The Life Changing Sunday

Ritvik was an ordinary guy who lost his parents in an car accident when he was barely an adult. He had learnt to live life the hard way and without any support whatsoever. After living on his own terms for eight long years, a Sunday walk changed his life. He went to the park , it was a sunny winter Sunday morning . Just as he was leaving , he saw the two most beautiful women giggling away on the swing, not aware of the world. He approached with caution & hesitantly complimented, " You both have wonderful smiles, Is she your niece?". As he blurted that ,he realised that he might have intruded in their personal life.Feeling a tad bit guilty for assuming she was her aunt( she looked too young to be her mother), he turned around. She said " Thanks .She is my daughter." 

Normally Ritvik wouldn't continue a conversation with strangers but somehow they seemed different. He politely mentioned, " Her father must be a very lucky guy for having such beautiful women in his life ." She interrupted to correct him and said ,"I'm not married. I'm a single mother. She is legally mine." At that moment, on pure instinct & which most people would term as foolishness, Ritvik got down on one knee " I don't know your names, but as crazy as this may sound, I've fallen for you .Will you BOTH be my better half?" The girl stopped the swing , picked her baby and right when Ritvik thought he had done the most foolish thing ever, she carefully knelt down and said , "My name is Maya. This is Jia & Yes... we will." He was speechless. 

They both got up and walked to his home exchanging notes on the simple lives they had. He formally asked her parents and they had instantly said yes since they had always feared no one would marry their daughter, a young girl  of 21 who had adopted a girl child. Maya and Ritvik got married the next day... simple registered marriage followed by a reception for family and friends. 

Years passed and they lived happily, but when Jia was 21, they lost Maya in a car accident. Ritvik had never felt the need to have a kid of his own with Maya and so it was just Jia and him & somehow they managed to fill the void for each other. Jia was 26 now... it had been five years aleady. He saw so much of Maya in his daughter... the confidence, the independence, the courage. 

It was a Sunday; Jia was getting married to Neetesh. Ritvik too liked him. He missed Maya a lot in the last few days, wondering if he was doing things the right way. Jia was anxious too, not just because she was getting married, but something else was bothering her. However, Neetesh could gather and he knew it wasn't the wedding jitters. Just before leaving, he took Jia's hand, turned, went back to where Ritvik stood feeling all alone again, knelt down and said " Dad, will you be OUR better half ? " Jia and Ritvik hugged Neetesh and they all cried & laughed as their guests looked at them in shock. He said yes. 

His life had come to a full circle.