48. Vas

Six months later.

" H i, Maryana."

"Jenna!" My mother beamed up at her from the tablet she used to Facetime with her. "My darling! How are you doing? How is the book coming along, hmm? Vas told me a bit about the premise, but I don't remember if you negotiated the one you're working on right now as a sequel or whether it's a…what, a standalone? Is that what you call it?"

"That's it exactly," Jenna said, leaning back on the leather couch in our penthouse's living room. "And it's a sequel." She glanced at me. "Vas has been a huge help with this one, actually. He's better than me at seeing the larger plot and helping me keep track of everything."

"My dear son is very talented," my mother agreed, "but right now, we're talking about you, darling. Tell me more!"

"Oh, where to start…"

Indeed, where to start?

I patted my pocket.

She's going to say yes . At least, I hoped so. She might also say it was too soon, that she loved me, but she wanted to wait, and I would absolutely respect that. As long as she didn't say, "Oh no, this is out of the blue, I can't do it, I've changed my mind about you…"

That might just break my heart.

Jenna finished chatting with my mom and ended the call, then glanced at me. "Hey there. You look tense, sweetheart."

"I am," I admitted.

She frowned and held out her arms. "Is it a business thing? Do you want to tell me about it? I can't promise I'll understand everything, but I can listen."

"It's not a business thing," I said. "It's a…" I might as well go for it. I walked over to where she sat on the couch in her oversized t-shirt and leggings, hair up in a messy bun, and knelt on one knee. Jenna stared at me, uncomprehending.

"I love you so much," I told her, abandoned by eloquence but hopefully making up for it with earnestness. I'd thought about a public proposal but knew Jenna would prefer something private—as would I if things didn't go well. "I never thought I would meet someone who fit me so perfectly, who could mean so much to me, and who I saw a future with for the rest of my life." I pulled the ring out of my pocket, a four-carat canary yellow diamond surrounded by smaller stones set in white gold, and held it out to her. "I would be so honored if you would be my wife."

There was absolute silence for a long moment. Jenna's face was not exactly blank but not radiating excitement and happiness either. She looked stunned like I'd just come from out of nowhere with a life-changing proposal, which, to be fair, I had.

"Jenna? Babe?" I prompted. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…" Tears suddenly flooded her eyes, and her stoic fa?ade vanished into radiance. "Vas! I'm so—yes, yes, I would be so honored to marry you, yes!" She waited just long enough for me to slide the ring onto her finger before diving forward and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Yes! I can't wait to marry you!"

What do you know? Miracles do happen.

Naturally, the actual wedding took a lot longer to arrange than the proposal had.

It was coming up on a year of being together by the time we flew to Gujarat to be married in my family's home.

Jenna had some family members come out of the woodwork to join us there, and I flew them all first class.

All the rest of the preparations were being handled by my mother, who was overjoyed to be planning another wedding.

We spent two weeks sightseeing, me showing Jenna around my childhood home and introducing her to my large extended family. My brother and his wife were pleased to meet her finally, and their children began calling her 'chaachee' immediately.

Even Jenna and Sonu got along well.

If there was one thing I'd been uncertain of, it was my mother's ability to be polite to Sonu after she'd functionally left me at the altar. Luckily, Sonu's family had done a lot of work smoothing things over, and the fact that I was happy and Jenna was professionally successful helped, too.

In the end, we were able to greet each other as old friends, and when Jenna and Sonu met, they hit it off, becoming friends in no time. It was fortunate that Sonu's husband, Jonathan, was an avid reader. He and Jenna were able to get lost talking about books at the reception while Sonu and I listened with half comprehension at best.

"I'm happy for you," Sonu told me once all the ceremonies were over, and all that was left was the partying. "I know how important it is for you to be a dutiful son to your parents, but I'm very happy you could find the right person for you, just like I did with Jonathan."

"Thank you. I'm glad it happened for me…for both of us." We looked at each other with the understanding that only two people who'd been crossed in love could share, and then went back to our spouses.

Once Jenna and I were finally alone that night, I found her on the balcony of our room, staring out at the night sky. She was still wearing her beautiful red wedding sari, and I was looking forward to helping her out of it soon.

Right now, though, if she wanted to stargaze, I was happy to join her. "Good evening, Mrs. Singh," I said, stepping up and wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

"Good evening, husband," she replied, and a warm glow spread from my chest through my whole body. I didn't think I could feel better, and she'd somehow managed it.

"What's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking that it might be fun for us to continue our Experience with Adina and James when we get back home. They were on the cusp of a great adventure, after all. Just think of all the mischief they could get into on their way to Edinbai."

"I've thought about that," I confessed. "More than once." I wasn't the kind of writer Jenna was, but this story, in particular, had stuck with me. "I have a few ideas for a sequel to the last one, and it would be amazing to have another Experience with you."

"I'd like that too." She turned and wrapped her arms around my waist. "You can leave it as a surprise, or we can work it out together, but either way, I think we should do it. Our life is a great adventure, so why not make Perfect Match a part of it?"

"We'll plan it out together," I said. "Because I don't know about you, but I think I could skip the part where I had to watch you?—"

"Yeah," she chuckled, "I agree about that. I would like a little less drama. A little less intense adventure."

Kind of like what we had to look forward to now that our whirlwind courtship was over. I had my businesses, she had her books, and we would settle into life as a married couple and, hopefully, as parents before too long. We had so many reasons to be happy, and we were.

But there was nothing wrong with adding one or two more.

"I'll set it up when the honeymoon is over," I said.

Jenna smiled and kissed me. "Speaking of our honeymoon, let's get it started right," she said as she led me back into the bedroom, and I let her, like I knew I always would.