Although the first meeting with the Maan children was disappointing, the Junejas did leave the party with some hope. Kulraj and Kiran managed to get the address of their new home, and the Junejas decided to meet Nihaal and his sisters the next day.
The Maan residence was far more luxurious than their previous home. It was located on the outskirts of the city. There were a few houses located within a 5 minute driving range. The Junejas parked in front of a huge, white two story building surrounded by a beautiful garden, housing a variety of flowers, and a few fountains. They were warmly greeted by the head mistress of the house—Mrs. Francis.
"Welcome," she said joyfully. "I recognize you from the picture," she said to Lalit and Gayatri. Mrs. Francis guided them to the main living room. All the Junejas were awed by the beauty of the house. There was a nice cool breeze circulating in the room. It was decorated with the elegant furniture, paintings, flowers, and statues. Lalit's eyes immediately fell on two big pictures hanging on the wall. One was of Balraaj and Teji with a garland around and the other was of Lalit and Gayatri. Gayatri felt even more ashamed of herself—the Maan children still gave her respect despite all the wrongdoing she had done to them.
Mrs. Francis kindly asked the family to sit down while she informed Nihaal, Heer, and Meher about their arrival. There was a dead silence in the room after she left. Some of the members were still admiring the house, while the others were pondering over what to say when they met Balraaj's children.
The silence was broken quickly by Meher. Preet immediately turned towards the hallway from where the sound was coming from. Within a matter of seconds, he spotted Meher, talking on the phone and heading towards the living room.
"Senor necessito esos documentos rapidamente. No tengo mas tiempo" she said over the phone.
"When did she learn Spanish," Preet wondered to himself.
It was after finishing her call that Meher realized who else was in the room. She stood in front of the family a few feet away. Before she could inquire about their visit, she spotted her brother and sister descending down the staircase with Mrs. Francis following them. Nihaal and Heer stood next to Meher.
"Mrs. Francis, could you get some tea and biscuits," Heer asked, "and you could you put less sugar in one of the cups?" Prem was touched to see that Heer still remembered everything about his family. She still remembered that Lalit was asked to cut down on his sugar intake.
After Mrs. Francis left, Gayatri walked up to Nihaal, "Nihaal, I am sincerely sorry for what happened to you and your sisters. What Veera did is unforgivable. I am ashamed of the way I treated you and your sisters. But please, I beg you don't punish the family for this. There hasn't been a single moment of joy in our house ever since Heer and Meher have left. It is as if our family has been cursed."
"You did what every mother would do for her daughter. I don't blame you for not believing me. However, I won't lie to you…I wish you hadn't dragged my sisters into this mess. Anyways, it's all in the past. I'm glad that all misunderstandings have been cleared. Please don't beat yourself over this," Nihaal said with sincerity.
"Nihaal, we've come to take Heer and Meher back," Lalit claimed.
"I'm sorry, but my sisters are not going anywhere" he refuted.
Preet had lost his patience by then. He approached Nihaal and pleaded, "Nihaal, what happened was wrong but please don't give us such a big punishment."
"Preet, I have no problems with you. You have been a really good husband. Meher told me that you two faked to break up. You've been there for my sister, and if she wants to come back to you, then I have no objections," Nihaal said, and then while looking at Prem he said, "as for Heer—her home is here. She's been through enough, and there is no way I am going to be stupid enough to send her to a place where she can get hurt again."
It was now Prem's turn to defend himself. Everyone moved to the side, while walked up to Nihaal. "I know that I have hurt your sister a lot, and I am sorry for that. I really love her Nihaal and want to start a fresh new life with her"
"Two years ago you said that you really loved her, yet you forced her to leave the house. Heer did so much for you and your family, and this is how you repaid her. You didn't bother to try and learn the truth. You just sided with your sister. If you thought Heer was wrong, you could have tried to make her see the truth. But you didn't. Instead, you made her pay for mistakes that she never committed! She trusted you to do the right thing and find a way, and you broke that trust"
Before Nihaal could continue, they were interrupted by Lalit, who had fallen to the ground. He was struggling to breathe, and turning pale.
Lalit was quickly taken to the hospital. He had suffered a small heart attack. Fortunately, he received treatment in time before any serious damage could have been done. The doctor instructed the whole family that Lalit needed to take extreme precautions. He had to watch his diet, begin exercising, and most importantly, avoid stress. The next couple months are critical to his recovery.
After gaining consciousness, Lalit asked to speak to Nihaal in private. Nihaal sat down on the chair next to Lalit's bed. By then, a stream of tears were trailing down his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry," Nihaal said.
Lalit managed to give a small smile despite his condition. "My son, you have done nothing wrong, and you shouldn't be apologizing…there is something I want to ask you"
Nihaal gave a nod to Lalit's request.
"Nihaal, for the past two years I have seen my family break apart. I want to see my family happy again, and this is only possible when Heer and Meher return. They are the soul of this house. Please, give them back to us"
Nihaal tightened his grip around Lalit's hand, "I assure you that whatever you want will happen."
Later that night, Nihaal asked Prem and Preet to come over his house. When the two brothers arrived, Nihaal was waiting in the main room with Heer and Meher.
"Babuji asked me to let Heer and Meher come back home," Nihaal said, "Taking his condition into consideration, I agreed to his request."
"Thank you, this means so much to us" Prem said gratefully.
"I'm not done yet," Nihaal snapped back. Prem and Preet did not say anything else and gestured Nihaal to continue. "I'm allowing my sisters to go with you until Babuji has recovered completely. If after that point, Meher wants to continue to stay in that house…it is her choice. Heer, on the other hand is going to come back."
"What is this—a joke?" Preet responded.
"No—it's your brother, here, that has made a joke out of my sister's life. I love Babuji just as much as you do, and I want him to get better. But I don't want Heer making anymore sacrifices, especially since they are not valued."
Prem now looked straight at Heer, "Heer, is this what you want?"
Heer, who had been quiet throughout this whole time, gave a soft nod. Prem never wanted Heer to force herself to live with him. He wanted her to be with him because she wanted to. However, he did not have much of a choice since it was a matter of his father's life.
Lalit, along with the rest of the family, was elated to learn that Heer and Meher would be moving back right away. Upon much insistence, the doctors agreed to discharge Lalit and send a nurse to help with his care.
By the time Prem, Preet, and Harman brought Lalit back from the hospital, Heer and Meher had already arrived at Juneja house. After nearly two years, the whole family gathered in one room, had dinner together, and exchanged jokes with each other.
After dinner, all the adults were sipping on coffee while watching Kulraj's children engage in an intense game of carom. Lalit diverted everyone's attention when he spoke to Heer and Meher.
"I'm so glad that you two are back…now everything is going to be okay," he said joyfully. "I was thinking, why don't you two join the business also?"
Heer and Meher exchanged looks, which didn't go unnoticed by Lalit. "Is there a problem?" he asked.
"No, it's nothing like that. If you don't mind, we would like to continue working with Nihaal bhaiya. We are still in the process of establishing the business here, and he doesn't have that much help," Heer explained.
Lalit gave his usual understanding smile, "That's absolutely fine…Nihaal could use you more…In that case, you guys should get some sleep since all of you have work tomorrow"
It had been a tiring day for everyone, so no one protested to Lalit's command. After entering their room, Preet guided Meher to the balcony of their room. Meher immediately recognized that he was disturbed.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
Preet couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "You still know me too well…I was just thinking about Prem bhaiya and Heer bhabhi…I know what Prem bhaiya did was wrong, but is this a just punishment for him? For the past two years, there hasn't been a moment where he hadn't thought of Heer bhabhi…he loves her, Meher. He won't be able to live without her."
Meher understood where Preet's frustration was coming from. She placed her hand on his shoulder, "I know that you are concerned…but try and understand Heer didi's point of view. She was shattered when Prem bhaiya gave up on their relationship…she's just scared to open up her heart again…all we can do is pray that over the next couple months, she realizes that she does not have a life without Prem bhaiya. If Heer didi decides that she doesn't want to leave this house, then Nihaal bhaiya will not object."
"And what about you?" Preet asked. "Are you going to leave me again?"
Preet's eyes clearly dictated how scared he was—scared to lose her. Meher cupped his face in her hands, "Preet, I left because my sister and brother needed me. They were alone. I never wanted to leave. At the party, I told it was too late because I never expected Heer didi or Nihaal bhaiya to think about taking a step in this house. That night it was a sister you left you. Today, your wife is back, and I promise I won't leave you."
Preet's joy had no boundaries. He gave his wife a tight hug and kissed her cheek. "Welcome back, Mrs. Meher Preet Juneja." Clearly, Preet's jovial personality had returned.
While Preet and Meher were celebrating their reunion, Prem was dragging his feet to his room. He didn't want Heer to feel as if he was invading her space, but at the same time he didn't want Lalit or Gayatri to suspect what was going on between them. After much debating, Prem decided to enter his room. By then, Heer had set up a bed for herself on the couch and was in the process of putting her things away.
"Heer," he said to get her attention. Heer was too engrossed in what she was doing that she did not notice Prem entering. "I'll sleep on the couch, you sleep on the bed."
"It's okay," she said calmly. "I'm fine where I am…good night." Not giving Prem a chance to object further, Heer crawled underneath her blanket and shut her eyelids, pretending to fall asleep. Prem turned off the lights and tried hard to fall asleep, but couldn't. His thoughts kept on drifting back to what his marriage had come to. He cursed himself for failing as a husband. In the end, his tired body and mind gave into sleep.
Cricket
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