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Child Brides of India
By: C. Stanton Leman
Chapter 75: Courtship (MggF, rom, cons, no sex)
After morning prayers and a quick, early breakfast, we
were
ready to go pick up Monaavi and her mother to buy her
rings. Arriving a few minutes past ten, Monaavi had the
door open just as we were pulling up. Mom said, "Sean, if
she looked any more in love, she be nine months pregnant!"
I blushed and Priya and Leeya covered their mouths,
giggling, then replied in unison, "Look! Sean's blushing!"
I don't know what it was, maybe because Monaavi is older
than I, but I felt an insecurity and bashfulness, like a
twelve year-old boy trying to steal his first kiss. The
love my wives shared for Monaavi and I made them very
sensitive and understanding about my new relationship.
We exited the car and walked to the door, offering our
salaams. Hindi invited us inside for a few minutes, I think
to try and calm her overexcited daughter. Overnight,
Monaavi had transformed from a reserved and quiet woman to
a radiant, bubbly and effervescent young girl in love. She
seemed to be literally bursting at the seams with
happiness. Through out all of her obvious joy and
coquettish innocence, she retained her shyness and blushed
with embarrassment at every opportunity.
She, as much as I, wanted to just reach out and touch
each
other, even if only to hold hands. I remember having the
same feelings with Priya during our courtship and that
first stolen kiss. There's just something about love that
demands to express itself.
Having a position of critical importance in the company,
Ravi and his family lived in relative comfort. Their home
was fairly spacious, well furnished and neat as a pin.
After about ten minutes of small talk, Mom could see the
anticipation on Monaavi's face and said to her, "Well, soon
to be daughter-in-law, let's go get you a diamond: a BIG one!"
Monaavi blushed (why do women blush so much?), nodded
and
looked at me with a tender smile. Hindi cautioned, "Don't
get greedy Monaavi."
Mom quickly replied, "Greedy hell, we're going for
extravagant, aren't we Sweetie?"
Monaavi quickly hid her face in her veil. God! She
blushes
more than PRIYA did! Taking Monaavi by the arm, Mom headed
for the door. We piled in the limo and went straight to the
jewelry district. There's an area in New Delhi, similar to
"diamond row" in New York, where diamond and precious gem
brokers conduct business. We went directly to the shop
where we'd purchased Priya's ring and Leeya's necklace.
Monaavi sat next to her mother and she'd occasionally
glance over at me and shyly smile during the conversation
on our way to the shop. Once there, the old man behind the
counter recognized us and smiled a beaming smile, showing
his crooked teeth. He knew when he saw us walk through the
door he just might make a big sale today.
Mom marched right up to the counter with Monaavi in tow
as
everyone else followed, with me bringing up the rear
holding Tina in my arms. Mom told him they wanted a diamond
solitaire/wedding ring ensemble and it had to be "top
shelf." He grinned again and one could almost see him
salivate in anticipation of a huge sale.
The women oooh'd and ahhh'd over the variety of
expensive
gems while I stood behind the shopping women, holding Tina
and watching them do what women do best: spend money! Hindi
was rather quiet, allowing Mom to run the show. Leeya,
being so small, had squeezed herself in between Priya and
Monaavi to get a bird's eye view of the action.
Monaavi was surprisingly quiet, content to let Mom and
Priya basically narrow the selections. Mom has a very keen
eye when it comes to diamonds and was asking all sorts of
questions about grade, cut and clarity ratings. After
narrowing down their options to five rings with different
cuts: a round brilliant, an emerald, a princess, a cushion
and a marquis, Mom turned to Monaavi and said, "Well
Sweetie, see anything you like?"
With shaking hands, Monaavi tried on each and held out
her
hand for inspection. Comments like "Oh, that one's nice"
and "I like that one" followed each trial fitting… well,
you get the picture.
"Well?" Mom asked Monaavi.
"Pick that one," Leeya put in pointing to the
princess cut.
"Priya?" Monaavi asked, "Which one do you
like?"
Priya pondered a moment and replied, "I like the
round or the princess."
Monaavi turned to her mom and asked, "Momma, what
do you think?"
Hindi peeked over Monaavi's shoulder and answered,
"Gosh
Monaavi, there all so big and beautiful, I wouldn't know
WHICH one to choose."
Turning to my mother Monaavi asked, "Mom?"
Mom gave her a soft smile and pushed all the rings aside
except the round and princess cuts and replied, "Here
Sweetie, it's your ring, you choose. These are the best of the bunch."
Monaavi tried on each of the two again and without
saying
anything pushed the round cut away. She shyly whispered, "I
like this one."
Mom rubbed her back and replied, "Good choice, it's
shockingly beautiful!"
Monaavi turned to me and asked humbly, "Can I have
this one
Sean, please?
I smiled softly and silently nodded.
Mom asked the crooked-toothed man, "What's the
specs on
this one again?"
"1.7 carets on the color scale "D" and
colorless," he
replied, "On the Clarity scale of IF."
"Wow!" Mom replied as she shook her head,
"How much?"
"23,450… dollars… US," he answered haltingly.
An audible GASP! Was uttered by all at hearing the
price,
including me!
Mom leaned over the counter and said pointedly,
"Now, tell
me what it'll cost to walk out the door with it, without
all the bullshit."
With a sly grin he said humbly, "For you Ma'am, it
would be
18,375 US dollars."
In the US, this ring would probably cost at least thirty
percent more than that! I thought Hindi was gonna faint and
Monaavi fell back slightly against Mom as her knees
weakened. Priya and Leeya covered their mouths in surprise.
Mom looked at Priya and said, "Yours cost a little over
$15,000, Monaavi's is more: what's fair in your eyes as first wife?"
"I love my rings Mom and even though hers is more
expensive, I want Monaavi to love hers." Priya said, "Sean,
we'll take this one."
Leeya put in, "See, I told you to pick that one.
When I get
my rings, I'm gonna pick a BIG one too!"
Everyone laughed, but she wasn't joking.
Mom told the jeweler, "OK, size it now and we'll
take it."
Turning to me, Priya said, "Take the baby for a
walk for
about fifteen minutes, OK?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Just do it, please," she replied.
With a sigh I obeyed with, "OK."
Tina and I took our little walk and returned about
twenty
minutes later. We waited about a half hour longer as the
jeweler sized Monaavi's rings. When he'd completed the task
he handed her the diamond, she tried it on to gasps from
the women folk. He handed her the wedding band in a red
velvet box and bowed to Mom with a toothy grin, saying
"Thank you for letting me serve you madam."
Blushing a rosy pink, Monaavi turned to me and flashed
her
ring. It was beautiful! That square-shaped diamond in a
platinum setting looked huge on her small, slender fingered hand.
Mom slapped me on the shoulder, took the baby from me
and
curtly said, "Pay up lover boy!"
"I pulled out my checkbook and asked, "How
much did you say?"
"$26,580" he said as he looked at the women.
"WHAT! I thought you said…" I replied
EXTREMELY surprised.
"Just pay the man," Mom cut me off curtly.
I wrote the check and tore it from the book, and as I
was
handing it him Monaavi gasped in awe, "My gosh! I've never
seen a check written for THAT amount of money!"
"Welcome to your new life," I replied with a
smile.
"Thank you, Sean… everyone, for my beautiful
ring!" Monaavi
said emotionally as she stared at it dreamily, "This is all
like a fairy tale. I'm expecting to wake up and see it's
all a dream, but this ring on my finger is very real!"
"And expensively exquisite," Mom quipped.
Monaavi hugged her future sisters, Mom and her mother.
She
so wanted to leap into my arms but we knew it would have to
wait. Mom put her hand on Hindi's arm and asked, "Well
Hindi, what do you think? Did we knock her socks off or what?"
Hindi just shook her head and replied with amazement,
"I'd
be afraid to wear something so expensive, it's simply beautiful!"
Mom jokingly quipped, "You know what they say,
diamonds are
a girl's best friend… next to a blank check!"
"Well girls," I put in, "Now that you've
spent your
allowance for the next five years, what say we get some lunch?"
"Here, here!" Mom triumphantly replied as she
pumped her hand.
We left the jewelry district and went to a small Muslim
restaurant not far from home. After lunch, as we got in the
car, Priya took the baby and sat her on her lap and said,
"Why don't you and Monaavi spend some time together at her
house. The driver can take us home. You can call and he'll
pick you up later, how's that sound?"
I looked at Monaavi and she shyly looked at Hindi. Hindi
gave a slight nod so Monaavi blushed, looked down and nodded.
Mom teased her by saying, "My gosh girl, why so
shy? You've
seen each other just about every day for almost nine months."
Blushing, Monaavi replied, "But this is different.
I'm
going to be Sean's wife and I feel like a giddy schoolgirl
inside. I just can't help it."
"I'm just teasing you," Mom confessed,
"You be as shy as
you want. But if you're this shy now, I'd hate to see you
on your wedding night!"
Everyone giggled as Monaavi covered her face with her
veil.
The rest of the ride home was spent watching the women folk
ogle Monaavi's ring. She kept twirling it on her finger as
she dreamily stared at it. Why do girls twirl their rings?
Arriving at Monaavi's, Hindi and Monaavi exited the car
and
walked to the door. I kissed the women in my life including
my daughter and stepped out to begin courting Monaavi.
Once inside, Hindi directed Monaavi and I to sit in the
living room to talk. She sat at the dining room table
within earshot and read a book.
We spent the next couple of hours talking about our
childhoods and growing up. Unlike Priya, who had become
assertive in order to combat the discrimination in her
life, Monaavi revealed that she's always been shy and
quiet. She had to study hard to get good grades but was
able to excel in high school and get into a good college.
I hadn't read Ravi's personnel file and was surprised
that
he had a computer engineering degree from Cal Tech. Hindi
had gone to college at UCLA, majoring in economics.
She apologized that she wasn't on par with Priya and I,
regarding IQ, and I told her it was ridiculous to feel that
way; her gift with children far outclassed our ability to
acquire and retain facts or design computer programs. When
I asked her how she felt about the fact the she was three
years older than I, she pulled her shoulders forward shyly,
and looking down, replied, "You can't choose with whom your
heart falls in love with. Your age never entered my mind.
I've given myself to you to marry, so it should be apparent
that it doesn't bother me at all. You will be my husband
and I will obey you, and also Priya and Leeya. I respect
their positions above me. Leeya is only five, but she is a
very good friend to me."
Monaavi giggled and said whimsically, "Leeya and I
have a
very strange relationship. She's my child student, but she
is also a married girl who is my very dear friend and
confidant. I'll tell you a secret: Leeya has known all
along about my love for you, but she's kept my confidence
as she promised."
"That little snot," I relied surprised,
"And she let me
stew thinking I'd get shot down!"
"Oh," she defended, "Please don't be
upset with her, I made
her promise not to tell. I did tell Priya though, last week
after you saw me that day."
"I know now," I confirmed, "She said she
knew your secret,
but wouldn't reveal it."
She asked me when I knew I was in love with her. I told
her
that she kinda unconsciously grew on me a little at a time.
I explained that I was observing her once in a while but at
the time it was purely innocent. It wasn't until I returned
for my briefcase that morning that her beauty struck me and
I said, "I just realized it after I saw you adjusting your veil…"
"Oh my gosh!" she interrupted, "I was so
embarrassed when I
saw you out of the corner of my eye, I didn't know WHAT to
do! I just pretended that you weren't there."
I explained all the thoughts and feelings I had after
seeing her and couldn't understand why I hadn't seen her
beauty before. Monaavi blushed as I complimented her beauty
and replied, "I'm not beautiful, PRIYA'S the one who's
beautiful! She's very dark-skinned but she's absolutely gorgeous!"
"I agree, but it's funny," I commented,
"She thinks you're
the most beautiful woman she's ever seen. She said that, as
a child, she'd dreamt of looking exactly like you. I have
to say, I agree with her about your looks: beautiful, graceful and
elegant."
Monaavi covered her face with her hands and I saw Hindi
glancing over with a proud smile. Answering her questions
about the timeline of my falling in love with her, I asked her the same.
She shyly turned her face away slightly and answered,
"When
I came for the job interview that first night I about died,
you were so gorgeous! It was hard not to look at you at
work every day. I felt something in my heart then, but
would never admit it to myself, I would daydream during the
day and dream at night about what it'd be like to be married to you."
Shielding her face with her veil, she asked, "That
day,
when Leeya and I were talking about sex last year, you
heard, didn't you?"
"Yes," I admitted, "I did."
"Well," Monaavi confessed, "After that
talk with her, I
knew, I just knew that I loved you. I thought that I could
hide it, but when you started observing me lately, it just
seemed to fuel my love for you. I must confess, I WANTED
you to look at me, to love me but I felt that it would
never be so. That day when you saw me adjusting my veil, I
felt ashamed later that night because I burned with
excitement inside, knowing you were looking at me. But I
knew I couldn't stay, couldn't be in contact with you and
not express what was bursting in my heart to express. Since
you showed no interest in me, and with my feelings becoming
stronger, I felt lost. I felt devastated that I would live
the rest of my life without my true love returning that
love. When you married Faatina, I sat crying, wishing it
was me being offered to you by Poppa. Allah must have heard
my prayers because if you hadn't proposed when you did,
instead of buying this beautiful symbol of our love today,
I would have left."
"I've got perfect timing don't I?" I jokingly
asked, "I
told your father to bring you to dinner kicking and
screaming if necessary."
"Poppa would have too!" Monaavi added with a
giggle.
"He told me," I said jokingly, "That if
he had to, he'd
bring you in chains and present you to me as my slave."
"I almost didn't go," Monaavi admitted,
"But Dad told me
that you've been very kind to me and I shouldn't insult you
by refusing to go. What he said was true and it made me
feel guilty, so I went. Boy, am I glad I did!"
I told her, "I was so scared you would quit before
you came
to dinner and I had a chance to propose. I told Priya that
I'd get on my knees to you before I'd let you get away."
Monaavi chuckled and replied, "And my gosh, I think
my
heart skipped twenty beats when I thought I heard you say
that you loved me, and I was almost certain I'd died and
gone to heaven when you said you'd have to marry me to
stay: I just had to hear it again!"
"Sorry I wasn't so eloquent," I apologized,
"But I was so
scared you'd say no. I thought that if you didn't have
feelings for me and I proposed to you, you'd leave me and
my family. I felt that you wanted to leave anyway, for some
reason, but never suspected it was because you were in love with me."
Monaavi looked at me with a soft smile and replied,
"Strange isn't it? We were both afraid that each would reject the
other."
"It certainly is," I agreed.
It was now five pm so I told her I'd call her in the
morning after prayers. She said that she was going out of
town with her parents for the weekend to visit relatives
and that she'd see me Monday morning. I called home and
Priya said the car should be outside waiting. I looked out
the window and she was right. I told her I'd be home
shortly and hung up.
I gave my parting salaams to Monaavi and her mother and
told Monaavi I'd see her on Monday. Both women walked me to
the door. I got in the car looking back at my fiancé.
Monaavi gently waved goodbye as we pulled away and left.
That night I got a call from Ravi. He said he'd about had a
coronary when he saw Monaavi's ring and heard the price. He
asked me if it was necessary to be so indulgent with her. I
told him I wasn't being indulgent at all. I jokingly said
to him that it was more a matter of self-preservation:
either I bought the ring or Priya and my mother would have
had my hide. Besides I told him, I DID promise to take good
care of his daughter.
On the thirtieth of November, Tina turned four: we felt
so
proud of our daughter as she was now almost walking and
gradually making progress. We eagerly awaited the day when
she'd start talking. Mom baked her a cake, which she
proudly wore beautifully. We bought her some new clothes
(seems girls of ALL ages never have a thing to wear). Of
course, Attiya, who'd be turning six in March, played the
piano as we sang "Happy Birthday."
Over the next month, everything began to happen quickly.
Monaavi's wedding garb took several fittings and would be
finished around New Years, as would the saris for Mom,
Hindi, Priya, Leeya and Mom. Mom had a cute one-piece pink
salwar kameez made for Tina. I was constantly teased by the
girls telling me just how beautiful Monaavi will look on
her wedding day.
Monaavi and I would meet at her house three nights a
week
when I would come directly there from work. On those
nights, I had dinner with Monaavi and her parents. I
learned that Monaavi obtained her teaching degree in
elementary education from Lady Shri Ram College for Women
in New Delhi with the equivalent of a 3.80 average, which I
vaguely remembered from her resume. I told her of my
college days at Princeton and she was excited at the
possibility of traveling to the US.
We talked of everything: Her hopes and her dreams, which
centered mostly on being a mother and wife. If she could
continue to teach as she was doing now, she could even have
her career along with it. I jokingly told her my hopes and
dreams were to survive three wives and the resulting offspring.
Monaavi, Mom, Priya and Leeya would talk often amongst
themselves, I guess about girlie things. Priya mentioned
that they talked about how our marriage would be structured
and the "schedule." Priya said that Monaavi didn't really
want to talk about what our sex lives were like, saying
that she wasn't a sister yet and that those details should
remain a secret within the family. They began spending
about an hour and a half upstairs every night and when I
asked Priya or Leeya what they were doing for so long, they
told me to mind my own business.
She WAS curious about the mechanics of love and what she
might expect, saying she was more afraid of being so shy
that she'd look like a baby and disappoint me. Mom and
Priya felt that Monaavi's approach to intimacy might have a
profound effect on our sex lives as a whole. When subtly
probed about the topic of lesbian love, Monaavi seemed to
be a straight arrow and didn't think she'd like it. For
some reason, she and Leeya became very close when
discussing sex and Monaavi seemed to favor Leeya's child-
like, innocent and simple candor with regards to the
subject. Leeya in turn was very supportive and
understandingly forthright in her discussions.
Tina walked for the first time the week of Christmas.
She'd
been taking steps for some time, holding onto things, but
that night, she let go of Priya's knee and walked the five
feet to where I was sitting in the chair. Everyone clapped
as she smiled at everyone. She looked around, turned, and
walked back to Priya. After that, she'd waddle around
without too much difficulty. If she fell, she'd pick
herself up and go her merry way.
Tina also began eating with a spoon instead of her
fingers
and was somewhat(?) neater in her feedings. She still drank
from her sippy cup but would take drinks from one of our
glasses, if offered slowly. She'd still occasionally dry
nurse from either Priya or Leeya at night but seemed to be
weaning herself: she just began to take more of a fancy to
her thumb than the teat. Her potty training was coming
along and she was now wearing pull-up diapers. She'd go to
the potty for poo, but would occasionally get preoccupied
and wet her nappy (mostly from one of us forgetting to set
her on the pot).
Mom had ordered and put up a lifelike artificial tree
and
was going to give the girls a taste of Christmas. I
returned from the office one night to find Monaavi and
Priya helping Mom teach Leeya and Attiya how to string popcorn.
Monaavi would give me coy smiles as I watched her with
the
girls. Mom and Priya nudged each other smirking and Priya
teased, "Don't it just make you sick Mom? Look at those two
making goo-goo eyes at each other."
Monaavi blushed as Mom and Priya giggled while Leeya and
Attiya were teasingly chanting, "Goo-goo, goo-goo."
From the peanut gallery, Tina picked up on it and
repeated, "Goo-goo."
I motioned for Monaavi to accompany me to the living
room.
As we rose from our chairs, Priya gave us a mock stern look
and said, "Play nice now, no hanky panky."
We chuckled and left for the living room. We sat and
talked
for a few minutes before I admitted, "You know I'm a little
frightened about the whole thing."
Thinking I might be getting cold feet, Monaavi gave me a
worried look and implored "Why?"
I confessed to her that she would be the first adult
woman
that I would be with intimately. I said, "I don't know why,
but it'll be new for me too and I'm not sure how a grown
woman will respond. Stupid isn't it?"
Monaavi blushed, hid her face in her veil and quietly
answered, "No, maybe not. I don't know how I'll respond
either, but from what Leeya's taught me, all girls are
alike regardless of age. Leeya seems to react like a woman
doesn't she? Who knows, maybe I'll react like a little girl."
Suddenly the voices in the house shushed when we heard
the
sound of music coming from the study. Everyone dropped what
they were doing and moved to the study door. Evidently, Mom
had ordered a music book with Christmas carols and sitting
at the piano was Attiya, playing "Silent Night."
Mom covered her mouth as she stood crying with Pita and
listened to her favorite carol. When finished, Attiya
turned and looked at us with a smile and said, "Pretty song."
Mom ran to Attiya, bunched her cheeks in her hands and
laid
kisses all over her face said, "Wrong Baby, that was a
BEAUTIFUL song and you played it perfectly!"
Mom made sure everyone was there Christmas day. She
pulled
out some bags and started playing Santa, handing out gifts
to everyone. Her countenance was shining as she giggled
with joy while she gave each their gifts. She exclaimed, "I
just love Christmas! It's so much fun giving those you love a
present."
Monaavi asked, "Is it right that we celebrate a
Christian holiday?"
Mom replied, "Is it wrong to celebrate love with
those you
love? Although you may not believe in Christ, you DO
believe in the glory of God's love for us and that's what
it's all about: God's love for mankind."
No one could argue with that…
Two days later, Monaavi had arrived as we were eating
breakfast. I had to get to the office early, so I finished
before the others. I made the rounds and kissed Priya,
Leeya, Tina, Attiya on the cheek then Mom goodbye as I made
my way around the table. I stopped at Monaavi for a long
silent moment as she looked up at me, expecting me to say goodbye.
I don't know why, but I said to myself, "Shit! Why
not!" I
leaned down, put my hand behind her neck and laid a serious
lip lock on her. Boy did she taste sweet! I broke the kiss
to see everyone's eyes bugged, staring at me in surprise.
Monaavi sat in a trace with her fingertips touching her lips.
I made like nothing happened and said, "There! Now
I've
kissed ALL the women in my life goodbye!"
I turned to leave with a wave and said, "See
ya."
The girls, eyes still wide in surprise, just watched me
leave and waved silently. Monaavi, who was still in a
trance looking straight ahead, touched her lips and lifted
her hand waving blindly. I thought to myself, "I hope I
don't pay for that later, but what the hell, that first
kiss was certainly worth it!"
Stepping into the hall, I heard Mom say, "Earth to
Monaavi,
can you read me?"
I chuckled as I shut the door and said to myself,
"THAT'LL
give 'em something to talk about today!"
Mom and Priya had planned a New Years Eve party and had
invited Adib, Salima, Sarah and Haseeba, along with
Monaavi's parents. Dad was flying in and would arrive on
the thirtieth. He wanted to be here for New Years, Priya's
thirteenth birthday, then the wedding followed by Leeya's
sixth birthday in February.
On New Years Eve, at the party, everyone seemed to get
to
know everybody and by eleven they seemed to be like family.
Priya's family welcomed Monaavi and her parents with open
arms and that made Priya, Mom and Dad and I very happy.
Upon arriving, Mom explained the American tradition of the
piece of mistletoe hanging from the center of the living
room doorway. The entire night all the Muslim women (except
Priya and Leeya) consciously avoided it like the plague.
When the clock struck twelve, everyone was offering
their
New Years salaams, cheers and wishes. During the revelry,
people were shifting around. I kissed Mom, Priya and Leeya
and guess what…. Monaavi was standing directly under the
mistletoe watching the goings on. Mom tapped Hindi and Ravi
on the arm and pointed to the sprig hanging from the
doorway. Looking discretely down, they smiled at the sight
of their daughter standing under the mistletoe, holding a
glass of tea and wearing big a smile.
Mom whispered to them and they nodded with a smile. Mom
called me over and pointed at the victim. I gave a cheese-
eating grin, looked at my future in-laws and they nodded
silently with a snicker. I walked up to her and said
innocently, "Happy New Year, Sweetheart."
"Happy New year, Sean," she replied.
I pointed my finger straight up and she followed my hand
to
see the ominous sprig above her head. At first, she smiled
then remembered her parents. She looked over and Ravi
shrugged his shoulders as if to say "You're caught!"
I lifted her chin and kissed her tenderly for about
fifteen
long seconds, turned and walked away. Monaavi dreamily
leaned back against the doorframe. Ravi and Hindi giggled
and Priya quipped quietly to Mom, "Boy! I bet she just
creamed her drawers!"
Mom chided her with, "Don't laugh girl, you were
just like
that right before YOUR wedding!"
Priya giggled and retorted, "No, MY drawers were
ALWAYS
creamy."
Mom slapped her arm and said, "You ARE a bald
pussied
little bad girl aren't you?"
"Well," she said as she implicated Mom,
"You DID tell me to
liberate my femininity, didn't you?"
"Don't remind me child," my mother replied.
Well, I certainly got to start MY new year off with a
surprise! After some light teasing from folks and showing
just how pink she could blush for several minutes, Monaavi
decided she didn't feel like blushing any more. She stood
proudly and like a liberated woman stuck her chin out and
said to everyone, "So what! I'm twenty-three, a legal adult
and engaged (proudly flashing her 1.7 caret rock). He
kissed me and I liked it! No… I LOVED it!"
Mom lifted her champagne glass and yelled, "You go
girl!"
Standing next to Ravi I went, "Whoa!"
"I warned you she could be a cactus," he
replied, reminding me.
Hindi grabbed Ravi's hand and said, "I think our
daughter
has now become a woman."
Ravi turned to his wife and quipped, "May Allah
grant Sean
strength, he'll need it."
In all the time I'd known Monaavi, she'd NEVER displayed
this kind of confident defiance. She was always meek and
agreeable, and had accepted any teasing quietly, but then I
guess she'd never had to defend her feelings before either.
Standing there professing her love for me, she certainly
looked like a woman: an ADULT woman who could be a real handful!
It's strange how certain things can affect our
perspective.
With Priya and Leeya, I was much older and towered over
them in size. That somehow gave me a sense of power and
control. With Monaavi, I was bigger than her but she was
older. That somehow changed my perspective and I didn't
feel so powerful any more: what I felt was… shy. Ever since
I made the decision to pursue and marry her, I have always
done so with some apprehension: either from shyness or lack
of confidence. She's affecting me like an enigma that you
can't figure out and she's got me trapped: hook, line and sinker!
I watched her looking proudly at everyone and her eyes
fell
on mine. They sparkled with joy but boy was there ever that
smoldering look. She smiled at me, but this time she wasn't
blushing. I'll bet she's gonna make me earn it on our
wedding night!
Continued in Chapter 76…
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