Celebrating Life: An OS Series Part 2 Updated

“Life’s most cherished moments are often wrapped in the colours of celebrations.”

A thread for OS series, on AbhiMaan of course, as they together celebrate the festivals (and parties/events etc.) that bring immense joy to everybody. Completely unrelated to the show, set in my own fluffy as cotton candy world.

INDEX

Firecracker - Page 1

Guided By Starlight - Page 3

Part 1: Firecracker

“Yes, Armaan!”

“No, Abhira!”

“Yes, Armaan!”

“No, Abhira!”

“It’ll be sooo much fun, Armaan.”

“I know…but they’ll hear baba…”

“Arey…no one will hear a thing! We’ll do it quietly. Raat ko chupke chupke we can do.”

“That’s not possible, you know. It’ll be as noisy as it can get. We’ll make enough sound for people to hear. And we can be seen too.”

“So what if people see or hear? They’ll understand. We aren’t doing anything against the law. We’ll be quick about it, Armaan. Please na khadusmaan.”

Kaveri Poddar paused in the action of lifting a spoon to her mouth and tilted her head to one side, processing the extremely fascinating snippets of conversation between Armaan and Abhira that floated downstairs from their room, the door of which stood wide and ajar. Her impassive poker face was impeccably in place but if one looked closely enough, they could spot a twinkle in her eyes that held the wisdom and experience of the world and a sliver of smile tugged across the corner of her lips. Knowing the two of them, there must be a more simple explanation than what one could interpret from their words.

She looked around the table to see how the other members of her family were reacting. Her son-in-law, Sanjay Bansal, had an impenetrably straight face that was hard to read at the moment. Right beside him, his wife and her daughter, Kajal looked too mortified and abashed to even raise her head above her ceramic plate.

Further down the table, her two sons and their respective wives did not even make an attempt to conceal the full blown smiles. Her daughters-in-law went a step ahead, discreetly removing any evil eyes on the couple, muttering “thu thu thu” under their breaths. She narrowed her eyes at the children who passed each other subtle glances, laden with mischief. Is this what they learn at their schools and colleges instead of focusing on studies?

There were still some spaces unfilled on the table, apart from the ones that were usually occupied by the couple above, and Kaveri felt a pang in her heart watching the empty seats. One belonged to Ruhi, who, perhaps, would never return to take that chair, with all her Machiavellian schemes and deceits exposed in front of both the families. Another was Rohit’s, brought out of his self imposed exile by Abhira, who currently oversaw the legal matters in the Delhi branch of their legal firm. He firmly put his foot down and told them to not contact him unless it was an emergency situation, needing time and space to recuperate from the heartbreak and betrayal his own wife and brother bestowed upon him. Abhira and Armaan, themselves, suffered a lot after the truth about Ruhi and Armaan had been brought out in front of everybody. It was Armaan's own repentance and by divine intervention that Abhira decided to give him just one more chance at their relationship. All was now a thing of past and Kaveri was gladdened by the peace residing in their home.

Her musings were interrupted by the couple whose engrossing conversation had been unintentionally eavesdropped by everybody, making their way downstairs for the morning breakfast. Her eyes fell first on Armaan who was holding back his ever enthusiastic and chirpy wife, denying whatever she had been asking for that caused her to pucker her lips into a pout.

“Armaan…” She cleared her throat pointedly and called.

“Ji, dadi sa?” Said Armaan, trying to smile his way out of the situation.

“Tum aur Abhira…” She cleared her throat once again, “upar kya discuss kar rahe the? We could hear…what you were talking about.” She threw a glare around, in vain, to silence the sniggers that reached her ears.

“Woh dadi sa…” started Armaan hesitantly, “actually…” he started and paused again, struggling to find the right words to put across his thoughts.

Kaveri turned to look at Abhira, whose one hand wrapped around Armaan’s sleeve as was her habit, “Tum batao, Abhira, Since your otherwise adept husband is unable to tell me anything.”

Abhira’s eyes went wide in surprise before promptly and almost petulantly explaining how dearly she wanted, like she always did in Mussoorie with her mother, to burst crackers that went high in the night sky and spread to resemble the sparkling stars against the ink blue canvas but Armaan was against her plan, reiterating on how chaotic and distressing it would be for their neighbours and the environment. They’d only lit diyas during Diwali, a lot of them, but never allowed to bring crackers home.

“Please dadi sa,” she gazed with such a hopeful and innocent look that could melt even the strongest of glaciers, “just one 100-shot firecracker. They would look just like shooting stars, we all can make a hundred wishes each.”

Armaan smiled wryly to himself in resignation, knowing the probability of Kaveri accepting her request was below minimal. He hoped Abhira wouldn’t be disappointed, too crushed by her refusal. He could light up a billion, trillion diyas for her, if that retained her cherubic smile on her face forever. However, crackers…

But to his astonishment, Kaveri smiled, a real wide and indulgent smile, and gave a green signal to Abhira’s plan. “Only this one hundred shot firecracker, okay? Nothing more than that.” Abhira literally glowed with joy, clapping her hands in jubilation. “Thank you, dadi sa! I promise just one cracker and not more.”

As they took their respective seats, her eyes met him in a gloating glint, not needing any words to convey her victory.

“That’s MY dadi sa you managed to convince.” His brows arched.

“That’s my magic, nobody can escape it. Not even OUR dadi sa.” She grinned.

Armaan conceded, contented himself to smile with the rest of everybody else as they divulged in mundane chatter while finishing their breakfast. They had to finish a little earlier in order to begin the preparations for Diwali puja that would be held in the evening.

***

Armaan strapped a vintage wristwatch crafted from polished rose gold around his wrist, before taking a long, hard glance at the mirror holding his reflection. The rich mint green sherwani, a gift from his wife, fit him snugly, highlighting his broad shoulders and tall frame. Intricate dori and stone work adorned the front, sleeves and high collar, adding a touch of regality to his appearance. Armaan smiled at what he saw, running his fingers through his hair to give them a tousled, more carefree look.

“Armaan, are you ready yet?” Came Abhira’s tinkling voice as she entered through the door, distractedly arranging her pleats without looking up. She had gone to his parent’s room to change, stating her ineptitude to drape a saree and denying his help. In her words, “You will convince me why staying back in the room and undressing ourselves will be a better decision than going downstairs dressed. So, you’re not allowed anywhere near me till the puja is finished,” before cheekily pressing her lips to his five o’clock shadow and flying away like a butterfly.

Armaan turned around and his breath caught in his throat. Abhira stood at the doorway, a vision of ethereal beauty in a mint silk saree that perfectly matched the colour of his kurta. A pair of heavy, khandani jhumke made of gold, uncut kundan and pearls, gifted by Kaveri Poddar herself to her eldest pota bahu, hung on her ears. The saree hugged her petite figure at the right places, accentuating her curves as she moved gracefully towards him, a twinkle in her eyes that conveyed she was pleased with his reaction. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her; the sight of Abhira in sarees had always been his undoing.

“I need to use the mirror.” She stood on her toes and closed his mouth with a chuckle, pushing him aside and checking herself in the mirror. Armaan spun to face her, just in time as she picked the box of vermilion.

“Let me,” He whispered, pecking the shell of her ear, gently freeing her hold on the case. With practised ease, he dipped his thumb and forefinger to lift a pinch of the powder between them and traced a delicate line in her partition. He glided one muscular arm around her waist, and pulled her flush against his chest. “Abhira…” He breathed in his most seductive voice, smiling in triumph at having her where he wanted. Right in his arms.

The scent of his woody and citrus notes combined with her own jasmine and vanilla, accompanied by his smouldering gaze, created a heady cloud in her mind, only for the trance to be broken by a swift, hurried knock on their door.

“Armaan bhaiya, Abhira bhabhi, sab neeche bula rahe hain.” Krish left as quick as he came upstairs, for the responsibility of saving laddus fell on his shoulders and he couldn’t afford to let one of Aryan or Kiara to get their hands on the platter.

Armaan smothered a disappointed groan, reluctantly loosening his grip around her. Abhira turned around, carrying a dismayed expression that mirrored his own, smoothening the invisible creases near his collar. “We need to go down.”

He merely hummed, “you love firecrackers, don’t you. Maybe we could burst a few right in our room after the celebrations.”

Abhira, perfectly understanding the implication behind his words, yet pretended to be puzzled for the sake of it. “Dadi sa said only one cracker, Armaan. And crackers can’t be burst in closed confines. It’s hazardous…”

“Oh these firecrackers are not dangerous, Ira jaan,” He stole a quick peck at her delectable pink lips, “These crackers...we can explode them within the safety of our room. I would have loved to demonstrate them right now but we need to go…”

“Besharam!”

Safe to say, she saved her time by not applying any blush, for whenever their eyes met each others during the festivities, her cheeks turned warm and red. And anybody with perfectly functioning vision could detect the playful twinkle in his eyes that conveyed the oceanic depth of love he had for his wife.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

Ek hi dil hain @Nivedita_SS kitni baar churaoge?

Loved it!!!

I love the double meaning of fireworks too! Lol.

How I wish we had a playful , romantic type jodi on the show too.

Amazing part 1

loving the concept of this story

Excited to read more

Loved the concept author !!! And loved the update

Res

Unres

This is amazing! I love it when Dadisa is soft with our Baby sa.

Show is torturing her more than enough. We need khushiyaan now.

💖💖💖

Haha, just love spreading sone positivity around right now ❤️

Thank you so much ❤️. Hopefully we'll get to that part sooner. Let's hope for the best 🤞

Thank you so much ❤️. I'm excited to write more too, hopefully once I get my exams done I will get back to writing again.