Chapter 16

Two three days later ..TR home ...front room

Swayam and sharon walked in to find rey s mom sitting on the couch with the laptop

open in front of her Aunty! Sharon came in happily and gave her a side hug , she smiled

back at both of them her face breaking into genuine big welcoming smiles kaise ho aap?

Wheres uncle/ hz he? Sharon looking all around...aur rey taani kahaan hain?

Take a breath sharon...uncle and taani both gone to office ..rey s gone to..

Kya office? So soon? Aur taani abhi tak nahin aayi ? so late? Looking at the clock

Reys mom frowned and sighed dont tell me.this time im bugged with him..but they had

this really important deal and uncle had to go to sign it aur taani...poor thing...us

bichaari ko tho do hafthe se ek minute time mila nahin hoga rest karne keliye...shes

been so busy, tired ...and shaking her head looked at swayam, smiled again and changing

the topic said so how was the trip? Looks like it was fun and useful...

And started talking about how successful the trip had been etc.,

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After a while all three of them talking still while rey walked in and went straight upto his

mom not realising that ss were sitting on one side , she smiled at him and was about to

open her mouth when his irritated voice shut her up

Seriously yeh project ka kaam aur kitni din tak chalega? And ive told her so many times

not to work in the evenings...

Kya hua? Reys mom asked as SS exchanged glances and looked surprised at his ruder

than usual tone

What the hell! She missed the doctors appointment aur kya? Main do ghante se uska

hospital mein wait karrahaan tha and she doesnt turn up and holding his mobile up and

3 msgs saying she s busy

Oh! It should have been over by now but you know how it s rey...she told him her voice

trying to calm him down...tum log kal subah chalejaana to meet the doctor

Actually mom i dont know how it is... He snapped back...her backs been aching

continuously and the doctors going for a vacation is hafthe..reys mom s face fell..and

shes busy doing this nonsense stuff , i knew ki wo apna khayal nahin rakhegi agar...

Sorry rey his moms low voice stopped his rant and he looked at her , she had such a

guilty look on her face that all his anger vanished , my mistake,i know i was the one who

forced her into this working business and now shes stuck with it.

No mom, mera wo matlab nahin tha...i wasnt ...he sighed and running his hand in his

hair sat next to her

...aur phir last ten days ive been so busy and worried for dad that shes stuck with my

work as well.. her eyes went slightly moist..and she didnt even want to work in the

first place

she did what she wanted to do...main bas usse aaj ke liye gussa hoon mom..aapki galthi

nahin and gave her a side hug feeling bad he had taken out his frustration on her...

sorry

Me too she said wiping her eyes and then taking a deep breath, u dont worry , she ll be

fine. Backaches a normal thing at this stage, she needs a rest bas. Waise bhi tum log

nilesh ki wedding ke liye off lenewaale ho na tab se i ll make sure she has less stuff or

even nothing to do. Okay?

Sorry he repeated and looked guilty ,i wasnt complaining ... im just bugged with her

She smiled her usual smile and patting his cheeks said i know but i didnt expect her to

turn out so determined kisike baare mein bhi..he smiled his eyes a little proud of taani..

Swayam looked with a surprised smile and sharon watching them with happy smile

mom looked at them too and said u should see the way she has been handling the office

so cool ki pata bhi nahin chalega ki kab itna kuch kaam hogaya hain but then shook her

head and turning to rey u know what i think rey, you are a bad influence on her, tum

hothe ho tho uska saara interest aur concentration tumpe rehtha hain!

He grinned happily, she hit side of his head and said now stop grinning like an idiot and

look around

Rey turned to where she was looking and his face breaking into huge smile went

towards SS and hugged them both together happy to see them after a long break

Tum log kab aaye? Hw was everything? Yahaan ka paperwork hogaya? And the talk

moved to d3 etc.,Mom left smiling at them

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sometime later

The gang s all settled down on the floor, couch everywhere discussing the teams

successful trip filling rey in on everything ..no aashi...taani hasnt yet turned up

Rey yeh taani kahaan hain? Uncle bhi nahin taani bhi nahin aur hum log unko dekhne

aaye the

She said half an hour rey replied looking at the mobile msg and frowning still mentally

scolding her , swayam and sharon excahnged glances at his look and grinned at each other

How is she? Swayam asked suddenly as the rest of them talked amongst themselves

Rey looked up from the mobile and catching the concern replied okay but her backaches

troubling her

Her ya tumhe trouble karrahaan hain swayam teased him

Very funny..okay troubling me ...maybe shes just tired but still...swayam nodded

understanding his worry

So she s happy office se?

Rey smiled she seems happy swayam..and then laughed thrilled remembering the ABC guy but happy or not, shes good at it..swayam looked questioniing

...you should have seen the way she manipulated some guy and got stuff done her way .

.i mean agar sharon aisa karthi tho its expected but taani ...

something smacked him on the head and he looked up to see it was sharons hand ouch

This is for commenting on me and then smacked him once more

Ab yeh kiskeliye? Rey Rubbing his head

For not trusting ki taani can do that.main itne din se kehrahin hoon ki she cant aur she

doesnt want to do mein farak hain sharon said including swayam in the glare making

him give her his love you smile and rey grumble usse tho nahin maara

TAANI...and they turned to see the rest of the gang near the door as taani laughed

happily at their hugs , sharon joined, rey got up but held himself back remembering he

had to be angry with her

You ve really...the girls had started ...uncle kahaan hain nil asked

Dad mom ke saath baahar walk ke liye gaye hain she told the guys and then I know

bohot moti hogayi hoon na pouted

NO No no the girls all denied together lying as the guys looked at each other their looks

saying yes

No i mean you are looking bright...glow hain chehre par...but tired ...hz baby...and taani pattedhertummy and they all moved to sit here and there. Rey moved to the couch

where they were sitting and adjusted the cushions so that taani s back was supported

Taani looked at rey her eyes sayng a hi ! And a sorry ...He pretended to be still angry

with her , ignored her and her face went oh no still angry

swayam smiled at their exchange, waved a hi to her she smiled at him and turned to

the girls who were now opening a big bag and showing her stuff they had bought

See this s for you...but yeh fit nahin hoga, im huge...of course it will and then another

gown ...tum yeh meri reception mein pehenlena simmi added giving her the beautiful

gown , taani eyes went wet as she looked at the dress and she smiled at simmi realisng

in it simmi s attempt at friendship

maine aap sab ko bohot miss kiya taani said wiping her eyes,The guys rolled their eyes

Haan jaise ki itne saal hogye sab ko mila nahin haina nil commented sarcastically but

softly so that the girls didnt hear but the guys laughed

Humne bhi neha said adding especially jab costumes ki mismatch hogayi thi tab ...

everyone took off with haan haan and then started explaining ...tum itne saalon se wo

sab supervise karthi thi na...tho humne kisiko bhi wo responsibility nahin di thi, first

show mein itna odd laga tha ...blah blah

But it was so good...especially aapka jo fusionwaala...taani started complimenting now

taking out another cover and stopped as she held small baby clothes in her hands...she

looked up from the clothes at the girls who all looked at her in genuine happiness and

then at rey involuntarily, he looked touched as well and she muttered Thanks

Thanks kisliye, hamara haq bantha hain neha

Aur mera sabse zyaada sharon picked out another one and showed it to her my

husbands sister and my bestfriends wife ...neha made a face at her while simmi rolled

her eyes

Basically taani we enjoyed doing the shopping rinni concluded holding up one more

baby cloth

the baby kicked , haan haan sab aapkeliye hi hain..taani replied mentally patting her

tummy which rey saw and realised she was talking to the baby

Taani humne bhi shopping ki not only these girls Vicky added and bent over all of them

picked up the cutest of the lot - small frock- and held it out saying yeh mera choice tha

Thanks vicky..taani smiled at him holding the frock at his chest level

Agar boy hua tho na taani this you can give back to vicky neha told her giving vicky a look

No ways vicky went and held reys shoulder confidently im sure it ll be a girl..kyun rey?

What do you think?

Rey looked at him slightly embarrassed as all of them stared waiting for his response and

catching taani s twinkle in the eye said anything! I dont know

Arre you should know, tumhe nahin pata hoga tho aur kisko pata hoga? Everyone laughed

as rey continued to look embarrassed and then vicky putting his arm around him said

but whatever it is rey will be worlds best dad kyun taani? Taani nodded grinning at an

embarrassed rey

that i will be vicky , mujhe itne saalon se tumhaare dekhbaal karne ke aadat hain

and nil laughed and laughed ...making everyone laugh more

But i wish its a girl, sharon said dreamily, simmi nodded, itni acchi lagegi na haan and

the girls went to dreaming mode ,the guys shook their heads and swayam smiled at all

of them having been quiet throughout

She looked different kaise ? Pata nahin but more prettier definitely

waise aashi kahaan hain taani asked inbetween all the activity looking around and

putting the clothes back

Before anyone could answer, Taani dinner time rey announced putting an end to all the

baby talk and gave her a stern glance, she got up and walked to the kitchen immediately

not wanting to make him get more irritated the rest of them looked at him and grinned

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Kitchen

Taani munching, humming a tune something and trying to call, she turned to find

swayam smiling and smiled back at him

Hi bhai! she tried the number again telling him yeh aashi kahaan hain bhai? Aaj bhi nahin aayi

Aashi tho pehle hi waapas aagayi thi na taani, 10 days back...she stopped trying the

mobile and turned to him, rey ke saath , she felt the uneasiness return again and tried to

fight against it kyun? Tumse baat nahin hui? She shook her head, ok he nodded and

catching the uneasy look on her face asked kya hua? Tum teek ho?

She looked but what was she going to say? That she was jealous? For no reason ? Ya phir

reason hain ? She shook her head vigorously making swaaym stare at her and heard her

telling herself shut up taani paagal mat bano and then turned to a questioning swayam

kya chupaarhin ho? She shook her head and turned away to look at the kadai he would

laugh at her

he moved and gave her a quick side hug holding her longer for a moment than usual, she

hugged him back surprised ..he seemed to be saying something she didnt catch

She moved away still thinking of aashi and asked kya hua? He shook his head... laughed

uve changed taani...she looked back at him about to say no but then stopped at the

affectionate way in which he was talking, something stuck in her throat...i just realised ..

matlab it just struck me..tum...aunty, i mean reys mom kuch tumhaare baare mein

kehrahin thi...taani looked tensed...no nothing bad, infact good ..more than good , ki

tumne uncle ki itna khayal rakha and you were alone and office ko bhi...

Taani laughed and turned to the counter Seriously batao bhai Koi choice hota hain kya

aise situation mein? Strong hone ke elawa? Jitna mujhe samaj aaya maine kiya bas

Swaaym looked at her and shook his head ...she just didnt think what she did was out of

the way at all but this time it wasnt because her confidence was low..sharon had always

been right about her..it wasnt that she couldnt , it was that she didnt want to do stuff

He smiled at her choice hamesha hota hain taani and im really glad ki tum sahin choice

karthi rahin ho ...suddenly ek mahine mein you seem all big - waving his hands up and

down, she made a face indicating she thought she had become fat- he shook his head

and explained- grown up but somehow mereliye na tum shayad hamesha ...bachha hi

rahoge he laughed thinking of the term he used to pull her leg with soory but im really proud of you bachha his voice for once showing all the affection he felt , for a

while back to their childhood with no judgement attached to the words, no advise

nothing except affectionate pride

She stopped whatever she was doing and turned to him , he hadnt called her that in

years , her eyes filled up and she sat on the stool.Taani ...

she looked up at him her eyes full and said bhai aapko pata hain mujhe kaunsa baby

chahiye? He shook his head wondering where that had come from suddenly

ek beti....his expression was still like okay so why that now... maa ki tarah ..aur main bhi

usse bachha bhulaaoongi jaise maa mujhe bulathi thi ...

the tears flowed out, swayams face changed...shit he never ever thought of it,she missed

her maa aur aap mujhe jaise tease karthe the na, waise hi meri baby ko bhi tease karna

bachha bulaake and he felt his eyes burn with tears unshed ,he held her close to him

letting her cry ...

He got a glimpse of her brightness as a girl and then suddenly a lot of stuff he had never

understood about her, things that had irritated him about her while younger or now

everything seemed to fall in place...her insecurities, low confidence...she was always

scared of others reactions.. And then got another glimpse of her teen year self hugging

naanimaa sometime after chachi had expired.. her relatives his parents as much as they

liked her, there was a tinge of pity...

and himself, she had run behind him as a girl but main khudh apni hi duniya mein khoya

hua hoon hamesha, papa ke saath fight, phir sharon phir d3...she always felt like an

outsider with everyone except with maybe naanimaa and ...REY ...no wonder she was

crazy about him and felt a feeling of gratitude that rey loved her like that and hoped ki

it would never go

And he thought he knew her! He smiled to himself wryly and then shhing her ran his

hands over her head ...he realised she had found herself, her own space only now ..her sobs were reducing

Now stop taani, tum apni krishnaji se baat karo ek girl baby ke liye , wo tho hamesha

tumhaari sunthe haina! She smiled a little and wiped her eyes...there good ..agar rey

aayega tho meri khair nahin abhi, dont cry...he smiled at her smiling at his stupid joke ,

waise bhi aaj usne aunty ko bhi...and stopped not wanting to look like he was

complaining, thankfully ,she moved away and wiped her eyes and smiled sorry aise hi...

he nodded

Chalo he said picking up some stuff and both started walking out tum kitni sochthi ho

Aapki behen hoon bhai and both of them laughed as he agreed and said

taani i wish you get a girl making her smile broadly

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this whole swaym taani scene was an afterthought, i dont know from where its come 😊