Taani was coming back home after finishing her last internship in Indore, which she needed to complete her MBA. She was gone for more than a month and missed her family a lot. She lives in a huge mansion and has a joint family, it can be pretty chaotic sometimes but now that her MBA is done and over with, she's excited to spend some quality time with her family.

"Ammaaa hum aa gaye!" (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂 𝑰'𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆!) She let go of her trolley bag and ran towards her grandma with a big smile on her face. As soon as she saw her walking out of her room, she tackled her in a tight hug then gave a kiss on her cheek.

"Aree meri laadli, kahan chali gayi thi? Humari aankhein taras gayi tumhe dekhne ke liye." (𝑶𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆? 𝑴𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.) Grandma said with a tearful smile before kissing her forehead and bending to touch her feet as Taani gave her blessings by patting her head. (This is kind of a ritual done in Indian households.)

"Ab kahin jaane ki zarurat nhi hai hume chhor kar itne dino ke liye." (𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.) She said while playfully patting Taani's cheeks.

"Aap ko chhor kar hum kese kahin ja sakte hain Amma?" (𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒎𝒂?) She cheekily asked with a teasing smile.

"Baatein karwa lo aapse bas." (𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.)

"Achcha wese baaki sab kahan hain?" (𝑶𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆?) She asked while looking around.

"Arey tum bohot achche samay pe aayi ho. Sab bahar hall mein baithe hain, meri ek saheli aayi hui hai apne bete aur bahu ke sath. Chalo tumko sabse milwate hain hum." (𝑶𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘. 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆.) Dadi said already dragging her towards the drawing room along with her.

"Par dadi, aap dekho to hume hum kitne kharab lag rahe hain! Mujhe muhh to dho lene do" (𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒅! 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕.) She said trying to pry her hands away from dadi.

"Bilkul gudiya ke jese lag rahi ho, ab chalo." (𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.)

She sighed, already knowing dadi's not going to let her go. They entered the drawing room, and as expected her whole family was surprised to see her.

She felt very emotional seeing everyone after such a long time and got a little teary eyed. Almost everyone was gathered over there, mom-dad, her brother, his wife and their daughter, Aunty (chachi) and her daughter. It looks like the guests are pretty important if everyone is here to meet them.

"Taani! Tum kab aayi?" (𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊! 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆?) Her mother Siya asked as soon as she saw her. She came and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Bas das minute pehle." (𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐.)

"Didi!" Her younger cousin (Chachi ki beti) Kavya shouted and ran to give her a hug. "I missed you Di." She said with a tearful gaze.

"Aww I missed you too Kavu." Taani said palming her cheeks and giving her a kiss on her forehead.

"Tumne bataya kyu nhi mujhe ki tum aa rahi ho, mai airport aa jata na tumhe lene k liye." (𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕) Her elder brother Aveer said while giving her a hug and then bending to touch her feet and she gave him a blessing by patting his head and saying "khush raho" (𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚)

"Umm... Airport nahi, railway station." (𝑼𝒎𝒎... 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 ) She mumbled knowing all hell is going to break loose now.

"Kya!? Tum train se aayi ho? Wo bhi akele? Kya tumhe pata nahi hai kitna dangerous ho sakta hai akele travel karna? Aur hume pata bhi nhi hai ki tum ghar aa rahi ho! Raaste mein kuch ho jata to?" (𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕!? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆? 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆! 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅?) He shouted at her not caring about anyone else. His fear for her safety made him unbothered about the other people present in that room. Taani knew if she didn't take hold of the situation and resolve it soon, it would escalate pretty quickly. Her brother's protectiveness knew no bounds.

"Par kuch hua to nahi na bhaiya aur mai AC compartment mai thi and it was pretty safe so don't worry." (𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝑪 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚.) She said trying to make him understand.

"Pretty safe!? You think I'll be relieved now that you told me it was 'pretty safe'?" Okay she was already tired of this conversation.

"Bhaiya trains are safe and I'm big enough to travel alone and DON'T WORRY I'm safe and standing right in front of you." By that time everyone, including the guests were looking at them in amusement. But she was not surprised by his behaviour at all. Her brother has always been very protective of her. He is like her unpaid personal body guard, her safety is his utmost concern so it doesn't surprise her in the least that he's bursting like a cracker in anger.

"You are not traveling ever again. In fact you're not going anywhere from now on!" He said making her eyes widen in panic. She knew he was not even kidding about it. She still remembered just how much she had to fake cry and how many tantrums she had to throw to even be allowed to go to Indore, which she was allowed to go only on the condition that she'll stay at their Nani's house and not in a PG. 'He can't be serious right now', she thought.

"C'mon bhaiya that's not fair, I just wanted to surprise you all." She gave him her best puppy eyes and even managed to shed some tears. Oh what all you have to do to get things your way.

"Okay okay fine, don't cry! Just don't do it ever again." He said in slight panic giving her a tight hug and patting her head. Behind his shoulder, she wiped her crocodile tears and gave her bhabhi a wink, in return she gave her a thumbs up with a huge smile.

"Papa!" (𝑫𝒂𝒅!) She exclaimed in happiness and ran towards him to engulf him in a hug. She really loves him, he's the person she looks up to and Ranveer has always supported her in everything her entire life.

"Meri rani beti, humesha khush raho." (𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚.) He kissed her on top of her head and she moved ahead to greet her other family members as well.

"Namaste Chachi" (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚) She said giving her a hug.

"Taani, tum to ese gayab hui jese apne sasural hi chali gayi ho. Yaad nahi aati thi humari? Ek phone tak nahi kiya jata hai tumse." (𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒘'𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑫𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍.) She said, playfully slapping her on her cheeks.

'Inki baatein to shadi se hi shuru hoti hai aur usi pe khatam, pata nahi kitni jaldi hai inhe meri shadi ki.' (𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅?) She thought sarcastically.

"Chachi bilkul time hi nahi milta tha sach mein." (𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓.)

"Buaa!" Her two year old niece (bhaiya ki beti) Kiara shouted in her baby voice, looking as cute as ever, trying to jump down from her mother's lap. Bhabhi let her stand on her own and she didn't even wait a second before making her way towards Taani on her cute little wobbly legs and jumped into her arms.

"Oh meri pyari Kiki! I missed you so much!" (𝑶𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑲𝒊𝒌𝒊! 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉!) She gave her an open mouthed kiss on her cheeks making it all sticky with saliva as Taani hugged her tightly to herself. 'My goodness she smells so nice, I feel like eating her!' Thought Taani as she deliberately sniffed and rubbed her nose on her neck making her giggle loudly. As she started to lower her down on the floor once again Kiki fisted a few strands of her hair and started crying, refusing to let go of her.

"Taani ye hain humari school ki saheli Meenal Singhania, unke bete Aadesh aur unki bahu Divya. Aur Meenal ye hai humari poti Tanisha, jise hum sab pyar se Taani bulate hain" (𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒚𝒂. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊.) Grandma introduced her to her guests and vice-versa.

Seeing as Kiki's not letting go of her anytime soon, she turned to greet the guests with Kiki safely tucked in her arms. "Namaste Dadi, namaste Uncle and Aunty." (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂, 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑼𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚.) She greeted the guests while joining her hands and slightly bowing her head in respect.

"Namaste beta" (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅) Meenal said patting her head lovingly.

"Lagta hai sabki laadli ho yahan pe haan?" (𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚'𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.) Divya aunty said teasingly.

"Keh sakte hain..." (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕...) Taani replied with an embarrassed smile.

"Bethooo" (𝑺𝒊𝒕) Kiki said while trying to make her sit on the sofa. Everyone started laughing at the way she said and at the way she was clinging on to her like a Koala.

They all sat down and the conversations picked up once again.

"Taani kya kar rhi ho tum aaj kal?" (𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔?) Asked uncle Aadesh.

"Uncle I've just completed my MBA, in fact I was in Indore for the past month to complete my last internship for it." She said slightly bumping Kiki on her legs to make her giggle.

"Arey waah, lagta hai papa aur bhai ke business mai help karne ka iraada hai." (𝑶𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒘, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.)

"Yes that is the plan but let's see, abhi kuch socha nahi hai." (𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘) She said with a smile and it was true, she still had to wait a few months to receive her degree and as she had been so busy since the last two years completing her MBA, she didn't feel like jumping into anything right now.

"Well if you ever get bored over here, 'Singhania Industries' is always ready to welcome you. My son Yuvraj is taking care of business now that I've retired, he can guide you if you want. In fact my younger son Rishiraj is also working under him at the moment, you'll have quite a lot of fun with him being around." Aadesh uncle said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Trying to steal my daughter already Aadesh?" Ranveer said teasing him a bit. "She's not going anywhere away from me so soon." Ranveer gave his daughter a fond look, and he really meant it too, he is not letting his daughter go anywhere anytime soon.

"Ab ye hai hi itni honhaar, mai kaise na bulau ise? Mera bas chale to mai to ise abhi apne sath hi le jau." (𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓? 𝑰'𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅.) Aadesh uncle said

"Sach mai, hume to pata hi nahi tha, aapki ek itni khubsurat beti bhi hai." (𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓.) Said Divya, looking at Taani with a loving expression. 'Oh how I would love to make her my daughter-in-law. Yuvi needs someone like her to keep him in line and they would look so beautiful together and their babies will be so pretty as well! Okay Divya you should stop now. I should talk to Aadi and maa about it when we go home, maybe they'd like it as well?' Divya thought all the while looking at Taani with a smile.

Taani blushed hearing them talk about her like this. Although she's very talkative and bubbly, she still didn't know how to take compliments. Every time they'd make her a blushing mess.

All the while Meenal and Sumitra (Taani's grandma) looked at each other with a devilish smile, already planning to turn their friendship into a relationship. A few weeks ago when Meenal had called Sumitra and told her how she's looking for a granddaughter-in-law for her grandson, Sumitra couldn't stop herself from telling her about her granddaughter. She even sent a beautiful picture of her, making Meenal instantly fall in love with Taani.

They waited a few weeks as Taani was in Indore and came today just to have their family meet each other first. So that nothing looks suspicious when Meenal asks for Taani's hand in marriage. It was a total surprise for them that Taani came back today as well, now Meenal was regretting not bringing Yuvraj along with them. Oh well they will meet each other eventually.

"Asliyat mai dekhne mai to aur bhi khoobsurat hai." (𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏.) Meenal said and Sumitra looked at her with wide eyes as nobody knows that she has already seen her picture before. "Mera matlab hai bohot khoobsurat hai aapki Taani bitiya." (𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍.) Meenal said trying to cover her slip up but Aadesh was already looking at her in suspicion, he knew his mother never just slips up, she meant what she said, which makes him wonder what his devilish mother was plotting now.

Servants then entered with a tray full of tea cups and plates of biscuits and other snacks and started assembling them on the center table for everyone.

"Namaste Ramu kaka!" (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂!) Taani greeted the head caretaker of the house with a big smile. She loved Ramu kaka, he always used to play around with her when she was a child. He would teach her about gardening, planting and he even taught her how to ride a cycle. She always used to roam around with him, following him around, trying to imitate him in whatever he was doing.

"Arey Taani bitiya, tum kab aayi? Safar theek raha? Kuch pareshani to nahi hui na raaste mai?" (𝑶𝒉 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆? 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) Ramu Kaka asked with a huge smile on his face, and then sat on his knees to touch his head on her feet, as he always treated her as 'ghar ki Lakshmi' (𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒊 ). Taani then patted his head giving him her blessings saying "khush raho Ramu Kaka" (𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂 .)

He was the closest to Taani as she is the eldest daughter of the house and has always been around him. He was happy that Taani was back now. He always thought that a part of this house was missing whenever Taani was not here. There will always be a happy and lively atmosphere, whenever she was at home. There was no chance of anyone being sad if she could help it.

Taani's family knew how close she is to Ramu Kaka, he always took her blessings saying she is his lucky charm. But Singhania's were a different case, they were astonished to see their interaction.

"Sab theek tha Ramu kaka, aaram se pohoch gaye the hum ghar." (𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆.)

"Train se!" (𝑩𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏!) Avi muttered unhappily once again, still hung up on the fact that she travelled alone that too in a train.

"Arey ab bas bhi kar do bhaiya." (𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒚𝒂.) Taani said rolling her eyes.

"Namaste Shini mausi!" (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊 𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚!) Taani then greeted their cook, who has been cooking in their house for as long as she can remember. She calls her Shini mausi, as she's close to her. Shini taught her how to cook and also taught her many different kinds of cuisines.

"Namaste Taani, to aaj khaane mai rajma chawal ban raha hai fir?" (𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝒔𝒐 𝒓𝒂𝒋𝒎𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏?) Shini asked her as she knew it was her favourite.

"You're a God sent, Shini mausi!" Taani said with a huge smile. She missed her cooking the most when she used to order food in Indore. Nothing could be compared to her rajma chawal.

Singhania family looked at Taani and the way she greeted the house help. They couldn't believe a person born into such a wealthy family could be so humble and kind. Now they were more than eager to make her their daughter-in-law. They knew she would be a perfect match for Yuvraj and to carry forward their name.

All it was left was for Meenal to ask for Taani's hand in marriage and then making both the bride and groom to agree to marry each other. Easy right? Not at all!

***

Hey guys, I'm back with a new story. I tried my hand at writing almost 6 years ago but it did not work out for me at that time. With even more knowledge and practice I'm trying it once again, with something new this time. I have a vision of how I want this story to be and I'd try my best to make that vision a reality.

Your support will be very much appreciated and it'll encourage me to update quicker.

So please vote and comment.

Also, after reading the chapter if you could picture anyone as the main characters then do let me know, because I can't think of anyone who would suit perfectly in this story.

Shukriya ♥️

-Your Taani