The day of fulfillment of Neysa's teenage fantasy had finally arrived - the day which would tie her and Adhrit together with a bond other than they shared between their hearts - the day of their wedding.
Their engagement, their musical night and making of the bride and the groom were hurried and completed just for the sake of completing the rituals. The occasions which Neysa waited for bated breath throughout the time she had been in love were slipping away from her fingers and she lacked even the energy to stop them from slipping away.
Convincing her parents was a herculean task, even if she had unconditional support from Shipra and Sumedh, and once they had agreed and the rituals of marriage began, Neysa realized that their fears were not baseless.
She had met Adhrit's extended family for the very first time and although they seemed sweet, the blame game was on between the families to shift the ball out of their court - the ball of ruining their beloved child's life.
For Adhrit, the pain was no less. His marriage with Mohini, her beaming face contrasting with Neysa's crestfallen one, her relatives mingling and becoming one of his relatives which was complete opposite of their present but there was one feeling which superseded every other thing he held - his excitement and his happiness for the happenings - but there was pain of guilt associated with that pain that he could not feel his love's pain or share hers.
The moment of seven vows had arrived. Seven vows which he had broken in the past despite being bound by them and the seven vows which Neysa obeyed despite not being married. The irony mocked at him mirthlessly as he felt his guilt intensifying at every moment.
They had vowed to love one another and no one else, throughout their life and cherish one another but deep down their hearts they knew that even without the fire as a witness or a priest to validate the same, they would remain true to the vow.
Neysa was the most beautiful woman of Adhrit's life since he had lost himself in the ocean of her love but with the signs of a wedded woman adorning her partition and neck, she seemed to be the angel descended down to be the harbinger of love and peace and his guide in the dark path.
Neysa had visualized herself in a married look and the feeling of ritualistically being the better half of one's love was surreal than she could ever describe.She realized that her expectations had been overtaken greatly by the reality, which for the first time in months, made her smile right from within.
Alas, her reverie had to be broken as they began taking blessings from the small number of guests whom they had invited, considering that they already had children and Adhrit was recently divorced.
"You know, they have twins. Poor Mohini. She must be so depressed after the happenings. Whenever I saw her at the functions, she always used to search for Adhrit and wait till she found him to eat with him, no matter even if her favorite dish was getting over. This girl is a home-breaker. How easily she took Mohini's place in Adhrit's life," ranted one of the relatives from Adhrit's side as she spit fire towards Neysa's direction.
Home- Breaker.
The title she had earned for loving someone unconditionally and forgetting everything which mattered the most to her to fulfill his most earnest wish; the honor she received for choosing the best for her children.
Adhrit was about to walk up to them and give a piece of his mind when Neysa's grip on his hand stopped him.
"If you go and answer them, we will have to answer everyone present here. Just act as if you haven't heard it," she instructed, blinking away the tears which had formed in her doe-like eyes and controlling her voice which was shaking due to sorrow.
"But they cannot speak nonsense about my wife in front of me," he retorted, making her heart swell with warmth but it was not enough to break the cold shackles of torture put around her by their words.
"And your dear nephew? Is he a saint whose feet I should wash with milk? First he trapped my niece in a surrogacy contract which she accepted out of compassion and empathy and now he is trapping her in a marriage because he had complaints against his first wife and wanted to take revenge from her and since he wanted the custody of the kids," argued one of Neysa's uncles, to whom Neysa was equivalent to his own daughter and he could not bear to hear anything against her.
"Aye! Stop blaming our child!" retorted Adhrit's aunt furiously.
"You should have thought about accusations firing at him before starting the blame game," he retaliated.
"STOP IT!" said Adhrit and Neysa in unison, finally letting their frustrations take better of them.
The warring parties moved away from each other as they listened to their children's voice demanding them to stop their actions. The parents of both the sides were worried sick of the impressions they were creating in the minds of other guests.
Adhrit went up to his Aunt while Neysa marked her way towards her Uncle, both ready to defend their newly wedded spouses, and thus fulfilling one of their vows of wedding, just moments after they had recited the same. Shipra, Sumedh and Vivek expressed their support by a slight pat on their backs as they prayed that no more peace is lost from their friends' lives.
"Mami, please. You have no idea about reality. Neysa is not a home-breaker. She is the one who taught me the true meaning of love. She has loved me unconditionally through years and she does not deserve such a title for something as pure as love. Divorcing Mohini was my decision and falling in love with Neysa was involuntary. She is not to be the one to be blamed for it," defended Adhrit. Although his voice was calm out of respect for the lady's age, his eyes would have bored holes into her if her gaze could burn.
"Uncle, you know that I have loved him for years by now and trust me, this marriage is happening by my will. What happened before this was because he desperately needed a surrogate and I was willing to help him. I want to have the custody of my children and isn't it an added bonus that I get to fulfill my dream of marrying him? Whatever happened has happened, let us just leave it and stop this blame game," pleaded Neysa, looking straight into her Uncle's eyes which were burning like hot amber. Neysa's father held his hand in a pleading gesture to stop him from speaking any further but it seemed that it did not have any effect.
"You tell me, Neysa as a doctor, if one wanted a surrogate, would they go to a woman who had already given birth, or someone like my niece who was unmarried?" argued her Uncle relentlessly.
Adhrit's aunt stiffened at his question and Adhrit's attempt to calm her down had failed miserably due to his words.
"And you tell me, Adhrit, which woman agrees to stay with a married man in his house alone, without informing anyone either in her family or friends? She already had set her mind to trap you in her web of so-called love," she rebutted, huffing in indignation, ignoring the contant signs from Adhrit's parents to stop arguing.
"ENOUGH!"
There would be no chance of mistaking the owner of the voice which uttered soothing words of consolation when Neysa had trouble sleeping in the initial few days after her pregnancy and the voice in which he once craved to hear confessions of love - Mohini Thakkar.
Amidst stares, whispers and gasps, she walked up to the spot where the newly wedded couple stood with the warring relatives. Adhrit was sure that it was Neysa who would have invited her, but he wondered what would have made her come to her ex-husband's marriage?
"Mamiji, Kakaji, I know you love your nephew and niece a lot but that does not warrant you to point a finger at the other one. You are saying that Adhrit went to Neysa when he had other options as a surrogate. But did he? He didn't. Law says only close friends or relatives can be surrogates and whom did he have? The only friend of his who matches your description is Shipra who already had a very difficult pregnancy and all the other friends were either like Neysa or they were married and still childless. He chose Neysa as a surrogate because she was a dear friend and as his life-partner because of love," explained Mohini, without any hint of complaint on her face as she clutched her gift for the couple in one hand and tugged her hair behind her ear with another.
Adhrit's guilt only deepened at her open defense of him, signifying her love for him, while Neysa felt proud of her decision of inviting her. Mohini had just proven that she deserved the right to be invited or honored.
"Coming to Neysa, everything she did was just out of love. Just pure love. Whatever they did, however they did, they had noble intentions while committing those deeds. If anyone should have a problem, it is them and them only. Also, when destiny decides to unite any two, no one can stop it, especially when it is backed by love. So instead of ruining their big day celebrating love, you should bless them with your good wishes," she suggested, turning to the elders who were whispering behind the backs or were debating like Uncle and Aunt of Neysa and Adhrit.
"Their love will be complete with this marriage but what about yours? Are you over it already?" questioned another Aunt from Adhrit's side, making everyone stiffen at the audacity of the woman to openly raise such a sensitive topic at the wrong place and time.
"You don't have to worry about it, Chachiji. I can be my own lawyer if required and coming to my love, it is my love which made me come late to avoid seeing my love being of someone else but it is the same love which made me come here to witness his happiness, which he never found with me. I hope that now since he has found his Neysa, he never loses his happiness and Neysa, make sure that you give him the peace and solace which I couldn't give him. And Chachiji, that is all my love asks from me," she answered, while Adhrit's question found its answer and Neysa's heart felt at peace after making sure that there is no sourness in Mohini due to the marriage and the fact that it would ease Adhrit's heart to know that he was so loved.