Broken Strings – Part 10 (The Marriage – 2)

Following is a creative work of fiction. It involves intimate moments of both physical and psychological nature between mother and son, intended for fun. All the names, characters, and incidents are works of pure imagination. They do not resemble any real-life names, characters, or incidents.

The night was thick and silent. For the first time, we were alone and together. We were on the same bed. She was a few inches away from me. And I am here sleeping silently. I don’t know how much time has passed.

But finally, I moved my hand, which went directly to her waist. Then pat came a reply from my mom.

Mom: You didn’t sleep yet?

Me: No, you? You also didn’t sleep?

Mom: No.

I pressed the waist. There was a moment of silence.

Me: Shobha, when shall we do it?

Mom: What?

Me: Marriage? What were you thinking?

Mom: Same thing that you were thinking.

Me: I like that.

Mom: When do you want to do it?

Me: If given a choice, I would marry you right now and take you to the other room.

Mom: Even though we are mom and son, we should look for an auspicious day to do it.

Me: Really? Do I have to go to a priest to do that?

Mom: No, I am here. I have checked the calendar. And from the day after tomorrow, all the days are auspicious.

Me: Wow. So I have to wait for another day.

Mom: Or you can work making arrangements for the day.

Me: What arrangements.

Mom: I will tell you tomorrow morning. Now try to get some sleep.

She said, removing my hand from her waist.

The next morning I woke up while my mom was cooking breakfast. She asked me to get freshen up quickly and come. I took a bath and had a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, she got us two cups of tea, and we sat there on the bed sipping the tea. I felt better than ever.

Mom: Shall we plan for tomorrow’s event.

Me: What do you want to plan?

Mom: Stupid? Marriage will not happen just like that. Any idea I want to do that?

Me: (after a moment of thought) Simple,  I want to remove the thread on your neck and then tie a new one.

She looked at me for a moment.

Mom: Okay. What do you want to wear? What do you want me to wear? Where do you want to do it?

Me: (again, a moment of thought) I cannot think of.

Mom: Okay! You buy a white lungi and a white shirt.

Me: What will you wear?

Mom: Do you want to buy a saree for me?

Me: You want me to buy? (I asked naively. But in the next instant, I had a better idea) Do you have the sari which you wore for your marriage?

Mom: I think so. Why?

Me: Wear the same sari.

Mom: Okay (She said after a moment. Then after a moment, she said again.) I will give you a list of items, get them from the market.

After that, she tore a piece of paper from my notebook and got down to write the list. She wrote a big list. Once completed, she handed it over to me. I was surprised reading it. Looking at a couple of things, I could not resist raising an eyebrow.

Me: Blouses?

Mom: Yes. My old blouses will not fit.

Me: Okay, How do I know which one to get?

Mom: You have to ask for the size and the type of blouse.

Me: But I don’t know your blouse size.

Mom: Don’t worry, stupid, I will tell you.

She came near me and whispered a number in my ear – 36D. I asked what this number was. She explained the nuances of blouse sizes. That’s how I learned about the blouse and its sizes. I was happy with my newfound knowledge. But it was very long before I would recognize the sizes with a glance of my eye.

I rushed out and went shopping, picking up all the things. I packed all the items in my bags so that the grocery items were on the top. People will not give suspicious looks. It was an embarrassing moment asking for the blouse and handling them to check.

I used my imagination how my mom would look in a particular blouse. But somehow, I managed. By the time I reached home, it was almost close to evening. Mom checked all the items by the checklist. I updated her that the flower garlands would come the next day, as they would do it only on order.

The next day seemed to be a different day. Both of us went ahead with our works. After breakfast, we started to get ready for the moment. We shared the whole house of cleaning. My mom took care of the kitchen and the first bedroom. I took care of the other bedroom and drawing-room.

It was a little tiring, but the room became neat and clean. Then I went took a bath. By the time I got ready, mom had opened the door. She was wearing a brinjal-colored sari with a matching silk blouse that I bought the previous day. She was looking fresh and seductive in the sari.

She adorned herself with two strands of flowers in her hair at the back. Her hair was tied as a bunch at the back, and the flowers are circumscribing it. We looked at each other.

Mom: Are you ready to do this?

Me: Can’t wait to do it.

I held her hand and walked to the pooja room. The garlands which I bought that morning were already there. We looked into each other’s eyes and enjoyed the moment.

Me: Mom?

Mom looked at me, querying into her eyes.

Me: This is the last moment that we exist as mother and son. And this is the last time I will be calling you a mom, and you will be my mom. After this, even though you will be my mom to the outside and I will call you mom, we will never be mom and son. So one more time – ‘Mom.’

Mom: Yes, my son.

Me: Shall I break your relationship with your husband and go ahead to make you my wife?

Mom: Can I stop you now?

Me: Do you want to?

We looked at each other. She had a small naughty smile on her lips and eyes. I moved my hand around her neck without further ado and lifted the golden Mangalasutra (the sacred thread symbol of marriage).

I removed it by slipping above her head and looking at her. She was looking at me preciously and at what I was doing?

Mom: Take that thread on the plate and tie it.

I saw that there was a yellow thread with a piece of turmeric tied at the center. It was on a plate of flowers. I took it and tied it around the neck. As I tied the three knots of the thread around the neck, I felt like the ground below me was moving.

When it was done, we looked at each other for a moment and then bowed to the god. Then we exchanged the flower garlands. When we were done, my mom kneeled and touched my feet. She got up and took the thread with a piece of turmeric and touched it to her eyes.

I loved the way she does it, like old movies. Then we sat down to pour turmeric rice on each other’s heads. We came out of the room after that, and mom got a bowl of sweets which she seemed to prepare and offered to me with a spoon. A sweet taste flavored my mouth, and it was warm.

I also did the same thing to her. Then we finished the sweet from the bowl by turns. We are still with our garlands. I moved closer to her and held her from the back. Our eyes locked for a moment. After a moment.

Mom: Let’s get some rest before the evening.

Me: Yes, I think so. We are going to have a tiresome night today.

We both laughed at it. We woke up after 3 hours of sleep. My body seemed to have soothed, and I felt very peaceful. It started raining outside. My mom woke up after some time and asked me to get ready.