Monday mornings were the most bustling ones in Oberoi Mansion. Usually, it involved the 5 parents dragging the kids out of bed, getting them dressed, fed and sending them to school. This morning was no different. Except that instead of Gauri, Shivaay made a breakfast of smoothies and fresh muffins so getting the kids fed was easier.

The driver Hariram, a nephew of their driver Sakaram, accompanied by Rudra, got the kids in the Mercedes Benz GLB and drove to school. One of the parents always accompanied the kiddOs to school and when picking them up. Today it was Rudra. Since he would play songs and turn the car into a party bus, Mondays were a little less dreadful.

After saying goodbye to Rudra, the kids went to their classes. RuRiAnsh headed towards their respective classes while RaaShi went towards theirs, in the Senior Block. Grades 9 to 12 had their classes in a separate part of the school building which was closer to the laboratories.

RaaShi went to their class and settled down in their usual seats, next to their best friends, Ayesha and Aman.

"Congratulations bro." Aman congratulated and hugged Raahil.

"3 district Golds, impressive," Ayesha added.

"My goodness! Note the time and date, Her Highness Ayesha Siddharth Rana complimented me!" Raahil exclaimed while Aman and Shivani laughed.

"Don't let it get to your head, Raahil Singh Oberoi," Ayesha warned.

"Guys, important news, humara family friend Faizan is joining our class," Shivani informed.

"Interesting. Where is he from?" Aman asked while sitting backwards in the chair.

"Dubai. Mere papa ke childhood friend ka beta hain. I met him 3 years ago. He's shy, but nice, a little nerdy." Shivani told them.

"We have to adopt him, got it," Ayesha announced.

"Ash, go easy on him, pehla din hain uska in a new school in a new country. Maybe our extra-generous hospitality isn't what he may need but some space instead. We should be mindful of that but also ensure that he's comfortable and well settled but not overwhelmed." Raahil explained.

"That's a lot of words for "I don't know how to make friends"." Came Ayesha's savage reply and ended Raahil while sending Aman and Shivani into a laughing fit.

A couple of minutes later, their class teacher walked in, took attendance and the class lined up for assembly.

Morning prayer, news, performance by one of the junior classes, announcements, Raahil and rest of track and field felicitated on stage, singing happy birthday, singing the National Anthem, uniform check, back to classes. The assembly was as usual as ever.

The class teacher entered once again.

"Students, a new student will be joining us today. You all are expected him to welcome him warmly and treat him kindly. Faizan, please come in."

The students leaned over to get a look at the new kid.

Whispers began to arise in the room as the new student walked in with confident strides and bag on one shoulder. He stood in the centre of the class and smiled.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Faizan."

"Hot damn!" Shivani and Ayesha whispered under their breath. Shivani was trying to keep herself collected and not let him catch her gaze. What would her parents say if they got to know she was taad-o-ing her family friend?
Ayesha, on the other hand, was blatantly checking him out.
Tall, good posture, pleasant face, neatly dressed,

"Please tell us about yourself, Faizan." The class teacher instructed.

"I lived in Dubai but my family hails from Lucknow. I swim, I dance and a five year old child can draw better than I ever can. My favourite subject is mathematics, I'm an only child and I'm very happy to be here." Faizan introduced himself.

"Let's see how long the happiness lasts." Someone sniggered and class teacher sent a stern look across the classroom until there was pin-drop silence.

"Faizan, sit here on the first bench. Raahil, assit him in settling in the classes. What is your first class?" The class teacher asked.

"Double Chemistry." The class chorused. The teacher nodded and left.

The chemistry class passed by in a blur with most of students trying not to nod off as the teacher taught about structure of atoms and atomic mass. 90 minutes later, the recess bell rang. While the teacher wrapped up, some students ran out of the the class while put their heads in the tables.

"If it isn't Shivani Singh Oberoi."

Shivani, who was putting her notebooks away, looked up and saw Faizan standing over her desk.

"If it isn't Faizan Farhan Khan." Shivani spoke and they high-fived each other.

"I didn't think you would recognise me."

"Not a lot of Shivanis in the class with ocean blue eyes." Faizan pointed out and Shivani did logic sign.

"How have you been? The last time I saw you, you had your hair in two ponytails with cat rubber bands!" Faizan recollected.

"The last time I saw you you had Superman glasses on! Did your eyes magically heal?" 

Faizan widened his eyes and wriggled his eyebrows. "Lenses baby!"

"Cool!" 

"Ahem!" 

The looked towards Ayesha as she cleared her throat, which made Shivani realise that she got engrossed in catching up with Faizan forgot to introduce him to Ayesha and Aman.

"Oh! Faizan, this is Ayesha, my best friend. And that's Aman." Shivani introduced.

"Assalam Walaikum." Aman greeted.

Faizan reciprocated. "Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh."

Aman blinked, looked towards Raahil, then Ayesha.
"I knew I should've learnt the full salaam when Mom was teaching it!" Aman admitted and threw his arm to the side.

Raahil laughed, Shivani giggled and Ayesha rolled her eyes.

"Excuse my brother. I'm Ayesha. Ayesha Siddharth Rana." Ayesha introduced and forwarded her hand.

Faizan shook her hand. "Aap dono bhi cousins hain?"

"Twins. And please humein "aap" mat kaho, hum tumhari hi age ke hain." Aman requested.

"Gair mulq mein logon ki pehli baar address karte waqt "aap" is a safe option." Faizan told them.

"Mulq gair ho sakta hain, log toh apne hi hain." Ayesha said and winked, earning a smirk from Faizan and wide-eyes from Shivani.

"Now, I'm gonna steal Shivani for a minute. Faizan, please mere Bhai ko bho thodi tehzeeb sikha dijiye." Ayesha asked and grabbed Shivani's hand, taking her to the washroom with her.

One thing the boys always wondered is why did girls always go to washrooms in groups?

After confirming that the washroom was empty, Ayesha shut the door and fixed her hair while Shivani sat on the bench.

""Nerdy", you said?" Ayesha almost yelled.

"He's just wearing lenses." Shivani

"And he's tall, smart, sporty, hot!"

"He's my family friend yaar!"

"Are you concerned you'll have to choose between ladkewale or ladkiwale? It's obvious babe, you're team ladkiwale. The Naina to my Aditi."

"Aditi meri Jaan, please is baar Zara dhyaan se. I don't want you heartbroken again."

"Arey meri Jaan, past is past. Then I was young, dumb and in, what I thought was love. And yes, I'll listen to your warning this time."

"Thank you!"

Shivani put her arm around Ayesha's back and they headed back to class.

The next set of classes began and many pages of notes later, it was lunch time.

"Faizan, you're sitting with us for lunch." Raahil declared.

"Yes, aaj Raahil treat de raha hain." Aman added, resulting in Raahil punching his shoulder.

"Kis khushi mein?" Raahil asked.

"Gold jeetne ki Khushi mein." Aman replied.

"District medal hi toh hain. What's the big deal?"

"Raahil miyaan, chhoti si hain zindagi, khusi se jiyo. Apne liye na sahi, apno ke liye jiyo." Faizan recited.

"Waah Waah! Waah Waah!" The four cheered.

"Faizan you just became my favourite person." Ayesha declared.

Shivani loudly cleared her throat and crossed her arms. Ayesha laughed and wrapped her arms around Shivani as the five made their way to the cafeteria.

"So apna regular?" Raahil asked and Shivani, Ayesha and Aman chorused a "yes". 

"Your regular is...?" Faizan asked.

"Chilly Paneer and Fried Rice, two portions each. Should we take 3 today?" Shivani explained then asked, receiving a unanimous "yes". Raahil and Aman went to get the food while Shivani and Ayesha guarded the fort... er, table. And gave Faizan company.

"Yeh school canteen hi hain na?! Itna fancy khaana!?" Faizan asked with bewilderment. 

"Students bhi toh itne hi-fi hain. Mumbai ka best school hain yeh." Shivani explained. "And usually hum sandwich, rolls, pasta ya paratha lunch lete hain. Chilly Paneer is our celebratory meal."

A few minutes later, Raahil and Aman returned with trays of food. 

"Mashallah! This is delicious! I see why it's celebratory." Faizan expressed. 

"Contrary to school cafeteria image, ours has good food. Especially here in the senior block." Raahil explained.

"Cafeteria se khaana zaroori hain ya ghar khaana la sakte hain?" Faizan asked.

"Of course ghar se la sakte hain likin thanda khaana kyoon khaayein?" Aman told. 

"And mom ko extra-trouble kyoon dein?" Ayesha added. "But Shivani here, gets lunch from home every other week."

"Main har baar Mumma ko bolti hoon lunch ki tension na lein likin unka maanna hain "baahar ka khaana zyaada khaane se sehat ki tai-tai-phis ho jaati hain".

" Which she isn't wrong about." Aman pointed out, only for Shivani to look at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Tum sirf yeh is liye keh rahe ho because tumhe aloo-puri khaani hoti hain." Shivani stated. 

"Haan toh Anika aunty sabse tasty aloo puri banati hain." Aman asserted and Ayesha and Raahil nodded in agreement. 

"Waah! Ek din toh mujhe bhi chakhni hain yeh mashoor aloo-puri chakni hain." Faizan expressed. 

"Tum ek din ghar aana. Aloo-puri jab garam-garam hoti toh oh ho ho! Kya tasty hoti hain." Shivaay emphasised on "tasty", mouth watering at the mere thought. 

After lunch, the five managed to stay awake for a couple more lectures before heading off towards their respective extra-curricular activities. Shivani went for Indian Classical dance class and Faizan went for the hip-hop class, Ayesha and Raahil for music while Aman went for soccer practice. 

After an hour, the lessons were wrapped up. The five said their goodbyes and headed home. 

After reaching Oberoi Mansion, the KiddOs went straight to their rooms, put their bags down and came down to enjoy a tall glass of cold coffee prepared by Gauri. Today was one of the lucky days where none of the kids had any homework, which meant that they could watch a movie instead. Upon winning a game of Rock Paper Scissors (the fairest way to decide everything), Rishi put on Toy Story for the 15th time. But singing along to You've Got A Friend In Me was always fun. 

As the movie came to an end, RuVya and Om returned from work. They joined them on the sofas and after the movie ended, they talked about their day. 

"Oh oh oh! Aaj humnein Piya Tose Naine Lage par dance kiya." Shivani excitedly told them. 

"Arey oo toh bahut sundar gaana hain. Shivani, beta agar tumhare mann ho toh ek baar humein bhi dikhao." Gauri requested. 

Shivani nodded happily and went to centre. Rudra moved the coffee table away as Shivani played the song. 

After finishing, everyone clapped for her. 

"Yeh meri bhatiji hain!" Rudra proudly exclaimed, making Shivani feel a little shy. That is when she remembered...

"Masi, aapne bhi mujhe is gaane par dance sikhaya tha na? Hum saath mein karte the. Let's do it!" 

Gauri was a little hesitant. "Arey oo baat ko toh kayi saal beet gaye hain, humein theek se yaad bhi nahi."

"Please Masi. Mazza aayega. Pretty please." Shivani requested and made puppy eyes. Following her lead, the rest four did the same. 

Gauri sighed as she finally gave in and tied her dupatta on the side. "Achha theek hain."

"YAY!" The KiddOs squealed before settling back down.

Om noticed from the corner of his eye that Shivaay had returned, but stood near a pillar seeing Gauri and Shivani take positions for the dance.

At the end of the dance, Gauri hugged Shivani and pressed a kiss oh her temple as the others clapped, cheered and whistled. Rudra had recorded it and sent it to Anika. 

Om again glanced at Shivaay, who still by the pillar. Shivaay's eyes were glossy. Seeing his little girl grow up so quickly was a sentimental feeling. But along with it was also a sense of longing, washed away after registering the reality. Composing himself, and masking the remnants of nostalgia, he made his way into the hall and greeted the kids. Apart from know, no one knew how long he was standing there. They assumed he just arrived and began filling him in on what he supposedly missed. 

After dinner, Shivaay was in his room going over a presentation when Om knocked on the door.

"Come in." Shivaay said without diverting his eyes from the screen.

"Busy hain?"

"Nahi, bas kal ek meeting hain. Going over the presentation for that." 

"Gauri aur Shivani ka dance dekha?" Om asked and Shivaay looked towards him with a smirk.

"You know I did because you saw me, right?"

"Absolutely. Toh chhupkar kyoon dekh raha tha?"

"Centre se toh bahot baar dekha hain, socha let's watch from the side-lines today." Shivaay joked, making Om chuckle lightly.

"Waise bahot dino baad maine Gauri ko dance karte hue dekha. Ghar sambhaalte hue use waqt hi nahi milta." Om told, voiced tinted with sadness and guilt. Shaking it off, he added, "But I remember, Gauri and Shivani dancing. Gauri teaching her and Shivani practising till she got it right. Especially jab tera aur bhabhi ka..."

Om trailed off as he realised he may have scraped an old wound. His suspicion was confirmed when Shivaay stopped scrolling and his eyes lost focused. After blinking a couple times, Shivaay faced Om.

"Om... thank you."

Okay, that wasn't what Om was expecting. 

"Shayad main jitni baar kehna chahta hoon, utni baar keh nahi pata but thank you, thank you for looking after Shivi and Ansh. Tumhari aur Gauri ki already itni responsibilities hain but you both always look out for my kids. I... I am really grateful to you both." 

Om sighed and looked towards Shivaay with a soft smile. "Tu bhool gaya? Hum kya kehte the?"

Shivaay furrowed his eyebrows, unable to recollect.

Om held his arm up, palm closed in a fist. "One for all, all for one."

"One for all, all for one." Shivaay repeated. 

"One for all, all for one!" 

"Chal. Thodi der baahar baith te hain, weather is lovely too." Om got up and tried to pull Shivaay up as well.

"I would love to but I really should finish going over this presentation." Shivaay admitted apologetically. 

"I understand. Good night." Om wished him with a small smile, which Shivaay reciprocated after which Om exited the room, closing the door behind him.

After an hour, Shivaay finished going over the presentation and all other tasks of the day. Yet, his mind was still not at peace. Initially he reached out for a sleeping pill but instead decided to take a walk first. That wasn't his nature but he was trying to reduce consuming the pills so walking was worth a shot. 

He walked around the hall before he went upstairs to the kids' room. Ironically, being in the most buzzing part of the house always brought him a sense of tranquillity. The door to his son's room was slightly open so he peeped in . The boy was sound asleep, hugging his favourite rocket shaped pillow and his nightlamp casting a dim, warm glow. Like his mother, he couldn't sleep in complete darkness. Shivaay gently closed the door and made his way down the corridor. At end of the corridor was Shivani's room. The door was open and lights till on. Shivaay checked the time. 11PM. RaaShi tend to stay up late while RuRiAnsh were tucked in by 10. Nevertheless, he decided to check on her.

Shivani was moving around the room, doing hand gestures but looking nowhere in particular.

When she spotted Shivaay, she took off her ear buds and asked, "Papa, aap kab aaye?"

"Abhi hi, but tum kar kya rahi thi?" Shivaay asked.

"Ek choreography mark kar rahi thi. On Tere Naina." She replied.

"Which one?"

"Abhi toh bataya, Tere Naina."

"Yes, but which Tere Naina? There are like 5 of them." Shivaay explained.

"My Name Is Khan wala. "Aise naino ki baaton mein koi kyoon na aaye, o o tere naina, tere naina", that one." Shivani told but scrunched her eyebrows looking at Shivaay.

"What is it?" Shivani questioned, crossing her arms.

"What is what?" Shivaay asked.

"That face you're making. It's your "I want to say something but don't know how to say it" face. So just say it."

"... Shivi, tum bahot bura gaati ho."

Shivani's mouth fell open before she snapped back with "Aap toh aise bol rahe hain jaise aap Miyaan Tansen hain!"

"You told me to say it!" Shivaay tried to defend himself.

"You could've been nicer about it!"

And the banter continued for a many more minutes. 

~~~~

After exiting from Shivaay's room, Om helped Rishi organise his bag for the next day and put him to sleep. Afterwards, he went down to the poolside, removed his slippers and sat on the edge of the pool. Dipping his feet in the water, he put his arms by his side, closed his eyes and leaned back, taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the night. 

The aroma of warm ginger tea filled his nostrils. He opened his eyes to see a hand holding out a teacup in front of him. He took the cup in one hand and the hand in another. He gently tugged on the hand, asking her to sit beside him. She pulled up the hem of her leggings and dipped her feet in the water, holding her own teacup in both hands.

"Kitni saanti hain yahaan." Gauri said observing the surroundings.

"Aur sukoon bhi." Om added.

"O! M! G! Akele-akele humare spot pe?!"

The end of peace and quiet.

RuVya sat next to RiKara, a cup in their hands as well.

"Rudy bhaiya, Bhavya; aap dono bhi chandani raat mein chai ke mazze le rahe hain?"

"Nahi nahi bhabhi, hum dono toh coffee pee rahe hain."

"Itni raat ko coffee? Tum dono ko neend kaise aayegi?"

"O, haal toh aisa ho gaya hain ki ab coffee se neend aati hain."

"That can't be good."

"It is what it is. Anyway, Bhabhi, kya dance kiya tha aapne. Dil poolside - poolside ho gaya!" Rudra exclaimed.

OmVya cocked an eyebrow. ""poolside - poolside"?"

"Humara poolside garden se better hain, is liye." Rudra explained. Gauri giggled while OmVya face-palmed.

"Oh! Maine video Anika bhabhi ko bhi bheja tha. Unka abhi reply aaya." Rudra informed them and showed the chat.

Me:
Video 🎥

Anika Bhabhi🦸‍♀️:
😍💘
Meri Chhutkiyaan
🧿🍋🌶️
Thank you so much for
sending this Rudy ❤️

"Haaye! Jiji kitni pyaari hain!" Gauri exclaimed holding the phone close to her. "Unse mile kitna waqt ho Jaya gata hain. Aakhiri baar unse pichhle mahine Rubi ki birthday party par mile the."

"Baap re! Rubi ki party mein kitni mehnat lagi thi!" Bhavya shuddered remembering.

"Kahaan? Itna pyaara toh theme tha. Fashion Fairytale. Fashion mere daayein haath ka khel hain aur fairytale decorators ne sambhaal liya." Rudra spoke.

"Likin uski dress ke liye aapko kitni raatein jaagni padi thi."

"Worth it tha. Uski smile jab usne woh dress dekhi thi, uske liye worth it tha. Aur waise bhi mere beti ka 12th birthday baar baar thodi hi aata hain. Aur aap kem thodi hain. Humare anniversary ke liye half-day nahi leti likin uski school function ke liye chhutti le leti hain.g" Rudra said.

"Jee lijiye yeh pal aap dono, ek baar yeh chirayyiya badi ho gayi toh bahot uncha ud jaayega, hum pakad nahi paayenge." Gauri spoke, resting her head on Om's shoulder.

There was a couple minutes of silence before Rudra's questioned popped up.

"I can't believe it! Kal hi toh hum 24-28 saal ke the. Kab hum 12 saal ke baccho ke parents ban gaye?!"

"Jabse in pyaalon mein hot chocolate ki jagah chai aur coffee ne li." Om replied.

And at that moment it hit them how much everything had changed. Yet somethings stayed the same.