Page 91 of The Unwanted Husband
Tears welled in Isha’s eyes again, but these were different. “Ashok, what are you saying?”
His hand came up to cup her face, his thumb grazing over cheek. “I’m saying that the least I can do, theveryleast, is to fulfill my best friend and sister’s wish. To make sure the twins meet their family in America and spend time with them.”
Understanding bloomed slowly, too big to grasp all at once. “Are you...” She couldn’t finish the question, afraid to hope.
He nodded, his own eyes suspiciously bright.
“Oh my God.” Isha threw her arms around his neck, nearly knocking them both off balance. “Are you telling me—” She pulled back to look at him, searching his face. “Are you saying the twins are on this plane? Right now?”
Ashok’s smile broke free, transforming his face. “And I have a new job in San Francisco,” he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “We’ll be spending quite a bit of time there. As a family.”
“I don’t believe this.” The words came out in a laugh that was half sob. “This can’t be real.”
“Look for yourself.” He reached past her and drew back the sliding door fully.
The room beyond was larger than she’d realized. It was a bedroom, outfitted for luxury travel. But Isha barely noticedthe elegant furnishings. Her entire focus narrowed to two small bassinets positioned along one wall, and the two sleeping forms within them.
Vish and Vaish looked peaceful and perfect, their tiny chests rising and falling in the rhythm of dreams.
Isha’s hand flew to her mouth. “Ashok,” she breathed. “Am I dreaming?”
He moved to stand behind her, wrapping both arms around her waist and pulling her back against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, steady and sure.
“If this is a dream,” he murmured against her temple, “then you’re not the only one having it.”
She turned in his arms, and the movement was graceful despite the confined space, natural despite everything being so new between them. Her hands came up to frame his face.
“I hated you,” she whispered, but her voice was full of wonder rather than regret. “A few months ago, I couldn’t stand the sight of you.”
“I know.” His smile was gentle, understanding.
“And now...” She shook her head, struggling to articulate the enormity of what she felt. “Now I can’t imagine being without you. Not even for a flight to San Francisco.”
“Then it’s good you don’t have to.”
She laughed, the sound watery but genuine. “You’re ridiculous. This whole thing is ridiculous. Who does this? Who secretly boards their entire family onto a plane?”
“Someone who loves you,” Ashok said simply. “Someone who has been planning this for a while and today had to expedite everything.”
The tears came again, but Isha was smiling through them. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For knowing what I needed beforeI did. For giving the twins what Sami and Ravi wanted for them.” Her voice broke. “For choosing us.”
“Isha.” He paused for a moment before adding, “There was never any other choice.”
The space between them disappeared.
Isha rose onto her toes as Ashok’s hands slid up her back, one tangling gently in her loose hair, the other pressing her closer. When their lips met, it was soft at first tentative, almost reverent, like they were both still half-afraid this moment might shatter.
But then Isha’s fingers curled into his shirt and Ashok’s grip tightened, and the kiss deepened into something more. All the fear of the morning, all the grief of the last months, all the unexpected joy of this impossible surprise, everything poured into that kiss.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Isha kept her forehead pressed against his. Outside the windows, clouds stretched endlessly white beneath a brilliant blue sky. Somewhere behind them, the twins slept on, unaware of the gift their parents had planned, unaware of this moment that was reshaping everything.
“We’re really doing this?” Isha asked. “All four of us? Together?”
Ashok’s answer was another kiss, softer this time, achingly sweet. “All four of us,” he repeated what she said, against her lips. “Together.”
And as the plane carried them toward San Francisco, toward family and future and all the unknowns ahead, Isha finally understood what Sami and Ravi had known all along, that love wasn’t about being brave alone. It was about building a life big enough for everyone you loved to fit inside it.
She kissed Ashok again, letting herself sink into the warmth and certainty of him, while thirty thousand feet below, the world spun on.
