch rahe the, ki agar uss raat aapne humse keh diya hota, ki aapko fark kyun padta hai.. aur-" (I was thinking that if that night you would said it to me that why you cared, and-)

Oh god! Years of marriage and these two still couldn't stop their wordplay! Was uttering the word "proposed" a blasphemy? Brushing that thought away, she went on-

"Aur.. aur humne mana kar diya hota, toh?" (And, and if I would have refused then?) She finished, a tinge of relief taking over her insides as if she won a jalebi making contest on completing her sentence.

"What the?!" The words immediately left his mouth as he furrowed his eye brows, knowing very well she was playing him looking at that mischievous smile adorning her recently kissed swollen lips but he got his mock anger ASR face on as he clutched her arms tightly making her chest almost crash against his.

"Toh phir Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada," he paused deliberately, looking in a dangerously intense way into her eyes to make the impact he intended it to be as he finally uttered,

"Main tumhe uthake le jata! Apne SATH, Apne PAAS" (I would have lifted you and taken you away! With me, for me!)

Khushi couldn't help the contended smile that flashed on her face hearing her husband's possessive, romantic, as well as honest confession.

But being the ever famous romantic moment spoiler that she was, she tried opening her mouth to ask one last question, when suddenly a voice in chorus halted her-

"PAPA!!"

They both turned around in unison as they spotted Aarav first dressed in his sporty attire, his happy smile indicating he won yet another game of table tennis in the resort club as he ran towards his Mamma and Papa, while just behind him was the apple pie of Arnav's life, his precious angel, his three year old Ashi, a replica of his crazy Khushi, dressed in a pink fluffy frock, her cheeks naturally crimson against her pale complexion as she took baby steps and in a split second Arnav ran towards her, getting hold of her as he threw her in the air, making her burst into giggles as he caught her back, meanwhile, Khushi hugged Aarav, patting and congratulating him on his win.

"So, Ashi baby is happy that bhaiyya won the match?" He asked his daughter, in an almost baby voice, cuddling her in his arms.

Ashi nodded nonstop in return, giving infinite affirmations and obvious elation over her elder brother's win as she squealed and shouted in her shrill voice, "VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!"

"Totally Khushi!" Arnav muttered to himself with a chuckle as he could still feel the echo of those invisible exclamations of Ashi's voice ringing in the air. He turned his attention to his 8 year old son Aarav, as he high-fived him, saying at the same time: "So big guy! Another win! I'm proud of you!"

Aarav displayed a million dollar smile at his father's acknowledgment and signaled him to give Ashi to him. Arnav nodded as he carefully placed Ashi's feet on the beach sand.

Both Arnav and Khushi waited to see what was to happen next and their wait was short lived as they saw Aarav take out a big bar of dark chocolate from his back pocket along with a small pocket sized teddy, making Ashi jump in profound excitement as she clapped her hands together and shouted on the top of her voice, "CHOCOLATE!!!! TEDDY!!!!!!"

Aarav tried making a face of mock anger but immediately gave away with the attempt seeing the little kiddo sister jumping like a bunny in front of him and gave her the small gift he got for her, after he was allowed to choose any gift item from the gaming zone at the club on his win in the table tennis game sometime back.

Arnav squeezed Khushi's hand at the indefinable happiness he felt at that gesture and the beautiful bond he saw blooming between their children. Khushi too rested her head on his chest looking at the most prized possessions of their lives together.

.

"Waise.. humari baat abhi poori nahi hui hai." (By the way, our talk is still not complete) Arnav whispered softly into her ear as they still stood at the same spot.

Khushi looked up at him, surprised, a small smile tugging at her lips, knowing very well that now it was her husband's turn to do some wordplay and Q and A, as that very same moment from the morning after Rakshabandhan came into her mind, where he had said the very same line, and well, today he will let his actions do the answering, she very well knew.

**