The past week had been a full roller coaster of emotion and love for Maanvi and Abhiraj. Their family had come to know about their relationship and the sudden engagement decision. Maanvi and Abhiraj couldn’t contain but felt over the moon seeing their excitement and happiness.

Now, Maanvi sat on her balcony, her hand busy holding her coffee cup while the other one clutched her phone close to her ears. A small smile played on her lips as she talked with Abhiraj over the call.

“And what theme should we keep on our engagement?” she asked, her voice full of joy.

“Let’s not keep any theme, or else everyone has to spend on their outfit unnecessarily. Let them wear whatever they want,” he suggested, a small smile playing on his lips.

“That’s true too. And yes, I have an idea, how about I make an animated video invitation for our marriage?” Her excitement reflected through her voice.

“Baby, our marriage date has still not come out.” Abhiraj chuckled, pressing his head against the headboard.

“Yes, yes, but it will be decided after our engagement, and I am just giving an idea.” She shrugged, trying hard not to sound overexcited.

Abhiraj chuckled at her words while Maanvi just huffed and admired his sweet giggle voices.

“Abhir,” she called

“Yes, my honey”, he asked.

“Have you spoken to Kabir?” her voice turning serious.

Just his mention, and Abhiraj was all serious. His laugh long died while his voice choked, remembering his best friend.

“I tried to contact him, but he isn’t answering my call. I asked his brother too, but he said Kabir has distanced himself from everyone. He had changed a lot after that incident.” Abhiraj answered, his throat choking with Kabir’s mention.

“Abhir, are we doing right? Here we are celebrating our engagement while he is suffering there alone.” Her sad tone was making it hard for her to talk about him.

“I know, Maanvi, that it doesn’t look good. After all, he is your rakhi brother. But we can’t delay our engagement, right?” he assured while his voice was choking.

“You are right. But I am just worried for him, I want to meet him. I want to see him and tell him that I am here for him in every phase,” she said, her eyes glittering with tears as she can clearly understand what Kabir is going through.

“Me too, Maanvi. But he isn’t answering my calls. Let’s do one thing, we both will visit his office just a day after our engagement. He may ignore me, but he'll never say no to you. You are her only sister,” Abhiraj said, trying to sound casual and normal.

His words made Maanvi smile a bit as a sudden positivity jumped inside her.

“Yes, we will, and I will scold him. How dare he not contact me for 6 months,” she said in a fake angry voice.

“Yes, yes, we both will beat him together,” Abhiraj chuckled, trying to lighten up the tense conversation.

“Dare you touch him? he is my brother; no one can hit him,” Maanvi huffed, fake scolding him.

Abhiraj chuckled at her antics, but even before he could continue, a small knock on his door disturbed their conversation. He allowed the person to come in, and in no minute, Nandani came inside his room and smiled at him. Abhiraj returned her a small smile and stood up to hug her.

“My boy comes down for dinner.” Nandani creased his head and broke the hug.

“Yes ma, just a minute,” he said and turned towards his phone.

“Is Maanvi on the other side?” Nandani asked. Her face beaming thinking about Maanvi.

Abhiraj nodded his head while Maanvi chuckled on the other side.

“Abhir, put the phone on speaker, I want to talk with Mamma,” Maanvi said.

Her warm-toned comment made Abhiraj chuckle, and in no time, he switched his phone into speaker, giving the mother and daughter-in-law their moment.

“Hi mumma,” Maanvi said, her voice filled with respect and excitement.

“Hi, my lovely baby, what’s going on?”Nandanii asked, gently taking the phone from Abhiraj's hand.

“Just having my night coffee. What about you?” she asked.

“Maanv, you should not drink coffee at night, it’s not good for your health, bacche.” Nandani scolded her like a five-year-old.

“It’s just for today, mumma, I usually drink chocolate milk but Varun bhai forgot to bring a new pack and the old one is almost empty, so I saved it for Aaru,” Maanvi reasoned and pouted.

“Such a baby you are,” Nandani exclaimed and giggled.

Maanvi and Abhiraj lightly giggled along with her. Abhiraj gently wrapped his hand around his mother's shoulder and hugged her back.

“Okay, it's been late, so I am borrowing your boyfriend so he can have his dinner. You too take rest. And yes, don’t forget that we have to go shopping tomorrow. Be ready, okay,” Nandani instructed.

“He is your son before my boyfriend mumma, you don’t have to borrow him from me, instead just pull his ears and drag him if he is not listening to you,” Maanvi said and giggled.

Nandani chuckled at her statement and looked towards Abhiraj. Her eyes shone with pride and love. In a world where girlfriends taunt boys’ mothers for stealing their boyfriend's time and interfering in their lives, Maanvi was the one who told her that Abhiraj is her son before her boyfriend and on top wanted Nandani to scold and punish him if he refused to listen to her. What else could she ask for from god when she is getting such an understanding daughter-in-law?

“I will for sure, you just be ready for tomorrow, okay?”Nandani said, her voice heavy with emotion and pride.

“Yes, mumma, I will be ready.” Maanvi smiled.

“That’s my baby, good night”, Nandani said

“Good night, mumma, love you,” Maanvi muttered and passed her a kiss.

“Love you too, mera baccha.” Nandani returned the kiss and cut the call.

Her glittery eyes turned towards Abhiraj, who was already looking at her with curiosity.

“She is so lovely,” Nandani said, resting her head towards Abhiraj's chest.

“She is just like you,” he answered, hugging his mother close and placed a kiss on her forehead.

The next day, the shopping session was full of fun and excitement. Both the Rajawat and the Sharma families came together for the plan and decided to shop together in the same mall. The first half was filled with banter and sulking by the younger ones, being adamant on the decision that they want to wear clothes that are selected by Maanvi.

Everyone was giggling at their childishness, but Maanvi didn’t find it childish; instead, she was happy that they trusted her and happily agreed to select their dresses. While the younger ones kept Maanvi and Abhiraj busy regarding their clothes, the elders decided to select their clothes.

After almost 2 hours of dress hunting, it was finally Maanvi and Abhiraj’s turn to select their dresses. But Maanvi insisted on giving them a separate room or section to select the dress, just communicating the colour they decided to wear.

“But what’s the need to hide the dress when you already know the colour?” Abhiraj asked, his eyebrows raised in question.

“I don’t want you to see me in my engagement dress now, I want it to be a surprise.” Maanvi huffed and sat beside him.

“But that doesn’t make sense, when I already know the colour and type of dress,” Abhiraj huffed and questioned back. A small smirk played on his lips, seeing her irked expression.

Maanvi noticed his smirk and hit him in his biceps.“Such a tease you are, go away.”

Everyone in the room laughed at their interaction, which brought both of them out of their trance. Maanvi’s eyes lowered in embarrassment while Abhiraj looked at her red, flushed face with a cheeky smile.

“Okay, okay, no more laughs. How about we all go out for lunch?” Abhiraj suggested.

All the eyes turned to him, and in an instant, everyone forgot that they were teasing Maanvi. The excitement of the family lunch date took over as they paid for their dresses and started to walk towards the famous restaurant situated just beside the mall area. Abhiraj and Maanvi were walking side by side while Sid was walking just behind Maanvi. For a few minutes, Maanvi didn’t know that he was behind, but the moment she noticed him, she pulled him beside her.

“Why are you walking behind?” Maanvi questioned, her voice filled with warmth.

“Nothing,” Sid replied and lowered his head.

“Oh, so now secrets with me?” Maanvi said.

Abhiraj, who was observing them, chuckled hearing Maanvi’s line and hugged her side.

“No, no.. I was just feeling tired and my legs hurt now,” Sid pouted, secretly signalling maanvi that he will tell her some other time.

Maanvi giggled at his cuteness and pulled his cheeks, feeling awe at him.

“You are cute,” Maanvi said and looked towards Abhiraj.

Abhiraj and Maanvi both giggled at him while Abhiraj pulled him close, too, ruffling his hair, Sid sighed and huffed, looking at them.

“Bhai, not my hairs, please”, Sid said.

Abhiraj and Maanvi chuckled more and tagged him along. Soon, they were inside the restaurant, enjoying their time out with each other. Maanvi sat on her seat with Abhiraj on her right and Sid on her left, Adi and Anu just beside Sid. In no minute, they placed the order and shared a brief moment of laughter and talk.

The whole table was just filled with the same conversation, that was none other than Abhiraj and Maanvi’s engagement. But it didn’t made them feel uncomfortable, instead they were happy to see their family so excited for everything. They felt giddy, and sweared to never let them feel down or give them reason to doubt their relationship.

A week later…

It was just a day before their engagement, Maanvi came to visit Abhiraj's office, bringing him his favourite lunch and dessert. Abhiraj was now leaning against the sofa with Maanvi comfortably settled on his lap while his hand was busy creasing her waist. There was no conversation, just some comfortable silence and unspoken love they held for each other.

Abhiraj pulled her closer and hugged her close to his heart and kissed her cheeks.

“I can’t believe we are just step step away from our big day,” Maanvi whispered, breaking the silence between them.

“Me neither, it’s like a dream.” Abhiraj looked at her and kissed her forehead.

“Abhir, I know I shouldn’t say this, but I am scared,” Maanvi added. Her voice is heavy with emotion while her eyes are fixed on his.

“Scared? Why?” Abhiraj asked.

“What if I failed to fulfill your and your family’s expectations. Till now, I didn’t have so much responsibility, and now everything will be new, a new place, new responsibilities. What if I failed to manage?” she asked, her fear of disappointing anyone visible in her face as she dropped her eyes.

Abhiraj gently cupped her cheeks and wiped off the tears before planting a kiss on her lips.

“Then we will handle it all together. I am always here for you. You are not alone in this, the moment i proposed you to be my girlfriend i had taken the responsibility to love you, to care for you and to stand by you in every ups and downs. And i acn assure you that nothing will change, the only change in our life will be that we will be husband and wife instead of girlfriend and boyfriend.” he gently assured her.

Maanvi looked up at him, a small smile automatically curling up on her lips as she hugged him tightly.

“I love you Abhir, and i promise i will never let you down.” her voice filled with happiness and love.

“I love you too, my honey. And you could never let me down,” he chuckled and hugged her tightly.

It was not just a hug for them, but a safe cage they never wanted to leave. They said physical intimacy is the most important thing to keep couples connected, but in Maancvi and Abhiraj’s case, their heart took the place of all the norms. Their small hugs and heart-to-heart talks were enough to keep them connected and feel secure about each other.

They felt happy and safe with each other, while their heart thumped against their ribcage, conveying how excited they were for this new journey. A journey from college lovers to lifelong partners. And indeed, it is beautiful.