**(Speaker: welcome to domestic arc. two days in village. playing married couple. ma watching everything. neighbors gossiping. and them? still figuring out if this pretend or real. spoiler: lines getting blurry.)**
---
day one in village felt strange.
not bad strange. just. different.
shubham woke up on floor. small room. priya's old study corner converted to guest space. reshma on thin mattress. proper distance between them. ma's rules. *"no hanky panky under my roof until registry."*
his back hurt. floor hard. but he didn't complain.
sun came through small window. bright. birds loud. rooster screaming. village morning hitting different from delhi horn symphony.
reshma still sleeping. face peaceful. for once not looking scared or sick or tired.
just. normal girl. sleeping.
he watched her. creepy probably. didn't care.
*one year.*
word still echoing in his head. ticking clock. counting down.
two months registry deadline from ma. one year cancer timeline from doctor.
math didn't math. but when did anything make sense anymore.
"staring is strange bhai."
he jumped. priya standing at door. sleepy eyes. disheveled hair. holding her phone but not filming. just. there.
"thought you'd be sleeping," he whispered.
"couldn't. kept waking up." she yawned. "watched manifestation videos till 3 am. learned about soulmate frequencies." pause. looked at reshma sleeping. "she has good aura bhai. peaceful. even in sleep."
"priya—"
"i know. sounds weird. but i can feel it." serious now. no jokes. "she's been through something heavy. but there's light in her. faint. you're making it brighter."
he wasn't. was he.
reshma stirred. woke up. saw them. "what's happening."
"nothing. priya being annoying. normal day."
priya waved. "morning bhabhi. bhai was totally not staring at you sleeping like creep."
"PRIYA."
reshma laughed. actual laugh. morning voice raspy. beautiful.
he was so screwed.
---
breakfast was chaos.
ma made everything. poha. jalebi. pakoras. chai. enough food for ten people.
"ma this is too much," shubham said.
"nonsense. reshma beta needs to eat. look so thin. what they feed you in delhi. air?"
reshma smiled. shy. "aunty ji you didn't have to—"
"*ma.*" sudha corrected. firm but gentle. "you call me ma. you're family now. understand."
something in reshma's eyes cracked. little bit. like word *family* hit different.
"yes ma," she whispered.
shubham's chest felt tight. watching ma adopt her. watching reshma accept it. feeling like maybe this wasn't completely fake anymore.
dangerous territory.
priya was filming everything obviously. "this is going in my wedding vlog series. #villagewedding #biharibride #couplegoals—"
"there's no wedding," shubham said quickly. too quickly.
everyone looked at him.
ma's eyes narrowed. dangerous look.
"i mean. not yet. registry first. then ceremony later. like ma said. proper way." he was rambling. making it worse.
reshma stared at her plate. helping none.
"hmmm." ma didn't look convinced. but let it go. for now.
priya was quiet. watching. reading emotions like she always did. reading people better than her botany textbooks.
---
after breakfast ma dragged reshma away. *"help me in kitchen beta."*
classic ma move. interrogation under guise of bonding.
shubham sat in courtyard. pretending to check phone. actually panicking.
neighbor uncle appeared over wall. "arre shubham beta. wife very beautiful. where you find her."
"delhi uncle ji. office."
"love marriage na." uncle nodded sagely. "modern generation. good good. but beta advice. keep her happy. good wife hard to find. bad wife easy to lose."
profound. unhelpful. typical uncle wisdom.
"ji uncle. thank you."
uncle wandered off. probably to spread more gossip.
his phone buzzed. work email. crisis in production. boss cc'ing everyone. *URGENT FIX NEEDED.*
he stared at screen. delhi felt like different planet. different life. like that world didn't exist when he was here.
but it did. and monday he'd have to go back. leave her here with ma. or take her back to delhi. to lies. to office knowing. to everything complicated.
two days felt like borrowed time.
---
kitchen. ma and reshma.
ma was teaching her to make litti chokha. proper bihari style.
"basan like this beta. not too tight. not too loose. feel it."
reshma tried. failed. dough falling apart.
"arre slowly. gently. you're making roti not fighting battle."
reshma laughed. nervous. "sorry ma. i'm not good at cooking."
"nonsense. everyone can learn. just need patience." ma paused. looked at her properly. "your ma didn't teach you."
reshma's smile faded. "she tried. i was. difficult daughter. wanted career more than kitchen."
"and now."
"now i don't know what i want." honest. raw.
ma was quiet. hands working dough. old practiced rhythm.
"my shubham. he's good boy. soft heart. tries to hide it. acts tough. but soft inside."
reshma nodded. didn't speak.
"when his papa died. he didn't cry. not once. ten years old. just. stopped talking for months. then one day started again. different. more serious. trying to be man of house." ma's voice thick. controlled. "i tell him don't carry everything. but he doesn't listen. carries world on shoulders. makes himself small so everyone else can be big."
reshma's throat tight. "i know."
"then you know he'll destroy himself for you. if you let him."
words hung there. heavy. true.
"i don't want to hurt him ma." reshma's voice cracking. "i'm trying not to. but i don't know how."
ma looked at her. really looked. eyes sharp. seeing everything.
"you love him."
not question. statement.
reshma opened mouth. closed it. tears coming. "i don't know if i'm allowed to."
"why not."
silence. heavy. reshma's hands shaking now. flour dust everywhere.
then. whispered. like confession. like sin.
"because i'm dying."
the steel pot ma was holding. dropped.
**CLANG.**
loud. echoing. rolling across floor.
neither moved to pick it up.
ma stood frozen. hands still in position like pot was there. face blank. processing. not processing.
"what," ma said finally. voice flat. dead.
"blood cancer." reshma couldn't stop now. words pouring out. "one year. maybe less. doctors tried everything. nothing works. it's spreading. i'm—i'm dying ma and he knows. he knew before everything. before bridge. before living together. before bringing me here. he knows and he chose me anyway and i'm—i'm so sorry—"
"get out."
reshma's head snapped up.
ma's face. stone. eyes wet but voice cold. final.
"ma—"
"GET OUT." louder. shaking. "get out of my kitchen. out of my house. away from my son."
"ma please—"
"NO." ma grabbed counter. knuckles white. whole body trembling. "no please. no sorry. you LEAVE. right now. you leave and you don't come back and you don't contact him and you DISAPPEAR. understand."
reshma was crying now. full tears. "i can't—"
"you CAN." ma's voice breaking. desperate. "you can get on bus. go back to delhi. to pune. anywhere. just AWAY. away from him. please beta please i'm BEGGING you—"
ma's legs gave out. sat down hard on floor. hands covering face.
"he's my only son. only child. all i have left after my husband died. he's GOOD boy. stupid boy. so stupid." crying now. actually crying. "if you stay. if you make him love you more. if you let him marry you. he'll never recover. NEVER. when you go he'll be broken forever. he'll fixate on you. worship your memory. never move on. never love again. he'll destroy himself and i can't—i can't lose him too. i can't bury another person i love. please. PLEASE spare my child."
ma was on knees now. hands folded. actually BEGGING.
"i'm requesting you beta. woman to woman. mother to daughter. leave him. let him hurt now. quick pain. better than slow death watching you fade. please. he'll survive now. he won't survive losing you after marriage. after love. after EVERYTHING. please just GO."
reshma was sobbing. heart shattering. because ma was RIGHT. everything ma said was TRUE.
leaving now would be mercy.
staying was cruelty.
but.
"no," reshma whispered.
ma looked up. shocked. "what."
"no ma. i won't leave." reshma wiped face. hands shaking. voice shaking. but firm. decided. "you're right. staying will destroy him. loving me will ruin him. losing me will break him. you're RIGHT about everything."
"then WHY—"
"because he ASKED me to." reshma sat down on floor too. facing ma. both of them broken. "he asked me to give him one year. whatever time i have. he said he'd rather be destroyed by loving me than safe never knowing me. he CHOSE this. chose pain. chose me. knowing exactly how it ends."
"he's STUPID—"
"yes. we both are." reshma laughed. wet. broken. "we're idiots. complete idiots. but ma." voice stronger now. fierce. "i've been DEAD for months. since diagnosis. since family abandoned me. since ex humiliated me. i was WALKING CORPSE. just existing. waiting to die."
she grabbed ma's hands. tight. desperate.
"then your son pulled me off bridge. and for first time in MONTHS i felt something. fear. hope. ALIVE. he makes me feel ALIVE ma. one year with him feeling alive beats ten years just existing. and maybe that's selfish. maybe i'm monster for staying. for taking him knowing i'll leave him. but i can't—i WON'T go back to being dead inside while my body catches up."
silence. both crying. floor dirty with flour and tears.
"if i leave." reshma's voice cracking but steady. "i die alone. scared. already grieving life i never got to live. but if i stay. if i love him. if i let him love me. i get to die HAPPY. knowing someone chose me. knowing i mattered. knowing i was LOVED. and maybe that makes me selfish horrible person but i don't CARE anymore. i'm dying anyway. at least let me die having LIVED."
ma stared at her. tears streaming. face broken.
"and him. my son. what about HIM."
reshma squeezed her hands. "he'll be devastated. destroyed. broken. you're right. but ma." voice soft. true. "i'll give him something beautiful to remember. i'll love him so completely he'll never doubt he was worth it. and when i'm gone. when he's grieving. he'll have you. and priya. and family. and memories of something REAL instead of nothing at all."
"that's not ENOUGH—"
"it's all i can give." reshma was crying harder now. "it's all EITHER of us can give. imperfect. temporary. devastating love. but it's REAL. and isn't that better than safe. than nothing. than him spending life wondering what if."
ma pulled hands away. covered face. shoulders shaking.
long silence. just crying. both of them. grief and anger and fear and love all mixed.
then ma's voice. muffled. broken.
"my husband. when he got sick. i begged him. sell everything. go abroad. better treatment. anything." pause. heavy. "he said no. said he'd rather have six months home with family than two years in foreign hospital alone. i was SO ANGRY. thought he was giving up. abandoning us."
she looked up. eyes red. face destroyed.
"he died five months later. at home. surrounded by love. and i realized. he was right. he CHOSE how to die. chose to spend it LIVING. not fighting. just. being with us."
more silence.
"you're like him," ma whispered. "choosing life over time. choosing love over safety."
"yes ma."
"and my stupid son. he's like me. choosing to love someone even knowing how it ends."
"yes."
ma wiped face. rough. angry at weakness.
"i hate this. hate ALL of this. hate that you're dying. hate that he'll be broken. hate that i can't FIX it."
"i know ma. i'm sorry."
"don't apologize for dying. pisses me off."
reshma laughed despite everything. "okay."
ma stood up. slowly. picked up dropped pot. hands shaking.
"one year."
"maybe less."
"and you'll love him. properly. completely. no half measures."
"yes ma. i promise."
"and when time comes. when you're suffering. you'll tell him. you won't hide pain and pretend everything fine."
"i'll try."
"NOT try. WILL. i won't let you waste remaining time pretending for his sake. you be HONEST. bout pain. bout fear. bout everything. understand."
"yes ma."
ma pulled her up. then did something unexpected.
hugged her. tight. fierce. protective.
"you're my daughter now," ma whispered. voice thick. "sick or healthy. one year or fifty. you're MINE. and i protect what's mine. even from heartbreak i can't prevent."
reshma broke. completely. sobbing into ma's shoulder.
"i'm scared ma. so scared. of dying. of leaving him. of everything."
"i know beta. i know." ma held her tighter. "but you're not alone now. you have family. you have me. and i'll make sure every second you have is WORTH it. understand."
reshma nodded. couldn't speak.
"good. now wash your face. we have litti to make. and beta."
"yes ma."
ma smiled. small. sad. real. "welcome to family. officially. even though i hate every circumstance that brought you here."
"thank you ma. for. for choosing me anyway."
"didn't choose. my idiot son chose. i'm just. accepting defeat." ma sighed. "now come. teach you properly. if you're going to be my daughter for one year might as well learn to cook decent litti."
and just like that. reshma had mother again.
even if just for borrowed time.
---
evening. courtyard.
shubham found reshma sitting alone. watching sunset. eyes red from crying.
he sat next to her. close but not touching. "you okay."
"your ma is terrifying."
"yeah. told you."
"she knows."
his heart stopped. "knows what."
"everything. cancer. timeline. all of it."
"you told her?"
"it came out. in kitchen. she was talking about your papa and i just. broke."
panic rising. "what did she say."
"she hugged me. called me daughter. told me to stop being half in half out." reshma looked at him. eyes raw. honest. "she said i should choose you properly. or leave. but stop torturing both of us with maybe."
he couldn't breathe. "and. what do you choose."
she grabbed his hand. laced fingers. tight. real.
"you. i choose you. one year. six months. however long i have. i want to spend it with you. properly. not pretending. not lying. actually together. if you'll have me."
his brain short circuited. heart exploding.
"if i'll have you." he laughed. broken. "reshma i've wanted you since the second i saw you. been wanting you every day since. you think one year is too short. i think it's not enough but i'll take it. take every second. every minute. whatever you give me."
she was crying again. "you're an idiot."
"established fact."
"and i love you."
second time she said it. still felt like earthquake.
"i love you too." he pulled her closer. foreheads touching. "we doing this. actually doing this."
"yeah."
"registry. marriage. whole thing."
"yeah."
"even though it's terrifying."
"*because* it's terrifying."
they sat there. holding each other. sunset painting sky orange pink gold. village quiet except birds and distant tractor.
somewhere ma was watching from window. smiling. crying little bit. praying lot.
somewhere priya was lighting diya for evening aarti. whispering prayers for them. for bhabhi. for whatever time they had.
somewhere universe was laughing at two idiots choosing love despite countdown clock.
but right then. in that moment. courtyard at sunset. together.
it was enough.
**(Speaker: plot twist. ma knows everything. and instead of sending reshma away she adopted her harder. because sudha aunty doesn't do half measures. now they're all in. registry in two months. cancer in one year. and absolutely no one knows how this ends. including me. buckle up.)**
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***Cliffhanger → She chose him. He chose her. Ma knows the truth and gave her blessing anyway. Registry coming. But cancer clock still ticking. Two months to make it legal. One year to make it count. And somehow that has to be enough.***