Happy Birthday to whosoever's birthday it is today! May you live a long life full of wealth and happiness!❣️

After having dinner and helping out in some of the household works, Taani prepared some tea for herself and went outside to sit and relax at the swing and read her book in peace.

She had been spending quite a lot of time on this swing, either to read the book, or to just sit and listen to a few songs. It felt like she reconnected with a memory of her grandpa which she lost long ago.

Divya came outside and saw Taani sitting at the swing, with her head resting against the headrest, her book placed casually on her lap.

"Taani, meri bachchi, theek to ho?" (Taani, my child, are you alright?) Divya asked, as she made her way towards her. Taani opened her eyes in surprise, not even realising that she fell asleep. She looked up at her mother-in-law, while sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"Ji maa, pata hi nahi chala kab aankh lag gayi." (Yes mom, I didn't even realise that I fell asleep.) She said on a yawn. Divya carefully sat at the other end of the swing and patted her legs. "Thaki thaki lag rahi ho, aao let jao thodi der achcha lagega." (You seem tired, come lay down for a while, you'll feel better.) Taani smiled at her adoringly and laid her head on her lap, loving the way Divya was caressing and patting her head.

"Aap apna time kaise spend karti hain maa?" (How do you spend your time mom?) Taani asked, to which Divya let out a loud sigh before replying.

"Mera to din kahan chala jata hai mujhe khud nahi pata chalta. Kabhi kitchen mai help kardi to kabhi ghar ki safai kar di. Aur fir jabse Yuvi ne kaam sambhala hai tabse zadatar to Aadi ke sath hi waqt beet ta hai." (Even I don't know where all my day goes. Sometimes I help out in the kitchen and sometimes I clean the house as well. And since Yuvi took charge of the business, I spend most of my time with Aadi.) Taani nodded her head in acknowledgment.

After a long pause she continued. "Mujhe khana banana bohot pasand hai. Jab mai yahan shaadi karke aayi thi na, tab itna bore hoti thi ki roz kuch na kuch experiments karti rehti thi kitchen mai, aur Aadi aur maa ko taste karne ke liye kehti, ye dono ajeeb ajeeb si cheezein kha kar pareshan ho gaye the, lekin ek baar bhi shikayat nahi ki, par fir mai khud hi bore ho gayi ek din, tab mujhse kehte ki shukar hai tumne khana banana band to kiya ab aur nahi saha jata." (I love cooking. When I first came here after marriage, I used to do weird experiments in the kitchen all the time because I was so bored. Then I'd ask Aadi and maa to taste it. After a while they got tired of it but never complained but when I got bored and stopped cooking then he said 'Oh thank God you stopped cooking, I couldn't have taken it any longer!') They both burst out laughing as Divya did a poor imitation of Aadi's voice.

'Dad sure loves her a lot!' Taani thought in her mind with a wishful smile.

"Par tumhe ye sab karne ki zarurat nahi hai beta, tumhe to apne papa ke sath unke business mai help karni thi na? To tum Yuvi ke sath office jana kyu nahi start kar deti? Kuch waqt lagega par tum bhi seekh jaogi sab, aakhir Rishi bhi to kar hi raha hai na? Aur isi bahane Yuvi ke saath time bhi spend kar logi." (But you don't have to do all that, you wanted to join your dad in his company right? So why don't you start accompanying Yuvi to learn everything about our business? It'll take some time but you'll eventually learn, after all Rishi is doing it too right? And you'll get to spend even more time with Yuvi in this way.) Divya said while lovingly caressing her head. Taani nodded her head absent mindedly, remembering the day when Yuvi had asked her about her future plans and had commented about her being her daddy's princess and not really needing to work at all.

Aadesh who came to look for his wife, saw her sitting with Taani in the back garden, and smiled wide when he saw them chatting and laughing happily. Divya's face was red by laughing so much, her eyes were sparkling with happiness. All these years he had been married to his beautiful wife and she still manages to take his breath away just by laughing and being herself. Everytime he looks at her, he somehow falls even more in love with her then he was before. 'How could someone be so beautiful?' Aadesh thought with a sigh as he continued to look at his wife.

Divya noticed him standing a few feet away from them and playfully rolled her eyes. "Ab wahan khade khade paaglon ki tarah muskurate rahoge ya fir yahan bhi aaoge!?" (Are you going to stand there all day, smiling like a fool, or you going to come here as well?) She yelled out to him, bringing him back to reality. Taani sat upright when she saw Aadesh walking towards them.

"Mai soch hi rahi thi ki abhi tak aap aaye kaise nahi." (I was just wondering, how have you not showed up yet.) Divya commented.

"Ab kya karein, aap hain hi itni pyari ki aapse dur raha hi nahi jata hai." (What can I do? You're just so sweet that I can't stay away from you.) He replied making Divya blush like a tomato.

"Chaliye to, zarur kuch kaam hoga humse!" (Oh please, you must need me for something!) Divya said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Mausam itna pyara hai, ek cup chai mil jaati to fir maza hi aa jata..." (The weather's so nice, a cup of tea would have been great...)

Taani instantly got up and offered to make tea for everyone. "Hum abhi bana kar laate hain sabke liye chai!" (I'll go and make tea for everyone.) Divya took hold of her hand and got up instead.

"Itne dino se to tum hi chai bana rahi ho, aaj humare haath ki bani chai peena tum." (You're the only one making tea since the past few days, now I'll prepare tea and you will tell me how it is.)

They all walked inside and towards the kitchen. Just as Aadesh was about to sit on the barstool, Divya turned and said. "Wese chai ke saath aapke haath ke bane pakode mil jate to aur bhi zada maza aa jata." (By the way, it would be even more fun if you made some snacks with tea.)

"Ji samajh gaye." (Okay, I understood.) He replied with a dutiful nod and went along with her inside the kitchen. Taani and Divya high-fived each other with huge smiles on their faces.

"Ab tum bas aaram se baitho." (Now you just sit and relax.) Divya ordered Taani and started preparing the tea.

Taani clicked a selfie with a goofy smile on her face with Aadesh and Divya playfully bantering in the background and posted it on her WhatsApp story with a caption saying "Couple who cooks together, stays together!"

At the company, a few hours later...

Yuvi was in the financial department, along with Rishi and a team of employees to check if everything was going well or not. He was currently in a discussion with the department head about the budget of their next merger and Rishi who was supposed to be taking notes was doing nothing other than scrolling reels on his mobile.

Yuvi glanced briefly and rolled his eyes at him before continuing with his discussion. Rishi clicked a selfie with Yuvi and the team in the background, all focused on their work and proceeded to upload it as his status with a caption saying "Such a tiring day!😩"

That was when he checked Taani's status. He raised an eyebrow in surprise to see his dad in the kitchen cooking alongside his mom. It was not like it was the first time he had seen him do it but it sure was after a very long time.

"Wow! Dad was cooking?" He replied to her status and instantly got a reply from her as well.

"Yuppp! They cooked for their favourite new child! (That's me by the way!)😏" Rishi's mouth hung open in shock as he saw her reply and he decided to give her a call instead.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Don't even joke about it! I'm their only favourite child, dear sister-in-law!" Yuvi's head snapped up in surprise when he heard Rishi talking to his wife.

"Oh Rishi, my poor brother-in-law, I know it hurts to hear the truth but don't worry, you'll live." Taani replied in a baby voice. Rishi narrowed his eyes with a devilish smirk on his face and looked straight at his brother who was still looking at him like a hawk. Everyone around them was now alternatively looking at the Singhania brothers to understand what was really going on.

"What's up with the caption anyways? Does that mean you and brother Yuvi won't be staying as a couple? You know, since he has never cooked with you or for you as a matter of fact..." Rishi gave his brother a smirk.

"Is that Taani on the call? And what the hell are you going on about!?" Yuvi asked as he made his way towards his brother to snatch the mobile away from him. Rishi backed up in a hurry with wide panicked eyes.

"Was that Yuvi? You are saying that in front of him? Do you have a death wish?" Taani laughed at him through the phone.

"Oh he's ready to kill me, alright." Rishi said running through the crowd to avoid his brother who was calling after him to pass him the phone.

"Rishi give me the goddamned mobile!" Yuvi yelled while chasing after him all over the floor. Everyone made way for the Singhania brothers to pass through and they all were equal part surprised and amused, as they had never seen their boss acting like this ever.

"Bhaiya, bhabhi is saying that she's breaking up with you!" Rishi shouted and Taani gasped in shock at the other end of the call.

"I never said that!" She shouted.

"Oh but now you did." Rishi replied, just as Yuvi snatched the phone away from him.

"Over my dead body! And we're married for god's sake there's no breaking up!" Yuvi said, then looked down and saw that the call was still going on. "Hello?"

Taani who never actually said anything in the first place, now wanted to rile him up as well, just for fun of course. "I can break up with you whenever I want to!" Yuvi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"No you can't! And why would you break up with me anyways? What did I even do!?" He asked in an incredulous tone.

"That's not the point Mr. Singhania! The point is that I can!" She replied, enjoying this way more than she should.

"No Mrs. Singhania, you can't! What does breaking up even mean after marriage?"

"Uhh...It means for me to go to my parents of course." Taani casually replied fully prepared for his outburst which she was sure is on the way.

"Absolutely not! Not like this, never like this. And why the hell are we arguing about something that's never gonna happen?"

"Never gonna happen? Did you not hear to what I just said?" Yuvi rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

He blushed hard when he saw how everyone was trying to hide their smiles at his flustered state. "Babe? We'll talk about it later when I come back home alright?" He said, trying to placate her.

"Yeah sure, if I'm here at that time and not at my parents'!" Taani snapped.

"You better be at home!" He replied intimidatingly.

"We'll see." She replied and hung up the call.

"Fuck my life! What the hell just happened?" He said looking down helplessly at the mobile.

"Uhh...my phone please." Rishi said and instantly backed off when Yuvi glared up at him.

"You! It's all because of you!" Yuvi said backing him up in a corner.

"What did I do!?" Rishi asked with wide eyes, trying to appear innocent in all this.

"You damn well know what you did! And now you will complete the rest of the meeting we were just having along with every other we have scheduled for today! And I better find my wife at home when I get back or you're going to be paying for that too, little brother!" With that said, he went back to his office to finish some paperwork, so that he could head home soon.

At the Singhania residence...

Taani was now even more determined to go against Yuvi, just because he told her not to. But of course she couldn't really reveal the real reason to Meenal and Divya, whom she'll have to ask for permission. "Maa... hum aaj dinner pe ghar chali jaye please? Sabki bohot yaad a rahi hai..." (Mom... Can I go back home today, for dinner? I'm missing everyone a lot!) She said with sad eyes. At least she wasn't totally lying about it. She did miss her family, especially her sweet little Kiki.

"Haan bilkul jao beta, mai to kehti hu Yuvi ko bhi bula lo, shaadi ke baad pehli baar ja rahi ho, saath jaoge to achcha lagega." (Of course you can go, in fact I suggest you call Yuvi as well, you'll be going back to your home for the first time after marriage, so you both should go together.) Said Meenal, with a huge smile on her face and Divya nodded along with her.

'Why did I not think this through!?' She thought in her mind.

"Maa wo.. aaj thoda zada busy hain, keh rahe the hume lene aa jaenge." (Mom actually he's very busy today and was saying that he'll come to pick me up.)

"Aise kaise nahi jaega!? Iski to mai khabar leti hu, bhaagta hua ghar nahi aaya na to fir dekhna!" (How dare he refuse!? I'll talk to him myself, he'll come running back home, you just wait and watch!) Divya said and picked up her mobile to give him a call. Taani's eyes widened and she rushed to stop her from making the call.

"Nahi maa! Call mat kijiye." (No mom! Don't call.) Her sudden panic had them looking at her with a wide confused look on their faces.

Divya then narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You haven't even asked him, have you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Taani gulped nervously and hesitantly shook her head in denial.

"Did you two have a fight?" Meenal asked.

"No!" Taani firmly replied.

Divya and Meenal looked at each other with smirks on their faces and turned back to look at Taani who was now looking anywhere but at  them.

"What aren't you telling us Taani..?" Divya asked.

"Ahh... He told me I can't go back home and that's why I decided that I definitely will!"

"He refused to let you go!?" Meenal angrily asked.

"Not really." Taani rushed to clarify everything to both of them before any more confusions arise.

"You should have told us that to begin with!" Divya said. "We would have loved to be in on this!"

"Really?" Taani asked, not quite believing them.

"You think we both haven't done these things ourselves?" Divya replied and began laughing along with Meenal.

"You have!?"

"Oh yes, your mother-in-law is not as sweet and innocent as she looks." Meenal commented, and pulled Divya's cheeks playfully.

"You aren't either, if I remember correctly, my father-in-law used to roam around you, begging for forgiveness, at least once a month." Divya replied to Meenal with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Such sweet memories..." Meenal replied with a melancholic smile and a far away look on her face. "But that's a story for another day, now you just go and get ready. We both will prepare the gifts in the mean time."

"What gifts?" Taani asked with a cute scrunch of her nose.

"No matter the reason, you really are going back to your house for the very first time after your marriage and I'll be damned if I let you go empty handed!" Meenal replied and Divya nodded along with her.

"Now you go and get ready or you're going to be late." They said and walked away.

'Oh they are the sweetest! How did I get so lucky!?' She thought in her mind.

An hour later, she was on her way to her home with plenty of gifts and sweets for everyone. Her legs were literally bouncing with excitement. Although she talked to them a few times on call, it still was an entirely different feeling to be able to meet them once again and she couldn't wait for it!

On the other hand, Yuvi came back home just a few minutes later. He bent and took his mother's and grandmother's blessings by touching their feet and then he sat on the couch and loosened his tie with a tired sigh. "You are back early Yuvi." His mother commented.

"Yeah mom I was just tired, Rishi is taking care of everything over there." He said placing his head on the headrest behind him with his eyes closed.

"Ohh alright, I'll just tell someone to make you a cup of tea."

"Hmm... Where's Taani?"

Meenal and Divya both looked at each other with a smirk then said "She went to her home... For a few days."

Yuvi's eyes flew open in shock and he stood upright in an instant, forgetting all about his tiredness. "What!? For a few days?"

"Yes, she was feeling very homesick and was missing them all so we told her to go." Meenal replied.

"She said that?" He asked in an incredulous tone.

"Hmm, bechari ro bhi rahi thi, meri bachchi." (Yeah she was even crying, my poor child.) Divya replied with a sad look on her face. In reality, she was trying very hard to not laugh at the bewildered look on Yuvi's face.

"She is full of bullshit! That drama queen, I swear!" Yuvi murmured to himself, ready to head to her home and bring her back.

"Tum kahan ja rahe ho?" (Where are you going?) Divya shouted after him.

"To bring her back!" He said driving away, leaving Divya and Meenal behind, who were high-fiving and dancing all around the room!

At the Mittal residence...

Taani literally ran out of the car to surprise her family, while the people who came along with her took care of the gifts.

Fortunately, mostly everyone was there in the drawing room, enjoying tea.

"Look who is here!" She shouted gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh my God Taani!" Her mother exclaimed, and ran to give her a tight hug. "Is it really you!? I can't believe my eyes, you look so different, but so beautiful!" Siya said giving a sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Stop hogging our daughter and let me meet her as well." Commented Ranveer.

"Papa!" (Dad!) She shouted excitedly and literally jumped in his arms.

Then she met her grandma, Dhriti and Vanika as well. "Where is Kiki?" She asked.

"Di! You are here!" Kavya exclaimed excitedly as she walked in with little Kiki in her arms.

"Bua! Bua! Bua!" Kiki started calling her, wiggling in Kavya's arms, who let her down carefully. Kiki ran towards Taani and even fell down once in her excitement but got up and ran once again.

Taani engulfed her in her arms, buried her face in her neck. "Oh my sweet little Kiki!" Taani whispered in a low tone, trying to keep her tears at bay.

Kiki wrapped her arms around Taani's neck and started jumping and kissing all over her face. "Bua a gayi! Bua a gayi!" (Bua came back!)

"Oh di, you look so beautiful. I missed you so much." Kavya said and came forward to hug her as well but was stopped by Kiki who pushed her back with her little palm and shouted "No!"

"Kiki let me hug her!" Kavya said in an incredulous tone.

"No!" Kiki replied with narrowed eyes, her small hand still extended in front of her, to stop anyone from coming near Taani.

"Kiki!"

"No!"

Everyone started laughing at her possessiveness, saying how they missed all this so much.

"She is not letting go of you so easily now. She cried for two days, after you were gone!" Dhriti commented with a pitiful shake of her head, remembering it all.

They chatted for a few more minutes before Taani settled on the couch with Kiki on her lap. Siya passed her a glass of water and asked where Yuvraj is and why he didn't come along with her.

"Oh he...was busy at the office, but he'll be here soon maa." She replied, albeit a bit hesitatingly as she never actually asked him to come and she also didn't want to ruin his image in front of her family for something he never did.

"Badi lambi umar hai tumhari, hum tumhare baare mai hi puch rahe the." (You will live a long age my child, I was just asking about you.) Siya said, looking at someone behind Taani. She turned to look for herself and spewed the water all over the couch and started coughing violently when she saw Yuvraj walking in casually.

"Be careful Taani." He said and patted her back gently, which made her cough even more.

"Dur!" (Away!) Kiki shouted, slapping his hand away, once again extending her little hand as a gesture for him to move away.

Once Taani calmed down, Yuvi narrowed his eyes at her with a silent promise of revenge, one which she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

But at that moment, he forgot all about that and focused on the angry little bird in front of him, who was flaring her nose up at him so hard, it looked like she was going to douse him in fire anytime now. But this time, Yuvraj came prepared to appease her highness. "Hi there, little Kiki." Yuvraj said, extending his own hand, filled with expensive chocolates, the ones which were Kiki's favourite. Kiki kept staring at them silently before looking up at him, then back at the chocolates, then ever so slowly she reached out to take one out of them.

"Thank you." She said with a shy smile then hid her face in Taani's neck, still clutching the chocolate in her fist.

"You're welcome princess!" He said messing her hair, making her laugh out loud. Everyone was shocked to see what just happened including Taani, whose arms tightened around the baby girl as if Yuvi would snatch her away any moment now.

"Did you just bribe my baby girl with her favourite chocolates...?" Asked Avi, as he made his way towards them.

"Along with my handsome face and charming smile as well, of course." He replied with a smirk on his face, taking a seat beside Taani and Kiki, who was no longer pushing him away, in fact she was now stealing glances at him and giving him shy smiles whenever he would look and smile at her.

"Show off!" Taani muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Sad to say but there isn't much truth to anything you said just now." Avi said shaking his head in fake pity.

"It still helped me sit beside my wife in peace." Yuvi replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"No!" Kiki said as Avi moved to hug Taani.

"Oh Come on! It doesn't work on me, you know that little devil. Now get off, I want to hug my sister too, it's my turn now." Avi said picking Kiki up from Taani's lap and handing her over to Dhriti. Kiki instantly started wailing and shouting for Taani.

"And that's how you get to hug her, in peace." Avi said giving Taani a tight hug.

"Very mature!" Yuvi commented with a fake smile on his face.

"Have one of your own and you'll see just how fast you'll need to keep the maturity aside to deal with them." Avi replied while Taani told him to shut up.

"I missed you Taani!"

"I missed you so much bhaiya!" She whispered, tightening her arms around Avi.

"And yet you didn't call me more than once." Avi commented as they both moved away.

Taani gave him a cheeky smile. "Ahh...well I called Dhriti bhabhi since we can now discuss the shortcomings of our husbands with each other."

"I don't have any!" Both Avi and Yuvi replied together in a tone which clearly showed, they were feeling insulted that these girls even thought of something so ridiculous.

"Yeah... that's what they all think." Dhriti replied laughing along with Taani while both their husbands nodded at each other, finally getting to some kind of understanding.

Hello guys, sorry for the late update. My schedule is very tight right now, I'm preparing for an exam and I have a lot of assignments to finish and classes to attend, so just bear with this irregular schedule for sometime and if you could show just a bit of understanding, I'd really appreciate it. Vote and comment✨

Shukriya❣️

-Your Taani