There is healing in
Creating emotional
Safety...

The air in the room was crisp and a bit chilly that Vinny covered her legs with the duvet.
They were back in the study after their midnight fooding session.

Vinny was still trying to wrap her head around the new information. Avi was the guy from the party long ago, that piece of information made a lot of things clear for her
His occasional references which made her feel that he knew her better, the conversations which hinted that they had this same kind of conversation in the past too, it all made sense suddenly.

Avi was the same guy from that night meant a lot of other things too. Vinny often thought why he had agreed to marry her. It wasn't for her dad's company, she knew that now for sure. He had tried to make it look like that, he was doing this for money and power when she questioned him in the past.

She knew him better now, and he wasn't obsessed with her family status or the security that came along with it.

Now that he had admitted that he had admired her for a long time, meant that he proposed the plan for her only.
His reason was her and that complicated the whole prospect of their wedding, which Vinny didn't want to accept... just yet.

She stared outside the window, it was dark outside, it was a quite night , the city was asleep out there. Except for the moon light spilling through the window and dim lights from the ceiling, the room was dark too.

She was brooding over her thoughts forgetting that Avi was there too.
When the silence fetched too far and she couldn't held her tongue anymore, Vinny made an effort to talk to him by prodding his shoulder who was sitting on the same couch with distant eyes.

' So you always knew that it's me... right?
Then why didn't you tell me Avi?
You had a lot of chances to tell me...why didn't you?' She blurted without any hesitation which was surrounding her a moment ago.

The room was dark, the dim lights made shadows on their faces , giving it an otherworldly effect, which made it difficult to read his expression but there was a shift in his features nonetheless.

' Because I knew that you don't remember me.. I was sure about it until you brought it out today' he turned slightly towards her but soon his eyes wandered towards the window again..and she sighed.

'How did you know that I don't remember you?. It's somewhat true that I don't have a clear memory of that day... as I said before...err...I was bit drunk, but if you had mentioned it , I might have remembered it too..'

' Yeah.. may be' he said and she scowled a little.

' Ugh.... don't give me this monosyllabic answers.. I want to know..' Vinny chided as she forced him to turn towards her with her hands.
Avi shook his head disdainfully, conceding how stubborn Vinny can be.

'We met after that New year evening too Vinny. Don't you remember that picture that I gave to the media which made a news that we were dating for the past two years..? It wasn't from my marketing team, It was from my personal collection..'

Vinny's eyes widened as her mind connected the dots.

' You came to meet me that day... right? And I didn't recognize you.
I was so distracted that day Avi, I don't even remember that I met you there until I saw that picture....' she stopped in mid sentence thinking why it didn't occur to her before.

' And I was waiting foolishly for you to recognise me. We even talked that day Vinny. You thanked me for funding that project for kids , you said you were grateful and happy to meet me in person..but you didn't recognize me...not really' he smiled meekly as he dropped his eyes thinking that his eyes might give away the hurt he felt.

'I am so sorry Avi...I didn't know..'
Vinny felt a kind of disappointment knotting in her stomach.
If she had recognised him that day, things would have been different for them?

Probably not, she had been in knee deep mess by then, she conceded still hating the hurt she must have caused him.

' It's alright Vinny, that was so foolish of me. Arjun too had said so.. ' he chuckled remembering the embarrassment he had caused himself by going to the event with the sole purpose of meeting Vinny.

' So you proposed this marriage deal for me? Because you knew me?? Really Avi??' She asked cautiously, the whole thing was making her jittery and his response mattered to her.

'Yes...sort of.. you were my biggest concern then...I knew you, even though you don't remember me, I wanted to protect you...I don't know how to put it... somehow I felt the responsibility to take care of you...'
Avi shrugged defensively Vinny noticed that she was making it hard for him.
She scooted towards him and layed her head on his shoulder lightly.

' There is more to it... right Avi??'
She looped her arm through his and gently stroked his hand, trying to soothe him.

' Why don't you just tell me...
I could be your partner for sad days..you know?' she smiled a little thinking how childish she sounded at the moment.

' Is this a sad day?'
He was smiling like her and she could listen it from his voice.

' Not really... We were having a blast in the kitchen. ' she said in matter of fact tone.
' But something is making you sad...and I could feel it.. if you think it's okay to tell me, just go ahead.. ' she raised her head slightly to look at him, only to find him looking right back at her.

' you are quite cute...' he patted her head as she crinkled her nose.

' I know that.. I am cute as hell....now tell me what is bothering you? I won't even look at you. See I am not looking...' she bowed her head a little making her point clear and he grinned.

' You know that I lost my parents years ago...?' Avi said after few minutes.

'Ours was a normal middle class family. Dad was a bank employee and mom was a teacher..'

Vinny knew exactly this much, he had told her this much before their marriage. So she nodded in response, letting him continue without causing an interruption.

'Ours was a happy family... till we lost dad in an accident.
I was fourteen and Aashi was young too. It was rough for all of us, specially for mom.. because she was pregnant that time.' Avi took a deep breath as Vinny held his hand letting him know that she was there, listening to him.

' Mom was fourty then...late pregnancy... doctor asked her to be careful and on top of all that pressure, losing dad and taking care of us, she lost the baby on sixth month of her pregnancy.
It was a girl...the baby. I heard the doctor telling my mom.
I wasn't able to do anything for her you know?
She lost a child along with her husband, because she was busy taking care of us, I couldn't do anything to ease her pain or pressure, nothing...
If I was able to take care of mom that time, she wouldn't have lost her baby.
Mom never brought up this again, she just accepted it, and took care of us like nothing ever happened, but I knew she was torn apart. I have heard her crying at midnight, when she was sure we were asleep.
I never felt that useless in my life...'
Avi struggled to keep his words coherent. His eyes were glistened with unshed tears and Vinny's heart went out to him.

' When I saw you that day in your house and you spilled everything to me accidentally..., you reminded me of my mom. You told me that you want to have this baby and I wanted to give you the support you needed which I could not give my mom.
It's part of my selfishness Vinny...I wanted to make things easier for you...' he drawled out.

Vinny kept stroking his hand while they sat in silence which was comforting itself. It was peaceful in a way, where they felt safe with each other.

' It wasn't your fault Avi.. don't harbor that guilty feeling inside you.
You were just fourteen, that's basically a kid.. and from what I know about you, you must had been that reliable kid whom every mom wish to have.
I am sure that your mom never blamed you for the loss.
Sometimes we feel helpless like this. I had been there.... when mom was sick and dad could not even spare a second for her , I used to blame myself for it. If I never came between them , they might have lead a better life... But you know what my mom said?
She told me that she never regretted her decision to have me.' Vinny gulped down the lump formed in her throat. It wasn't her time to cry , Avi needed her. So she calmed herself before speaking again.

'Mothers are like that Avi... they are forgiving all the time, and loving too.
So stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault at all...'

Avi didn't say anything, Vinny spared a glance his way to make sure that he is listening to her... which he was.

' ..and I don't think I would have survived without you. We lied a lot and still deceiving a lot of people, which I don't like honestly...you are super annoying at times.. but still I won't have it any other way....'

Avi grinned at her ' there I thought how mature you are Vinny... but you ruined it in the end '

' Hey...I am mature all the time but I can switch to my crazy self whenever I want because you don't really mind..and I really made you smile... just now' she smiled smugly.

' Yes...you did. Thank you.' he squeezed her hand which was holding his hand firmly.

' Since you are very thankful, can't you let me sleep here...?' she made a puppy face.

Avi shook his head and stood up making clear that her efforts were to no avail.

' I am walking you to your room right now...'
Vinny rolled her eyes as she stood up.

' I am taking back my words, I would love to have it in all other ways...you are such a horrible person to live with...' Vinny stomped out of the room leaving Avi in a fit of laughter...and that smile lingered with him till he fell asleep.

*****************

Both of them were pretty frazzled the next morning , since they had stayed up late.
Avi was drinking his second coffee in the morning when the door bell ringed.
' Lakshmi is busy....go and get the door Avi.....' Vinny shouted from the kitchen.
Lakshmi was making dosai for breakfast and Vinny was getting herself a cup of milk.

She still had morning sickness, but it has subsided and the smell of food doesn't irritate her anymore.
Vinny loved to talk with Lakshmi in her broken Tamil and Lakshmi replied in Malayalam, it was a task for them to talk properly but somehow they managed to talk.

Whenever Avi listened them talking he would ask for subtitles because he found it amusing that despite of their language barrier , they had a steady conversation throughout the morning.
The waft of hot crispy dosai filled the air in the kitchen and her mouth watered.
' Why am I so hungry all the time ' Vinny muttered herself.

Within a minute , Lakshmi passed her a plate with hot crispy dosai and chutney and smiled saying that the baby is hungry and she should eat well at this time.

Vinny nodded and smiled as she got her plate in her hand. She made her way to the dining area. Avi wasn't there, so she placed her plate and mug on the table and sauntered to the living room only to find a flustered Avi.

' When did you come back?' he was asking to the girl who was standing on their doorway.

Vinny got a glimpse of her and she looked strikingly similar to Avi but more in a softer shade.

She was wearing a loose powder blue cotton shirt with blue jeans. Her slightly brown hair was in a neat bun..and her eyes were exactly like Avi's. Chocolate brown.

Aashi.. Avi's sister... Vinny gaped thinking what she should do?
This is the first time they are meeting in person, Vinny stood there, rooted to her spot considering her options to
run away.

Avi wasn't expecting Aashi there, he had talked to her last morning too.
She was still annoyed with him for getting married without waiting for her. So Avi was sure he would pay for it, however he didn't know that his time would come this soon.

' We came last night Bhai. I wanted to come last night itself but Madhav didn't let me ' she shrugged in annoyance.

' Why didn't you tell me that you are coming?'

' I wanted to surprise you...
You surprised me with a sudden marriage...this is the least I could do..' she said nonchalantly.

' Don't be mad Aashuma...I am so sorry... It was a sudden decision and we didn't wanted any drama.. that's why we had a private ceremony. I told you all these. Don't be mad... please' Avi pleaded.

'Give him some peace Aashi.... don't start in the morning itself..' Madhav, Aashi's husband came to her side to rescue Avi from his sister's wrath.

' Meet your niece...Amaya..' he said to Avi as the infant in his hand giggled making Aashi soften a little.

' Yeah yeah meet your irresponsible uncle...' she cooed to the baby, smiling.

Avi smiled at the sight of Amaya...who was intently looking at him.

' So when did you meet her Bhai? Right after breaking up with Mihika??' Aashi raised her eyebrows in confusion.

' Don't start again Aashi... at least come inside. You can grill me later...' Avi stepped sideways letting them get into the living area and that's when he noticed a bewildered Vinny there.
She could not figure out a way to escape from there and the name Mihika ringed a bell , so she stayed there..in a mixture of trepidation and excitement.

Vinny smiled as she noticed how Aashi was looking at her.

' So that's it Bhai? She's pregnant!!
Don't tell me that you knocked her up before marriage?' Aashi's eyes widened in disbelief looking at her brother.

Avi coughed awkwardly and Vinny stifled a laugh despite of their situation.
Aashi definitely knew how to make Avi silent and Vinny loved her for it already.

'I am in for all the surprises..' Vinny thought to herself as she studied the brother sister duo.