Amritha Verma was pleasantly surprised when she saw her daughter and son in law at her doorstep. She expected her daughter to be busy, since she hadn’t attended to her calls.
She smiled when her daughter threw her arms around her.
“Happy birthday”, she kissed her daughter’s head.
Keerthi’s eyes watered unexpectedly. She swallowed the lump in her throat, smiling through tears,”Thanks Ma.”
Keerthi pulled her husband inside with her,”Hi dad.”
“Keerthi”, Arvind Verma returned his daughter’s hug,”What a pleasant surprise”, he kissed her head,”Happy birthday.”
“Thanks dad”, she smiled.
Arvind Verma shook hands with his son in law, inviting him into their house.
Vikram smiled politely, taking a seat.
Keerthi squeezed her husband’s hand, leaving him with her father as she accompanied her mother into the kitchen.
Keerthi winced when she jumped on to the kitchen counter.
“What happened?”Amritha frowned.
Keerthi played innocent,”What happened?”
Amritha walked to her daughter,”Do you have to tell me anything?”
Keerthi blinked, words tumbling from her lips,”I fell down from the bike yesterday.”
Amritha paled,”What? How? Are you okay?”
“It was a minor accident Mom”, Keerthi assured her mother,”I am Okay.”
Amritha grew worried,”Where are you hurt?”
“Just my arms and sides.”
Amritha pulled her daughter into a hug,”You worry me so much. Take care of yourself Keerthi. You don’t stay with us anymore. Even a minor injury of yours is going to worry us. Give your health utmost priority.”
“I am seriously fine. Really. Nothing to worry”, Keerthi assured her mother.
“Fine. But you take care?”
“Yup”, Keerthi nodded her head.
“Did you take your medicines?”
“After food.”
Amritha looked at her daughter disapprovingly, examining her arms and waist.”Did you drive with your eyes closed?”
“No. Speed breaker problem.”
“Look at you. You are covered with bruises”, Amritha fussed over her daughter.
Keerthi smiled, relaxing.
Though her mother was scolding her, she genuinely missed it.
“What are you making?”
“Broth for you.”
“Ma! I am not so sick Okay. That you give me that”, Keerthi pleaded her mother.
“No. You need strength. Drink it up.”
“No. Please”, Keerthi whined.
“I’ll make you Chicken Biryani and Butter Chicken for dinner”, Amritha bribed.
Keerthi frowned,”That’s so less.”
“Chicken 65?”
“And Chilly chicken?”
“Fine”, Amritha laughed.
Keerthi grumbled under her breath, snatching the bowl from her mother’s hand.
Amritha laughed, patting her daughter’s cheek.
The child would always remain a child to the mother, how much ever grown up they maybe.
“Done”, Keerthi grinned. She loved how comfortable she was with her mother.
She could never reach that comfort level with anyone.
“When are you leaving for Mumbai?”
“In two weeks.”
“Started packing?”
“Can you not remind me Mom? I feel like crying everytime I think of it.”
Amritha knew her daughter,”You are going to be back in a few months.”
“But still”, she mumbled.
She would miss her parents.
“I’ll miss you too”, Amritha teared up, pulling her daughter into a hug before she could see the tears in her eyes.
The mother and daughter caught up on each other’s life when they heard laughter from the hall.
Keerthi bent backwards, peeping into the hall, where her father and husband were laughing.
Keerthi raised an eyebrow. Unusual.
She shrugged, looking back at her mother.
She hesitantly asked her mother,”Dad Okay?”, she asked softly, knowing her mother understood her unasked question.
Amritha smiled at her daughter, patting her cheek,”It’s all good beta.”
“Okay”, Keerthi smiled uneasily, catching onto her mother’s lie.
“Vikram must be bored. Go and give him some company.”
Keerthi nodded, joining her husband and father.
**
“Thanks for taking me home”, Keerthi said quietly, snuggling into Vikram, when they were in bed, ready to call it a night.
“It’s nothing”, Vikram placed a kiss on her hair, running a hand through her strands.
Keerthi only smiled, placing a kiss on his neck, as she snuggled further into him.
Vikram gazed at his wife, stopping scrolling through his mobile. He bent his head a bit, trying to get view of his wife’s face, but she only dug further into his neck, moulding her form into his.
“Sweetheart?”
Keerthi hummed, still not letting go.
“Is anything troubling you?”, Vikram cupped his wife’s cheek beneath her hair.
Keerthi placed another kiss on her husband’s neck, smiling as she relaxed her hold,”I just felt like hugging you”, she shrugged.
Vikram looked at her funnily,”You sure?”
“Positive”, she nodded her head.
“Okay. Hug away”, he folded his wife in his arms, wrapping an around her shoulder.
“I love you”, Keerthi broke the silence after sometime.
“Are you on your period?”
Keerthi laughed,”I would have said ‘I hate you’ if I were.”
Vikram pulled his wife into his arms, planting a kiss on her lips, their lips meshing with the others’ in the most intimate way,”I love you too”, he brushed the bangs out of her face.
“Happy birthday, Sweetheart.”
Keerthi grinned at her husband,”Looks like it’s you who’s on period, not me”, but before her husband could reply, she spoke again,”Thank you.”
Keerthi held her breath when Vikram brushed his hand on her waist, her heart racing. She shut her eyes, biting back a moan when she felt his fingers move.
“The bruise still looks bad. Have you applied your ointment?”
“Um…”
“The ointment, Keerthi.”
She cleared her throat, blushing when her husband smirked,”Right. I forgot”, she added,”But I don’t think I need it, it doesn’t hurt that much. The doctor anyway asked to apply it only when it hurts.”
“Okay. You took your tablets, right?”
“Yeah. I did.”
Vikram smiled to himself when his wife grabbed his face into a kiss. He cupped her face, angling her neck, so he could deepen the kiss.
Keerthi let out a moan, when their tongues met, moving rhythmically along the other, shuddering when Vikram licked the inside of her lip, sucking on it gently. She took a deep breath when they broke for air, her eyes rolling back in pleasure when her husband continued his sweet assault on her neck, her toes curling in pleasure when he kissed her just below her ear, nipping the skin there, her grip on his shirt tightening.
Vikram released his wife, glancing quickly at the latched door, and switched the lights off.