#cw dv reference

[bamber344]

Cat And Mouse

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the heirs of the two de Vygon families make their first plays of the game. Vivienne does her best. enjoy <3

(can you tell i'm exhausted rn lol)

CWs: references to past abuse, unintentional drug use

Cat And Mouse

Ashley cracked his knuckles, trying to work off his nerves on the bus to the DA’s office. So much had happened in the past few days, it was hard to keep track of it all. Jordyn was a clone. It made so much sense that he was honestly surprised he hadn’t figured it out sooner. If de Vygon’s goal was what they assumed – that he wanted to break into the Godling’s prison for a wish – then of course he’d need someone with a power to do the dirty work. He had control over the police, and with it, the coroner’s office. Rosalyn’s death would have been the perfect opportunity to extract whatever genetic material he needed from her without arousing suspicion. Every piece of this horrible puzzle was finally coming into place. Ashley needed to stop him.

Thankfully, with Jordyn safely hidden away, de Vygon would have no way to make a wish, even if he did come and break into the prison. For now, they were at a stalemate, but Ashley held all the cards. He just needed to get the information out there and in the right hands. De Vygon needed to be locked away where he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Ashley needed to convince the DA, or it would all be for nought. 

That little file Steve had retrieved netted them a bit of interest, but only enough for the DA to ask a few innocuous questions about what was going on down in the facility, which hadn’t led anywhere yet. It just didn’t have enough credibility, only making it even that far thanks to Ashley’s reputation as leader of the Union. With Jordyn’s explicit testimony as to her treatment, and the obvious fact that she was a clone, they could really make some headway. 

The legal battle was no doubt going to be long and difficult with all the power behind de Vygon, but Ashley was determined to see it through. Jordyn deserved to get to live a normal life without a bastard like him controlling her.

Ashley couldn’t fight monsters on the front line like the rest of them. But he could do this. Perhaps this was just fighting monsters of a different kind.

He got off the bus at the DA’s office and made his way inside, informing the receptionist that he had an appointment with one of the attorneys. He waited in the lobby for about half an hour before finally being let through into assistant district attorney Harriet Morgan’s office.

“Ashley, good to see you!” Harriet said, getting up and stepping around her desk to shake his hand.

“Likewise,” Ashley replied. They’d been friends in high school, and had maintained a decent, if distant relationship ever since. He was sure glad for that connection now.

She moved back around and took a seat behind her desk. Ashley sat down across from her.

“So, you said there’s been an update in the de Vygon DV case?”

Her wording threw him for a loop for a second. They really had just believed it was a case of domestic violence back at the start, hadn’t they? He nodded. 

“Do you remember those research notes I brought you a few months ago, that you thought were probably fake?”

“Of course,” she said.

Ashley swallowed. “Well, not only do we know for certain that they were real, they barely even scratch the surface of what de Vygon has been doing below precinct 23.”

Harriet frowned. “What do you mean? How?” 

“Jordyn showed her face to us for the first time a few days ago. She… She’s a clone. Of Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes. And she’s not the only one, either.”

Harriet’s face twitched in surprise for a moment before she pulled herself back. “I’m sure you won’t blame me if I find that hard to believe.”

Ashley had expected this, so he came prepared. He pulled out his phone and opened a picture of Jordyn he’d taken that night, before showing it to Harriet. “This is Jordyn. I took this picture two days ago.” He then pulled up a picture of Rosalyn that he’d saved. “This is Rosalyn. Take the time to compare if you need to.” He slid the phone over to her.

Harriet analysed the pictures with wide eyes, gnawing on her bottom lip. She very slowly let out a breath. Ashley could practically feel her rising tension. 

She looked back up, sliding the phone over. “Okay, I’ll concede that they look pretty much the same, but cloning? That’s pretty far-fetched. How do we know Rosalyn didn’t fake her death or something?”

“For starters, I had multiple heroes on the field with her when Rosalyn died, who all saw it happen,” Ashley replied, putting his phone away. “It would’ve been incredibly difficult to fake, with little to no discernable motive; considering that by all accounts, Rosalyn was happy with her life. Secondly, Jordyn confirmed that she’s not the only one, and Vivienne Matthews can corroborate that. They both met number five; one of the ones that was omitted from the research notes.”

He chose not to mention the fact that Jordyn and Vivienne dug up Rosalyn’s grave. That wasn’t something everyone needed to know about.

Harriet took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You’re telling me that Andreas de Vygon has a fucking human cloning program set up under the precinct and no one’s noticed?”

It did sound a little far-fetched. But it was the truth. “Yes. We believe that in that facility, he’s creating clones of Rosalyn and training them to be heroes using brutal and abusive techniques. Multiple members of the Union can testify that they’ve seen extensive evidence of the abuse Jordyn suffered under his care. Scars, bruises, the things she says. Permanent injury, even.”

“But… why? I don’t understand why.”

“We believe his ultimate goal is to free the Godling and have a wish granted. As for what wish, we don’t know, but obviously we can’t let him achieve that.”

Harriet leaned back. “Oh god. Yes, that… that is bad. So, I assume Jordyn would have been the one to actually release the Godling and make the wish in his stead, right? Where is she now?”

“We’ve got her in a safe place, where de Vygon won’t be able to reach her.”

Harriet nodded. “Okay, good. Um, yes, I think this warrants a full investigation.” She searched around her desk for a moment, pulling out a notepad and writing things down. Apparently, the realisation of de Vygon’s motive had frazzled her a bit. Ashley didn’t blame her; it was a little terrifying. No one had ever done anything like this before. It was completely unprecedented. “I’ll let the DA know and we’ll move forward with taking statements. We’ll want testimony from Jordyn and anyone that can corroborate, and also this other clone if you can find her. Once that’s done, we’ll see if we can’t get a warrant to search the facility, and launch the investigation publically.”

Ashley smiled and breathed out. That was a weight off his chest. “Thank you so much, Harriet.”

“Don’t thank me yet. This’ll take time to set up, and I have zero doubts that de Vygon will be prepared for this. You need to keep Jordyn safe from him until the time comes when we can make our move.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

She nodded. “I need to get started with this. Was there anything else?”

He shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll leave you to it.”

Ashley stood up and left Harriet’s office, thrumming with satisfaction at his victory. As he was stepping out onto the street and making his way back to the bus stop, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. Steve was calling. That was probably a bad sign. Ashley had given him a job as the Union’s security officer, to keep him active and feeling useful, and he’d been informed of the whole situation. He definitely wasn’t ringing just for a chat.

“Hello?”

“Ashley, you need to get back right away. Andreas just arrived with a SWAT team and a warrant. They’re gonna bust down the doors if you don’t show up to let them in. I’m watching them through the surveillance system right now.”

 Ashley swore under his breath, flagging down a taxi instead. “I just left the DA’s office. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“You’d better hurry. I told them you were coming through the intercom, but I doubt his patience will last forever.”

—

“What the hell are you doing, Andreas?”

Ashley walked down the last bit of sidewalk, shouldering his way through the crowd of heavily armoured SWAT officers until he reached the front door of the Union building, where Andreas de Vygon was waiting. He was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed when Ashley arrived, but straightened himself out at Ashley’s approach. 

“Mr. Min, I have a warrant here to search the property of the Union headquarters. You will let us in, or you’ll be arrested for obstruction of justice.”

“What for?” Ashley asked.

De Vygon’s eyes narrowed slightly. “My daughter has gone missing. I have reason to believe that she’s being held here.”

Ashley resisted the urge to clench his fists. This bastard. “Well, she’s not here today, I can tell you that much. Besides, she lives here. How could we be holding her?”

Andreas raised an eyebrow. “Well, we’ll need to look through the place regardless. Despite her skills, Jordyn is a very sensitive girl, as I’m sure you know. All I want is to know that she’s safe.”

Ashley held fast against the tide of violent urges that statement brought forth. He very nearly strangled de Vygon on the spot..

He grit his teeth. “Well, I can’t exactly stop you, now can I?”

Ashley shoved past him and put his hand up to the scanner that unlocked the door. Usually he kept it unlocked, but in the wake of everything going on, he thought it prudent to be a bit more careful with it. Clearly, his instincts were correct.

The scanner beeped and the bulletproof glass doors to the lobby slid open. Andreas made some gestures, and his assembled team of dickheads all charged in like they were on the shores of Normandy, and not just raiding what was ultimately the living space of a few college students, disabled people, and Ashley himself.

Brianna, at the very least, was in class today, so that was one less person to worry about. Steve and his mother would no doubt be subject to whatever the hell constituted a search to these people, though. Hopefully, Steve would know to keep her safe.

The SWAT team crashed through the building like an avalanche, and Ashley winced at the near-constant sound of things being knocked over and smashing. “Be careful! There’s a lot of expensive equipment in here!”

Andreas stayed behind with him in the lobby. Ashley watched out of the corner of his eye as Andreas turned to face him.

“Where is my daughter, Ashley?”

His voice was so empty that Ashley couldn’t help but shiver. “I don’t know, Andreas. Like I said, she’s not spending the day here today. I don’t keep track of what my heroes do in their free time.” He resisted the urge to add on an ‘unlike some people’ at the end.

“Are you sure that’s the answer you want to go with?”

Oh, the nerve of this guy. “Are you threatening me?”

Andreas huffed a laugh and stepped back slightly. “Of course not. Simply asking a question. In a similar vein, you wouldn’t happen to know where Madeline Holmes and Vivienne Matthews are, would you? Neither came to their door this morning, either.”

Oh god, he was targeting them, too. It was a damn good thing they all went to that cabin together. 

“Have you checked the shopping centres yet? Maybe all three of them are having a girls’ day out.”

A muffled electronic voice came from somewhere. De Vygon put a finger up to his ear for a moment before dropping it and turning to Ashley again. “What about Brianna Moore? I know she and Jordyn are close.”

“She’s at her social work class. I walked her to the bus stop myself.”

De Vygon’s lips pulled into a thin line. “Hm.”

They faced off in stony silence for the rest of the SWAT team’s search. When they finally reported back that they found nothing, Andreas’ face twisted. He stepped up close to Ashley, to the point where he was forced to take a step back.

“If I find out that you lied to me today, there will be consequences, Min. I hope for your sake that you’ve been telling the truth.”

With that, he turned and left, his SWAT team following along after him like a pack of well-trained dogs. Fucking asshole.

Ashley seriously doubted that would be the end of things, but for now, it seemed they were safe. He let out a breath. He needed to go check on the state of things.

Sure enough, wandering through the Union, he found the place a wreck. The officers had destroyed potted plants, smashed picture frames, thrown over furniture, broken in a few doors, and tracked dirt all over the carpet. What could possibly be the point of all of this wanton destruction?

Probably just de Vygon’s way of showing his power, now that Ashley thought about it. He worried about the implication that de Vygon would be targeting Maddie, Viv, and Brianna now, too. Mads and Viv were thankfully holed up far away with Jordyn, but Ashley would consider making Brea take her classes online from now on, just to be safe. Ashley was caught out in public, but he dreaded to think what Andreas might have done had he gotten his hands on one of them with no prying eyes about.

He made a point of checking on the door to the Godling’s prison, but found no signs of tampering at a glance. Granted, he didn’t exactly get very close to it. Something about the old rusty thing gave him the creeps, and the less time he spent down this awful dark hallway, the better.

After that, Ashley headed to the security room, where Steve and his mother would no-doubt be waiting. Thankfully, when he put in the code at the door and entered, they both seemed to be no worse for wear. Steve stood up at Ashley’s appearance, leaning on his crutches, but Ashley held up a hand and he sat back down.

“Are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine, Ashley,” his mother answered. “They didn’t touch us.”

“Yeah, they mostly just backed off after I said they’d be liable for a lawsuit if they broke any of the equipment here,” Steve said.

Ashley let out a relieved breath. “Good. With the way de Vygon was acting, I was a little worried he’d go all ‘enhanced interrogation’ on you or something.”

“With what I saw down in that facility, I wouldn’t put it past him for a second,” Steve grumbled.

“My cousin has some very grand aspirations,” Siobhan said. “I could sense them from all the way up here. If Jordyn is the key to unlocking them, he will stop at nothing to get her back.”

“Thank god we have someone who can teleport…” Ashley mumbled.

Speaking of which, it was probably about time to check in with Vivienne at the cabin. Thanks to the burner phones she’d purchased, they could communicate without any worry of the calls being traced. This whole situation had put him on edge; hearing that everyone was fine would be a sorely-needed balm for that, and he was sure she’d appreciate hearing what happened, too.

He made his way up to his room – which was thankfully mostly unharmed – and called Vivienne. It took a few rings to go through, but eventually, she picked up.

“Hey Ash, everything alright?”

“Yeah, mostly. De Vygon just raided the Union with a SWAT team, but he didn’t get anything. Be on your guard if you’re ever back in the city, though. He’s looking out for you and Madeline.”

“Shit, alright. Thanks for letting me know.”

“How are things over there? You sound a little stressed.”

There was a sigh over the phone. “It’s nothing, it’s just… Maddie left her edibles out and Jordyn didn’t know what they were so she ate like half the packet.”

“Is she alright?”

“She’s been lying on the floor motionless for the past half-hour, but we’re keeping her company. How’re you feeling, Jordyn?”

Ashley vaguely heard Jordyn mumble something that sounded like “My body is schwibbly.” He resisted the urge to chuckle at her misfortune.

“There you go.”

“At least you’re all having fun.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Uh, if there wasn’t anything else, I might hang up now. I’ve gotta get dinner started.”

“No worries, Viv. Stay safe, okay?”

“You too, man.”

There was a click, and the line went dead. Ashley sighed.

He missed when things were simple.

—

Vivienne was… tired.

Maddie woke up early this morning, screaming Rosie’s name loud enough that it echoed through the whole cabin. Vivienne couldn’t get back to sleep after that. She made everyone breakfast and did the dishes with Jordyn, and then she busied herself with tidying the place up, before retreating to her room to decompress and nap for a while. 

That didn’t last long, though. Not after Jordyn’s little edible incident.

She wasn’t that hard to look after, mostly just vegetating, but it was still stressful worrying about if she might set something on fire or break something with her shadows. It turned out fine, but the damage to Viv’s psyche was done, regardless.

Now, it was evening. The fire was crackling in the fireplace, and all three of them were sitting on the couch, trying to relax after the news that confirmed Andreas was hunting for them. Jordyn was still coming down, curled up in Vivienne’s lap with her head against her chest. Apparently, she was a bit of a snugglebug when she was high.

Those… feelings were still there, lingering at the back of Vivienne’s mind like an itch that refused to go away, and much more noticeable with Jordyn in her lap like this. If she closed her eyes and forgot about everything that happened between their kiss and now, she could imagine that this was a normal relationship, and they were just two regular girlfriends cuddling. But that wasn’t the truth, and Vivienne couldn’t delude herself for long. It was dangerous to think like that. A relationship wasn’t what Jordyn needed right now, and it probably wouldn’t be good for either of them. As much as she yearned for it – yearned for Jordyn – Vivienne needed to just put her feelings aside. Jordyn’s safety and health was more important than a silly little crush. Even if that crush might’ve been developing into something more intense.

At least for now, she could enjoy holding Jordyn close. It didn’t need to mean anything. Having her in her arms would have to be enough.

Madeline was on the other end of the couch, playing on her Switch. The sound effects emanating from the device kept making Jordyn twitch. She poked her head up, looking over.

“What’re you doing?”

“Playing a game,” Maddie answered, not looking away from the screen.

“What game?”

“Metroid. You play as a bounty hunter in space, and you’ve gotta explore places to find upgrades so you can reach new places to complete your mission.”

Her curiosity apparently piqued, Jordyn wiggled out of Vivienne’s arms and crawled across the couch, resting her head on Maddie’s shoulder and looking at the screen. Maddie paused, looking at her for a moment, before continuing on with a slight smile on her face.

It was like someone ripped a hole through Vivienne’s body. Something hot and ugly bubbled up in her chest, and she resisted the urge to drag Jordyn back to her. She felt cold without Jordyn’s warmth weighing her down. Fuck. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.

“I’m going to bed,” she said, getting up and walking to her room. Both of them called out a ‘goodnight,’ but Vivienne had no more energy to respond with. She crawled under the covers and curled up, letting that artificial warmth surround her instead. It was lonely now, but at least here, no one would see her cry.

The pillow muffled the sound of her quiet sobbing, until eventually she ran out of energy even for that, and finally fell into a dark, empty sleep.

taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection @sorcererfen

poor vivienne </3 our lovesick queen

(also not me forcing my current fandom interests into my stories once again. Welcome back Direwolf Metal Gear reference)

hope you all enjoyed. leave a comment and let me know what you thought! I could use the pick-me-up right now haha

stay tuned for the next chapter. it's gonna be a big one <3 (i have been planning for many many months)

[theclaravoyant]

worth fighting for (meddie, 911)

AN ~ for @rarepairs-of-911 Rarepair Bingo! prompt: “letters or text messages” Maddie x Eddie, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, with a side of Buck brotherhood/friendship goodness <3 CW for non-graphic Doug/DV references

masterpost read on AO3 (~2300wd)

worth fighting for

Eddie puts his phone down for a second, to put a little extra oomph into pulling on his stubborn boot. Of course, Buck takes this opportunity to swoop in and steal his phone with a mocking grin.

“What are you looking at, Eddie?” he teases, moving to unlock the phone. Eddie just holds his hand out. Hen gives him a look, like, you want me to grab it? but Eddie doesn't take her up.

“You don't wanna know, man. Give it back.”

“What, are you texting a girl?” Buck sticks his tongue out, but when Eddie answers a forthright yes it seems to fluster him. Which would be cute, except that his overconfident finger moves accidentally on the screen and the most recent text message comes up.

Maddie says: I had fun last night

Buck yelps, and throws the phone back at Eddie. Hen and Chim stifle their laughter.

“Maddie?!” he chokes. “My Maddie? You were having – fun??”

“Relax, Buck. We went to the gym.”

He blinks. “... What?”

“Maddie mentioned she was doing krav maga before she moved out here. My gym has a couple classes, I was showing her the digs in case she wanted to check it out. We had a little spar, that's all. It was fun.”

He can't resist, he waggles his eyebrows a little, and Buck pouts.

“Stop teasing the man,” Hen begs, and Chim claps his shoulders on the way past.

“You're lucky you're cute, Buckley.”

-

He took it well, Eddie updates Maddie later in the day. She bites back a laugh. Her phone has been blowing up with an Evan in crisis ever since – well, whatever had gone down that morning.

Really? I'm pretty sure he's trying to shovel talk me?

Don't worry. He does that. A little Bucksplosion just means he loves you.

Unbidden, tears spring to Maddie's eyes at that. It's been a long time since she's been part of Evan's – of Buck's life. It's not really that surprising that he doesn't have the most secure way of showing his feelings. To be fair, neither does she. But it's sweet that he has people in his life who understand that; who aren't put off by his being... a lot.

Quietly, it gives her hope too, that Eddie might not be put off by her baggage either. Buck clearly loves him very much, given by the passionate if erratic swinging between happy, defensive, grossed-out, and none-of-my-business energy in his messages.

Do you like Eddie?

I mean like, Eddie's great but

Are you dating Eddie??

Have you told him about Doug? Are you sure you're ready for this?

Have you had sex??

Ew don't tell me. Be safe

Not that it's my business.

I just don't want you to get hurt.

Or him

He has a kid, Mads.

Butting out. I swear. But you'd tell me if you liked Eddie right?

The thing is, she kind of does. Like Eddie. Like-like Eddie. Which is an unsettling feeling all on its own. It's new and giddy and it makes her feel so vulnerable she wants to throw up. This new life she's building here is so precious, but Eddie is handsome and confident and so...

Well. Let's just say Doug neither took enough interests in her hobbies, nor would have ever handed her the power to sock him in the jaw on their first date. Now, she wishes he had. She wishes she'd known some of the amazing women she'd met in her self defence classes earlier, or that she'd heard the warning signs under Buck's juvenile jealousy at his big sister having a boyfriend. She wishes a lot of things.

(He has a kid.) (Have you had sex?)

Maybe. Just maybe, Eddie is her chance to have them.

-

The thing is though, it was fun. Genuinely. Usually – he says, as if there's much of a usually about it – all he feels on dates is the ticking clock and sweaty palms of it all. The absence of wedding bells feels like a flaw, like one or both of them is messing something up. This had been... well. Not easy like being a fourteen year old kid on the beach with a crush was easy but yes. Fun.

Up for Round 2? I'm off at 4 for 48, he types. Let me know!

No, that's weird.

Let me know

Better. Still weird.

Lmk

What is he, fourteen?

He ends up back-spacing the whole sentence and leaving it at 48. The fact that he's smiling in anticipation and already checking for of the answer can stay his little secret. Maybe it's because she's a better speaker and listener than he could ever hope to be, maybe it's their mutual first-responder or older-siblinghood. Hell. Maybe he's just destined to enjoy the company of a Buckley. But enjoy it he does, and he's trying to be a little kinder to himself these days so -

So when his phone buzzes, and he leaps so quickly for it that he misses and sends it skittering to the floor, he tries not to think about that.

I'm on shift til midnight, the reply reads. Oof. He's been there. 10am tomorrow?

Then: Any word on the juice bar? Any good?

It takes him a second to even remember, there's a juice bar attached to the very gym he's been attending since he got here. Revive, or something. He vaguely recalls a mango thing on their specials board which sounded intriguing.

Never tried it, he responds honestly. My treat?

It's a date!

Maddie puts a little happy smiley face with its hug hands out after the exclamation point, and his cheeks are honestly starting to hurt from all this smiling. She's adorable too, apparently. Adorable and knows how to use her centre of gravity against him? Oh, he's in trouble.

KM&J w/ M, he scribbles on the calendar.

“Daaad!” Christopher calls then, before he can circle it with a heart like a girl in middle school.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Can you help me get a screwdriver?”

Never a dull moment with this kid. He throws the pen back into the jar on the bench, and goes to assist.

-

It's a little pathetic, how flattered she is that he's on time. How adorable she finds it, that his face lights up when he sees her, and he puts away his phone and takes her bag, and holds the door open for her. He's a regular enough here that the staff at the counter wave to him.

(There's a little glimmer of anxiety when the door shuts behind them, and she remembers they're both here on his membership. Not hers. But these sorts of locks usually keep people out not in, and even if the door doesn't open, there's another way out through the juice bar, which is publicly facing, so she's fine. And she's not a bad person for thinking about these things, right? Even though Eddie is being so perfectly nice and safe and kind.)

She feels his eyes on her as she reaches down into her bag for her drink bottle and a hair tie. He keeps himself to himself, of course he does – and she's wearing practically skin-tight clothes, she looks good, she's on a date it's not that weird. But once the ghost of Doug gets in her brain he tends to stay there.

Not today. Not today.

She yanks her hair into a pony tail and raises two fists, dropping her knees into a fighters' stance.

“Buck mentioned you prefer muay thai?”

“I'm flexible. I've done some karate, judo, jiu jitsu,” Eddie shrugs, he takes up a pose too and they circle the mat, taking easy stabs at one another. “I find muay thai the most, um...”

“Cathartic?” she offers.

“You could say that.”

She launches herself at him, and he pirouettes around her and clocks her lightly on the shoulder.

“It's pretty violent,” he elaborates. “Not as, uh, dignified as some of the others.”

“Breaking noses with your elbows is dignified?”

“See? No, that's my point!" He smiles, and shakes a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Although I haven't done much krav. Funnily enough, classes for guys don't tend to be as self-defence focused.”

He quirks an eyebrow, and she almost tells him. Maybe she would, if the ghost of Doug wasn't starting to loom larger and larger. Ever since Buck mentioned it, and since she's been thinking about whatever this might become with Eddie, he's there. In her new unit, in the baseball bat beside her bed. If she's being honest, he's always there, and she's not quite ready to put voice to it yet.

She hooks a foot behind Eddie's knee instead, and pulls.

He lets himself fall, and laughs. “Dang, I thought that was working!”

“Nothing gets past me, Diaz,” she retorts, extending an arm to help him up. “I train for this. I am distraction-proof.”

She's not especially superstitious either, but she might just have brought it on herself.

“Alright, Buckley.” His smile gets competitive now, and she can feel it rising within herself as well. “Let's take it up a notch then.”

He swipes, harder and faster this time, and she dances. Strikes, blocks, fakes, their hands and feet are moving faster now. Rougher, until both of them are sweating and panting and – and then he grabs her from behind, and it feels like her stomach drops out through the floor.

He grabs her, and she freezes. She's back in a dark kitchen somewhere across the country. The stench of burning food in her nostrils, burning muscles in her legs, just trying to avoid getting shoved into the stove.

She cracks her elbow back as hard as she can and Eddie swears. He lets go, at least, and the mat comes rushing up to meet her. The mat in the gym in LA, where Eddie's big brown eyes are staring at her, wide with concern – even as he has one hand cupped over his bloody nose, his other reaches out to help her up.

Fuck.

“Maddie? Where'd you go?”

His voice is gentle, so unfairly gentle, but it doesn't slow her heartbeat down. She scrabbles away from Eddie in a panic. She should have known better than to try and do this. It's too soon, it's too hard, she can't. She can't have this. She won't get to now, anyway. She's ruined it, like she ruined dinner, like she always does.

She rolls onto her feet and runs for the exit, leaving Eddie dazed and confused in the dust. He calls out, but doesn't chase her. Of course he doesn't.

Her phone is inside with him, because apparently she can't even do that right, but at least her car key's in her bra and her house keys are in her car. If there's one thing going for her it's that she can run away right. She drives home in a haze of adrenaline and shock and shame, and she turns her face up into the hot water of the shower until her body finally remembers what her mind does. She's home, such as it is. She's safe.

She wraps herself in the big warm fluffy robe Buck had bought her as a housewarming present. She checks and double checks the ridiculous number of locks on her door and crawls into bed. It's broad daylight outside, and really too warm for all these layers, but it feels better cocooned in here.

Then there's a knock at the door, and she groans. That's the disadvantage of having people who care about you, after all. You have to face them eventually.

“Maddie?” Buck calls from the doorway. He knocks again, then announces - “I'm coming in. Don't be naked, okay?”

That's the advantage of having people who care about you, though. They'll always come for you. And the defensiveness and pettiness and awkwardness is put away somewhere, and she pads out into the living room and he gives back her bag, and her phone, and Eddie must have sent them with Buck instead of coming himself to give her space and she could cry. She broke his nose probably. And she needs space?

Buck embraces her in strong, forgiving arms as if he can do so for the both of them. “Are you okay?” he checks. “Eddie told me something happened.”

“I feel like such an ass,” Maddie confesses, her hands shaking on the phone still clutched between them. “We were at the gym again and I- I had like, a flashback. An episode or something. God. I should have known better, I'm sorry, I never should have -”

“What? Asked him out?”

Buck holds her at arms length, and though he looks like he's been freaking out a little on her behalf too, he smiles.

“Look, Mads. Eddie, truly, is the best person I know and – whatever this is, whatever it might turn into, I mean - I know Doug hurt you. But I think it's really brave not to let him hold you back from what you want. You deserve to try again.”

She nods, but it's easier said than done. Once he's satisfied he has nothing more to say though, he gently peels away.

“I brought lunch too. Apparently Eddie didn't get a chance to Lady and the Tramp you, so... is it cool if we eat? I need to catch up on Survivor.”

He moves as if to make himself comfortable in this not-quite-a-home of hers, stretching out on the couch and gesturing with the remote to a couple of foil-wrapped burritos, and in spite of everything her heart warms. Even better; her phone buzzes in her hands.

Hope you don't mind, I sent Buck.

He mentioned your ex. I'm so sorry. Your stuff is your stuff, but I'm here if you want to talk. Or punch things. (Catharsis?)

Or if you want... maybe we could just get juice next time?

Talk soon I hope. Up to you x

She's not ready to answer yet. To explain herself, to decide exactly what she wants to share. But she tucks that last message into a special place in her heart, and smiles. For now, she sends back simply:

Talk soon x

[pinkflipphonez]

the 'hey victor' and the frybread power shirt is a reference to the native american movie ever 'smoke signals'

it's such a fantastic, depressing, hopeful movie (cw for child abuse, dv). it's also on pluto for free, give it a watch!

lil dump of my favorite city native (and his vitamin d deficient bf)

[isthisstorysafe]

Brigham Vaughn:

The Williamsville Inn series (4). M-M. Modern. At least one bi lead. Needs a proofreader. CW: ghosting; being fired unfairly; expectation for unmarried child to look after parents; rejection; divorce; co-parenting.

Rules of the Game: Evanston River Otters series (1,2,*,4,5). M-M. Sports. *Doesn't appear to be a #3 but Zane & Ryan's story (Road Rules) really belongs in this series, probably as #1, thus shifting the numbers along. Other Rules of the Game / Relationship Goals series - focusing on other teams - exist & interrelate; Bending The Rules (RotG:TFC 1) probably immediately precedes this lot & The Husband Game (RG:TFC 1) & the series to follow from it follow on from these & feature the Toronto Fisher Cats team. I think there are references to someone else's M-M hockey series, but I don't recall whose. Acknowledges trans. Younger, bigger partner tops first / older, bigger partner tops (first). Readable. CW: arrest; worrying about relative's safety; brawling; absent parents; historic suicide; career-ending injury; gambling debts; illness causing mood swings & aggression; indirect sexual abuse by a parent; having to pay for someone else's choices; bad parent; being a carer; power imbalance; historic fatal crash; historic infant death; historic death of a spouse; escalating verbal fights to physical ones; anti-fraternisation policies; dementia; brain damage; fatal disease in middle age; degenerative condition; eating disorder; feuding parents; child seeing very ill parent; being cuckolded by a colleague; being cuckolded by best friend; friend keeping secrets about one from one; best friends falling out; grief; unrequited love; lead with a known crush that started before the other lead's last relationship ended; being outed; abuse of fame to molest & sexuality coerce victims; having a child with ADHD; child destroying another's work; injured animal; domestic abuse of multiple types; cheating; parent with abusive partner; financial insecurity; escaping dv with nothing; public abuse for doing the right thing; public proposal.

Rules of the Game: Toronto Fisher Cats series (1). M-M. Sports. Bi lead. Acknowledges poly & gender non-conforming. Bigger partner tops first, without discussion. Solid. Readable. CW: having to choose between relationship & career; career-threatening injury; relationship with someone who has a crush on a third party; one parner's job 'more important' than the other's; panic attack; extreme work-stress; American 'healthcare'; parent's needs impinging on life.

Relationship Goals: Toronto Fisher Cats series (1,2). M-M. Sports. Bi lead. Pan lead. Acknowledges non-binary & poly. Bigger lead tops first. Read more. CW: upstaging someone's proposal; American 'healthcare'; historic eating disorder; significant debts to friends; physical vulnerabilities; abusive parent; being non-contact with family; pregnancy; drunk-driving; historically looked-after child; ex marrying someone else; not getting symptoms checked out; hospitalisation; non-elective surgery; career-threatening illness; erectile dysfunction; secrets; potential loss of career; loss of career due to misconduct; pregnancy; alcohol addiction.

Also writes Pendleton series including poly relationships as well as kinky queer ones.

[theartistknownaslymond]

Whumptober 2022 day 14

Desperate Measures | Failed escape | “I’ll be right behind you.”

A prompt from @stripedroseandsketchpads​: Oonagh *did* canonically try to break out from the seraglio w Khaireddin one time…

She sure did! This one in the AU is set immediately after Breathe for Two (see fic list pinned post on my dash). Oonagh is not to be fucked with. Unfortunately, she’s also not able to succeed this time.

Sorry for the delay posting! I’m trying to get back on track, I really am :’)

CW: pregnancy and symptoms of low blood pressure, references to terrorism training and guns, also to DV. I’m afraid Graham Reid Malett also turns up, so be prepared for that: some blood and violence.

---

Oonagh waited until it was dark. By then she knew she was in control of the symptoms she'd experienced since trying to leave the ashram earlier that day. She still felt light-headed if she rushed a task, and her skin was clammy, her stomach in turmoil, but these were sensations a woman in her third trimester could put into context and deal with. Provided they didn't worsen; provided she was otherwise healthy.

Oonagh, after six months of work on the ashram, of good food and good friendships and no Cormac O'Connor, felt the healthiest she'd been in years.

Light-headedness aside, of course.

So since Swami Geetesh's visit she had used her seething fury to plan and to prepare. He had made it quite clear that he considered her little more than a vessel, a carrier for the child that he hoped belonged to Francis Crawford. What the fuck he wanted to do with the child if that was the case was anyone's guess - and what would happen if the child turned out to be Cormac's was an even more troubling unknown. But Oonagh had promised herself never again to be in a position of vulnerability and subordination to a man. Never again to let someone else dictate what her body was for and how it should look. She would not sit meekly in her room and wait for her world to be snatched away.

So during the afternoon, she'd torn the cotton sheets on her bed into strips and soaked them in the small bathroom sink - you didn't spend a lifetime in the fashion industry without learning a thing or two about the properties of fabric and how to improve the strength of cotton fibres. At least, you didn't if you had the kind of quick, ready mind Oonagh had always had, the kind of mind that thrived on stimuli and newness and on understanding every little thing that went on around her.

She took a bag of carob brownies a friend had baked from her bag and made herself eat half of one for strength and focus, and she wrapped the rest in a select parcel of only the most necessary clothes. And then she waited, doing breathing exercises, rubbing her hands over and over her huge belly, talking to the child she carried inside her in Irish, muttering low under her breath.

The child wriggled in response, as restless as Oonagh felt in the little room. She murmured comradely reassurance - she told them to save their kicks for Swami Geetesh, although if mummy could, she would make sure they never had to meet him.

Sunset came slowly, agonisingly slowly. It couldn't really be seen from her window, she just had to wait as the light changed and the gaps between the trees disappeared. The towering, straight trunks looked like bars layering jail cell after jail cell outside her room, but as twilight deepened, engulfing their bases and the heights of their boughs beyond what Oonagh could see, the darkness unlocked opportunity.

She checked her watch and wondered whether she ought to wait, in case someone was tasked with bringing her an evening meal. But there had been no scents rising from downstairs, no sounds of cooking - no sounds at all, in fact.

So Oonagh, nervous from waiting so long already, made her choice and pushed the window open. It would be a tight fit for her swollen, co-occupied body, but she would manage. She secured the knotted rope of wet sheets to the heavy wooden bed, ensuring the furniture was wedged tight against the wall already and wouldn't give her away with any screeching movement across the floor.

She had changed out of her flowing red dress and pulled on an old pair of dyed leggings and a top that was loose without being baggy. She tied her long black hair back, knotted the bundle of essentials she had chosen in a makeshift papoose held above her belly, and took a deep, soothing breath - part meditation, part catwalk prep, part eyeing up the target on the provo’s training range as she tightened her finger on the trigger of a Libyan rifle.

She squirmed backwards out of the window, her bare toes reaching into the night air, flailing until she got her angle right, and then flexing against the wooden walls of the building, her fists knotted in wet wraps of torn sheets. She allowed herself one more quiet promise in Irish made directly to the child, and then paused to listen again to the silence.

The water from the taut cotton was dripping steadily on the wooden floor of her room, her blood was rushing and she felt a headache building at the base of her skull - if she took too long about this, she risked a return if the light-headedness. She risked a fall from a height she most certainly couldn't afford.

Oonagh clenched her teeth and unwound one hand from the rope of sheets, moving it lower, rewrapping it securely before she unwound her second hand.

Her knuckles felt squeezed and bruised, but the tactic kept her secure. With each steady movement, accompanied by each steady breath, she recited a favourite poem in her mind, line by line, one foot then the other, one hand unwrapped, rewrapped, then the other:   I won’t go back to it –   my nation displaced into old dactyls oaths made by the animal tallows of the candle –   land of the Gulf Stream, the small farm, the scalded memory, the songs, that bandage up the history, the words tha rhythm of the crime  

where time is time past. A palsy of regrets. No. I won’t go back. My roots are brutal:   I am the woman - a sloven’s mix of silk at the wrists, a sort of dove-strut in the precincts of the garrison -   who practices the quick frictions, the rictus of delight and gets cambric for it, rice colored silk.   I am the woman in the gansy-coat on board the Mary Belle, in the huddling cold,   holding a half-dead baby to her as the wind shifts east and north over the dirty water of the wharf  

mingling the immigrant guttural with the vowels of homesickness who neither knows nor cares that   a new language is a kind of scar and heals after awhile into a possible imitation of what went before

Her feet touched crisp leaf matter and dry, gritty soil. She let out another deep breath and freed her hands, laying the palms against the wooden sides of the house and checking that her body was still with her, working with her, supporting her. The ache in her head hadn't worsened, and deep breathing settled her nausea and the floating feeling inside her chest and brow.

She slipped her sandals back on, but it didn't seem advisable to go by foot, she realised that with grim certainty. She was managing, but she didn't want to risk collapsing in the woods. She wanted to escape, not put her child at risk. At least in a car she would be sitting. She would be comparatively still. She would be able to get off the ashram, and on the I-93 she'd find someone who could help get her the rest of the way to Vegas.

With a pang of regret, she noticed it hadn't even occurred to her to approach the friends she'd had here. Who knew what they would do if Swami Geetesh asked it of them? She couldn't trust anyone in this place if she couldn't trust him.

She shuffled round the building, keeping close to the walls. Light radiated from only one room, escaping the cracks in the curtains, but she ducked low and crawled beneath the level of the sill.

In the front yard there were two cars - the truck and the saloon. Geetesh's housekeeper - Donati, Oonagh had thought her name was, Ma Dānti - was instructing a man as he carried a heavy-looking wooden rocking chair into the house. Oonagh held her breath - it must have been the one meant for her room, which meant she didn't have much time before they'd realise she was gone. There was no sign of Geetesh, though, so she figured they would spend a few extra minutes panicking without their leader.

She steeled herself and ran in as low a crouch as her belly allowed across to the truck once both figures had gone inside the house. Her hands were steady and her breathing was controlled when she silently popped the door, her fingers hooked under the metal handle. She kept one eye on the house - the door was open, but still the only light was from the room on the corner, which must have been large to have so many windows.

Her hope was that the man who had brought the chair might have left his keys in the truck, but - no dice.

"Go hlfreann leat!" she spat, and pulled the hard plastic cover under the steering wheel down, more annoyed than inconvenienced by the lack. She knew how to hotwire, just as she knew how to fuse an improvised explosive. Long supermodel's fingers worked quickly, tugging and twisting the right components until she had the two wires she needed, held ready in her hands. Did she wait until she heard a commotion from the house? Did she just go?

Shite, she realised she should have done something to disable the saloon. She'd been too keen to leave, too smug with the knowledge that she had the skills to do so.

Oonagh glanced back at the house. There didn't seem to have been any change in the situation there, yet.

Crouched low, she moved round the from of the truck to the saloon, which was at least concealed by the shadow of the bigger vehicle. It made it easier to get inside, pull the bonnet, and lift it high enough to snatch the spark plug without being visible from the house.

She went back to the truck again, the spark plug gripped tight in her hand, the other one soothing the excited child in her belly.

"Oh, you're enjoying this, are you?" she whispered. Pride overrode the moment of trepidation she felt as she imagined her child - the child of Cormac, after all? - attending the same training she'd undergone.

She picked up the wires as she'd left them and didn't hesitate to touch them together now. The little spark made her blink, dazzled momentarily as her eyes came to terms with the darkness again, now filled with the rumbling of the truck's engine. Then she stood, one foot in the truck, one hand on the door, and realised the latter was resisting her attempt to close it.

She turned with a gasp and saw Swami Geetesh standing too near, his large hand preventing her from slamming the truck door closed.

"No," she couldn't stop the word. Like when she knew it would only wind Cormac up further to hear her object, but she had to object anyway.

Geetesh said nothing. He looked white with fury and he ripped the door from her hand, throwing it wide open and grabbing at her arm with a pinching grip.

She'd come too close to freedom to go quietly back now. She didn't give a shit who was working for him - she'd make them doubt their loyalty all right. She hollared loud enough to make her throat raw. She bellowed and screamed and held onto the steering wheel with the hand that still held the spark plug from the saloon. She kicked at him with her woefully soft sandals and remembered the catharsis of group meditation, the catharsis of Francis Crawford encouraging her to really scream into the mic during one recording session they'd shared.

She knew he was stronger than her. She knew she couldn't keep this up long, it was already making her temples howl with pain and making blackness seep into her vision.

So while she still had the strength to, she let him drag her from the car and used the momentum of her body to swipe at him with the sharper end of the spark plug.

He turned his head, but the metal grazed through his thick, guinea gold hair, and Oonagh pressed hard against the resistance beneath her weapon - she dragged it along his scalp and let it slam into the upper part of his chest. An ineffective injury, but an injury nonetheless.

Blood began to seep through the strands of his hair and he slapped her, open-palmed, so the shock of it made her drop the spark plug, her body trembling, remembering the touch of Cormac O'Connor.

"Daso," he said commandingly. "Where are you going? Ma Dānti has prepared you a meal."

"I'm not hungry," she sneered and spat in his face.

He closed his eyes momentarily and shook her in his grip before wiping it from his cheek. "There is a chair and a reading light."

"I don't want to sit," she raised the arm he wasn't holding and went to claw her nails into the wound in his scalp.

He grabbed her wrist before she could, but all she had hoped for was to make him realise she'd fight him the whole way.

He ground his teeth, his jaw bulging angrily though he tried to keep up the cool, impassive act. "Then pace the room until your heart is content, but know this: you will not be leaving it again until the child comes."

"You won't have my child," Oonagh told him.

"You can't stop me, my dear," he returned, his nose coming near to hers as he finally allowed his anger to seep through into his voice.

***

The poem is Mise Eire by Eavan Boland (1983), a response to Padraig Pearse’s poem of the same name (”I am Ireland”) and against a whole genre of comparing the island to a mythological woman.

[seo1code-blog]

What is a valid #Hreflang ?

What is a valid Hreflang?

Sometimes users of our Hreflang testing tool see an error like this and get baffled:

Invalid hreflang (en_US) found in HTML.

Why is en_US incorrect? Because the correct way to write a language code is with dashes, not underscores. The correct value is en-US.

What are valid values for Hreflang?

A valid hreflang can be specified as:

A 2-character language code (e.g. “en“), or

a combination of language and region code (e.g. “en-US“), or

a combination of language and script code (e.g. “sr-Cyrl” or “sr-Latn“), or

a combination of language, script and region codes (e.g. “sr-hu-Latn“)

A special value of “x-default”, used for country/language selectors and redirector pages. These pages are not specific to any language/locale. Users either choose their language/country (e.g. from a map or dropdown box), or the website uses the IP address of the visitor to this page and automatically redirects them to the page that is appropriate for them.

Examples of invalid Hreflang

Here are some examples of invalid language codes found recently by the online testing tool. See if you can figure out why these codes are incorrect:

en_US: Underscore used instead of hyphen

en-en: The second “en” is incorrect because “en” is not a valid region code.

en-UK: “uk” is not a valid region code. Use “en-GB”.

us-en: The order is inverted. It should be “en-US”.

ua: ua is not a language code. It is a region code. So it is incorrect to use it by itself, i.e. without a language code.

cmn-CN: The country code for China is correct (this page was in Chinese and the URL was a .cn URL. The language code is incorrect.

Valid Codes for Reference

Valid Language Codes (2-character ISO-639-1 Codes)

A list of valid 2-character language codes is as follows (the format is ISO 639-1): aa, ab, ae, af, ak, am, an, ar, as, av, ay, az, ba, be, bg, bh, bi, bm, bn, bo, br, bs, ca, ce, ch, co, cr, cs, cu, cv, cy, da, de, dv, dz, ee, el, en, eo, es, et, eu, fa, ff, fi, fj, fo, fr, fy, ga, gd, gl, gn, gu, gv, ha, he, hi, ho, hr, ht, hu, hy, hz, ia, id, ie, ig, ii, ik, io, is, it, iu, ja, jv, ka, kg, ki, kj, kk, kl, km, kn, ko, kr, ks, ku, kv, kw, ky, la, lb, lg, li, ln, lo, lt, lu, lv, mg, mh, mi, mk, ml, mn, mr, ms, mt, my, na, nb, nd, ne, ng, nl, nn, no, nr, nv, ny, oc, oj, om, or, os, pa, pi, pl, ps, pt, qu, rm, rn, ro, ru, rw, sa, sc, sd, se, sg, si, sk, sl, sm, sn, so, sq, sr, ss, st, su, sv, sw, ta, te, tg, th, ti, tk, tl, tn, to, tr, ts, tt, tw, ty, ug, uk, ur, uz, ve, vi, vo, wa, wo, xh, yi, yo, za, zh, zu

Valid Region Codes (2-character ISO-3166-1 Codes)

And here are all the valid region codes (ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format; note that the code for the United Kingdom is “GB”, not “UK”): AD, AE, AF, AG, AI, AL, AM, AO, AQ, AR, AS, AT, AU, AW, AX, AZ, BA, BB, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, BI, BJ, BL, BM, BN, BO, BQ, BR, BS, BT, BV, BW, BY, BZ, CA, CC, CD, CF, CG, CH, CI, CK, CL, CM, CN, CO, CR, CU, CV, CW, CX, CY, CZ, DE, DJ, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EC, EE, EG, EH, ER, ES, ET, FI, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FR, GA, GB, GD, GE, GF, GG, GH, GI, GL, GM, GN, GP, GQ, GR, GS, GT, GU, GW, GY, HK, HM, HN, HR, HT, HU, ID, IE, IL, IM, IN, IO, IQ, IR, IS, IT, JE, JM, JO, JP, KE, KG, KH, KI, KM, KN, KP, KR, KW, KY, KZ, LA, LB, LC, LI, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, LY, MA, MC, MD, ME, MF, MG, MH, MK, ML, MM, MN, MO, MP, MQ, MR, MS, MT, MU, MV, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NC, NE, NF, NG, NI, NL, NO, NP, NR, NU, NZ, OM, PA, PE, PF, PG, PH, PK, PL, PM, PN, PR, PS, PT, PW, PY, QA, RE, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, SG, SH, SI, SJ, SK, SL, SM, SN, SO, SR, SS, ST, SV, SX, SY, SZ, TC, TD, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TM, TN, TO, TR, TT, TV, TW, TZ, UA, UG, UM, US, UY, UZ, VA, VC, VE, VG, VI, VN, VU, WF, WS, YE, YT, ZA, ZM, ZW

Valid Script Codes (4-character ISO 15924 Codes)

All valid script codes are as follows (the format is ISO 15924): Adlm, Afak, Aghb, Ahom, Arab, Aran, Armi, Armn, Avst, Bali, Bamu, Bass, Batk, Beng, Bhks, Blis, Bopo, Brah, Brai, Bugi, Buhd, Cakm, Cans, Cari, Cham, Cher, Cirt, Copt, Cprt, Cyrl, Cyrs, Deva, Dsrt, Dupl, Egyd, Egyh, Egyp, Elba, Ethi, Geok, Geor, Glag, Goth, Gran, Grek, Gujr, Guru, Hang, Hani, Hano, Hans, Hant, Hatr, Hebr, Hira, Hluw, Hmng, Hrkt, Hung, Inds, Ital, Java, Jpan, Jurc, Kali, Kana, Khar, Khmr, Khoj, Kitl, Kits, Knda, Kore, Kpel, Kthi, Lana, Laoo, Latf, Latg, Latn, Leke, Lepc, Limb, Lina, Linb, Lisu, Loma, Lyci, Lydi, Mahj, Mand, Mani, Marc, Maya, Mend, Merc, Mero, Mlym, Modi, Mong, Moon, Mroo, Mtei, Mult, Mymr, Narb, Nbat, Nkgb, Nkoo, Nshu, Ogam, Olck, Orkh, Orya, Osge, Osma, Palm, Pauc, Perm, Phag, Phli, Phlp, Phlv, Phnx, Plrd, Prti, Rjng, Roro, Runr, Samr, Sara, Sarb, Saur, Sgnw, Shaw, Shrd, Sidd, Sind, Sinh, Sora, Sund, Sylo, Syrc, Syre, Syrj, Syrn, Tagb, Takr, Tale, Talu, Taml, Tang, Tavt, Telu, Teng, Tfng, Tglg, Thaa, Thai, Tibt, Tirh, Ugar, Vaii, Visp, Wara, Wole, Xpeo, Xsux, Yiii

[marymosley]

Delhi HC: Divorce cannot be granted only on Ground of Irretrievable breakdown of Marriage

It cannot be missed out that in a latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment titled SG Vs RKG in MAT.APP.(F.C.) 5/2018 delivered on July 8, 2019 and authored by Justice Jyoti Singh for herself and Justice GS Sistani of Delhi High Court, it has been categorically and convincingly held that irretrievable breakdown of marriage alone cannot be a ground of divorce and can only be considered as a circumstance by the Court if it is merged with cruelty. This is certainly a hugely significant development with far reaching consequences and all the litigants in such similar cases must always keep this commendable ruling in mind! It has to be borne in mind that the Delhi High Court was hearing an appeal challenging a decree of divorce, passed by the Family Court in a petition filed by the respondent.

                                          First and foremost, the ball is set rolling in para 1 wherein it is pointed out that, “The present appeal has been filed challenging the judgment dated 23.09.2017 passed by the Family Court in HMA No. 783/14 whereby the petition under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as ‘HMA’) filed by the respondent/husband for dissolution of marriage has been allowed and the marriage has been dissolved by a decree of divorce.”  

                                  Be it noted, it is then pointed out in para 2 that, “The relevant facts necessary for the disposal of the present appeal are that the parties got married on 06.07.1989 as per Hindu rites and ceremonies at Shahjahanpur, U.P. Two sons were born out of the said wedlock on 09.08.1990 and 29.10.1992 respectively and are in the care and custody of the Appellant at Janakpuri, Delhi. The parties are living separately since the year 2008.”

                            As it turned out, para 3 then makes the picture of this case more clear by pointing out in detail that, “Disputes and differences having arisen between the parties, the respondent/husband filed a petition under Section 13(1)(ia) of HMA seeking dissolution of marriage by passing a decree of divorce on the ground of ‘cruelty’. The grounds on which the divorce petition was filed were that it was a simple marriage and no dowry articles were demanded by the respondent herein. It was pleaded by the respondent (petitioner in the Family Court) that since the very beginning, the appellant (respondent before the Family Court) was not inclined to live in the matrimonial home with his other family members and showed her aggressive attitude. In order to get mental peace in his matrimonial life, the respondent herein started residing separately from his other family members but still the attitude of the appellant did not change. The respondent further pleaded that the appellant always ridiculed him in social circle because he had studied only up to class 10th whereas the appellant is post graduate in economics. It was also pleaded by the respondent that the appellant never used to do the household work and picked up a quarrel whenever asked to do the same.”

                                   Delving deeper, it is then pointed out in para 4 that, “The further case of the respondent was that the appellant used to beat him up with the help of her brother to pressurize him to transfer the entire property in her name and the appellant had filed a complaint on 02.01.2009 with PS Janakpuri. Both children, according to him, were under the dominance and control of the appellant and she always alienated him from the children. She even filed a false and fabricated complaint at the CAW Cell but due to lack of evidence, the same was disposed of against her. The appellant is also stated to have filed a case under Section 12 of the DV Act.”

                                 While continuing in the same vein, it is then further pointed out in para 5 that, “The respondent was also aggrieved that the appellant never respected the elders and other family members of the respondent and very often abused them. Her conduct was such that the respondent had gone into depression and even suffered losses in the business and was thus constrained to file the divorce petition.”  

                                   �� On the contrary, we then notice that the appellant while presenting an entirely different version and contesting the petitioners version as is illustrated in para 6 which states that, “The appellant contested the petitioner by filing her written statement on 26.05.2010. It was pleaded therein that she was never given even a single penny for running the household expenses in the last 3 years; she was ill-treated by her in-laws; on many occasions she had been turned out of the matrimonial home; all her streedhan was misappropriated by her in-laws; the respondent was ill-tempered and violent and both she and her children remained in a state of tension, depression, constant fear and trauma, and that the present petition is only a counter blast to her DV Act case. On merits, the appellant had denied the cruelties alleged in the petition. It was pleaded that she was often beaten for bringing insufficient dowry. The respondent was for the last 3 years having his meals in his brother’s house and in fact, it was her brother who was with great difficulty looking after the basic needs of the appellant and her two sons.”

                                    To be sure, it is then spelt out in para 7 that, “In the replication filed by the respondent, he reiterated the averments made in the petition and denied those in the written statements which were contrary to his case. On 08.12.2010, the following issues were framed by the Family Court:

“(i) Whether the respondent has treated the petitioner with cruelty? OPP

  (ii) Whether the petitioner is entitled to decree of dissolution of marriage U/s. 13(1)(ia) of HMA? OPP

  (iii) Relief”.”

                                    Furthermore, it is then stated in para 8 that, “In support of his case, the respondent examined himself as PW-1 and tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit PW-1/1 and relied upon documents viz. Exhibit PW-1/A to E. Documents CW-1/D and E were photocopies and were marked as Mark X and Y. He was cross-examined by the appellant herein. In order to prove his case, the respondent also examined PW-2, who was the record clerk from DDU Hospital with reference to the MLC of the respondent Mark PX-1. PW-3 was the Head Constable from PS Janakpuri who brought the DD Register to prove the DD entry no. 36B dated 11.07.2008 which was a complaint filed by the appellant. He testified that the record of the complaint had been destroyed. He brought the photocopy of the MLC dated 11.07.2008 and which was marked as Mark B. PW-4 was the CMO from DDU Hospital, who was brought to prove the MLC prepared by Dr. Sajid on 11.07.2008 as Dr. Sajid had left the Hospital and his whereabouts were not known.”  

                                       Needless to say, para 9 then states that, “In support of her case, the appellant wife tendered her affidavit in evidence vide Exhibit DW-1/A and relied on documents Exhibit DW-1/1 to DW-1/3. She was extensively cross-examined by the respondent. Son of the parties namely Ankit Gupta appeared as RW-2 and tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit RW-2/A and relied on the Bank Account statement of the respondent as Mark A. RW-3 is Niranjan Garg, the brother of the appellant, who tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit RW-3/A and relied on a copy of the Bank Passbook of RW-1 as Exhibit RW-3/1. RW-4 was the Record Clerk from DDU Hospital who proved the MLC of Niranjan Garg and identified the signatures of the doctors on the MLC.”

                                   To put things in perspective, it is then envisaged in para 10 that, “The Family Court after examining the pleadings and the evidence on record, noticed that the parties jointly owned two houses, one in which they were living and the other was let out and the rent was being received by the appellant. It has come on record that the respondent is living on the first floor whereas the appellant is residing on the ground floor of the matrimonial home. As regards the MLC’s produced by both sides, the Family court found that in the MLC of the respondent there was a history of assault as mentioned by the Police but the perpetrator of the assault was not mentioned. In the MLC produced by the appellant, of her brother, RW-3, the claim of the appellant that in the quarrel both the respondent and her brother sustained injuries was found as not amounting to an act of cruelty on the part of the appellant.”

                                    Truth be told, it is then revealed in para 11 that, “The Family Court, however, came to a finding that the appellant was not cooking food for him, she was comfortable with her sons and would render no emotional support to her husband and his non-contribution to the house tax and electricity charges etc. could be understood, as he was earning a meagre amount, by doing a typing job and had no kind of support from the appellant. The Family Court has heavily relied on the cross-examination of the appellant where according to the Court, she had admitted that she alleged extra-marital relationship of the respondent with his Bhabhi and concluded that such single utterance amounted to grave mental cruelty to the respondent as a marital life is based on trust and faith between the parties.”

                                 Not stopping here, it is then held in para 12 that, “In addition to the above, the Family Court found that in any event, the parties had been living separately since 2008 and the marriage was dead for all purposes. To allow such a marriage tocontinue only for name sake, would be travesty of justice and as the appellant only ridiculed the respondent because of his low educational status and traumatized him in various ways, the marriage deserved to be dissolved.”

                                To add muscle and credibility to its findings, it is then held in para 13 that, “Reliance was placed on the judgments in MAT Appeal (FC) 36/2014 decided on 21.10.2016 titled Sandhya Kumari & Ors. vs. Manish Kumar & Ors., Madhvi Ramesh Dudani vs. Ramesh  K. Dudani, 2006 (2) Mh LJ 307 and Shrikumar V. Unnitan vs. Manju K. Nair, 2007 (4) KHC 807, where the concept of cruelty was blended by the Court with irretrievably breakdown of marriage to pass a decree of divorce.”

                                   After observing in para 14 that, “We have heard learned counsels for the parties and examined their rival submissions together with the pleadings and evidence on record”, it is then held in para 15 that, “A perusal of the pleadings and evidence exchanged between the parties indicates that the basic cause of differences having arisen between the parties was the difference in their level of education as the appellant is a post graduate while the respondent is 10th pass. Respondent was admittedly well off financially at the time when the marriage was solemnized but eventually he suffered losses in business and this became a contributory factor in the differences getting enlarged between the parties. The judgment of the family court reveals that both the parties had claimed that mutual duties and obligations were not being fulfilled towards each other, such as the appellant wife was not cooking food; was comfortable with her sons and was even guilty of assaulting the respondent in support of which an MLC was produced. The respondent/husband on the other hand did not pay any maintenance to the wife and had assaulted the brother of the appellant on account of which he sustained injuries. He never paid household expenses either, such as, electricity bills, house tax, etc. The Family Court, however, has not given any finding as to how these alleged acts by the appellant amounted to cruelty. The petition had been filed by the respondent/husband seeking a decree of divorce under Section 13 (i) (i-a) of HMA and an issue was framed as to whether the appellant had treated the respondent with cruelty. The respondent, however, could not prove any of these allegations. In the absence of the respondent substantiating, with evidence, the acts alleged a decree cannot be passed. In fact, the Family Court has itself not given any finding how the allegations in the petition were proved or how they amounted to cruelty.”  

                                In hindsight, it is then further observed in para 16 that, “A perusal of the impugned judgment shows that what has primarily weighed with the Family Court to conclude that the appellant had treated the respondent with mental cruelty was the alleged deposition of the wife in her cross-examination that she had alleged that her husband had extramarital relationship with his bhabhi. In fact, the Family Court has observed in para 27 of the judgment that the appellant has in her cross-examination admitted that she had made such an allegation. This has heavily weighed with the Family Court to come to a conclusion that this single utterance by the wife amounted to grave mental cruelty towards the husband. The Family Court has observed that the appellant being an educated lady and an owner of two joint properties, given to her by her husband, should not have defamed him in such a manner. Another factor which has weighed to the Family Court is that the parties have been separated since 2008 and it was practically a dead marriage and thus applying the judgments in the case of Sandhya Kumari (supra), it is found that there is an irretrievable breakdown of marriage.”

                          What’s more, while lifting curtains on the grave charges levelled, it is then pointed out in para 19 that, “The argument is that in the written statement the appellant had averred that she was tortured for getting insufficient dowry and the respondent along with Shashi Gupta used to beat her every now and then. Her jethani Smt. Shashi Gupta used to interfere in every matter connected with her and used to often shout and scream to humiliate her. It is in this context that the appellant has volunteered in the cross examination that her husband along with her bhabhi used to abuse her and threaten her and that is why she dragged his name with the bhabhi. He clarified that there was no allegation that the respondent was having an extra-marital affair with the bhabhi. He submitted that no such statement was made in the cross-examination or any part of the pleadings before the Family Court and the question of admitting such a statement did not arise.”

                                     More crucially, it is then enunciated in para 20 that, “Having perused the written statement and the cross-examination we are in agreement with the learned counsel for the appellant that the Family Court has erred in holding that the appellant had admitted to having made an allegation of extra-marital affair of her husband with his bhabhi. The cross-examination and the written statement do not support this observation of the Family Court. Thus, taking this as an admission and making this as a ground of mental cruelty so as to dissolve the marriage between the parties, in our view, is erroneous.” We thus see that the Delhi High Court did not mince any words to point out where the Family Court erred in its findings!

                               Most crucially, it is then very rightly held by the Delhi High Court in para 21 that, “As regards the irretrievable breakdown of marriage, as observed by the Family Court, we find that this part of the finding of the Family Court is also erroneous and not supported from the record of the case. It has been a common case of the parties that the parties have been living together in the same house, though on different floors. The respondent had purchased the properties in the joint name of the parties, though it may have been at the instance of the appellant. The inter se allegations of the parties of not cooking food, not paying certain electricity charges, house tax, etc. for some time on account of business loss, having ego issues, about difference in educational qualifications, etc. in our view are nothing more than a normal wear and tear of an ordinary married life. The issue of cruelty having been framed, the petition could only have been allowed if the petitioner therein would have proved cruelty. We find that the petitioner therein has not been able to substantiate the allegations of cruelty made by him and thus the judgment of the Family Court dissolving the marriage between the parties suffers from infirmity of law and deserves to be set aside. No doubt, that irretrievable breakdown of marriage has been blended with cruelty in recent judgments so as to dissolve the marriage between the parties, where the marriage is completely dead and beyond repair. We do not agree with the Family Court that in the present case the marriage is beyond salvage. In any case, irretrievable breakdown of marriage by itself is not a ground under the Hindu Marriage Act, on which alone a decree of divorce can be passed. Even applying the judgments relied upon by the Family Court, the irretrievable breakdown of marriage can only be a circumstance which the Court can take into account when cruelty is proved and blend them together. We have already observed above that in this case, the respondent could not substantiate the allegations of cruelty, we cannot sustain the judgment of the Family Court on account of irretrievable breakdown of marriage alone.” Rightly so!

                                       There can be no gainsaying the irrefutable fact that it is then finally held in the last para 22 that, “We thus find that the impugned judgment of the Family Court is not sustainable in law and we hereby set aside the same and allow the present appeal.”

                                        In conclusion, it needs no Albert Einstein to conclude that the Delhi High Court in this latest and noteworthy judgment has very rightly taken a nuanced stand that divorce cannot be granted only on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. But yes, it can certainly be a circumstance which the court can take into account when cruelty is proved and which is a ground of divorce and blend them together. In this present case since the ground of cruelty could not be proved, therefore the Delhi High Court declined to pass a decree of divorce only on account of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage and allowed the appeal while setting aside the Family Court order of dissolving the marriage on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as it was not sustainable in law! Very rightly so! All the courts must always adhere to the balanced stand taken by the Delhi High Court in all such similar cases!   

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[foresthillsirisgardens-blog]

all Bearded iris have stalks with a height of 70 cm (27 1/2 inches) and above, with branching and many buds. Each stalk, in itself, makes a stately arrangement in the garden or in a vase. In addition to a wide variety of colors and patterns, the TBs display other qualities (such as ruffling and lacing) more frequently than do the other classes. The highest award is the

Wister Medal

. Related links:

Cultivation of Bearded Irises

;

Historic Irises

;

Tall-Bearded Symposia

Example:

'Millennium Falcon'

Select a letter range to browse TB's by variety name:  

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 Tall bearded Irises are in the 5 alphabetical webs following below.

An advanced search checking the box “Search all public webs” will search all the TB webs. Or you can go to a particular web and search there, Or, the best way to find something is to browse a letter range above. First web;

A through E

Second web;

F through J

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Fifth web;

U through Z

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[soovaryit]

CW: DV, sexual assault, abuse

When domestic violence is spoken about in media or popular discourse it mainly refers to explicit abuse within heterosexual romantic relationships as well as being cis male on female. But obviously abuse manifests in a million different ways to a million combinations of people within in all kinds of relationships. This post is mainly a selection of articles that will act as a starting point to recognising abuse, as well as how to proceed if you believe that you are in a toxic and unhealthy relationship. This week I went to a workshop on consent and relationships, which was facilitated by the Sexual Wellbeing Foundation and aims to develop sex education beyond the physical act of sex - teaching people about what healthy relationship patterns look like and safeguarding them against abuse - education that is not as prevalent as it should be in schools, universities, workplaces - pretty much any institution you can think of.  It can be excruciatingly difficult and even humiliating to come to terms with the fact that you’re feeling manipulated and abused but websites and projects like these provide a positive outlook and sense of community between those who have been effected. Remember to keep yourself safe and never tolerate other peoples unkindness at the expense of your own wellbeing.   Identifying: Bustle -  9 Signs You're Being Emotionally Abused In Your Relationship, Because Love Shouldn't Feel Manipulative Stop Relationship Abuse - Types of abuse  Livestrong - What is physical abuse in a relationship? XOJane - Domestic Violence isn’t always physical and On Being a Transgender Woman in an Abusive Relationship  Galdem - Women Rape too and My Fearful Life: Growing Up With Domestic Violence  Everyday Feminism - Let’s Talk About Domestic Violence in the Trans* Community  Huffington Post - You’re Not Going Crazy: 5 Sure Signs You’re Being Emotionally Abused and Identifying the More Subtle Signs of an Abusive Relationship Recovering:  Psychology Today - What Drives Emotional Abuse and How to Begin to Recover Healthy Place -  How To Recover From Emotional Trauma of Domestic Abuse Good Therapy -  Recovering from Narcissistic Abuse Brene Brown - Boundaries, Empathy and Compassion 

[marymosley]

Delhi HC: Divorce cannot be granted only on Ground of Irretrievable breakdown of Marriage

It cannot be missed out that in a latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment titled SG Vs RKG in MAT.APP.(F.C.) 5/2018 delivered on July 8, 2019 and authored by Justice Jyoti Singh for herself and Justice GS Sistani of Delhi High Court, it has been categorically and convincingly held that irretrievable breakdown of marriage alone cannot be a ground of divorce and can only be considered as a circumstance by the Court if it is merged with cruelty. This is certainly a hugely significant development with far reaching consequences and all the litigants in such similar cases must always keep this commendable ruling in mind! It has to be borne in mind that the Delhi High Court was hearing an appeal challenging a decree of divorce, passed by the Family Court in a petition filed by the respondent.

                                          First and foremost, the ball is set rolling in para 1 wherein it is pointed out that, “The present appeal has been filed challenging the judgment dated 23.09.2017 passed by the Family Court in HMA No. 783/14 whereby the petition under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as ‘HMA’) filed by the respondent/husband for dissolution of marriage has been allowed and the marriage has been dissolved by a decree of divorce.”  

                                  Be it noted, it is then pointed out in para 2 that, “The relevant facts necessary for the disposal of the present appeal are that the parties got married on 06.07.1989 as per Hindu rites and ceremonies at Shahjahanpur, U.P. Two sons were born out of the said wedlock on 09.08.1990 and 29.10.1992 respectively and are in the care and custody of the Appellant at Janakpuri, Delhi. The parties are living separately since the year 2008.”

                            As it turned out, para 3 then makes the picture of this case more clear by pointing out in detail that, “Disputes and differences having arisen between the parties, the respondent/husband filed a petition under Section 13(1)(ia) of HMA seeking dissolution of marriage by passing a decree of divorce on the ground of ‘cruelty’. The grounds on which the divorce petition was filed were that it was a simple marriage and no dowry articles were demanded by the respondent herein. It was pleaded by the respondent (petitioner in the Family Court) that since the very beginning, the appellant (respondent before the Family Court) was not inclined to live in the matrimonial home with his other family members and showed her aggressive attitude. In order to get mental peace in his matrimonial life, the respondent herein started residing separately from his other family members but still the attitude of the appellant did not change. The respondent further pleaded that the appellant always ridiculed him in social circle because he had studied only up to class 10th whereas the appellant is post graduate in economics. It was also pleaded by the respondent that the appellant never used to do the household work and picked up a quarrel whenever asked to do the same.”

                                   Delving deeper, it is then pointed out in para 4 that, “The further case of the respondent was that the appellant used to beat him up with the help of her brother to pressurize him to transfer the entire property in her name and the appellant had filed a complaint on 02.01.2009 with PS Janakpuri. Both children, according to him, were under the dominance and control of the appellant and she always alienated him from the children. She even filed a false and fabricated complaint at the CAW Cell but due to lack of evidence, the same was disposed of against her. The appellant is also stated to have filed a case under Section 12 of the DV Act.”

                                 While continuing in the same vein, it is then further pointed out in para 5 that, “The respondent was also aggrieved that the appellant never respected the elders and other family members of the respondent and very often abused them. Her conduct was such that the respondent had gone into depression and even suffered losses in the business and was thus constrained to file the divorce petition.”  

                                     On the contrary, we then notice that the appellant while presenting an entirely different version and contesting the petitioners version as is illustrated in para 6 which states that, “The appellant contested the petitioner by filing her written statement on 26.05.2010. It was pleaded therein that she was never given even a single penny for running the household expenses in the last 3 years; she was ill-treated by her in-laws; on many occasions she had been turned out of the matrimonial home; all her streedhan was misappropriated by her in-laws; the respondent was ill-tempered and violent and both she and her children remained in a state of tension, depression, constant fear and trauma, and that the present petition is only a counter blast to her DV Act case. On merits, the appellant had denied the cruelties alleged in the petition. It was pleaded that she was often beaten for bringing insufficient dowry. The respondent was for the last 3 years having his meals in his brother’s house and in fact, it was her brother who was with great difficulty looking after the basic needs of the appellant and her two sons.”

                                    To be sure, it is then spelt out in para 7 that, “In the replication filed by the respondent, he reiterated the averments made in the petition and denied those in the written statements which were contrary to his case. On 08.12.2010, the following issues were framed by the Family Court:

“(i) Whether the respondent has treated the petitioner with cruelty? OPP

  (ii) Whether the petitioner is entitled to decree of dissolution of marriage U/s. 13(1)(ia) of HMA? OPP

  (iii) Relief”.”

                                    Furthermore, it is then stated in para 8 that, “In support of his case, the respondent examined himself as PW-1 and tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit PW-1/1 and relied upon documents viz. Exhibit PW-1/A to E. Documents CW-1/D and E were photocopies and were marked as Mark X and Y. He was cross-examined by the appellant herein. In order to prove his case, the respondent also examined PW-2, who was the record clerk from DDU Hospital with reference to the MLC of the respondent Mark PX-1. PW-3 was the Head Constable from PS Janakpuri who brought the DD Register to prove the DD entry no. 36B dated 11.07.2008 which was a complaint filed by the appellant. He testified that the record of the complaint had been destroyed. He brought the photocopy of the MLC dated 11.07.2008 and which was marked as Mark B. PW-4 was the CMO from DDU Hospital, who was brought to prove the MLC prepared by Dr. Sajid on 11.07.2008 as Dr. Sajid had left the Hospital and his whereabouts were not known.”  

                                       Needless to say, para 9 then states that, “In support of her case, the appellant wife tendered her affidavit in evidence vide Exhibit DW-1/A and relied on documents Exhibit DW-1/1 to DW-1/3. She was extensively cross-examined by the respondent. Son of the parties namely Ankit Gupta appeared as RW-2 and tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit RW-2/A and relied on the Bank Account statement of the respondent as Mark A. RW-3 is Niranjan Garg, the brother of the appellant, who tendered his affidavit in evidence as Exhibit RW-3/A and relied on a copy of the Bank Passbook of RW-1 as Exhibit RW-3/1. RW-4 was the Record Clerk from DDU Hospital who proved the MLC of Niranjan Garg and identified the signatures of the doctors on the MLC.”

                                   To put things in perspective, it is then envisaged in para 10 that, “The Family Court after examining the pleadings and the evidence on record, noticed that the parties jointly owned two houses, one in which they were living and the other was let out and the rent was being received by the appellant. It has come on record that the respondent is living on the first floor whereas the appellant is residing on the ground floor of the matrimonial home. As regards the MLC’s produced by both sides, the Family court found that in the MLC of the respondent there was a history of assault as mentioned by the Police but the perpetrator of the assault was not mentioned. In the MLC produced by the appellant, of her brother, RW-3, the claim of the appellant that in the quarrel both the respondent and her brother sustained injuries was found as not amounting to an act of cruelty on the part of the appellant.”

                                    Truth be told, it is then revealed in para 11 that, “The Family Court, however, came to a finding that the appellant was not cooking food for him, she was comfortable with her sons and would render no emotional support to her husband and his non-contribution to the house tax and electricity charges etc. could be understood, as he was earning a meagre amount, by doing a typing job and had no kind of support from the appellant. The Family Court has heavily relied on the cross-examination of the appellant where according to the Court, she had admitted that she alleged extra-marital relationship of the respondent with his Bhabhi and concluded that such single utterance amounted to grave mental cruelty to the respondent as a marital life is based on trust and faith between the parties.”

                                 Not stopping here, it is then held in para 12 that, “In addition to the above, the Family Court found that in any event, the parties had been living separately since 2008 and the marriage was dead for all purposes. To allow such a marriage tocontinue only for name sake, would be travesty of justice and as the appellant only ridiculed the respondent because of his low educational status and traumatized him in various ways, the marriage deserved to be dissolved.”

                                To add muscle and credibility to its findings, it is then held in para 13 that, “Reliance was placed on the judgments in MAT Appeal (FC) 36/2014 decided on 21.10.2016 titled Sandhya Kumari & Ors. vs. Manish Kumar & Ors., Madhvi Ramesh Dudani vs. Ramesh  K. Dudani, 2006 (2) Mh LJ 307 and Shrikumar V. Unnitan vs. Manju K. Nair, 2007 (4) KHC 807, where the concept of cruelty was blended by the Court with irretrievably breakdown of marriage to pass a decree of divorce.”

                                   After observing in para 14 that, “We have heard learned counsels for the parties and examined their rival submissions together with the pleadings and evidence on record”, it is then held in para 15 that, “A perusal of the pleadings and evidence exchanged between the parties indicates that the basic cause of differences having arisen between the parties was the difference in their level of education as the appellant is a post graduate while the respondent is 10th pass. Respondent was admittedly well off financially at the time when the marriage was solemnized but eventually he suffered losses in business and this became a contributory factor in the differences getting enlarged between the parties. The judgment of the family court reveals that both the parties had claimed that mutual duties and obligations were not being fulfilled towards each other, such as the appellant wife was not cooking food; was comfortable with her sons and was even guilty of assaulting the respondent in support of which an MLC was produced. The respondent/husband on the other hand did not pay any maintenance to the wife and had assaulted the brother of the appellant on account of which he sustained injuries. He never paid household expenses either, such as, electricity bills, house tax, etc. The Family Court, however, has not given any finding as to how these alleged acts by the appellant amounted to cruelty. The petition had been filed by the respondent/husband seeking a decree of divorce under Section 13 (i) (i-a) of HMA and an issue was framed as to whether the appellant had treated the respondent with cruelty. The respondent, however, could not prove any of these allegations. In the absence of the respondent substantiating, with evidence, the acts alleged a decree cannot be passed. In fact, the Family Court has itself not given any finding how the allegations in the petition were proved or how they amounted to cruelty.”  

                                In hindsight, it is then further observed in para 16 that, “A perusal of the impugned judgment shows that what has primarily weighed with the Family Court to conclude that the appellant had treated the respondent with mental cruelty was the alleged deposition of the wife in her cross-examination that she had alleged that her husband had extramarital relationship with his bhabhi. In fact, the Family Court has observed in para 27 of the judgment that the appellant has in her cross-examination admitted that she had made such an allegation. This has heavily weighed with the Family Court to come to a conclusion that this single utterance by the wife amounted to grave mental cruelty towards the husband. The Family Court has observed that the appellant being an educated lady and an owner of two joint properties, given to her by her husband, should not have defamed him in such a manner. Another factor which has weighed to the Family Court is that the parties have been separated since 2008 and it was practically a dead marriage and thus applying the judgments in the case of Sandhya Kumari (supra), it is found that there is an irretrievable breakdown of marriage.”

                          What’s more, while lifting curtains on the grave charges levelled, it is then pointed out in para 19 that, “The argument is that in the written statement the appellant had averred that she was tortured for getting insufficient dowry and the respondent along with Shashi Gupta used to beat her every now and then. Her jethani Smt. Shashi Gupta used to interfere in every matter connected with her and used to often shout and scream to humiliate her. It is in this context that the appellant has volunteered in the cross examination that her husband along with her bhabhi used to abuse her and threaten her and that is why she dragged his name with the bhabhi. He clarified that there was no allegation that the respondent was having an extra-marital affair with the bhabhi. He submitted that no such statement was made in the cross-examination or any part of the pleadings before the Family Court and the question of admitting such a statement did not arise.”

                                     More crucially, it is then enunciated in para 20 that, “Having perused the written statement and the cross-examination we are in agreement with the learned counsel for the appellant that the Family Court has erred in holding that the appellant had admitted to having made an allegation of extra-marital affair of her husband with his bhabhi. The cross-examination and the written statement do not support this observation of the Family Court. Thus, taking this as an admission and making this as a ground of mental cruelty so as to dissolve the marriage between the parties, in our view, is erroneous.” We thus see that the Delhi High Court did not mince any words to point out where the Family Court erred in its findings!

                               Most crucially, it is then very rightly held by the Delhi High Court in para 21 that, “As regards the irretrievable breakdown of marriage, as observed by the Family Court, we find that this part of the finding of the Family Court is also erroneous and not supported from the record of the case. It has been a common case of the parties that the parties have been living together in the same house, though on different floors. The respondent had purchased the properties in the joint name of the parties, though it may have been at the instance of the appellant. The inter se allegations of the parties of not cooking food, not paying certain electricity charges, house tax, etc. for some time on account of business loss, having ego issues, about difference in educational qualifications, etc. in our view are nothing more than a normal wear and tear of an ordinary married life. The issue of cruelty having been framed, the petition could only have been allowed if the petitioner therein would have proved cruelty. We find that the petitioner therein has not been able to substantiate the allegations of cruelty made by him and thus the judgment of the Family Court dissolving the marriage between the parties suffers from infirmity of law and deserves to be set aside. No doubt, that irretrievable breakdown of marriage has been blended with cruelty in recent judgments so as to dissolve the marriage between the parties, where the marriage is completely dead and beyond repair. We do not agree with the Family Court that in the present case the marriage is beyond salvage. In any case, irretrievable breakdown of marriage by itself is not a ground under the Hindu Marriage Act, on which alone a decree of divorce can be passed. Even applying the judgments relied upon by the Family Court, the irretrievable breakdown of marriage can only be a circumstance which the Court can take into account when cruelty is proved and blend them together. We have already observed above that in this case, the respondent could not substantiate the allegations of cruelty, we cannot sustain the judgment of the Family Court on account of irretrievable breakdown of marriage alone.” Rightly so!

                                       There can be no gainsaying the irrefutable fact that it is then finally held in the last para 22 that, “We thus find that the impugned judgment of the Family Court is not sustainable in law and we hereby set aside the same and allow the present appeal.”

                                        In conclusion, it needs no Albert Einstein to conclude that the Delhi High Court in this latest and noteworthy judgment has very rightly taken a nuanced stand that divorce cannot be granted only on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. But yes, it can certainly be a circumstance which the court can take into account when cruelty is proved and which is a ground of divorce and blend them together. In this present case since the ground of cruelty could not be proved, therefore the Delhi High Court declined to pass a decree of divorce only on account of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage and allowed the appeal while setting aside the Family Court order of dissolving the marriage on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as it was not sustainable in law! Very rightly so! All the courts must always adhere to the balanced stand taken by the Delhi High Court in all such similar cases!   

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