November 2020,

Munnar, Kerala.

S H R E E P R A S A D

It's been almost four months since we moved into Elysium, located in the beautiful hill station town of Munnar in Kerala.

The various shades of green, blankets of mist, the hills, the valleys, the streams, the waterfalls, tea plantations, rare fauna of Munnar are too captivating. The small but cosy house we live in, is just the right amount of simplicity I craved for.

Madhav finally had ample amount of time to spend with me, Madhu and of course Meow. He helped me to find a job. After a few weeks of attending interviews and sitting for examinations, I finally got a job as an English Literature teacher in a Girl's High School. It was very close to our home too.

I straighten the pleats of my blue sari and brush my hair. In the mirror, I notice Madhav slowly walk towards me. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a black tee-shirt. I smile as he wraps his arms around me.

"You showered without me." He says inhaling my sandal perfume.

"I have to leave early, Madhav." I say smiling. "We can shower together in the night. After Madhu sleeps?"

"Deal." Madhav says smiling as he fondles my waist. "But not in the shower. Meet me near that kulam tonight."

I nod.

"Cool cool cool! I'm waiting! I made breakfast." He says as he places kisses up and down my neck. "Come."

"No." I pout looking up at him.

"Come, chellam." He says pressing a kiss to my cheek.

* * * * *

After the righteous breakfast of Idli and Sambhar, Madhav drops Shree off at school in the secondhand Hero Honda bike he brought last week. Shree was seated behind him, while Madhu sat in front of him.

After dropping Shree at school Madhav takes Madhu to the local market to buy vegetables. She was wearing a pink frock and had her tied into neat pigtails.

"Nanna, hurry!" Madhu exclaims as Madhav pays the vendor for the vegetables. He points at the cauliflower and starts to negotiate the price. "Nanna, fast, I left Meow alone at home! She must be worried!"

"Wait, kannamma, I thought of buying some cauliflower for your mother-"

"Meow pavam no, Nanna!" She softly says looking at him with the big eyes that he can never say No to. "I'm being a bad mommy to my baby!"

"Okay!" He says and takes the bag of vegetables. "Let's go! But before that we need to get some bread from the bakery."

As they walk into the baker, Madhu's eyes sparkle at the sight of the fresh ice-cream cakes on the display. Madhav buys the bread and just as he turns to leave Madhu holds his hand.

"Nanna, this looks tasty!" Madhu says pointing to the cake.

"This ice-cream cake? Yeah, it does!" He says.

"Ice-cream cake? You mean its cake with ice-cream?" She asks as her eyes twinkle like diamonds. "I must eat it! Can you buy me a piece? Please!"

"But you said you need to go home since Meow is-"

"It's okay, Meow can stay alone for some more time!" Madhu says and looks up at Nanna. "Please can I have a slice? Please please please!"

"Alright, go catch a table and wait for me." He says, giving Madhu the vegetable bag. Madhu runs to catch a table for them both.

She sits on the cushioned chair, keeps the bag of vegetables on the table and looks at the menu placed on the table. She looks at the tasteful pictures in the menu. "I'll buy two of this for Mumma, two of this for Nanna, three of this for me- no four! And one of this for Meow and Marshall and Teddy and Bunny and Bhamma and Monkey Maama and Devi and-"

"Excuse me?" A lady asks Madhu. She was wearing a short sleeveless yellow frock and was holding a plate with muffins and a sandwich. "This bakery is awfully crowded. There's no place to sit. Is anyone else sitting here with you?"

Madhu shakes her head as she looks at the lady. "Just me and Nanna. You can take a seat."

"Thank you, you are so cute!" She says sitting opposite Madhu.

"And you are so pretty!" Madhu says.

"That's so sweet of you, what's your name?" She asks Madhu as she removes the polythene wrapping from her sandwich.

"Hi! I am Madhushree. Nice to meet you." Comes the reply, just as Shree had taught Madhu to introduce herself "What's your name?"

"Awww! Hi Madhushree! I am-"

"Siya?" Madhav asks taken aback.

M A D H A V R A M A K R I S H N A

What the bloody hell is she doing here? I thought I recognized that messy hair bun and the brown coat she wore above those short dresses she wore at university.

"OMG Maddy!" Siya exclaims in happiness as she sees me. She stands up immediately. "OMG I am so happy to see you again after so long! I came here with my hubby for a few days and I never thought I'd see you again!"

"Yeah- yeah I'm happy too." I say nervously.

"It's been like so so freaking long!" She says. "Last time I saw you was in your wedding reception. That was four-ish years I guess? Look at you, so tamed and handsome with these glasses-"

I laugh nervously.

She looks at the took plates of ice-cream cake slices I was holding.

"Oh so you came with your wife?" She asks. "What's her name- Parvathi? Saraswathi? Ugh! She was named after a goddess, but I can't remember which one! Revathi?"

"Shree!" I remind her. "And FYI, Shree is busy right now. I came here with my daughter."

"OMG, is she here?" Siya asks in surprise. "I heard that you and Shree had a baby. I was dying to see her. Can you-"

"That little girl seated in front of you is my daughter." I tell her. She quickly turns and finds Madhu waving at her.

"This little munchkin is your daughter?" She asks. Yes, woman. I just told you she's my daughter. I nod.

"OMG I couldn't even recognize!" Siya gasps in her eerily annoying high-pitched voice. "OMG, she looks just like Revathi!"

"Shree!" I correct her, who on earth is this Revathi?

"Oh, but she has your beautiful eyes!" Siya purrs. "Such a beautiful child. I want to bite her cute face!"

"Okay, we don't practice cannibalism!" I say and sit beside Madhu, resting the plate in front of her.

"Is it okay if I can sit here?" She asks. No, fuck off. "Your daughter said I can sit here."

I turn to Madhu, who was happily eating the cake. What is wrong with you Madhu? Why are you making things difficult?

"Yeah sure, take a seat." I tell her politely, smiling.

"So, I heard about what happened to you." She says eating her sandwich. "I can't believe RK Uncle would do this!"

"Me too!" I sigh.

"So, the three of you live here? In Munnar?" She asks and I nod.

"Where are you working now?" She asks. Yo woman let me eat in peace!

"Actually, I'm a homemaker. Shree's working as a teacher." I tell her.

"Wow, I can't believe you let her work. I mean didn't you always want your lover or wife or whatever to stay at home and play by your rules?" She asks.

"Yeah, but I realized that I should give Shree some- or may a lot of independence and let her be the breadwinner of the family." I tell her and she drops her jaw open.

"You are totally different from the Madhav I used to date." She tells as she chews on her sandwich.

"He's barely the man you remember." I tell her. "I had to change my ways, because I loved her so much and I wanted to see her happy and fly with her own wings."

"Awww! That's so cute!" She squeals. Stop squealing like some squirrel! "You must love her so much!"

"I do!" I tell her. "I love Shree so much. I cannot express it with just words and gestures."

"That's sweet!" She says. "So how did you propose to her? Sorry if I'm asking something so personal, but I'm dying to know, since you are like a super ultra pro at proposals and romantic confessions. Please tell me!"

I sigh nervously.

I remember the time I confessed my feelings for Shree.

It was right outside her apartment in Chembur. I grabbed her arm and Shree looked at me taken aback as I pulled her body close to mine. I pulled her into a kiss as my hand went to feel her smooth waist.

I pulled away after a few seconds, confident than ever. "I love you, Shree. So much!"

And then I remember the time I proposed to her. I can't call it a proposal since I popped the question while we were making out in my car.

Her heart thumped aloud as I cradled her face with one hand. Shree looked at me without blinking as I pulled her closer. Shree placed her hand on my chest and I placed a soft kiss on her cheek, another on her nose, the corner of her mouth before planting a kiss on her lips.

The next moment she was on my lap, moaning as I kissed her neck, while I fondled her waist and midriff.

"Shree, will you marry me?"

"Madhav!" Siya waves at me. "Are you going to tell me?"

"It was beautiful and intimate. Above all its personal." It's personal because I never properly proposed to Shree.

* * * * *

"WTF? You didn't propose to her?" Anu asks through the video call we were having. I nod.

"Dei, seriously? Sivaji asks. "I thought you proposed to her the way you did to You-Know-Who only much more grander and more intimately."

"I can't believe you never properly proposed!" Anu exclaims. "It's okay of you asked her while you were making out! But you should have gone down on one knee and asked her properly and romanctically. I can't believe you never did that to Shree. That girl deserves the best proposal ever for putting up with your nonsense."

"Exactly!" Yells Sivaji. "And I can't believe this is coming from the man who planned every detail when I proposed! "

"Wait, that proposal surprise wasn't your own idea?" Anu asks Sivaji.

"Uhm, baby, Madhav only-" Sivaji gulps. "You know how romance and creative Madhav is at these. So I asked his help to-

"I'll deal with you later." Anu murmurs. "You mentioned that you are planning to marry her again, why not propose before you tie the knot again?"

"That's a good idea!" Sivaji exclaims. "So when are you going to ask her?"

"I don't know. I really have no idea."

To be continued. . . .

Stay in touch! I'll see you soon with Chapter 52 soon! (WOW WE CROSSED 50 CHAPTERS!!!)

Keep the votes and the comments flowing!

Also let me know,

-What did you like about this chapter? (this was not a long chapter, but just wanna tell youll next will be the best ever. I wanna know your comments about it)

-How do you like the story so far?

-What will happen next?

-Nice to see you again Siya!

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Announcements

First thing first,

The DHL Instagram page @madhavnshree has officially crossed 100 followers. A very big thank you to all those who have followed. I hope you all are enjoying the quizzes and polls that I keep posting. Thank you all!

If you haven't followed, then now isn't too late either. (Link can be found in my Wattpad profile too)

Also October 8th marked the 3rd birthday of Her Royal Highness Madhushree Ramakrishna. Thank you to all those who poured your warm wishes to our little heroine. Happy birthday again Madhouse- sorry Madhushree.

There was a quiz held on instagram that night. Thank you to all those who participated. And as promised here are the results,

And congratulations to our winner @faathmah_!!!!

(Runner up and second runners will be announced on Instagram)

This week on the 16th of October we have Shree who is celebrating her birthday. There will be a similar quiz and a major surprise on the way. So stay tuned!