Hues of Love

Epilogue

"I am damn sure that my son thinks that he is your son and not mine!" complained Rachna as she ran after Rahul, who did not want to leave behind his favorite aunt and hence ran back towards her.

"This baby is so cute! Why don't we have one at home? I want to play with her for more time," demanded Rahul, tugging at the hem of Khushi's dress so that she could bend to his height and he could see his new friend - Amnati.

Rachna blushed to the roots with his demands combined with the suggestive looks thrown at her by her wicked husband who seemed to enjoy the situation while Arnav and Khushi giggled at the exchange.

"You can home whenever you want to play with her, Rahul. But only if you get your vaccinations on time, eat the food given by Mumma without complaining and if you promise to get treated for your colds without saying that the tablet is bitter," propositioned Khushi, pulling his cheek affectionately as he stared at her daughter with great zeal and admiration.

"Anything, Mausi. But she is so cute!" he squealed, gently caressing her cheeks as she moved slightly scaring him.

"She is fine, don't worry," said Khushi, sensing his fear.

Anurag leaned towards Arnav as he whispered, "Looks like my son found my daughter-in-law already."

Arnav turned to look at him incredulously before his fatherly protective instinct kicked in and he separated the child from the infant, much to Khushi's surprise and Rahul's annoyance.

"Rahul, now go home!" advised Arnav, looking every bit perturbed as he was, making Rahul scowl while Anurag doubled with concealed laughter.

"Yeah, anyways, you will be busy with the baby. We will visit soon," said Rachna, cupping Khushi's shoulder while signing with her eyes to take care of herself and follow every bit of her advice as a gynecologist.

"No need.."

"What?" questioned the ladies in unison.

"I mean, there is no need to trouble yourself. Visit when you are free," covered up Arnav as Anurag smirked at him.

Rachna, Anurag and Rahul took their leave and as soon as their car zoomed away, Arnav turned towards his wife and voiced his displeasure, "I don't like Rahul's intentions for our daughter."

Khushi burst into laughter as she understood the situation which had unfolded. She could not believe that her husband doubted the kid who had grew up in front of his eyes and had the best of upbringing.

"Seriously, Arnav? He is just a kid," she replied, smiling ear to ear.

"What if he pursues in her in the future?" he questioned, lines of worry creasing his forehead.

"She will still have the right to refuse him and if he is the best for her, then so be it. Anyways, why are we even discussing this? He is not even seven and she is just a few months old. There is a lot of time to go," she assured, sensing the trouble in his heart to be the one she had seen several times in her own father, who was currently ecstatic with the arrival of his second granddaughter.

"I just don't want her or Kuhu or Arsh to be unlucky like we were, Khoosi. I don't want them to endure pain of love like we did. Experience is the best teacher, I agree, but I don't want their heart to be broken like ours," he confessed, sighing deeply, stepping towards her as he looked into the windows to her heart.

"Who says we are unlucky? We were lucky enough to experience every hue of love, find ourselves together, have three beautiful children and with love growing stronger everyday. What we lost was just a price of what we found and what we found is something so exquisite that I would pay that price a hundred times over because every hue of love will create only one image in my heart and that is yours," she whispered, memories playing in front of her eyes like a beautiful film.

Instead of replying to her words, verbally, Arnav claimed her lips into a soul-stirring and mind-numbing kiss, as they lost themselves into love once again with their sign of love carefully held by both of them.

_____________________________________________________________________

Character Analysis:

Arnav: Burdened by expectations from an age where the kids have thousands of expectations and dreams by his own parents for their greed for themselves and for him, he had lost his track. He had grown to despise them for making him court a girl in his class against his will and for forcing it to pursue with increased passion than anything else making him unable to shoulder multiple responsibilities at once and lose his conscience. The same traits caused him to regret when Khushi grew upset over him over the manufacture of wrong drugs but not feeling anything about the drugs themselves. He grew attracted to the only one who had no expectations from him, the one whom he was supposed to trap - Rati - and it resulted in their marriage. The vows ignited a wish to depart from idea set by his parents and he separated them but instead of helping, it only caused bitterness in him towards his wife, whom he had begun to see as the reason for the separation subconsciously. His inability to juggle and prioritize costed him his first marriage which he had begun to blame his wife for, since a part of him thought that him being at fault would let his parents down. Love struck him when he experienced it through the mother of his children, who accepted his flaws and strengths. An ace businessman, ambitious leader, one with remarkable intellect, Arnav had it all to be at the top of his industry except that he trusted the wrong person.

Khushi: Single child, brought up with the thought process that ideal behavior results in wish fulfillment, she did not know where to draw the line between idealism and realism. Her unrequited love made her turn onto a self-destructive path as it took upon hues of obsession. The conflict of idealism and practicality led her into several situation she had not meant to. Top doctor, very friendly and hence with a lot of contacts with a streak of manipulation, developed from the time she tried to fulfill every one of her demands through her parents, she twisted the situation into what she deemed to be fit, with idealism losing the battle and boosted by her frustration for the same. The conflict with between her ideals which seemed to be ingrained into her deeply and her love ensures practicality at times while endangering her relationships with others during other times. She allows her love to be her weakness and was ready to lose everything she held dear for her love but her incessant need to be correct forced her to take decisions which proved to be game-changers.

Rati: Born as a result of an unwanted alliance, she grew up with the conflict of love and hate towards the institution of marriage. When she found her solace in Arnav's words for her, she had swung towards love towards marriage and was well aware of his feelings being based on lack of expectations from her. Careful to not destroy the basis of her relationship, she chose to allow forces to destroy it from above by choosing not to voice her expectations after her mother's death which left her shaken. In a bid to move away from her father, she submitted to casting couch so that she could support her mother faster, a decision she would regret when a producer takes advantage of her drunken state and her husband refuses to believe her. The lack of trust from him side and the knowledge that having kids would endanger them, pushed her to steps which would only burn their relationship up. She did not want Arnav to give up on his dream of being a father but the lack of appreciation for giving up the right of being a mother tormented her along with disbelief and miscommunication. With a mentality of a child, she strays from the path of fidelity in a hope of finding solace and trying to give solace to her best friend being acquainted with unrequited love but her straying results in an agony which she tries to revoke in several ways including suicide but decides to let go for the sake of love.

Even now, I will say all of them are sinners and all of them were sinned against. They are just human and they are wrong, never meant to be Ram or Sita.

NOTE on NEXT PAGE!

Please VOTE and COMMENT!