Be so happy that
When others
Look at you,
They become happy too....
      
               It was late afternoon and the restaurant was crowded and buzzing with young families and couples, talking and munching on salads and snacks. Vinny peered through the glass wall of their office room inside the restaurant.
It has been two days after the grand opening of Curry tree. It has created a buzz in the town since it was one of a kind which provided organic food in a reasonable price without a compromise in the quality. They were featured in local dailies along with the pictures of their opening day. So they were doing well on the business but still have to wait to see how profitable it is.

Vinny personally found the food tasty , just like their online service  and the ambience of the restaurant was literally beautiful.

The restaurant was brimming with positivity with wide open space unlike the closed model restaurants. The furniture used gave a retro look to the area and the wooden ceiling added an ancient charm to it. The best part was that there was enough space for a stage which would come live in every evening with local bands and artists.
Vinny loved it, the food , the cozy and homely feeling that the ambience provided.

Arjun and Rithika was there with them on the opening day. Varun was still there even after complaining a lot of times that Avi and Vinny are getting on his nerves.
Seriously... Bhai should start seeing someone..ugh !!!  Vinny muttered herself as she remembered how many times he was rolling his eyes these days.

She sipped her lemon mint juice and sighed in gratification.
' I love this...' she took another sip and peered through the blind folded glasses to check on Avi who was talking to one of the customer. They were talking quite affably with each other, and after a few moments confusion Vinny recognised the girl in maroon top.

It was Samriddhi, their interior designer. Vinny had met her on their opening day , briefly. Samriddhi was sitting with a group of people of her age , probably friends. Vinny thought.
Avi was introducing Varun to the group the next time Vinny looked.
Something about the situation looked like a well executed plan to her. Avi left their table leaving Varun at their service and Vinny chuckled.

' You were setting them up there... right?' Vinny chirped in as soon as Avi entered the office room.
He looked up from his phone and smiled at her.

'I didn't know that my wifey was interested in playing secret service agent.'

Vinny rolled her eyes in response.

'I was bored here.. you see. I was waiting for you...and I recognize her. It's Samriddhi... right?'

Avi nodded as he settled himself beside her on the couch where she was sitting.
' Yeah.. that's Samriddhi Mehta. Our own interior designer. Hails from a business family, but she has started this company along with her friends. She is ambitious, independent and a much grounded person.'

'And pretty too.... Vinny added looking again at the girl with deep set of eyes and cropped hair. She was smiling brightly at varun. It looked like they are enjoying each others company just fine.

'I thought Varun should meet her..' Avi said close to her ear breaking her reverie.
' Yeah... looks like my Bhai is a goner...look at him...he is already grinning like an idiot...' Vinny chortled and Avi joined her.

' let us hope that Cupid's arrow strike them really hard and they really become a couple..' Vinny said joining her hands together in a prayer manner , closing her eyes and a smile on her lips.

' Oh yeah...so that we could pull his legs too. He was becoming quite difficult these days... may be Samriddhi could just manage him well..'
He tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears getting sudden attention from Vinny.

They were sitting too close to each other that both of them could feel each others breath.
Vinny suddenly got conscious about their proximity.

'Avi...I.. think we are sitting too close. ' she stuttered and bit her lip nervously.

' We are married and in love. We could sit however we want...' he replied with a grin, his expression light and jovial.

Vinny looked at his eyes then to his lips which was too inviting that Vinny took a deep breath.

' Wait...we can't kiss here... anybody could walk in. We are not alone...' she put her hands on his chest and pushed him backward.

'What? I wasn't going to kiss you...
Wait...so you were thinking about kissing me?
I  am totally okay with it...go ahead..' Avi suddenly became too serious about her actions even though he felt himself smiling.
She is really unpredictable !!

Her cheeks burned hot and she looked at him with her beautiful set of eyes in aghast.
Vinny got to her feet in a second , grabbed her drink from the side table and emptied the content quickly.

' I am going home..' she announced without even looking at his direction.
Vinny was feeling so embarrassed that she wanted to hide herself somewhere in real quick.

It was true that she had confessed her love, hell she had kissed him boldly...but then she just can't get that kiss from out of her head. God! It was that good. Vinny smiled herself on that memory.
Then shook her head trying to pull herself back to her present. She had made a fool out of herself but still thinking about a kiss.

' I am going home...' Vinny said again , giving him a side glance to read his expression.

' I heard it first time Vinny. What is wrong ? You are confusing me..' Avi stood up and levelled his eyes with her as he gently put his hands on her shoulder.

' I am confusing you? What are you saying...' Vinny raised her eyebrows regaining her composure somewhat.

' You were about to kiss me and then got shy and stopped it midway. Now you are saying you want to go home, when you have been here for just forty five minutes. I didn't even get to see you properly... You are really confusing me..' Avi shook his head and dropped his hands from her shoulder.

' Aww boi that's  so cute...' Vinny muttered finding his confused look so adorable. She had urge to press his cheeks too, which she did without second thoughts.

' You are so cute Avi.... If you promise you won't bring that kiss incident again, let us hang out together..' she smiled goofily.

' Yeah okay I won't bring it up again...but if you want to kiss me just do it okay? I love it when you kiss me...'

' You just promised me that we won't talk about it...it was just an accident' Vinny let go of his cheeks and crossed her arms Infront of her chest.

' Okay fine. No more kiss discussion... even if it is accidental kisses.  Now tell me what you want to do?' he raised his hands in surrender.

' Let us go out Avi .' She clapped her hands together in excitement.
' Bhai is going to stick around for the rest of the evening I guess... let us go out and celebrate...'

' Celebrate what?' Avi knew how fast Vinny's brain could work if she set her mind on it.

'Birthday Avi.....now stop asking and let us go. We need to get some gifts too...' Vinny smoothened the creases on her navy blue maternity frock. It has bird print all over it which gave a cheerful look to her.

' See.. Avi it has got pockets too...' she twirled a little showing off her dress with pockets...her secret place for chocolates. 

' Yeah...and you look pretty in it... '
Vinny blushed again.

' okay...let us not waste anymore time...tell Bhai and the manager that we are leaving...and let us go'
She grabbed his hand and stepped out of their room.

Avi had no clue whose birthday they were going to celebrate until Vinny started her gift shopping at the nearest department store.  

They bought books to colour pencils, clothes and shoes , toys and chocolates too. Avi got to know while selecting dresses that they are going to Lakshmi's home to celebrate her two year old son's bday.

' Did she invite you Vinny?' Avi wasn't quite sure about how should he deal with this sudden bday plan.

' There is no big celebration or anything Avi. I just came to know about it because Lakshmi asked me that whether she could leave a little early since it is Appu's birthday.
I wanted to meet Appu and Anami for a long time now. This is perfect time and Lakshmi is more than just a house help for us.. isn't she?'
Vinny selected a white and pink polka dotted dress for Anami without waiting for his reply.

Avi just smiled at looking her who was selecting everything with so much enthusiasm.
It took them more than an hour to finish their shopping. It took another hour to reach Lakshmi's home  which was located in suburbs of Kochi. They had to ask a few times for directions during their journey. The confusing shortcut roads and traffic spoiled Vinny's plan to surprise Lakshmi , because they had to call Lakshmi and her husband to reach their home.

Vinny sighed in relief when they pulled into a dirt road where Lakshmi's husband was waiting for them.
It was getting dark by the time they reached there. Vinny stretched her limbs as they started walking towards the small house by the end of the dirt road.
Lakshmi and her kids were waiting for them at the front door eagerly. Even though Vinny's plan to surprise them didn't work out exactly, the family was actually excited to have them at their place.

It didn't took Vinny more than a minute to make friend with the bright eyed little girl, Anami. Avi brought their big shopping bag from the car while Vinny cooed the birthday boy.
Anami was so happy to try on her new dresses and shoes which Vinny selected with so much love. Vinny pulled Anami's short curly hair into a tight ponytail and the little girl looked so cute and delighted in her new look.
Lakshmi kept complaining that they should not have done so much for her kids but still she was so happy to see Anami posing for pictures in her new dresses.

Lakshmi's husband and his mother sat along with Avi trying to make conversation but failing in each attempt..their language barrier was too difficult to break. So they settled with occasional smiles and actions which was more than enough..

  They cut the cake and Avi took pictures of the happy family with the adorable kids in their new attire.
Lakshmi brought payasam for everyone which was so tasty, even for Avi.

Vinny loved it so much that she asked for another serving and that was just the beginning.
Lakshmi started bringing all kind of snacks and fruits from her tiny kitchen that Avi literally had doubts about it.
Vinny was eating like a starved kid who was so happy to eat all the oily snacks in the world.
Vinny rolled her eyes looking at Avi who was frowning at her.

' Don't worry sir.. they are home made . You should try some too..and the fruits are from our neighbors...it is really good for Didi' Avi smiled awkwardly, and took a bite of round small oily snack from the plate before him.

' Wow...this really good Lakshmi...' Avi took another bite of the delight and smiled in total appreciation.

' Unniyappam is yummy Avi...you should try the other snacks too. Lakshmi's Amma makes them really well...' Vinny looked at the old lady in silver hair with kind eyes and smiled brightly.

' Why it looks like that this is not your first time trying her Unniyappam' his eyes twinkled in mirth as he gazed at Vinny who was eating another one from the lot.
Her lips twisted into a playful smile.

' Amma makes them for me quite often Avi. I love them so much that I ate all of them before you get back to home..' she winked at him giving him another one to eat.

' Thank you Amma, I really love them..' Vinny smiled to the old lady, who smiled in return...conveying all the love without any language.

After eating till their stomach could not  contain anymore, Vinny settled down with the kids to open the gift boxes with books and colour pencils.

Anami started drawing Vinny and Avi in a white paper with her new colour pencils. Avi sat near them silently watching them. It was a bliss to watch them who were talking to eachother with actions. It's true that love doesn't need any language , it just needed to be expressed to understand the feeling.

Just looking at them made him so happy. Vinny is the perfect mixture of childishness and maturity and he loved it when her playful side is on show...that means she is perfectly at ease and happy.

Avi knew how beautiful she looked when she is happy, just like now. She would be the vivacious girl with stars in her eyes  and her entire face would lit up as much as that just looking at her make you happy.
He keep taking her pictures until Vinny snatched it from him and threatened him not to take anymore.

They bid goodnight to the lovely family later when Anami gave them the sketch she made of Vinny  with Avi and their baby.
It turned out to be a wonderful evening for both of them. It was totally unplanned but they were all happy...thanks to Vinny.

They came back home pretty late but
Varun was too busy in his phone with Samriddhi that he didn't bothered them with his usual taunt and tantrums.
Vinny gave Avi a thumps up implying that their plan was a success.

Avi was checking all the pictures he had taken that evening when Vinny walked briskly into the room clad in Avis clothes.

' Woah....you love my clothes more than yours... right..' he grinned as he scooted over to make room for her to sit down on the couch.

' Don't you know that?
Since you are mine, all your things are mine too... that's an unwritten rule of this house hold..' she said confidently. 

'What are you watching?' She peeked into his phone screen only to find her laughing face.

' What? Why am I looking so fat and ugly??? Why did you take such a pic Avi? Do I really look like a cow now?? ' Vinny started whining like a kid and examine her picture with full concentration.

' You are looking really pretty... I love those pictures..' Avi grabbed his phone from her hand earning a pinch from her.

' I am not. Give me the phone back I want to delete them...' she tried to snatch it again but Avi didn't let her do that.

' You are pretty. You should see yourself through my eyes..' his voice was so soft and slow , Vinny stopped her drama for a second. She dropped her hands to her sides and sighed.

' I wonder what you see...' she shook her head in disagreement.

' So you don't believe me? Okay listen..
I see you as a really pretty girl who is stupid and clueless at times but very brave and mature too. The best thing about you that you love with your whole heart and it reflects on your face. You share the love and happiness in your heart to everyone around you...and you are such a lovely soul that makes you the prettiest one out there' there was a glint of admiration in his eyes which was causing havoc inside her. She could feel her pulse quickening up  and she felt giddy.

' And I got something for you...' Avi got up from the couch without realising how big a shock he had given her.
Vinny sat there without even blinking her eyes.

Avi opened a box from their side table.  It was a dream catcher with white feathers and beads. He hung  it near the window as Vinny walked up to him. She smiled and touched the lovely thing.

' I want you to get only good dreams from now on. It's just a belief that dream catchers could sort those nightmares away. We are going to make a lot of good memories to replace all your bad memories...till then I hope this will work... and now I know why you wanted to keep the baby even after going through all that you went through....'

' Vinny raised her eyes to meet his gaze. She could feel that he could see through her now. But she wanted to hear it from him...she wanted to ascertain his thoughts too.

' You wanted to have someone to love unconditionally. You wanted to have a happy family even if it was you and the baby only , you wanted to give your kid all the happiness in the world...which your dad failed to give you..'

Vinny stood there, rooted to the spot in amazement. She had kept her reasons in her heart, hidden and what he just said was true.
She wanted something real in her life. Rishi had broken her world so badly that she wasn't expecting anyone to mend her heart. The life inside her was a positive sign...a sign of hope and that eventually  lead her to Avi.
How could she not believe in destiny?
Avi was her destiny... whatever happened in her life eventually lead her to him.

Vinny was standing close to him, close enough to touch him if she let her hand out.
She sucked in a breath and let out the breath relentlessly.

' Why are you giving me new reasons to love you more when I am already in love with you Avi?' she sighed thinking all the little and big things that made Avi so lovable.

'You are right...you know me inside out now...so you should know this too.
Just kiss me already... It might sound like that I am obsessed with a kiss...but that's not the point...what I am trying to tell is that a kiss could seal this deal that you know everything about me...' Vinny blurted as her entire face bloomed into shades of crimson thinking about how utterly ridiculous she sounded. Vinny dropped her eyes and blinked twice to convince herself to shut the hell up before it's too late and she didn't notice that Avi had closed the tiny distance between them.

Vinny's eyes got a bit wide as she found him so close adoring her features with his eyes. He tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear and wrapped his hands around her, and leaned in to claim her lips, she closed her eyes letting herself go.

The warm feeling of her breath , the slight smell of lilies from her hair all were so inviting , Avi couldn't stop himself from kissing her, he could feel both of their ragged pulses and the pure bliss that surrounded them...they didn't let go of each other until there was no air left in their chest.

They pulled apart and grinned sheepishly like teen-agers.

' See...it was nice... That's what I was trying to say...' she said with a smile when they leaned in for another kiss...and the baby inside her smiled happily.