Chapter 1

Opening the door of the Raizada Mansion, Arnav stepped in, waiting static for some time like he always did after coming back after a tiring day at work. The exhaustion plastered on his face promptly faded, making way for a smile as Khushi rushed to him, threw her arms around his neck and accomplished the usual ritual of an afternoon peck on the cheek. However, a gentle touch on his hand brought him back to reality, causing the image of Khushi to slowly disintegrate in front of him as he looked down and saw his five-year old little princess catch his pinky finger.

It was no longer the same since the past three weeks and in an attempt to divert his thoughts, Arnav had been keeping himself very busy with work. Staying within the four walls of the house would only make him reminisce each and every memory connected to her … to his Khushi. And the only source of happiness that made up for her absence to a great extent was their daughter, not that she could replace Khushi but at least he knew he had someone eagerly waiting for him to come back from office.

"Daddy, you are back. Huggy please!" Arshi uttered as she positioned herself to be cuddled by Arnav, and affectionately pulled him to the living room.

As Arnav walked through the living room, he noticed the whole family sitting on the sofa, cheerfully discussing and above all relishing golgappes. The sight of golgappes immediately transposed him to his world of dreams as Khushi's words echoed, bringing back fond memories.

"Thoda khatta … thoda meetha … thoda theeka"

An image of a smiling Khushi munching the savouries to her heart's appetite surfaced, and he smiled along as he felt her approaching him, holding his chin and popping a golgappe into his mouth. Craziness defined his Khushi, and the extent to which he was missing that craziness knew no bounds. The more he had tried to convince himself for good that she was no longer here, the more something or the other always made him feel her presence. Arnav was about to leave for his room when Nani's words made him stop.

"I can't wait for our new Bahu to come." Nani told, while simultaneously making preparations for the wedding.

"Haan Nani, it was about time. After so many days, finally she is going to bring sunshine into his life. I can no longer see him like this!" Anjali replied, and when she suddenly noticed Arnav overhearing their conversation, added "Chotte, when did you come? Come and sit with us!"

"No Di, I am tired" Arnav let out, thinking about how his family failed to understand what he was going through.

As Arnav entered his bedroom, he closed his eyes sensing Khushi's presence. Nothing had changed: the wind chime, the Salman Khan poster, her clothes … he had kept everything intact ever since that day. But only she was missing, and she was being missed. Moving towards the poolside, Arnav looked up at the inky sky, pouring his heart out to the stars.

"Khushi, can you hear me? I am sure that wherever you are, over there, you can hear my voice and feel me. Do you have any idea how much I miss you with each passing day? Why did you leave me, leave us and go?" Arnav said, as he felt a lone tear rolling down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away.

A familiar voice suddenly emanated from afar as he heard "Aaj Mausam Hai Suhana", and he immediately pronounced Khushi's name, rushing to see where it sprang from. He frantically searched around the house to know the source, while pausing a second to convince himself that he was not hallucinating but had indeed heard Khushi's voice singing her trademark song. He mentally noted how that song used to irritate him in every single way but now he was more than eager to hear it once more.

His search culminated in Arshi's room, where his eyes brimmed with sparkle seeing Arshi sitting on the floor, a syrupy half-eaten jalebi in one hand and the remote player in the other, listening to her mom's voice playing on a CD. Arnav recalled the day when he had recorded Khushi amidst one of her many singing outbursts in an attempt to tease her of her catastrophic singing skills.

"Little princess, what are you doing?" Arnav curiously asked, noticing a worried look on Arshi's face.

"Daddy, I am missing Mummy so much. That's why I am having jalebis, her favourites and mine too! And since I couldn't sleep, I thought of listening to Mummy's voice… the best lullaby ever for me" Arshi explained, settling herself in Arnav's lap.

"I am missing her too honey" Arnav expressed, stroking her hair.

"Then why can't we speak to her? Daddy, why can't we phone her like you always do with Aman uncle?" Arshi innocently asked.

"Because your Mummy is somewhere very far from us, somewhere where we cannot contact her" Arnav replied, faintly smiling at her innocence and thinking that Arshi was too small to understand him and he fondly put her to sleep.

Arnav woke up to the sound of hustle and bustle in the house, and immediately rushed to the stairs to give everyone a piece of his mind for being so loud early morning. But after what he just saw as soon as reached the stairs, he stood silent, words getting stuck in his mouth, overwhelmed by a wave of emotions. Rubbing his eyes innumerably to make sure that his eyes were not deceiving him, he slowly walked down the stairs, approaching the object of his contemplation.

He saw those pair of dark brown eyes drowning into his, and an infectious smile that gave him the much needed boost to kickstart the day and forget the pain that he had accumulated since so many days. Ignoring the presence of the family members and disregarding what they would think of, he opened his arms and embraced her into one of the tightest hugs ever for seconds that eventually turned into minutes. The two were left alone for the reunion.

"Khushi, I will never let you go again! Wherever you go now, I will come with you! Always!" Arnav argued as he broke the hug, but still holding Khushi by the waist.

"If you had come with me, then who would have taken care of our Arshi? The whole family is busy handling Nanheji's wedding preparations" Khushi replied, cupping Arnav's face.

"Arshi would have come as well!" Arnav retorted, making a serious face that earned him a gentle pat on his chest.

"Little kids are not allowed in Ayurvedic camps, I told you that before."

"By the way, how come you are here earlier than scheduled?"

"Babuji is feeling much better now Arnavji, so we came back!"

"But now I will not let this happen again! Those were the worst three weeks of my life! I was always missing you! Never will I let you leave me! I couldn't even talk to you because of the stupid network problems!"

"I missed you even more! And we did talk! Yes, every night before going to sleep, we talked, not in front of each other, not through the phone, but through the stars. We are always connected to each other Arnavji, wherever we are, and that too forever"

And as Khushi promised Arnav never to leave him alone again, they shared one more hug, soon completed by Arshi who jumped onto her parents – sealing their bond which grew more intense with every new obstacle.