2.

Stephanie twists and turns the whole night,unable to sleep, the thought of Vikram pouncing on her, literally, kept her awake,her body finally giving up in the early hours only to be woken up by the alarm.

"What the hell? I just closed my eyes!" She thought.

Stephanie felt a movement beside her. "Switch it off", Vikram says, irritated.

She huffed, suddenly jealous that he could sleep and she couldn't , when they were both equally tired, seriously wondering if she should just increase the sound of the alarm and leave the room.

But when she hears him continuously moving, she takes pity.

Stephanie grumbles to herself as she walks towards her bag and takes out her necessities for the day. She takes a quick shower and dresses herself up.

She glances at the mirror and sees the image wearing a light baby blue saree with silver border and a tear drop pendant around my neck along with the chain he has tied. Her eyes burn when she glances at the chain and traces of Vermillion in the partition of her hair,out of sleepiness or helplessness, she didn't know.

She sits on the vanity chair in front of the mirror as she shuffles through her bangles, not at all trying to be quiet that the other person in the room was sleeping.

Stephanie jiggles through her jewellery set a little more and finds her bangles of choice and adorns her wrists, completely unintentionally screeching the chair against the floor when she got up in search of her Ear rings.

Stephanie see Vikram blink his eyes open at the commotion,feeling a sadistic smile curve at the corner of her lips.

"Do it quietly or get out of the room", she hears her husband say,giving her a look.

Vikram was thoroughly irritated that she was making so much noise in the early hours of the day. Sleep was precious. And if the woman in his room didn't understand that,he didn't mind explaining her the consequences if she tried disturbing him again.

Stephanie's lips turned downward,having not expected him to say that. Her eyes burned for the second time in a mere span of twenty minutes.

She was tempted to slam the door just to see his reaction.

Don't provoke him,Kitty. You don't know what he might do.

Surely,she followed his order,tip toeing across the room so as to not piss him off early in the morning, spoiling both of their moods.

It was only when she was done with decking herself up and ready to go downstairs that she slammed the door shut. Loudly.

Why was he the only one sleeping?

*********

Stephanie hears before she sees her mother in law bustling through the kitchen, doing something. she frowns,

Wasn't it her kitchen day?

She enters the kitchen, feeling extremely out of place.

Her mother-in-law law, Sakshi Rathore,glances towards Stephanie, giving her a smile,having heard the movement, making Stephanie shuffle her feet towards the kitchen.

She glances at the clock,Seven Twenty.

"Why are you up so early,Beta?I thought of waking you up a little later and ask you to just make the dessert instead of the entire breakfast", the elderly woman smiles kindly at her daughter in law, "You should have gotten more sleep. You must be tired",she finishes with a tender smile.

Stephanie badly wanted to scream,I know right.

But doesn't, feeling extremely relieved that the woman was kind enough post marriage day one.

"It's Okay Aunty, I wanted to wake up any way to help you out", she says, a genuine smile masking her lips.

"You can call me Mom, Stephanie, just like Vikram", Sakshi Rathore smiles warmly, pattting Stephanie's head.

Looking at the kind woman before her made Stephanie miss her mother immensely, making her eyes water.

She hoped her mother was doing fine.

Stephanie wondered why she was feeling so emotional since the break of dawn making her realize that she just got married.

She was allowed to be emotional, surely?

Stephanie nods and smiles at her mother-in-law, as she gives her another affectionate smile and they get to work.

It wasn't even ten minutes later that they hear footsteps approaching.

"Who is awake so early?I didn't think anybody would wake up before ten",Sakshi frowns,going to check up on the person.

Stephanie peeps out to see who it is,her hand freezing on the spatula when she sees her husband greeting his mother with an irritated frown on his face.

"Why are you awake already?Don't tell me you have some work!", Sakshi exclaims on seeing Vikram.

"Mom!",Vikram grumbles annoyed," I just couldn't sleep, Okay. And stop asking irritating questions. I am not stupid to work on the next day of marriage".

Stephanie's eyes widen at his tone.

If he behaved like that with his mother, how would he behave with her? She wondered.

Stephanie expected her mother-in-law to be offended or angry, but to her surprise she just chuckled at her son, ruffling his hair, making Vikram glare at his mother.

"Who asked you to wake up so early and be grumpy?", Sakshi chuckles,"Go and freshen up,I'll make your coffee".

Stephanie stares wide eyed at the exchange between her husband and his mother.

Right at the moment, Vikram turns towards her, gives her a look, making Stephanie gulp uneasily,and walks out.

Stephanie silently thought how she would neverdare to talk to her father the way Vikram spoke to his mother. Hell, she wouldn't even dare to think of talking to her father that way.

She see Sakshi walk towards her smiling to herself,shaking her head.

"Don't worry,this is very common for him. He gets snappy if he doesn't get enough sleep, but will be fine after he gets his dose of caffeine", she chuckles,amused at Stephanie's uneasy smile.

Was Vikram mad at her?

Stephanie felt restless about the possibility and the outcomes if he was mad at her.

She shuns the thought to the back of her mind,as she tries to concentrate on making breakfast.

They were almost done with the breakfast when Vikram walks in, fresh and dressed for the day, the frown still in place, making Stephanie feel somewhat guilty for not letting him sleep.

"Stephanie,go give the coffee to Vikram. I'll place the dishes in the bowl",Sakshi says as she hands Stephanie a cup of steaming Coffee.

Stephanie stares at her wide eyed,giving her an imperceptible nod as she walk towards her husband. Uneasy thoughts that Vikram was mad at her and the possible result of that anger made her palms sweat.

He won't manhandle her in front of his mom,surely?Stephanie tried calming herself down Vikram glances at Stephanie, shifting the attention from his phone as she reaches her last step,eyeing the coffee in her hand.

She hands him the mug, instantly feeling uncomfortable when their fingers making the briefest contact.

Stephanie quickly withdraws her hands,uncomfortable. She didn't think her action was noticeable till Vikram gave her a sideways glance.

Vikram witnessed her discomfort, but made no move to acknowledge it. He was much too irritated with her for disturbing his sleep.

Stephanie quietly stand next to him, not wanting to get into his bad books again, when he was already possiblyirritated.

They hear feet shuffling towards the dining when she sees him almost done with his Coffee.

"Good morning Uncle",Stephanie greets her father-in-law with a smile.

"Good morning Beta", Vinod Rathore pats her head with a smile, the smile quickly turning into a teasing frown, "Why did you wake up so early? Was Vikram snoring too much for you to sleep?", he jokes making the said person roll his eyes.

"And why are you up so early?I thought you will be joining us for lunch tomorrow",Vinod pulls his son's leg.

"Just like that", Vikram mumbles talking to his brother Vihan Rathore who just arrived to the hall.

"Let him be,Vinod", Sakshi chides her husband,serving him his breakfast.

"You look like a zombie. You should just sleep after breakfast", Vihan teases his brother making Vikram glare at him.

"I will", Vikram yawns, rubbing his eyes.

Stephanie felt uneasy. What the hell? Since when do people react so much if they haven't slept well for one day? She badly wanted to roll her eyes at him, making a fuss just because he didn't sleep for a day, but controlled herself.

The Rathores have a busy breakfast after which Sakshi Rathore orders the newly weds to get some much needed sleep.

Stephanie loved her mother in law at that moment. She skips to Vikram's room,not bothering to wait as sleep was high on her eyes, shutting the door behind her as she closes her eyes.

It was not long after that she felt the bed dip beside her.

When a few minutes pass by and she didn't feel a movement or angry shouts or broken objects beside her that she let sleep embrace her, with the thought that Vikram neither ratted her out that she didn't let him sleep nor was he aggressive with her, at the back of her mind.