Hola Everyone,

It's Sunday and I am here with the next update. Thank you for your votes and comments. Means a lot.🙂🙂🙂

Without further ado, here is the next part of this story. Hope you like it :-

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The chirping of the birds signalled the dawn of a new day, the fresh rays of sunlight entering the room hit Sonakshi's face as she got up rubbing her eyes, she stretched her hands and moved her neck to shed her sleepiness just as she saw her parents entering the room, she looked at them with a smile on her face.

"Good Morning Sona, you are awake" asked Asha as she moved towards her daughter and engulfed her in a hug as she said "Happy Birthday Beta, may all your wishes come true" she said and came out of the hug as Sonakshi smiled, after that Bijoy wished her as Sonakshi touched the feet of her parents for their blessings.

"May you get all the happiness in your life Sona beta" blessed Bijoy as Sonakshi hugged him. Just as she came out of the hug her siblings came screaming into the room "Happy birthday Sona" they screamed and hugged her as Sonakshi thanked them. "Sona, beta get ready. You need to go the temple, right?" said Asha as Sonakshi nodded in agreement. She picked up her towel and went to freshen up while everyone got back to their work.

Half-an hour later Sonakshi came out after freshening up, just as she went towards the cup-board to take out her dress her vision fell on the box kept on the bed. Closing the cup-board she went and picked the box wondering who kept it in her room and what was inside it. She opened the box just as a note fell out of it. She picked up the note and was surprised to read the message on it.

"Happy Birthday my love, For the first time I have chosen something for someone. I don't know whether you will like it or not but when I picked this up I could not imagine anyone else in this. Wear this and come soon, I am waiting for you, DEV" she put the note aside and took out the dress that was in the box. As she looked at it she was left mesmerized, it was an off-white Anarkali suit with chikan-work with a red and golden border giving it a brocade look and to complement it was red Dupatta.

Sonakshi quickly changed and wore the suit, she put on a light make with matching jhumkas completing her look just as Nani and Elena entered the room. As soon as they Sonakshi Elena let out a whistle as she spoke "Oh my my...You are looking beautiful Sona, must say Jeeju's choice is not bad" she said as Sonakshi blushed and ducked her head down to hide it.

"Ele, Not bad?? Dev's choice is the best, that's why he chose my grand daughter as his life partner" said Nani as Elena nodded her head agreement while Nani continued "You look beautiful beta" she said and put a black teeka behind Sonakshi's left ear to ward off any evil eye on her grand-daughter. Sonakshi thanked Nani and touched her feet taking her blessings.

"Sona...Go quickly. Jeeju is waiting for you from the past 20 minutes" said Elena as Sonakshi looked at Elena in surprise "What? And you are telling me now Ele" she chided and picked up her purse to leave and rushed towards the door just as she heard Elena speak "Did you see Nani, how much eager she is to meet Jeeju" she teased as Sonakshi turned and glared at her as Nani twisted Elena's ear and asked Sonakshi to go ahead.

Rushing down Sonakshi bid good bye to her parents and other family members and rushed only to see Dev leaning against the bonnet of his car typing something on his phone. As she saw him her breathing fastened, it was the first time she had worn something presented by him and she was nervous whether he would like it or not. Just then Dev looked up to see her and one look at his expression was enough to convey it to Sonakshi that he liked it, in fact probably more than what she had expected.

Seeing Sonakshi quiet and dazed Dev moved towards her, as he neared her he put the strand of hair (Latt) on her face behind her ear as he leaned towards her and moving his lips near her left ear he said in a husky tone "You look beautiful my love" he said as his hot breath his her neck making her shiver, he moved away and quickly pecked her lips and said "Now if you are out of your dream can we go Sona?" he said as Sonakshi came out of her trance as she said "Ye...ye...yes let's go" she fumbled as Dev chuckled, he opened the door of the car for her to get in as she got in and put on the seat belt while Dev made his way towards the Driver's seat.

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Half-an-hour later Dev and Sonakshi reached the temple, after offering their prayers and taking the blessings from almighty they headed towards their next destination.

"Dev, where are we going?" asked Sonakshi for the fifth time in the last 10 minutes but was met with the same answer that Dev had given earlier "Sonakshi, I have said right that you would get to know when we reach their" he said as Sonakshi pouted sadly while Dev just chuckled seeing her child-like reaction.

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Forty-five minutes later the car entered ZINDAGI which surprised Sonakshi as she asked "Dev, what are we doing here?" she asked as Dev stopped the car and got down, opening the door on Sonakshi's side for her to get down he said "You will get to know soon, now get down we are getting late" he said as Sonakshi frowned and got down, as they went towards the large open space which was situated at the centre of the NGO, it was a place where all the recreational activities at the NGO were held.

As they entered nearly 200 children present there screamed in unison "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONA DI" as Sonakshi was startled, never had she experienced something like this in her whole life, it was as if the whole place was just reverberating with her name. Tears of joy were glistening her eyes seeing the children in front of her who had nothing but love in their eyes for her.

Dev held her right hand with his left one as he spoke "I know what you are feeling right now Sona, it's the exact same feeling I had when it happened with me the first time and believe me till date that feeling had not changed" he said just as a couple of older kids came up to them and made then wear birthday caps and dragged them towards the table where a huge cake was kept. Sonakshi was asked to cut the cake along with Dev after which both fed it to each other after which it was distributed among the kids.

Sonakshi and Dev watched the kids with a contented smile on her face as they saw the kids enjoy. After a moments Sonakshi looked at Dev just as he looked at her as well, he could clearly understand her unsaid question just as he spoke "It's a tradition in our family Sonakshi, the birthday or for that matter any happy occasion is celebrated with the kids here. It was a tradition which Maa had started years back. She believes that whatever we are today is because of the love of these kids along with our hard work. So, she makes sure every family member shares their happiness with them. And now since you are a part of Dixit family each of your happy occasion will be shared with the kids here" he said as Sonakshi's eyes glistened with joy and pride, she moved forward and hugged Dev. All these days the various gestures done by the Dixit family to make her feel as a part of their family were just overwhelming her, and this was the icing on the cake.

"Thank you Dev, thank you for letting me experience this" she said as Dev kissed her forehead, coming out of the hug Sonakshi spoke "Dev, If I can do at least 10% of what Maa has done for these kids I will consider myself lucky" she said as Dev replied "I am sure you will Sona and I will be there beside you every moment" he said as they hugged again, after a few moments they went towards the kids and distributed gifts to them after which they played with them, a special lunch was being prepared at the NGO to celebrate the occasion which was to be helmed by Dev and Sonakshi.

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"Thank you for giving me the best surprise and the best day of my life Dev" said Sonakshi as she hugged him, they had just reached the Bose house after having their lunch. "You don't need to thank me for anything Sona" said Dev as both got down. "And anyways, your birthday is not yet over. And so are the surprises" he said as Sonakshi looked at him surprised, Dev opened the back door and took out a packet and giving it to Sonakshi he said "Be ready in the evening Sona" he said and handed it over to Sonakshi who was just standing their surprised before she could speak Dev sat in his car and sped away not giving her a chance to speak anything. Wondering what surprise, it was Sonakshi went to her home where she was teased endlessly by her siblings, this time her parents and Nani joined in pulling her leg as she ran to her room embarrassed.

As she came into her room, she breathed heavily. Slowly calming herself down she opened the packet which Dev had given, as she opened it once again she was left mesmerized. It was a lavender coloured floral gown, Sonakshi was just dazed by the beauty of it just as her eyes went on the note which was kept on the side of the box.

"Be ready for the most beautiful surprise of your life Sona, get ready by 7 and come to me as soon as possible, I will be waiting, your love, DEV" was written on it as Sonakshi just hugged the gown waiting eagerly for the evening. She just could not wait for time to go fast.

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Sonakshi was standing in front of the door of what looked like a high-end restaurant. It was half past seven when Sonakshi had reached the place which Dev had asked her to come to, in fact she did not know where she had to go but right at 7 in the evening the car was waiting for her at her doorstep as the Driver informed her that Dev had sent him. Half-an hour later she had reached the place.

As she opened the door and entered she was engulfed by darkness, for a moment she was taken aback but before she could speak the pathway in front of her was lighted as she let out a gasp of surprise for the pathway was covered with roses. There were two walls on either side of the pathway.

Slowly she took the first step, just as she kept her feet on the pathway the wall on her left lit up with a photograph, it was a black and white photograph. As Sonakshi looked closely at it she let out of gasp of disbelief, it was the photograph of her first birthday celebration. She traced her fingers on it as she took the next step, just as the wall on her right lit up with another picture, it was a photograph of her on the day when she had spoken her first word, Nani had earlier told this to her when she had asked about the photograph. Her next step brought into light the picture from her second birthday celebrations.

Sonakshi felt as she was in dreamland where all her past moments from the important day of her lives were popping up as she moved forward. Her birthday's, her first day in school, her first speech, first day at college, each important event of her life was displayed on the wall and then finally on the big screen in front of her was the picture of her's and Dev's from today morning which was taken at the NGO, she could not understand what was going around her when she heard a voice.

"Sona..." said the person as she turned around only to be greeted by the love of her life, her Dev. Donning a black tuxedo he was looking hot and handsome as ever, she wanted to just go and kiss the daylights out of him as she slapped herself mentally for losing herself in him, but it was not her mistake. It was all due to the man standing in front of her.

Dev slowly moved towards as he spoke "Sona, I have missed all the important moments of your life till date, all this that you see around you is just a small effort to live all those moments with you because I want to be a part of your life Sona" he said as he continued walking as by now slight tears were glistening her eyes, she could never in her wildest dreams had expected someone to do such a thing for her as Dev continued.

"Just like with each step of yours you have re-lived your past, with each of my step I am entering into your life Sona. I am entering your past, your present and your future. Are you ready to make me a part of it Sona?" he asked as he continued walking as Sonakshi nodded her head vigorously in acceptance just as Dev reached her.

Cupping her cheeks, he spoke "You know Sona till now I had not fallen in love with anyone. In fact, I never thought that I would ever fall in love, but you changed it Sona. And to be honest I love this feeling, I love this feeling of love. I know you have a lot of memories in your life Sonakshi, but I want to make more memories with you, love you, adore you, live with you, fight with you, have kids with you. I want everything in my life from now on to be with you only Sona" he said as Sonakshi just stood quietly savouring his touch and words, tears of joy glistening her eyes. Dev moved back a bit as he took out something from his pocket, it was platinum infinity ring. Kneeling on his knees and looking into her eyes he spoke

"Ms.SONAKSHI BOSE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

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Done.

Please ignore the grammatical mistakes and see you in the next update.

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