Part - 34

"Imagine Your Dream! Create Your Happiness! Live Your Life!"

(Writer's POV)

"Mithra... baby... Please stop doing this... It's a bad habit" Karthik coaxes her.

"No... No... No..." Mithra shakes her head.

"Baby will you stop showering yourself with sand?" He holds her hands firmly to stop doing that. Ever since she was a toddler, she has the habit of playing in beach sand but a little different play... she showers herself with sand & in worse cases she throws sand on the passerby.

"Ahhh... ahhha... Ahha..." She starts crying withering her legs & attempts to bite his wrist but before that he wisely let her hand go & saved his hand from her sharp bite.

"I want to play" she whines.

"Come let's play in water" he offers.

"No, I will get wet." She says with running nose. Seeing that Karthik kneels down next to her to wipes her nose with his shirt & taking the opportunity to revenge on him for forbidding her from playing in sand, she takes a handful of sand & throws the sand right on his face.

"What the hell you have done, baby brat?" He shouts at her while rubbing his eyes to clean the irritating dust.

"Brat means what, Karthik?" She asks sweetly as she scoots closer to him to blow on his eyes. That's the first time he called her 'Baby brat' ever in his life.

"Just go away, baby brat" he roars at her & pushes her away gently. She starts crying again in fear. Karthik feeling guilty for shouting at his baby, he pulls her in his arms to console her but she starts struggling & hitting him in protest.

"I am so sorry, baby. I promise to get you your favorite chocolate ice cream." he coos promising her. She finally stops struggling & settles on his lap as she plays with beach sand again and gives Karthik a sand bath.

"Baby? If you stop showering me with sand I will tell you an interesting game to play"

She shakes her head in negation not wanting to play any game other but sand showering. "Okay! You keep on throwing sand over your head or on whoever passes by you & earn their scolding. I will go play on my own"

"Karthik..." She whimpers. "I wanna play with you."

"I am not coming"

"Please..." she pleads.

"If you want to play with me then you will play the game I say" he orders.

"Okay"

"Let's play catch & catch"

"My legs will pain"

"Hmm... Let's play in water"

"No! No! Mumma told me not to get into the water... you know the waves will drag me into the sea" she says, scared.

"Okay fine. We'll play Frisbee?"

"No!" She says.

"Then what game you want to play? Or I should simply ask the driver to take us back home?"

"No! We just came to beach. We will play longer."

"And what's that you wanna play?"

"I want to play in sand"

Gah! This stubborn little girl will never give up.

"Okay. Let's build sand castle" Karthik declares.

"Sand castle?" Her eyes went wide in wonder. "Castles as in Disney movies & cartoons" she asks. Karthik simply nods his head. Though he only knows to pile up sand like a mountain he let her imagine that they are going to build a castle.

"Come on, let's do castle" she smiles beautifully making Karthik to pick her up & swing around. She giggles gleefully.

"What should I do now, Karthik?"

"Keep building up the mound of sand" he instructs as he too densely packed mound of sand.

"Shall I pour more water?"

"No, baby, then our castle will go soggy"

"Shall I go pick the pebbles & seashells to decorate our castle?" She asks cutely.

"Okay, but don't go too far. Stay closer to me" Karthik warns.

"Okieee" she says and runs in search of seashells.

--0--

"OhhMeeGodd!" Mithra shrieks in glee seeing their little sand castle when she returned after picking up some seashells things. Karthik has done a decent job in bringing the shape of a castle & he feels so proud of his handy work.

Mithra runs & back hugs Karthik almost knocking him down on the sand castle.

"You like our castle?"

"I love it, Karthik" she jumps up & down clapping her hands.

Then they both decorated the castle with flowers, shells, grasses, pebbles, etc.

"Karthik?" she calls him sweetly.

"Yeah!"

"Will you take me there?" she asks pointing to their sand castle.

"What? You can't fit in this castle, baby?" he laughs & tweaks her nose.

"No! Will you take me to a real castle?"

"Ask your dad to take you. He has lots of money nah?"

"No! You take me" she says stubbornly.

"Why?"

"Because you are my prince & I am your princess so we should live in castle" she says pulling the hem of his T-Shirt.

"Okay, my dear princess, I will take you to a castle when you grow up to a big and beautiful woman" he promises.

"And here we are to your dream place" Karthik removes Mithra's blindfold & shows her a majestic stone castle in Dublin, Ireland. Their honey moon destination!

"OhhMeeGodd!!" Mithra shrieks in glee just like how the 6 years old baby Mithra had behaved seeing their sand castle.

"Karthik... Am I dreaming?" she asks grinning widely. She snakes her hands around his neck & he slips his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him & a moment later his lips finds hers. They kiss deeply, passionately in front of the glorious castle.

"No, baby! You are not dreaming" he assures her after breaking their kiss. Still she finds it hard to believe her own eyes or her Karthik's words. She got to know they were going to Ireland for their honey moon only when they reached the Airport but till then Karthik kept it a secret to her.

"Why you chose Ireland?" Mithra asks suddenly looking up at him.

"Because I have promised to take you to a castle & Ireland has so many beautiful castles so I brought you here. I hope you will like here" he says shrugging.

"Of course, I am thrilled to see the castles. But when you made the promise?" she asks

"Hmm... I was 13 years old when I made the promise & you were 6"

"You often surprise me with your super memory power" she laughs & hugs him again.

Then they both walked hand in hand viewing the gregarious castle which is still in excellent condition & contains the finest collection of medieval furniture in the country. They seem excited seeing the furnishings & art work on display in the great hall.

"Karthik? Look at this carpet? It's so thick like a mattress & feels so soft" she removed her shoe and feels the softness of the carpet with her bare foot. "Wish we could make love here" she says glancing at Karthik through the corner of her eyes.

"As much as the idea sounds so appealing to me, unfortunately we couldn't make love here because we have audience" Karthik says grinning & looks around the other tourist.

As the day drags, the great hall becomes the setting for medieval costumed banquets, court jesters, dancers, food & drinks & full of fun.

Later, their tourist guide took them to another castle, located at the top of a sea-cliff, in an island of Ireland. It's a crumbling medieval castle which has the most beautiful scenic ruin perched majestically atop a steep, rocky cliff, with huge sea cave beneath.

After strolling in the almost ruined rocky castle for a while, Karthik takes Mithra to the castle's hidden surprise, the Mermaid cave.

"Karthik, this place seems haunted. We will go somewhere else" Mithra says getting scared.

"Hey, this place is safe. I have done my researches & nothing to worry."

"Where are the other tourists?" she asks & turns around to see none.

"Karthik, it's so risky to enter this cave. I just want to get out of this place this moment." she says hurriedly & turns to walk out dragging Karthik's hand.

"Hey, stop. I am dying to see what's inside this Mermaid cave." Karthik says & pulls her to his side and they step into the keyhole shaped entrance.

"What if we die inside this cave?" Mithra panics.

"Stop imagining shits. If you trust me walk with me, silently" he tell her gently & plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Okay" she nods gulping & slowly walks, hugging his side tightly.

Once they pass through the entrance, the limestone chamber broadens surrounding them with the echoing sound of crashing waves.

"This place is giving me both eerie & magical feeling, Karthik" Mithra whispers. "Do you know the history of this castle & this hidden cave, Karthik?" Mithra asks to kill the deafening silence.

"Yeah" he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What?" Mithra ask curiously.

"The castle was possessed by a king... um... I forgot his name. Well he had a daughter, a fiercely independent lady. She fell in love with a sailor guy but her father refused to marry her to him and he decided to choose a groom for his daughter of his liking. She didn't like that & she secretly had relationship with the sailor guy & her father came to know about their affair through his spies. He got so mad and locked his daughter in one of the castle towers, which we saw earlier & ordered her to remain there till she gets married but that crazy girl took a crazy move. She eloped with her lover..."

"Don't call her crazy, Karthik. Even I would have eloped with you if my dad had tried to keep me away from you" Mithra defended that princess

"Ahaan?" Karthik seems surprised with her outburst. "Well, unfortunately the couple died here in this cave"

"How?" Mithra's voice cracked. She finds it hard to breathe and a sweat broke on her forehead.

"Rumor mills spun two different stories. One, they were killed by the girl's father and another their boat was crashed against the rock and they were heavily injured and they died here in the cave after two days"

"So this place is haunted?" Mithra asks visibly shaking from head to toe.

"They could only find the guys body but not the girls & she is..." Karthik pauses.

"She is?" Mithra asks with trembling lips.

"She is standing behind you" Karthik whispers looking someone at Mithra's back. Mithra slowly turns her head to her side.

"BOOHH!!!" Karthik screams near Mithra's ears.

"Ahhhaaa" Mithras screams closing her ears with her palms. Karthik laughs out loud clutching his stomach.

Mithra stops screaming & looks at Karthik, shocked.

"Karthik? What happen?" Mithra asks.

"Karthik?" Mithra rushes to him when Karthik strangles his neck with his own hands, choking his breathe.

"Karthik, stop acting. You are scaring me" Mithra tries to release his hands from constricting his neck.

"Karthik, please..."

Karthik drops to his knees & faints on the rocky ground.

"Karthik... Karthik... Help! Help! Somebody help me!" She shouts & shakes Karthik frantically. Her eyes streamed with tears seeing the love of her life unconscious on the ground, barely breathing.

"Karthik... wake up... please... I will die without you..." she sobs.

Karthik opens his eyes & stares at her teary face, now feeling guilty for playing this sick game.

"Mithra... Baby... I'm okay. Nothing happened to me. I am sorry... I just played with you" He sits up but Mithra moves back glaring at him with eyes full of hurt & anger.

"You always play pranks with me so I thought..." Karthik tries to explain but he knows he stepped out of limit.

"Mithra... talk to me... I said I am sorry..." Karthik beseeches to her. She stood still in her place and her tears refusing to stop.

"Come let's get out of the creepy cave" Karthik stands & pulls Mithra but she refuses to move.

"Baby, scold me or hit me but please don't be like this..." Karthik dares to kiss her lips & that small contact makes Mithra to succumb in his arms and she starts crying hysterically.

"I almost died... how could you... how could you play this cruel game with me? I hate you... I hate you. Go away from me" she sobs & pushes him away from her.

"Okay, I am going" Karthik says, standing up and making his way out. Feeling scared to stay alone in the haunted cave, Mithra runs behind Karthik. Karthik slows down his pace, letting her to catch up with him.

"Give your hand" Karthik asks.

"No thanks!" she says brusquely.

"Mithra, don't behave like a child. Give me your hand. The rocks are slippery & you might fall & get hurt" he says concerned.

"And what do you care? If I get physically hurt also I am sure that won't be as painful as your sick prank" she growls at him.

He shakes his head tiredly & grabs her hand forcefully but to his surprise she doesn't struggle.

"I am sorry for scaring you, baby" he breathes pressing his forehead against hers after giving her a beseeching kiss.

"It's okay" she mumbles & hugs him hard. "But don't play such sick pranks ever again with me, Karthik... I nearly lost my life seeing you unconscious... if anything happen to you..." she softly weeps against his chest.

"Hush... hush... I understand... I am sorry, I am sorry... nothing will happen to me or to you... We will live the longest & die only after seeing our great grand children" Karthik coos, cradling Mithra's head against his chest.

"Okay, now let's go to our room & work on making our babies" Mithra says. Karthik chuckles & soundly kisses on her cheeks.

--0--

"Where are we going to stay, Karthik?" Mithra asks snuggling close to Karthik in the rear seat of the car.

"You will see, baby" Karthik says and plants a kiss on her head.

After a while they reached the place where they will be staying for the next few days.

"Karthik?"

"Hmm..."

"You said we are going to rest & no more sightseeing for today but now..."

"We are going to stay here, Mithra."

"Here?" Mithra asks stunned.

"Yep" Karthik takes her hand & helps her out of the car.

They are standing now in front of a huge castle which more or less resembles the one we see in fairytale movies with pointed roof peaks, tall towers & brightly colored. The weight of the massive structure is made of big gray stones & bricks. The window panes are even molded with royal ornate designs.

"This mansion is so stunning & absolutely appealing for a night stay" Mithra says still staring at the mansion in wonder.

"And most importantly this place is not haunted" Karthik teases & earns a hard punch on his tummy from Mithra.

"You wound me" Karthik complains.

"Serves you right, you pig"

"Hey, I am your husband"

"So what?" she barks. "You are an idiotic arse"

Karthik laughs shamelessly hearing her colorful words.

"Do you wanna put a fight with me or get into the mansion to have some cosy time?" Karthik asks smirking. He knows his Mithra's weakness so well.

Shooting a final glare at him, Mithra heads into the mansion passing a garden with full of beautiful flowers in different kinds & colors.

--0--

"Karthik... it's getting cold" Mithra says. "Can I wear my clothes?"

"No!" Karthik shakes his head & rolled on top of her covering her naked body with his.

As soon as they reached the mansion they were greeted by the caretakers of the place and then both Karthik & Mithra feasted well not even bothering to freshen up as they were so hungry & needed to regain their lost energy in all the traveling & looking around the city.

Once they were done with their dinner, they didn't bother to look around the palace like place but rushed to their room to make love & their first surface was bathroom. They bathed together in a huge oval shaped bath tub & made love in it.

After coming out of the bathroom, insatiable Mithra eyed yet another fury soft carpet lustfully. She slowly sat on the carpet and caressed the softness with her palm. "Come" Mithra held out her hand for him to take.

"Mithra, we just did it in the bathtub" Karthik reminded her.

Mithra without a word removed her satin night gown off her shoulders.

Karthik's eyes went wide seeing what she was wearing beneath her night gown. "OMG! She is wearing sexy red lingerie" He thought fixing her gaze on her exquisite body. He didn't know whether to feel disappointed seeing that small bit of cloth hugging her or to admire how sexy and alluring she was.

Mithra decided to tempt him more so she brazenly & seductively lied down on the carpet and posed like a mermaid.

"You are a temptress, Mithu" Karthik said and licked his lower lips.

"Come on, honey. Let's make love again and again and again." She called huskily, inviting him to join her. He couldn't resist her any longer. He knelt down on the floor before leaning in and capturing her pulpy lips.

Now, they are in the afterglow of passionate love making & Mithra wants to get on the comfy bed & also to get dressed as the weather is getting colder.

"Karthik, still I am cold" she whines hugging her husband.

Sighing, Karthik lets her out of his hold. She quickly stands up & runs to take her some warm clothes from her case.

Karthik too pulls a sweater and a pair of track pants on before lazing on the king sized bed and waiting for Mithra to join him. After five minutes or so, Mithra joined him on the bed wearing soft velvet sweatshirts and pants.

"This material feels so soft but not softer as your bare skin" Karthik says rubbing his hands over her stomach.

"You took my breath away when you sprawled on the carpet wearing that sexy lingerie. Do wear more of such lingerie and make your man happy"

"What's the use in wearing lingerie when you are going to tear it off the next second you set your eyes on me like you did now?" she asks giggling.

"You can't blame me. You were so hot & alluring & gave me an instant hard erection" he says caressing her blushing cheek and as ever the simple touch triggered their ever present love, passion, longing & hunger for each other & they ended up making love again.

--0--

At midnight, Karthik's phone beeps & a moment later Mithra's phone beeps making them to come wide awake.

"Happy New Year, my love" They say in unison & laugh.

"Here, this is for you" Karthik first hands Mithra her New Year gift.

"What's this?" she asks excitedly & sits up right on the bed to unwrap the gift.

"Wow!" she says looking at the beautiful diamond studded platinum bracelet.

"This is so... so beautiful" she says smiling at Karthik & pecks him on his lips.

"Turn around the bracelet" Karthik says. Mithra's smile widens seeing the words "My heart is and always will be yours" engraved in the back of the bracelet. Mithra throws herself in his arms & hugs him with happy tears oozing down from her eyes. "Thank you so much. I love this bracelet. I love the wordings. And I love you"