Boxset: Destiny Decides.. & Destiny Embraces..

by P. G. Van

  “I was able to get hold of him the day before Srini and Nethra reached India,” Nick said smiling at me.

  “Nick, how much did he tell you about Jasleen and RajaRam?” I asked Nick in an unsteady voice.

  “I know enough to understand why you felt so strongly about doing the ceremony for them,” Nick said smiling at me.

  “Nick, you keep forgetting that you are part of the family you are referring to as ‘them’ and my future family. The ceremony meant a ray of hope for the family across the globe,” I said softly and added, “I know this will nag me for the rest of my life.”

  “I know and that is exactly why I am here,” Nick said in a calm voice and added, “The ceremony you were supposed to perform was essentially a Rajput wedding. A way for them to bring back the girl they lost back into the family and was to get you married to one of the guys from their family.”

  “A wedding?” I asked. My throat went dry as I stood in Nick’s arms shell shocked to the core.

  “Yes, the so-called ceremony required you to tie the knot with a man from my side of the family and then perform the ceremony that the family does every year,” Nick said snickering.

  “I don’t believe this. I would have never agreed to a wedding,” I said feeling the steam coming out of my ears.

  “I know. I couldn’t get you to marry your fiancée until last night and these guys thought you would agree to a fake wedding with a stranger,” Nick said laughing.

  “I realize now that we are together by pure destiny and only you can release the family from the bonds of guilt,” Nick said his voice deep and soft.

  It hit me that in a situation like that, I would have been cornered and would have been left with no choice. A chill ran down my spine as I wondered what could have happened if I had objected to what the Rajput family wanted me to do.

  “Would they have forced me to get married, Nick?” I asked my voice shaky.

  “I am not sure about the force part. They would have played the emotional and the guilt card and would have convinced you that the marriage was not legal and it was only ceremonial,” Nick said thinking out loud.

  I clung to Nick unable to think further. I had ignored the practical difficulties of taking on the responsibility of being part of the family ritual. My parents had no idea, and I had not asked for their advice. I knew it would have ended up in a messy situation and complicated things between Nick and me.

  “How did you identify the connection between our family and the Rajput family?” Nick asked interrupting my thoughts.

  “As soon as I was told about the ceremony and that it was to bring back a girl into the family, I asked them about your dad. He did not know at first and then a few days later, he called and confirmed the connection,” I said smiling at him.

  “Did you not tell him that you and I were together?” Nick asked surprised.

  “He knew I had someone in my life, but I purposely did not tell him about you, and now I think I should have,” I said smiling and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner, Nick?”

  Nick laughed and said, “That’s because I made a deal with the Rajput family that you and I would get married as part of that ceremony.”

  “What?” I asked glaring at him.

  “I know, I should have told you, but you were being extremely adamant about keeping this contained, and I didn’t want to burst your bubble,” Nick said smiling at me.

  I glowered at the slight mockery in his tone and said, “You should have told me, and I wouldn’t have announced during mehendi that you and I will be crashing Nate and Srini’s wedding.”

  He tightened his arms around me and said, “Why would I stop you if I could get married to you sooner?”

  I shook my head in disbelief as I processed everything that Nick told me.

  “There is one more thing you need to know,” Nick said looking down at the chain around his neck.

  When I looked at him in silence and Nick coolly continued, “This was the chain that a Bhatia woman put around the neck of a Vaasi man as a garland during their wedding ceremony.”

  “What?” I asked in shock and added, “You mean Jasleen gave this to RajaRam?”

  When Nick nodded smiling, I smiled in disbelief and said, “This chain has been in our family for many generations, and it has been handed down to the men in the family. I got the chain from my dad. I had the symbol of Jasleen’s love for RajaRam with me all this while, and now it is back to where it belongs.”

  I placed my palms over my mouth realizing the full circle that took five generations to complete.

  “Nick, you need to tell me what you know about Jasleen and RajaRam, and I will tell you what I know from my research with my grandpa,” I said urging him.

  “Sameera, I promise. We will talk about this but not tonight,” Nick said turning around to see Srini fast asleep in the car and added smiling, “We should go sleep. I want my bride to be awake when I get married to her.”

  “I can’t wait to be yours, Nick,” I said hugging him.

  Nick smiled and planted a kiss on my forehead. “I want to start my new life with you. I want you to be part of my family and bring the happiness that you bring to yours.”

  I smiled looking at him and said, “Nick, I love you and you need to go get some sleep.”

  “Yes,” Nick nodded in agreement and added, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  I laughed as he went to the car and shook Srini awake. Srini looked at me smiling through the windshield and started the engine as Nick waved to me. Nick blew me his signature kiss as the car backed out of the driveway. I stood on the patio for a few more minutes replaying the conversation Nick and I had and smiled to myself realizing how lucky I was to have Nick in my life.

  A hundred year old love story that brought us together was about to bond us together for life mentally, physically, and spiritually.

  Chapter Six

  It was half an hour before Nate and I were to leave to go to the wedding venue. We waited patiently all decked up in our bridal outfits for the auspicious time to leave home for the most important event in our lives.

  Nate whined constantly complaining about the weight of the sari and the jewelry.

  “You are a real Bridezilla, Nate,” I teased.

  I smiled shaking my head at her as I felt as light as a feather in spite of the additional thirty pounds on my body. The beautiful heavy silk sari and the traditional temple jewelry that I had on as part of my bridal outfit were reminders of Nick’s love for me.

  I looked down at my bare feet that looked beautiful with the deep red color from the mehendi adorned with my yellow gold anklets. The anklets shone with extra brightness against the contrasting deep red background.

  I reached for my phone and took a picture of my feet with my anklets and the gold border of the sari peeking into the picture frame. I texted the picture to Nick and smiled to myself. My phone beeped almost immediately.

  Nick: I can’t wait to kiss those feet tonight.

  Me: silly…

  Nick: Where are you?

  Me: Home, where else would I be?

  Nick: Are you all set to go?

  Me: Yes.

  Nick: What are you waiting for?

  Me: The auspicious time…

  Nick: I just don’t get it…I can’t wait for the ceremony to be done.

  Me: Nick you need to learn to respect the traditions

  Nick: Sorry, if it doesn’t make sense I can’t…

  Me: Wow…I just realized that I am getting married to a guy who knows nothing about the Indian traditions… boo hoo

  Nick: Love is all that matters…

  Me: Yes but we need more to make sure the love grows…

  Nick: I can take care of that…

  My mom came into the room interrupting my texting activities and said with excitement, “Let’s go girls.”

  “Finally,” Nate said sounding relieved.

  I took a deep breath as my heart started to pound against my chest,
and a tremor of joy ran through my body. I followed Nate to the bridal car that was decorated with flowers.

  As I settled into the back seat with Nate, I noticed that my stepdad was getting behind the wheel with my mom in the passenger seat.

  “Dad, you really shouldn’t be driving here. It’s been years since you drove on the other side of the road,” I teased.

  He turned to look at Nate and me with pride in his eyes and said smiling, “The biggest honor as a father is to take his daughter to the marriage venue. I am not going to let someone else take you there especially when both my daughters are getting married.”

  “Silly, Daddy,” Nate said smiling at him.

  “We have my cousin driving in front of us and a few of our relatives following us so I think we are pretty safe, girls,” my mom teased looking at my stepdad.

  We burst out laughing and kept laughing at the silliest of the silliest things during the short drive to the wedding venue.

  “This place looks so beautiful Dad. I love the setup and decorations,” I said in awe as my stepdad pulled through the open entrance gates of the event center that seemed to spread out over an acre of land.

  “Only the best for my beautiful daughters!!” My dad said and turned to look at Nate and me as he stopped in front of the main entrance of the banquet hall and added, “You girls make your mom and me very proud, and thank you for letting me be your dad.”

  “Dad, stop it. You are going to ruin my makeup,” Nate said whining and my dad completely ignored her and continued to speak. I felt a lump form in my throat that I was not able to swallow as my stepdad spoke emotionally.

  “The men you girls are about to be married to love you and respect you very much, and you are responsible for taking care of them and their families as your own,” he said in a stern voice.

  “Swami, you really are ruining their makeup with your speech,” my mom said smiling.

  “Dad, Nate and I are blessed to have you in our lives,” and added smiling mischievously at my mom, “we love you more than we love mom.”

  “Yes, yes. I know,” my mom said totally enjoying the situation and added, “We should get out of the car before our relatives think we have changed our mind. I looked out of the window and realized that the relatives were gathered next to the car and were staring at us. They were waiting very patiently as the band played the traditional wedding music at their loudest.

  Nate and I were escorted to the bridal suite at the event center as the multiple photographers hired by my family and Srini’s family clicked a million pictures.

  “Paparazzi,” I said to Nate smiling as we entered the quiet but elaborately decorated bridal suite.

  “Yes, we are going to be under the camera lighting for the rest of the night,” Nate said and asked looking towards the door, “Why are we the only ones in the room. Where is everyone else?”

  “I am sure the boys are on the way and everyone is at the main entrance to give them a grand welcome,” I said smiling.

  I heard the band start to play their loudest song and knew that the grooms had arrived. My heart started to race, and I took a deep breath to calm myself down as my body was going into a state of fervor, and I felt my love for Nick flow through my blood. I looked at Nate and noticed she was in a similar situation.

  “Is this normal?” Nate asked softly in reference to our reaction to the loud welcome music that continued to play, and I replied smiling at her, “I guess so.”

  Nate and I looked at each other as we heard a goggling group of women approach the bridal suite. I laughed and said, “Here comes the company you were looking for.”

  Nate laughed as the doors opened and saw women of all ages come into the suite and start showering us with compliments. As Nate and I chatted away with our near and far relatives, Ann walked in gingerly towards me and put her arms around me and said, “You are so beautiful Sameera, my brother is so lucky.”

  “Thank you, Ann,” I said looking at her dressed in a traditional sari and had her hair pulled into a traditional bun and decorated it with trendy Indian jewelry.

  “You look beautiful, Nethra,” Ann said smiling at Nate.

  “Ann, how is Srini doing?” Nate asked in a soft voice.

  “He is as excited as you are Nethra and a bit annoyed with Nick,” Ann said looking at me.

  “Why?” I asked with surprise in my voice to which Ann laughed and said, “Nick is just being his annoying self about all the ceremonial stuff. He is soon your problem to deal with, Meera.”

  I laughed and said, “I can’t believe he is ruining Srini’s wedding experience.”

  “It’s not that bad, and the boys are having fun in the suite on the other side,” Ann said laughing and added, “I need to go back to keep an eye on them. I will see you guys on the stage in a few minutes.”

  “Make sure they don’t get drunk, Ann,” Nate called out not realizing that we were in the company of elderly women. A hush fell in the room for a second and then an uproar as women started giggling and continued their conversations.

  “Nate, you need to watch what you say,” I whispered to her and she nodded smiling.

  Another few minutes of waiting and my mom re-appeared with her face glowing like a light bulb and said in a squeaky voice, “It’s time my babies. I can’t believe you are getting married.”

  My stepdad stood right outside the entrance of the bridal suite waiting for Nate and me to step out of the suite. We walked towards the wedding stage where the wedding rituals were to be administered by a group of priests. As Nate and I walked towards the center stage, my eyes desperately looked around for Nick just to be able to catch a glimpse of him. When my eyes did not see what they were craving for, I remembered that the grooms usually arrived after the bride was settled on the stage for the ceremonies.

  I sat in between my grandma and grandpa for the main ceremony where the parents give away their daughter to the groom to be his wife. I had asked my grandparents to give me away so my parents could perform the same ceremony for Nate.

  As I sat on one side of a translucent screen, I saw Nick walk towards me on the stage with Ann right behind him. He took a seat on the other side of the screen that was being held by family members.

  As the priest gave instructions to Nick for the steps he needed to follow, I watched him listen intently to what was being told to him and perform the rituals.

  “Nick looks very nice in his traditional outfit, Meera,” my grandma said taking a peek at him.

  “Nani, stop it,” I whispered.

  “You will agree with me when you see him in a minute,” she teased totally enjoying herself.

  As instructed by the priest, Nick reached under the screen with his hand and placed his palm on my head, and I did the same signifying the promise to each other to be together and take care of each other. The silk screen was removed at that point, and I looked up to take my eyes to meet deep dark eyes that were filled with pure admiration. I smiled at Nick, and saw him catch his breath and then smile back at me.

  Nick and I sat looking at each other with our palms on each other’s head as the friends and family showered their blessings by sprinkling turmeric-coated dry rice on us.

  “Meera, you look beautiful,” Nick said softly, and I was surprised that I was able to hear him amidst the chatter and the music that the band was playing in the background. I smiled and looked down overcome by shyness.

  “That’s the bridal smile Rhea was talking about. Now I get it,” Nick said referring to a statement my friend had made at a photo shoot.

  “Nick, stop talking,” I giggled.

  After the initial ceremony, Nick was instructed to sit next to me to perform the rituals together. I sat in a daze taking in Nick’s cologne and realized how much I had missed him all day.

  “I missed you baby,” Nick said and reached over and planted a kiss on my cheek. I flinched slightly as I had not expected him to give me a kiss while we were in front of a few thousand people watching us perform the cer
emony on the stage.

  “Nick,” I objected as the group of people around me giggled looking at Nick’s surprised expression.

  “This is considered a holy ceremony; please do not take it lightly. You could offend our guests with this kind of behavior,” I whispered in a stern voice.

  Nick smiled sheepishly and said, “Sorry.”

  I smiled back at him and said, “Please pay attention to what the priest is asking you to do,” and added turning to look at Nate and Srini, “Look how well behaved Srini is on the stage.”

  Nick looked to his side to look at Srini and Nate performing the same rituals with sincerity and dedication.

  “They are no fun,” Nick said smiling at me and asked, “So what am I doing to claim you as my wife?”

  “Please focus on the rituals, and you will be told what needs to be done,” I hissed under my breath.

  “I want to hear it from you,” Nick insisted.

  I looked at the thick yellow thread necklace that had coin shaped gold pendants, adorned on a raw green coconut, and said, “As per the south Indian tradition, you tying the yellow thread around my neck with three knots is the main step, and then I will be your wife.”

  “Interesting,” Nick said looking at the religious yellow thread being worshipped by the priest who was sitting a few feet from us and asked curiously, “Why specifically three knots? Why not more or less?”

  “I don’t believe this. I never thought I would have to educate the guy I was getting married to about marriage,” I whined smiling at him.

  “Hey, I am already married to you, this stuff is all your thing,” Nick teased back and asked, “So why three knots?”

  “The first knot represents the obedience of the girl to her husband, the second knot is for the new parents a girl gets when she gets married..,” my voice trailed off as my mouth went dry at the realization of what I was doing.

  “And the third?” Nick prompted softly and when I did not speak, he looked at me and asked, “Sameera, what’s the matter baby?”

  “Nick,” I urged in a soft voice and added, “I can’t do this. We should not do this.”