I will stand by you, through thick and thin

Together we can, we will always win.

The imposters can't harness, what is meant to be

The power of the truth, is for everyone to see.

So tonight I shall reveal,

Tonight I shall show;

How much I love you,

And everything else has to go.

It was a busy day at Shanti Van.

The hustle-bustle in the house was pretty conspicuous given the fact that every lady present in the house was overly anxious for the moon to show up in the horizon.

When you need something the most, you don't find it, eh?

Seems like even the moon was pretty demonstrative of this phrase.

.

The ladies that included women from the family as well as from the neighborhood waited with bated breath to get a glimpse of the ever celestial and lovely moon, so that they could finally break their fast and please their tummies.

Nani looked at Sheetal, who was talking to one of the guests and only felt annoyance bud in her system as she recalled the scene from the wee hours of the morning, when she was serving the sargi to Manorama, Khushi, as well as Payal.

Sheetal had popped up saying she too wishes to apply mehendi in her hands and have the sweet dish that was specially prepared by Nani for the daughters-in-laws of the house.

Had it been some other day, Nani might have actually fed her that and even applied henna on her palms, but after knowing what this intrusive lady was intending to do, Devyani Raizada had blatantly denied Sheetal saying that this was only for the daughters-in-law of the house and if she was really craving to have something sweet, there were plenty of desserts in the refrigerator and she could help herself with that.

Sheetal was irked by this sort of treatment and had fumed looking at the ladies before disappearing into her room.

.

Nani had looked at Khushi after that, who showed no emotion at whatever conspired moments ago. A part of her just wanted this girl to talk, but Khushi did whatever she was required to do as per the rituals of the festival and then walked away.

..

.

The morning was a jovial affair, with decorators all busy in decorating the mansion, NK entertaining everyone with his jokes, and of course Manorama's constant sulks over how difficult it was for her to stay hungry for that long.

But even that phase had a disruption in the form of Aarav, as he said his mother too fasts every year on this day.

The family members, except Arnav who sat on the dining table exchanged looks among themselves, before looking at Khushi, who showed no reaction at all.

She simply excused herself saying she had to go somewhere urgently and that she would be back soon.

Although Anjali had insisted that she should stay back, given she was fasting, Khushi had politely refused her request saying she really had an important task to adhere to.

.

When Arnav had appeared for the breakfast, he was slightly taken aback looking at the puzzled faces of his family members.

On inquiring about the same, Nani had berated him, saying Sheetal was also fasting this day, including the fact that she had also asked Nani to apply the traditional henna on her hands this morning and have the ritualistic dessert from her hand.

Anjali too had conveyed her despair with the whole thing and asked why was she not out of the house yet?

While Arnav had simply asked his family to wait for some time, since he had a surprise for all of them, his eyes instantly looked for Khushi.

When he didn't find her anywhere, he was disappointed.

"She has gone somewhere, Chotte. She is not in the house."

Anjali had said.

"What the? But where?"

He had asked, puzzled.

"We don't know. But she said it was important and also that she will be back soon."

And Arnav was not happy hearing this.

He left for office and on his way, called Khushi.

When she didn't receive his calls twice, panic rose in his chest, only to come to a ceasefire when she received it on his third attempt.

She had said that it was something related to her new project with Shea and her presence was indispensible. Hence, she had to go on a festival day.

She told him not to worry and that she would be back soon.

That somehow relaxed Arnav's anxious demeanor.

But all he wanted to do was this fiasco to be over asap, so that he could do everything he was supposed to do long back.

...

..

.

And now, decked in all red, Khushi looked every bit of a fairy, the one who had always been pure, innocent, lovely, but also had a tinge of maturity that was her new found understanding towards life and people.

Arnav couldn't take his eyes off her as she arranged the deeyas on the table, HP helping her with the same.

He walked closer to her and with every stride he took he only admired this beauty, who was his love, his wife, his life, his everything.

Yes, he remembered every ounce of wrong that he had caused her, but he would fix it all. He would never let even a frown come on that flawless countenance of hers ever again.

Yes, he didn't believe in fasting, he didn't like the idea of starving oneself thinking it would prolong someone else's lifespan, but when the mere thought of her doing something for him struck his mind, it was extravagantly beautiful to him.

.

"Tum theek ho?" (Are you fine?)

He asked her as he now stood close to her.

"Haan, kyun?" (Yes, why?)

"Nahi, woh.. tumne subah se kuch khaya nahi hai na.." (No, I mean you haven't eaten anything since the morning..)

She smiled her infectious smile at that and darted her attention back to thedeeyas now.

"It's okay, Arnav Ji. Ek din nahi khaane se hum marr nahi jayenge." (It's okay, Arnaj Ji. By not eating for a day, I won't die!)

.

And that was a bad nudge on Arnav's vulnerability.

Even for argument's sake or hypothetically, he never ever wanted to even have the inkling of Khushi going away from him.

There was no two-ways about it.

She will always stay with him. Hamesha.

And with that thought, he averred a little rudely,

"Shut up! Don't you dare say that again!"

.

Khushi knew what he was feeling and so she only smiled at that, nodding her head.

No matter what went wrong, what went right, she knew as a matter of fact that Arnav can never imagine a life without her, the same way she can never even think of living without him.

Regardless of every nuisance that came their way, nothing could change the fact that she loved him and he loved her. She was his wife and he was her husband.

Yes, there were many milestones still waiting for them to reach, but under no circumstance could she separate from him.

Her inhibitions, her insecurities, their lifestyles- those definitely set them apart, but the volume of the word called love was far more superior, than any of these things combined.

.

As the moon finally showed up, a chaos in the form of laughter, excitement and impatience broke in the house.

Every couple stood opposite to each other, in their own sweet ways completing every ritual of the festival, while Anjali happily clicked photographs of the couples from her digital camera.

.

In that one moment when Khushi watched Arnav's face from the sieve, and he looked back keenly at her, watching her every feature closely, she knew that she didn't want to be anywhere else but here.

With him, for him, together.

.

For Arnav, it was a whole new feeling altogether.

.

Yes, he never believed in love, but Khushi changed it for him.

Yes, he never believed in marriage, but Khushi changed it for him.

Yes, he never believed in rituals, but yet again, Khushi changed it for him.

.

As he broke her fast by feeding her a bite of her favorite sweet Jalebi, she finally sighed in relief, realizing that she didn't have to starve herself anymore. For obvious reasons, of course.

Arnav hugged her tightly, whispering a silent I love you to her, and in return she only blushed and told him that she loved him too.

.

.

The other ladies had already left and the house was now occupied only by the family members.

When Nani said that they should all have dinner now, since they were all hungry after the long day of the festival, it was Arnav who begged to differ with the proposition.

.

Everyone, including Khushi looked at him with a surprised look, while he only smirked and saw Sheetal descend down the stairs with an anxious look on her face.

If Arnav's denial to have dinner now had surprised everyone, his next words had shocked the hell out of them.

"Sheetal? What happened? Looking for me, to break your fast?"

.

Sheetal was taken aback at that unexpected question and only halted her steps as she stood in front of the family members, who were equally stupefied with whatever they just heard.

"Oh everyone? Why are you looking so surprised?"

Arnav had mockingly asked, augmenting the shock on everyone's face with each passing second.

.

"What happened Sheetal? Why looking like a ghost? Come on! Weren't you fasting for me? Am I not the one who you clandestinely consider your hubby and fast for every year? The father of your child Aarav?"

.

Sheetal was spellbound.

Khushi looked in horror as she watched her husband say all the life-threateningwords out loud.

For a moment, she thought that she felt dizzy, but still stood her ground, her mind constantly reminding her that this wasn't true. This couldn't be true.

"Come on Sheetal! After all, isn't this what you wanted all of us to BELIEVE?"

His sarcastic smile now changed into an enraged expression and the family members were dumbfounded once again.

What was all this?

What was Arnav trying to do?

The two questions buzzed everyone's mind.

.

"I.. I- What are you saying, Arnav.. I, I'm not getting you."

Sheetal stuttered, her conscience affirming it to her very well that her game play was over, for ASR definitely did his homework well and now hell was all set to break loose on her.

.

"What am I saying? Oh! Wait. Let me show you then what am I saying!"

He said sarcastically, making everyone look at him in anticipation.

.

What came next was a cauldron of appearances and disappearances in the form of all the witnesses who confirmed Sheetal's folly.

Be it in the form of the bank people, whom she had been avoiding since she wasn't able to pay her credit card bills, or the Ashram administrator from whom she had temporarily adopted Aarav. The basketball coach, who had trained Aarav in basketball, or the theater artist who had helped Aarav imitate Arnav to the T, to create the much obvious similarities in the two of them.

Everybody stood shell-shocked, including Khushi, who couldn't believe that the roots of farce could actually go this deep, that too from a person who was a so-called friend from the past of her husband.

Could someone actually stoop so low that they could even use a little kid for their ulterior motives?

She dreaded this reality.

.

Her shock was only intensified when Arnav took out the positive DNA report and asked Sheetal straightforwardly how she got it forged?

And the guilty had to spill the beans after all, as she said that she had simply replaced Aarav's sample with Arnav's own, and hence, the positive result was pretty obvious.

.

Khushi stared in utter displeasure at this con of a woman, as she realized what she was actually trying to do by all this, and what would have actually happened had she read the positive report.

Bile rose in her throat, thinking this imposter was all set to jeopardize her marriage and also play with her emotions to this extent.

.

As she considered the repercussions of what would have happened if Arnav had not caught Sheetal's folly, she was caught up in a deep cloud of thoughts.

A part of her, that was still immensely selfless, told her that she might have left Arnav, because she could never let a kid be deprived of his father's love.

But, another part of her, which was a stream of her new personality, told her:Never.

And that part was unexpectedly very dominant than anything else.

.

She would never ever leave her husband, for any freaking agenda.

For once, she was happy being selfish, and she had realized it of late, although much later, but still, that True love is bound to be selfish.

.

And as she considered the hypothetical situation in her head, she knew that she wasn't the same old Khushi anymore, and for the first time in her life, she was happy that she wasn't.

This situation had made her come face to face with her own true self in multiple ways and she will without a doubt embrace it.

Although the reality was simple, and Arnav had nothing to do with Aarav, she knew that even if he had to, it would never change the dynamics of theirrelationship, because she will never ever sacrifice her love for anything else, anyone else.

.

.

As Sheetal's confession and her lack of redemption only agitated the family members more, the police finally took her with them on multiple grounds of fraud and deception.

.

Arnav finally exhaled the breath of relief, the one he didn't know he was holding for this long.

He looked at Khushi, who was only looking at him with slightly mist eyes.

He immediately reached out to her, hugging her tight, not really bothered about the family members staring at them.

Everyone was only smiling through their tears, immensely elated that their Khushi bitiya and Chotte were out of the clutches of this wicked dark cloud, and now only happiness shall come their way.

Aarav had returned back to the Ashram and Arnav had suggested that he would take care of his education and other needs, to which the Ashram administrator was more than happy.

Although he had nothing to share with Aarav biologically, he felt pity on the little kid for he was used by a wicked woman, who only took advantage of the fact that he was an orphan.

After experiencing a dreadful childhood himself, Arnav didn't want Aarav to grow up facing the same.

It was only the family members in the house right now, when suddenly Anjali had suggested that she would like for Aarav to stay in the house and adopt him legally.

Everyone was taken by surprise at her proposition and Anjali had only said that she always wanted to be a parent and since god didn't really give her the privilege to become one, thanks to her filthy leech of a husband, she didn't want to deny this second possibility that life brought to her.

All the family members had pondered about it and Akash and Payal were the first ones to express their support and happiness at what she had proposed.

And soon, NK, Nani, Mami, and Arnav-Khushi too had agreed.

For Arnav, his sister's happiness was always what he looked out for and if his Direally wanted to be the mother of Aarav, then he was going to support her.

He told her he would speak to the Ashram people tomorrow, and that instantly made Anjali flash a happy and wide smile.

.

As everyone smiled at the new developments, regardless of how unexpected they were and started walking towards the dining table for dinner, it was once again Arnav's voice that stopped them.

"There is something else that I have to say."

He said, making everyone yet again look at him with confusion.

**