Chapter 74
Veer picked her up and flew her up towards a certain edge of the cliff. It was close to sunrise. The scene of sunrise from there was so beautiful. It seemed like a mango rising up in the sky.
“Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.” Veer wished her. She was surprised.
It rained red snow. Bani was surprised at it. With red snow, there were pink and white flower petals raining down at her. Bani opened her arms and smiled at it. It was high up on the cliff so didn’t make the change conspicuous and attract attention. She twirled around. Bani heard the nightingales sing. It was just so beautiful. A parrot flew around her.
“Bani… Bani… Bani…” The parrot said her name. Bani laughed. “Haaww…” The parrot jumped up on the soft toy. Titling its head to see the toy. Bani laughed.
“Yeh Veer hai.” Bani introduced.
“Veeerrr?” The bird was quite confused. It flew to Veer. “Veeerrr…” The looked at the toy again, “Veeeerrrr?”
Bani laughed at the adorable confusion the bird had. He was confused about why two of them had the same name. The parrot dramatically landed on Bani’s shoulder and leaned against her. “Baanni.”
“Tumne use Bani kehna sikhaya?” Bani asked Veer.
“Sweetheart, tumhare liye kuch bhi.” Veer winked at her.
“Sweetheart…” The parrot said to Bani.
“Oh, hello? Nahi. Use sweetheart sirf main bula sakta hun.”
“Usee sweetheart sirf main bula sakta hun.” The parrot started singing as he flew around. Veer tilted his and gave out the golden eagle call. The parrot jumped and hid in Bani’s hair. “Oopsie…”
Bani laughed at how adorable that was.
“Kyu dara rahe ho?” Bani kissed the parrot.
“Oopsie…” The bird said looking at Veer. It flew around Veer singing “Oopsie” as if teasing Veer that Bani kissed it. Veer turned into an eagle flew around. He glided around the air so gracefully. As if showing the parrot that he could fly too. The parrot sat on Bani’s shoulder. “Show off…”
Bani almost fell down laughing at that. She clutched her tummy and broke into laughter. Veer returned to his human form and looked at Bani. She looked so angelic laughing like that. He just couldn’t help but smile.
“Surprise accha laga?” Bani asked.
“Red snow?”
“Thoda sa mushkil tha but managed. I could manage to control the sky enough to snow for a few moments in a small area but the red colour was Rishi and Kartik. They had taken red pigment and made it fine enough so that they can stay in the air for a while and change colour of white snow.”
“Toh yeh kaam tha tumhe Rishi aur Kartik se?”
“Surprise accha laga? You like red colour toh socha aaj red hi sahi.”
A few leaves fell on Bani.
“Kakot, it was supposed to be flowers. Tum patte gira rahe ho.” Veer sighed and rubbed his temples. Bani laughed. She hugged Veer.
“Thank you. One of the best surprises I had.” Bani told him. Bani kissed him on the cheek. Veer smiled.
“Glad ki tumhe accha laga.” Veer smiled. Kakot gave her a small marble. Bani was surprised.
“Crows often bring something for those they like. Usually, its people that feed the crow food. Constantly.” Veer explained to her.
“Thank you.” Bani thanked Kakot. With that he flew away “Mera gift?” Bani asked Veer.
“Itni jaldi kyu. Abhi toh din shuru hua hai. I’ll give you your gift later. Waise Singhania Mansion mein sabh tumhara wait kar rahe hai.” He told her.
Bani returned to Sharma Residence, then after she’s taken her leave, she returned to Singhania Mansion. All the people were at the table except Veer.
“Happy Birthday, Bhabhi.” The boys said together.
“Happy Birthday, Bani.” Tapish wished her. They gave Bani a gift.
“Thank you.” Bani smiled. Wrapped in gift paper was a basket. Book set from Daksh. Her favourite muffins from Tapish. A keychain and a cute teddy bear from Ponky. Chocolates and movie CDs from Sam. All of them together brought her a beautiful kurti. It was a beautiful design.
Bani went up her room. She had finished getting fresh. A knock was on the door.
“Haan…” Bani opened the door. She saw Balwant standing there. She let him inside. She saw two jewellery boxes in his hands.
“Tumhare liye hai. Happy Birthday.” He wished her.
“Thank you, daddyji, but iski zaroorat nahi thi.” Bani tried to be humble.
“Baap de raha ho toh le lena chahiye.” He answered. Bani was surprised. Balwant would never have said something like that. It was like he almost called himself a father figure to her. “Mujhe pata hai ki hum dono bohot close nahi hai ek dusre ke but itna samajh gaya hun ki shayad tum mere Veer ke liye sahi ho. Hum dono ko ek dusre se shayad bohot saari shikayatein hongi but abhi itni saari shikayatein bhi nahi hai ki tumhe apne ghar ka hiss ana samjhu.”
Bani smiled and took it from him. She didn’t know. He wasn’t a hug kind of person. They never had that deep relationship that she would hug him with tears in her eyes. Neither did they have the kind of connection where she’d touch his feet and he’d give her blessings and all.
“Thank you. It means a lot ki aapne mere liye kuch liya hai.”
“Khol ken ahi dekhogi?”
Bani opened the first blue velvet box. There was diamond jewellery in it. Shining brightly. The jewellery design was so beautiful that Bani was surprised they made such designs. There was a card with the box. She picked up and read it.
Mrs Bani Singhania,
Happy Birthday. We hope that this birthday of yours is joyful and you shine as bright as these diamonds.
Best Regards, Sahiti Chauhan and team
One of the famous jewellery designers in India. Bani knew Singhanias were rich people but to have one of the leading jewellery designers to make a custom-made diamond jewellery set. Bani opened the other box and saw a gold waist chain. It had diamonds, rubies and emeralds studded. The waist chain wasn’t a very thick one but it was designed to look modern enough. Yet it could be worn on a saree or over a lehenga.
“Yeh Ishana ka hai.” Balwant told her. It surprised her more than the diamond jewellery. Giving her jewellery was one thing but to give something that belonged to his late wife was more surprising. “Lagta hai mujhe dekhke ki main sabhko control karta rehta hun. Hun bhi aisa. Sabh cheezein mere hisaab se ho yeh mujhe chahiye hota hai. Par kuch log mil jaate hai aise jinke saamne mera gussa, mera controlling nature bhi haar jaata. Aaj tak sirf chaar log mile hai mujhe aise. Ishana, Ahana, Veer aur tum. Ishana ne mujhe bohot pehle kaha tha ki agar tum kisi din mere ghar tak aayi toh main jo chahe kar lun, tum Veer tak pohoch ke hi rahogi. Veer tum tak pohoch ke hi rahega. Apne pyaar to paake hi dum lega. Ishana bohot alag thi. Shayad saare cheelon se alag thi. She had her own world which she painted with colours. The very few people in the world jinke saamne insaan khud hi jhuk jaata tha. Kyuki aisa kuch hai hi nahi jo unhe tod sakta hai. Unki himmat tod sake. Ishana ko dekh ke lagta tha ki himmat wahi hai jo Ishana hai. The courage to stand and face the world against her. Seena taan ke khade rehna jab sabh kuch tumhare khilaaf ho aur phir bhi haar na manna. Yeh karne ki himmat bohot kam logo mein hoti hai. Wahi himmat tum mein dikhti hai. I’m definitely sure ki agar Ishana aaj zinda hoti toh shayad tumhe bohot zyaada pasand karti.”
Bani looked at the waist chain. Ishana Singhania. She had only heard of her. Everything she’s heard of her was just good. Even Bela told her that one couldn’t find a cheel like Ishana Singhania. So different from all the cheels. She had the human element in her heart. Bani herself had come to admire the woman. Balwant patted her arm and left. Bani smiled. It felt nice to think that Ishana would have liked her.
“Bhabhi…” Sam entered the room. Behind him Ponky, Daksh and Tapish came in. He had a large grin on his face. Bani had come to recognize that grin. Both Veer and Sam had that grin when they had some new plan in their head which was going to put someone in trouble.
“Tum logo ke paas koi naya plan hai? I’m not being a part of it.”
“Please. This is going to be the most hilarious prank ever. Veer bhai aapko kuch kahenge bhi nahi. Aapka birthday hai.” Ponky requested.
“Bhabhi ko Veer bhai kuch nahi kahega but hum sabh ki halat tight ho jaayegi. Sam toh phir bhi bhaag jaayega. Hum sabh phasenge.” Daksh commented.
“Tapish bhai and I have come up with the most epic prank ever. Veer bhai hum sabki lete hai. Now, it has been long since I got back at him.” Sam said. He closed the door behind them once all of them were in the room.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how crazy is this prank?”
“High above in 7 or 8.” Daksh commented.
“Bhabhi, aapko bas pretend karna hai ki aap pregnant hai.”
“Are you crazy? How is that a prank?”
“Kyuki Veer pagal ho jaayega. He’s not going to be prepared to take this.” Tapish answered.
“Are you mad? You’re telling me ki humari suhagraat hui kal raat ko and aaj main pregnant ho gayi and he’ll believe that?” Bani asked incredulously. “You’re mad.”
“Bhabhi, we’re all supernatural creatures. Who is to say ki pregnancy should be human-like too? You’re still half serpent. It’s convincing enough of an argument. He might know a lot about naag-naagins but why in the world would he know how naagin pregnancy works? Unhe itna bhi detail mein nahi pata hoga. Toh bas keh dena ki it happened.”
“He doesn’t dislike children as such, Sam. Toh why will he freak out?”
“Bhabhi, just because he has had a conversation with you about family planning doesn’t mean that he’s ready to be a father.”
“Bani, hum bohot acche se jaante hai Veer ko. He’s going to freak out. It is going to be hilarious. Thoda drama aap bhi kar lena, thodi si hum Veer bhai ki lenge.”
“Veeranshu hum sabh ko nahi chodega. Apne stupid plans ke chakkar mein mujhe bhi phasaoge.”
“Bhabhi, pleaseee…..” Ponky pleaded. Sam made an adorable baby cheel face. Bani sighed.
“Fine.” Bani hoped she wasn’t going to regret joining on this.
“Great.” Sam grinned. Chachi, Meera, Mehek, Dehek and Vanshika showed up.
“Happy Birthday, baby.” Vanshika hugged Bani. She gave a box to Bani. Bani opened it and saw a locket chain. It had a special crystal. In Naagvansh, they believed the crystal to bring good luck. Bani smiled at that.
“Haaye!!” Chachi got all crazy seeing the diamond jewellery set. “Kitna sundar hai. Kitne saare heere jade hai ismein!!”
“Oh wow!!!” Mehek Dehek exclaimed.
“Daddyji ne diya hai.” Bani answered.
“Teri toh kismat hi khul gayi hai. Itne mehenge tofe mil rahe hai.”
Meera and Bani looked at each other. Meera took the box and put it back on the dressing table.
“Maa, hum Bani ko gift dene aaye the.” Meera reminded. Meera gave her a kurti. Bani smiled.
“Meera di, bohot acchi hai. Thank you.”
Veer walked in and saw the waist belt that Chachi was looking at.
“Dad ne actually tumhe diya?” Veer was surprised.
“Haan. Main khud chauk gayi thi.” Bani answered.
“Bohot hi khoobsurat hai.” Chachi answered.
“Meri mom ki hai.” Veer answered with a smile. “Accha lagega tum pe.” Veer told Bani.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I should actually wear it.”
“Bani, iss ghar mein aur koi nahi pehen sakta hai ise. Tumhe diya hai toh he does want you to wear it when you want.” He chuckled at her silly thoughts.
“It was your mother’s.”
“I know, sweetheart. Anyway, usually humari family mein dete hai. Saas apni bahu ko deti hai. You know jaise ek maa apni beti ko apne gehne deti hai when she’s getting married out of affection. The same way, humari family ki saas bhi deti hai apni bahu ko in a way of saying that to them she’s like her daughter. Mom toh hai nahi isiliye shayad dad ne hi de diya. And then again, shayad mom bhi tumhe dena pasand karti.”
Bani just smiled.
“Abh chalen?” Vanshika asked. She was dressed for lunch.
“Kahan?” Bani asked.
“Well, lunch planned hai. Tumhara birthday hai toh its only natural that we have dinner together. All of us together.” He told her.
“All of us mein kon hai?”
“Tumhari family. Your entire family. Sabh.”
“As in mere patidev, uske bhai, chacha, dad, mere chacha chachi, dadi, dada, bua, aur sabh?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Sweetheart, tumhare liye jaan de sakta hun yeh toh sirf lunch hai.” He put an arm over her shoulders.
Bani walked down to see all the Singhania in suits.
“Kya baat hai. Aaj saare badtameez kaafi shareef lag rahe hai.” Bani teased. Veer was himself in a suit. He characteristic black. Sam was in a deep forest green suit. It matched with Vanshika’s skirt colour. They seemed to match. Daksh wore a dark brown blazer with a shirt. Ponky wore a black and white suit. Tapish in a royal blue suit. Only he wore a plain white shirt instead of a buttoned-up shirt.
“Well, koi khaas impression toh hai nahi humara aapke family pe toh zara shareef dikhe toh accha hi hoga.”
“Tum bas chalo, sweetheart.” Veer pushed her ahead softly. Bani smiled. All of them reached the place. It was a nice place. Private enough for a family gathering but not very far away.
“Happy Birthday, Bani.” Aishwarya and Amar wished her together. Bani hugged them instantly.
“Happy Birthday, Bani.” Kushal wished her.
“Thank you. Waise mujhe accha laga kia ap aaye. I though you and dadi won’t show up.” Bani said.
“Aaj toh tumhara birthday hai, bacche. Aaj bhi agar tumhe khush karne wali cheezein nahi kit oh phir birthdays ka matlab nahi hoga.” He kissed her forehead.
“Happy Birthday.” Shreya wished her. Bani hugged her with a bright smile.
“Thank you, dadi. I know you’re not fond of them par phir bhi aayi. It means a lot to me.” Bani told her. She gave a faint smile.
“My ways of showing it might be different but at the end of the day, main sirf tumhara accha chahti hun. Bacchi toh tum meri humesha hi rahogi. Bado ko thodi mushkil hoti hai yeh baat samajhne mein ki baccha abh bada ho gaya hai aur use cover karne ki zaroorat nahi hoti. I have done that for several years with my children. Phir everything that happened. Dil mein darr sa baith jata hai. Samjhana mushkil hai but someday we’ll get there.”
Bani turned to see that the boys had already settled themselves. It was a buffet.
“Yeh papa hai.” Bani introduced the Sharma Family to the Kashyap Family. “Yeh chachi hai. Yeh meri Meera di. Yeh dono hai Mehek Dehek.”
“Yeh meri dadi hai. Dadu, Amar chachu, Aditi chachi, Bua se aap mil chuke hai. Yeh dono hai Rishi aur Kartik. Chachu aur Chachi ke bete hai.” She introduced her family to Sharmas.
“Aapse milke accha laga, Mr Sharma. Aapne itne saal Bani ko jo pyaar diya hai uske liye I’ll always be thankful.” Shreya told him. Rishi and Kartik gave her a small jewellery.
“Ismein hai kya?” She asked them.
“You know aapne kaha tha ki aapko humesha lagta hai ki kaise aapko koi information nahi mil paati. So, we made a list of people you can contact when you need an information. The names of people we generally go for information and where you’ll find them. Dadi ko agar pata chala toh hume bohot daant padegi. Isiliye aise jewellery box mein rakha hai.” Rishi told her. Bani smiled.
“Thank you. Secret safe with me.” Bani assured them. Bani turned around and saw everyone already together at the table.
“Sweetheart.” Veer offered her his hand. He led her towards the table and pulled a chair for her.
“Okay, everyone. Aaj sweetheart ka birthday hai toh sabse pehle, Happy Birthday, sweetheart. So, let’s all enjoy as much as we can. Ponky, Daksh, you two are not allowed to get drunk and start your own party here.” Veer announced.
“Bani.” The Singhanias raised their glass. Bani smiled.
“Thank you.” Bani thanked them.
The lunch had gone really well. She was worried that something will start a fight between but all of them tried not do anything to make a scene. Bani had noted that dadu had gotten along well with Sam, Veer and Daksh. Bani was happy that at least some of them were getting along well. The table didn’t have a single non-veg dish and none of the Singhanias complained. After a long time, she felt extremely happy. All of her family together and getting along well.
“So?” Veer asked.
“Accha lag raha hai. To have everyone together and not tearing each other apart as I worried.”
The music was being played. Bani and Veer did their slow dancing.
“I wasn’t worried about that. Maine pehle hi keh diya tha dad ko ki relax kare and not take any commentary seriously. They didn’t seem to throw any commentary to offend him at all. Toh issue hi nahi hua.”
“Well, tum dadu ke saath acche se settled lag rahe ho.”
Veer chuckled.
“He’s interesting. Shayad unki open thinking is why I am beginning to get along with him.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Sam signalling her with a grin. He was dancing with Aishwarya. Aishwarya turned around and looked at Bani. She was smiling teasingly too. Sam must have told her.
“Veeranshu, tumse ek baat kehni thi.”
“Haan. Bolo.”
“I’m pregnant.” Bani gave a serious look. Veer stopped and just stared at her. “Abhi kisi aur ko mat batana.”
Bani almost wanted to start laughing at Veer’s shocked expression.
“You mean tumhara aur mera baccha hai?”
“Aur kiska baccha hoga, Veeranshu?” Bani hit him. Veer walked away from her downed the entire glass of whiskey. Ponky tried not to break into laughter.
“Bani, we had sex once.”
“Well, I don’t remember us using protection.”
“Bani, it was yesterday.” He was freaking out.
“You do know that naags aren’t related to fertility for nothing, right? They’re related to fertility because of their own fertility.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Are you serious? This literally happened just once.”
“Haan but we’re generally fertile. You’ll find many problems in naag-naagins but having a child isn’t one of them. They have children really fast. That is why most naag-naagin end up having children early. They’re all fertile.”
Veer was freaking out.
“You’re telling me that I’m going to be a dad?”
Bani didn’t answer that.
“Shit. Damn it.” Veer exclaimed.
“I guess aapne Veer bhai ko bata diya.” Sam showed up. Veer looked at Sam.
“Ise pata hai?” Veer asked.
“I can see the future, remember?” Sam reminded.
“Shit.” Veer downed another glass of whiskey. “I’m not ready for this!”
“Veer bhai, when is anyone ready ready to take responsibility for a child. But congratulation you got your wife pregnant in just a day. It has got to be a record.”
“Shut up. Ek toh mujhe samajh hi nahi aa raha ki how the hell this happened. Damn it. Mujhe hi prepared hona chahiye tha.”
“Prepared and that too you? Yeh tere bas ki baat hai hi nahi. But congratulations. Ek baap hone ka ehsaas hi alag hota hai. Very special. To be responsible for that child. Tu abh daddy sunne ki aadat daal le, mere bhai. Abhi toh baccha pet mein toh phir bhi time hai tere paas Bani ke saath rehne ke liye. But baby ek baar aa gaya then you’re no longer the first choice. You’ll always be the second. The first will always be that baby. Yeh jo bhi romance chal raha tha. Uska the end.” Tapish added.
“Ek record hai, Bhabhi. Most men cheat on their wives when she’s pregnant. Veer bhai toh hai azaad panchi.”
“Veeranshu, tumhe bhi koi aur ladki acchi lagne lagegi kya? Kyuki tumhe abhi romance nahi mil raha toh tum chale jaaoge kisi aur ladki ki baahon mein?” Bani asked. Veer shook his head.
“Sam, shut up. Kuch bhi bakwaas kar raha hai. Sweetheart, aisa kuch nahi hai. Na hi aisa kuch hoga. Please. Tum itna mat socho.” Veer started to worry.
“He’s got a history. Jaise hi honeymoon period khatam, Veer bhai moves on to the next girl.” Sam told Bani.
“Veeranshu, agar tumne mujhe dhoka diya na…”
“Sam, I swear. Tu chup nahi hua toh main sach mein tujhe bohot maarne wala hun.”
“What? I just told her your history.”
“Bani, sweetheart, I swear. Tumhare siwa mere dil ya dimaag mein koi nahi aa sakta hai.”
“But yeh bhi sahi hai. Maine bhi suna ki husbands cheat on their wife while she’s pregnant.”
“Bani, just chill. Main tumpe cheat nahi karne wala. Ek toh I’m already freaking out about this baby. Then tum kuch bhi bakwaas paal rahi ho dimaag mein.”
“Isi Khushi mein aaj party karte hai. We’ll go to a club.” Tapish decided.
“I can’t drink, Tapish bhai.”
“Aisa konsa aap peeti hai. Aap bas company dena.” Sam commented.
“Okay.” Bani agreed. They managed to keep up the façade for a while but then once they got near the car, Ponky broke into laughter. He couldn’t control it as he looked at Veer’s face. Looking at Ponky, Daksh broke into laughter too. Veer raised an eyebrow.
“Gadho, hasna band karo.” Tapish grabbed him. That made Veer doubt.
“Just a minute. Yeh prank tha, right?” The look on Veer’s face made Bani break into fits of laughter.
“Veer bhai, hum -” Sam never got to finish the denial because Veer started to walk towards Sam. Sam started running. “Veer bhai, aap mujhpe -”
“Saalon, tum sabh mile hue ho iss sabh -” Veer turned to Bani. “Tum bhi, sweetheart? I can’t believe you started pranking with my brothers.”
Bani shot off running. She broke into laughter.
“Sach mein. You looked so hilarious.” Bani tried to defend herself. She held her skirt while running.
“Saalon, tumhe toh main dekhta hun.” He threatened them and after a few moments, Veer grabbed her. Curtesy of her heavy skirt. Veer grabbed her by her arm. She was still laughing. “You just wait, sweetheart. I’ll get back at you. Aur tum sabh, saalon, soch lo.”
“Veer bhai, yeh saara plan Sam aur Tapish bhai ka tha. Hum iss mein involved nahi the. Unn dono ne hi Bhabhi ko involve kiya. Bhabhi ne toh na keh hi diya par inn dono ne hi convince kiya Bhabhi ko.” Ponky declared.
Bani tried to run but Veer put his arm around her shoulders. “Jaldi kya hai, sweetheart?”
Just pulled up all the issues to the front. It's the way they're so confident and comfortable with Veer and Sam. I like that side. 
I guess because Amar is a chill parent, they're chill kids too. 
