Yukti spent the entire day crying and didn't come out of her room even for dinner, neither did her parents bother to call her.

The next day too she was locked in her room and her breakfast was given in her room itself. She remembered the look her mother gave her when she came in to give her breakfast. She looked at Yukti as if she was some criminal.

In the evening her mother entered her room again. This time with some clothes.

"Ye pehen kr taiyar ho ja. Ladke waale aane wale hai."

Yukti looked at her shocked. No! It was too soon. She wasn't ready for a marriage or a husband. She was just 21 for God's sake. But she also knew she had no option but to listen to her parents.

She got ready in the saree her mother selected. She did some light makeup to hide her dark circles and puffy eyes.

She heard voices outside and her heart thudded in her chest. They were here. And she wasn't ready to face it. She wanted to run and hide somewhere.

"Yukti! Bahar aao beta."

She heard her mother's sugary voice and looked at her shocked. Although her voice was sweet but her eyes showed warning. She knew she was pretending in front of the guests. Yukti steeled herself and got up.

She didn't even look up at who the man she was supposed to wed was.

"Bhaisahab! Aap toh jaante hai ki Yakshna-uski maut ka gum (sorrow) abhi sabko taza taza hai-"

The woman who she supposed was her potential mother-in-law spoke, making Yukti frown. Who was Yakshna and why was this woman mentioning her at the rishta meeting? Before she could complete she was cut off by another deeper voice.

"With your permission uncle, I want to talk to your daughter in private."

Yukti's eyes snapped to the person who spoke this. Her supposed husband.

"Haan haan beta. Yukti beta jaao apne room mai jaakar aaram se baat krlo."

Her father spoke and she wanted to laugh at the sweet tone they were using with her. She got up and slowly walked towards her room.

They entered her room and he shut the door ¾. She looked at him and then at the door.

"Relax! Sirf baat krna chahta hu. Please baitho."

He said and she sat fidgeting with her fingers nervously, gazing at the floor.

"I have a six months old son."

He confessed and her eyes snapped to him. What?

"Yakshna-"

His voice broke at the mere mention of the name but he continued somehow.

"She was my wife."

And her father knew this! Yet he was okay with her marrying this man?

"She-she died giving birth to our baby. Doctors could only save one of them. I chose my Yakshna. But she-she sacrificed her life to save our baby's. Wo jaise bachna hi nhi chahti thi. Atleast not at the cost of our baby. And I-I lost her."

Yukti could hear the pain in his voice. He wasn't over her death. And according to his story, it had only been 6 months since she died. Then why was he marrying so soon?

She had an idea why and her doubts were confirmed in his next sentence.

"I was against remarriage but my son needs a mother. You're too young and you have your whole life ahead of you. Mana krdo because I'll never be a husband to the woman I marry. She'll only be my son's mother."

There was silence for some time until she spoke again.

"Mai mana nhi kr skti. Aapko mana krungi toh kal kisi aur ka rishta le aayenge. Aur wo shaayad aapki tarah na nikle."

He looked at her but kept quiet letting her speak.

"Aapne apni feelings share kri toh kya mai apni kr skti hu?"

He nodded and she looked down again. She gulped and spoke.

"I-I had a boyfriend."

She spoke slowly, scared of his reaction. But when she peeked at him, his face was curious. Not judgemental.

"K-Krish naam tha uska. Kal tak, everything was fine. But jab mai ghar pahuchi toh-one of our distant relatives saw me with him and sent maa papa a picture of us. Kissing. And they obviously weren't happy."

She again looked at reaction but there was no change. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Jab maine usse call kia ki papa ne ghar bulaya hai aur saari baat samjhayi toh he-he stopped picking my calls and left me-I-"

She couldn't complete. She couldn't express the betrayal she felt in words. She sighed and looked at him.

"Mujhe iss shaadi se koi problem nhi hai. Aapko wife nhi chahiye aur mujhe husband nhi chahiye. Plus I love kids."

He looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Koi ek do mahino ki baat nhi hai. That you love kids toh it is going to be okay. Puri life ka sawal hai."

"Jaanti hu. Aur mai taiyar hu."

He didn't say anything further and nodded. They were married a week later. It was a simple temple marriage followed by registration in court.

Yukti came out of her thoughts hearing the door open. She sat straighter and ran her hand over her lehanga which she wore as a half saree.

She saw her husband, Ritvik enter with a small baby craddled in his arms. Funny how she was meeting the baby she was supposed to be the mother of for the first time.

Ritvik stopped short seeing the condition of the room and closed his eyes trying to control his anger.

He carefully placed his son in his cot and walked towards the bed making Yukti clutch her saree.

What of he changes his mind and claims his husbandry rights on her?

"Get up!"

He said and she quickly got up. She stood near the bed beside him with her head bowed down. He pulled the sheets from one end and jerked it to remove all the petals spread over it.

She flinched at the sudden move but didn't say anything.

"Jaakr change krlo. Bathroom's that side."

He said pointing towards a door. She nodded and rushed inside after taking her nightdress.

She came back and saw that he was already on the bed with Yaksh, his son sleeping in the middle of the bed. She stood there awkwardly not knowing where she was supposed to sleep. He had clearly said he didn't want a wife.

"You can take the other side of the bed."

She nodded even though he had his eyes closed and couldn't see her nodding and quickly took her place at the instructed space.

She covered herself with the duvet which was big enough to cover all three of them. 

**************************************

Please do leave your comments.

Also, please vote for the story.������

Laters!!��❤️