"Hello everyone! I'm happy to welcome you all to the Third Annual Bookies Awards. It's a great honour for me to have you all here. Please take your seats and make yourself comfortable. The function will be starting in a few minutes." The host informed cheerfully and left to the green room, which was located on the left corner of the stage.

Raghav was holding Mithra, who was looking around the decorations and colourful lights with a surprised smile. RagYa were also equally astonished to see the grand arrangements, as the event was conducted in a simpler manner the past two years. Ofcourse Raghav was also   invited there and he was awarded as the best thriller writer the previous year.

Nithya smiled as she spotted Raghav's friend, Sidharth, who was also a writter.

"Raghav, Sid is here." Nithya informed him and they walked towards the chair where Sidharth was seated.

"Hey Sid, how are you?" Raghav asked his friend.

"I'm fine Raghav. How are you guys doing? And how is my princess doing?" Sidharth asked as he pulled Mithra's cheeks. Mithra smiled shyly and hid her face in Raghav's arms .

"She will come to you in few minutes." Nithya said with a smile.

"And whom do we have here?" Raghav asked in a teasing tone as he looked at a girl who was sitting next to Sidharth.

Nithya spotted the girl only then. She then moved her gaze towards Sid, who was scratching his neck with a shy smile.

"Erm Nithya,she is my...  Friend.. Ahana." Sidharth introduced her and Nithya smiled at the girl who was smiling at them.

"The event is about to start. Let's get seated." Raghav said and they also took their seats.

"Give her to me." Nithya said, pointing Mithra who was sitting on Raghav's lap.

"Do you want to sit with Amma?" Raghav asked his daughter who nodded her head negatively.

"Got your answer?" He asked her cheekily.

"Hmph! I asked you because if they call your name for receiving the award, you can't easily get up with her. " Nithya explained to him.

"Aww medico! Don't you feel overconfident? Last year I got the award by luck. But today, look at the nominations. Every book was a best seller and the competition is extremely high!" He whispers to her.

"I don't know about that! All I know is that my techie will get an award tonight and he will treat me and my daughter a falooda." Nithya tells sternly and turned to the other side.

"You both are cute." Ahana told Nithya with a smile.

"Haha. Thank you! Glad that you've come here today." Nithya replied.

"Really? Is the event too good?" Ahana asked Nithya curiously.

"It's good. But for the past two years I would come here and feel lonely. Raghav and Sid would be immersed in their own world and forget about my existence. I've got a company now." Nithya explained pouting.

"Ohh..  I can understand your situation." Ahana replied looking at the men talking to eachother and never cared about these two.

The host came up to the stage and started announcing the awards and the winners.

"Sid is nominated under romance category right?" Nithya asked Ahana, as the next award was for best romance novel.

"Yeah Nithya. He is quite tensed..." Ahana replied.

"You go and sit next to him. He needs you by his side, as this is his first award " Nithya suggested with a smile and Ahana moved towards Sid's seat. She held his hand and gave him the much needed confidence.

"You asked her to go there?" Raghav asked Nithya.

"Yeah.. he is tensed..."

"I've been trying to make him calm but he is still tensed. You did the right thing."

"Your wife is always right." Nithya replied pulling her imaginary collar and Raghav rolled his eyes.

"The best author award for a romance novel goes to ... Mr. Sidharth!" The presenter announces the award happily.

RagYa looked at Sidharth who was still not out of shock. Ahana nudged his arm and made him come back to the world. She side hugged him and showed her love.

"Please come to the stage, Mr Sidharth." The host called him.

Sidharth nervously went to the stage while RagYa stood back and let him enjoy his moment, because they both knew how special it was!

After giving a small speech and receiving the award, Sid came back to his seat.

"Congratulations buddy!" Raghav hugged him.

"Thanks Raghav! I'm gonna return your wish back to you in a few minutes." Sidharth said with a chuckle.

"Haha let's see." Raghav replied casually.

"Mithra, come here. " Nithya called her daughter towards her and Raghav gave her a 'you are impossible' look.

"You seem to be nervous more than your husband?" Ahana pointed out to Nithya as she was sweating a little.

"Ofcourse! He doesn't care about this award and all! I know that he will definitely get it, but still..." Nithya sighed and hugged Mithra tighter.

"Don't worry Nithya." Ahana consoled her with a smile.

"Now, it's time for an intriguing category. The award for best crime thriller writer... And the winner is ..." The host gave a pause and Nithya's heartbeat started increasing rapidly.

"Mr. Raghav!" The presenter announced and Raghav looked at Nithya who had happy tears stung on her eyes.

He quickly hugged her and Mithra and placed a kiss on their foreheads and walked towards the stage.

Nithya's eyes were fixed on her techie and she even forgot to capture the moment on her mobile.

"Mr Raghav, you are the only one to win the award consecutively for two years under the same category. How do you feel about it?" The host asked him.

"I feel happy as well as more responsible now. Last year I thought I got in on luck.  But this year it's really a surprise for me." He replied genuinely.

"It is because you stood ahead of everyone by your unique way of story telling. And especially a crime thriller from a female point of view, is not everyone's cup of tea, but you have nailed it!" The presenter appreciated him happily.

"Thank you so much sir. Means a lot to hear it from you."

"Raghav, one last question... Is there any connect between your female lead Maithreyi and your real life? Because it was different from your other characters and seemed to be more personal to you." The host asked curiously and Raghav chuckled.

"Yes! I wrote Maithreyi's character imagining my wife. She deserves this award more than me." Raghav replied looking at Nithya and she blushed hearing it.

Raghav thanked everyone and got back to his seat. He handed the award to Mithra and hugged her. Nithya's eyes were fixed on him and so was his. They came back to reality hearing a snap sound and turned towards Ahana who captured their beautiful moment.

Soon the award function got over and they all went to a restaurant for dinner. Raghav and Sid spotted few other friends of them at the reception, so they asked their women to proceed while they joined them later. They placed the orders and waited for it.

"So tell me about you and Sid, Ahana." Nithya asked her.

"What about us?" Ahana replied with a blush.

"Your blush tells everything. When he gave a pause and introduced you as his friend, I understood everything " Nithya teased Ahana.

"We just met today, but feels like we both are already best friends." Ahana laughed.

"Yeah yeah!" Nithya joined her.

"We both know eachother from college. He had this strong interest in writing since then. He used to tell me that he wants to become a writer, I would just listen to him and ignore later thinking that it's just for time being. But after graduation he came and told me that he wants to pursue writing. I was shocked as hell. Then suddenly he proposed me one day.. I love him and i see a future only with him. But... Already my parents are very strict . If they knew he is a writer, i don't know how will they react. He is a successful writer now.. but to convince my parents . It's really hard Nithya. " Ahana replied looking down.

"I can understand, Ahana. I've been there too." Nithya replied and held Ahana's hand.

"How did you overcome, Nithya? I don't know who to share my worry. "

"Do you know how Raghav informed me that he wants to quit job and start writing?"

Ahana nodded negatively and Nithya took a deep breath.

"I was six months pregnant then. His friend Vicky had called me and informed me that he has resigned from his job. I was shocked.. I didn't know how to react... Then he came to me and explained me everything. He told me that he wants to pursue writing not just for his passion but to spend time with our family too." Nithya told her with a smile.

"How were you able to handle that?"

"It is true that I was shocked to hear his declaration. But it was just because of the way he had revealed the news to me. But I always wanted him to pursue what he loves. Infact, I feel in love with his words before falling in love with him." Nithya replied with a nostalgic smile.

"First you need to support him and make him understand that you will stand by his side throughout your life. That affirmation is what every guy expects. Even in our case Raghav expected the same from me. "

"Your parents?"

"Haha that was an easy task for Raghav tho! Convincing his mother was difficult than convincing my parents. They were quite worried at first.. but he spoke to them and made then understand that it was for me and our baby." Nithya laughed softly.

"You both are just goals, Nithya. I am keeping on praising you both, but couldn't help." Ahana said amused.

"We have our bad days too. But we make it up for it."

"And Ahana.. you sit and talk to Sid. Everything will be fine." Nithya assured and Ahana smiled a little.

"Did you guys order for us or you were just talking?" Raghav asked them as he and Sid joined back with Mithra.

As a reply the waiter brought the dishes to the table. They all started talking and had the dinner happily.

"Sid, shall we both go for a walk?" Ahana asked him and Nithya smiled as she understood the reason. She quickly showed a thumbs-up sign to her.

"Yeah sure " Sid replied and walked out with Ahana.

"Where are they going?" Raghav asked Nithya curiously.

"It's their personal time. Don't interrupt." Nithya replied as she took a spoon of her falooda, while Raghav was feeding Mithra her falooda.

"But I feel like you know about it." Raghav said and she grinned wide.

"Let's not wait for them, Raghav. I'll go home and tell you what it is." Nithya told him.

"Okay medico." Raghav said as he moved her hair behind her ear.

Soon Mithra dozed off in Raghav's arms and he placed her in the back seat of the car and locked the seat belt.

"I'm so happy for you techie." Nithya kissed his cheeks happily as they got some privacy in the car.

"This award is because of you and for you, Medico. You are my everything, Nithya. And this place is very special for us." Raghav said pointing their car.

"I know, Raghav." Nithya replied leaning on his shoulder.

They both spent some time in silence. Nithya felt Raghav's kiss on the top of her head and smiled in content.

"Let's go home. Athai, Amma and appa would be waiting for us." Nithya said and Raghav started the car.

After a few minutes, Nithya's mobile beeped with a message. She opened and found a message from an unknown number.

Curiously, she opened it.

Hi Nithya, Ahana here :) We both spoke and we havedecided to get married. Come what may, we are going to fight for our love.

Nithya smiled happily on reading the message. She started narrating everything to Raghav and he was extremely happy for his friend!

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