The days began to feel different—lighter, threaded with laughter instead of silence. Poornima no longer brushed off Veeresh’s small attempts. A hand at her back as they walked, his tea waiting for her after work, the marigold slipped between her pages—she let them touch her heart. And Veeresh, seeing the shift in her eyes, found his own happiness doubling each day.

One evening, in the quiet of the office elevator, he couldn’t resist anymore. As the doors slid shut, he pulled her close and kissed her, raw and desperate, until her breath caught and her palms pressed against his chest. She gasped when he finally let her go, cheeks flushed, and smacked his arm lightly.

“Veeresh…” she whispered, half-scolding, half-dazed.

He only grinned, eyes glittering. “What? I told you, Mrs. Raj, I’ll steal your breath every chance I get.”

That teasing became their new rhythm—her mock protests, his relentless pursuit, the quiet yielding that always followed.

And then, one morning, everything shifted.

Poornima held the test in trembling hands, staring at the two lines as if the world had tilted. A storm of emotions rushed through her—fear, hope, disbelief, joy—until her eyes burned. She placed a hand on her stomach, whispering, “My baby…”

When she told Veeresh, his reaction was nothing she expected. He didn’t freeze. He didn’t doubt. Instead, his whole face lit up with boyish triumph. He swept her into his arms, spinning her once before setting her down, his forehead pressed against hers.

“I knocked you in one go,” he teased, laughter spilling into her stunned silence.

Poornima couldn’t help it—she laughed, the sound breaking free, half in disbelief and half in joy. Tears blurred her eyes as she hit his chest playfully. “Idiot…”

He caught her hand, kissing her knuckles with rare tenderness. “Idiot, maybe. But yours. And now—ours.” His palm covered hers over her belly, reverent, steady. “Our forever just began, Poornima.”

For the first time in years, she let herself believe it. Not the grand gestures, not the dramatic declarations—just this: laughter through tears, a promise whispered against her skin, and the steady warmth of a man who was finally learning what love meant.