Hello everyone! This chapter will be in two parts. Part one is up.
Chapter 18: Tonight's gonna be a good night….
Part 1
"Sheila, remember what I told you. When you see Naniji, what will you say?" asked Khushi worriedly. They were getting out of the car and walking to the door of the Raizada house for dinner.
"I'll say Namaste Naniji and I'll do this," said Sheila, joining her palms together in a Namaste. "Good!" said Khushi. "And you Nita! You little monster! Just don't poop or scream your lungs out for no reason. And absolutely no spitting out the food!" she shook a warning finger at the little one on her hip. Nita looked away unconcerned. She didn't understand and even if she had understood, she wouldn't have bothered too much with her mother's instructions. Nita had a mind of her own.
"Anyway. At least you girls look cute today!" said Khushi smiling fondly at her babies. She'd gone shopping this morning and bought them both cute little lehengas to wear. Since she was wearing a sari, she thought her daughters should wear Indian clothes too. And Sheila loved it. She was wearing a pale green lehenga with a gold top and green chiffon dupatta. She felt like a princess, she'd told her Mom after wearing it. Khushi had put Nita in a purple lehenga with a maroon blouse. That moppet didn't care, and she'd already drooled on the dupatta that her mother had carefully pinned to her shoulder.
"Don't my girls look beautiful Nigel?" asked Khushi, planting a kiss on top of Nita's soft curls.
"They've taken after their Mum, haven't they?" said Nigel admiringly.
The door swung open at that moment. "Khushi! Welcome!" Payal stood at the door, grinning from ear to ear. "Hi Payal! This is Nigel, and these are my girls!" said Khushi smiling slightly. They walked in to the foyer. "Come on in, we've been waiting for you!" said Payal. "Arjun and Khushi want to meet their cousins!" she exclaimed happily. Khushi's face stiffened at that, but she said nothing. She had resolved to be pleasant this evening. She figured she could give her sick, dying aunt one relatively normal, relatively happy evening. Payal bent down to say hello to Sheila, who hid behind her Mother, as usual. Even Nita, who was usually very friendly with strangers wouldn't go to Payal. She buried her head in her mother's shoulder when Payal held out her arms to her.
"They just need some time to settle in. They'll be friendly in some time," said Khushi apologetically, looking at Payal's crestfallen face. They'd reached the living room now, where the Raizada clan and Khushi's family awaited them. Khushi walked straight to Naniji. "Namaste Naniji!" she said touching Nani's feet. "Sheila!" she said, "Here is Naniji. Come say hello."
Sheila emerged from behind the folds of her mother's sari, "Namaste Naniji," she lisped, folding her hands as her mother had taught her. Naniji's face brightened at the sight of the little girl. She patted her head and blessed her. "Naniji, this is Nita!," said Khushi, trying to pry Nita's face out of her shoulder to no avail. Garima stood next to Naniji, with tears in her eyes. Khushi looked at her unsmilingly. "Namaste Am-er, Namaste!" she said, correcting herself quickly. "Sheila, say hello," she said to her daughter. "Namaste Naniji!" said Sheila obediently, speaking the 2 words her mother had taught her. Garima bent and kissed her on the cheek. "Was that right Mommy?" said Sheila, tugging on Khushi's sari quietly.
"It was absolutely right Sweetie!" said a voice from behind her, before Khushi could respond. Sheila ran to ASR. Khushi stared at him open mouthed. He looked, well handsome was the decent word for it, she thought. He was wearing a black sherwani with a cream-colored churidar. He had shaved, giving his usual dishelleved look a miss. His hair was slicked back and looked slightly wet, as if he'd just stepped out of the shower. He looked delectable, she sighed, her mouth dry.
"Hey ASR! How are you? I finished the whole entire book you got me. Mommy and I finished it last night!" she said excitedly. ASR swung her up in his arms. "I'll have to get you another one then, won't I?' he asked. "You look lovely today Miss Sheila Gupta," he said formally, tickling her as he spoke. She giggled at that. "Put me down silly. Your crushing my, my, leh-len, Mommy what is this called?" she asked, fingering her skirt. "It's called a Lehenga, darling," called Khushi. "You're crushing my Lehenga ASR," said Sheila importantly. "Alright then, down you go!" he said, putting her down. He walked to Khushi.
"Hello Khushi! You look, er, nice this evening," he said formally. She nodded a good evening at him, as he pried Nita away from her. Nita went to him easily, and babbled a lot of nonsense into his ear in reponse to the loud kiss he gave her. Khushi fumed internally. "Nice! She looked nice! She looked bloody phenomenal this evening and he'd barely glanced at her. The blue saree suited her wonderfully well. She wore a pretty ruby neclace round her neck and matching earrings that came with the set. She was wearing 4 strands of Jasmine in her long braid. A red bindi adorned her forehead. She looked fabulous. She thought he'd be stunned, happy, and excited when he saw her. Instead he'd been, well, polite was the only word that came to mind. Plus, her own daughters seemed to have defected. "Traitors!" she thought.
ASR walked to Nigel. "Hello Nathan! Nice to see you again," he held out a hand.
"It's Nigel," said Khushi loudly.
"Oh! Sorry, Nigel. I'm getting forgetful in my old age," said ASR. Nigel merely shook his head mutely. He was petrified of ASR.
"Where's Buaji?" asked Khushi, looking around.
"She's upstairs. Aakash will bring her down to dinner. She's very excited to see you and the children," said Garima. Khushi nodded in reply.
The bell chimed, and ASR said, "I'll get it!" He walked to the door, Nita still in his arms.
Aadit and Freddy stood there, Aadit with a giant bouquet in his hands and Freddy merely with his hands in his pockets. "Porthos! Aramis! Welcome!" said ASR, bowing slightly.
"Athos awaits you!" he quipped. Aadit looked perplexed, but Freddy grinned at ASR.
"He's calling us The Three Musketeers!" he explained to Aadit. "Who's the third?" asked Aadit, stupidly. "Nigel, you fool!" said Freddy, crushing him with a look. Nita, in the meanwhile had recognized old friends.
"Addy, Addy, up!" she almost jumped into Aadit's arms. He transferred the flowers to his left hand and held her in his right arm. "How's my girl?" he asked, kissing her cheek.
"Goood," she said, messing with Aadit's hair now. ASR's face hardened when he saw how easily she played with Aadit. He thought she'd reserved that warmth for him. Poor ASR. He hadn't yet learnt that children were like weather vanes. And that their affections were changeable too!
"Flowers for me?" he asked Aadit, a stern look on his face.
"Don't be silly. They're for your si..errr…grandmother," said Aadit chickening out.
"Good job Aadit. I was afraid you were going to be Aa-dimwit, and blurt out the truth," whispered Freddy in Aadit's ear.
"Shut up Freddy, and take either Nita or the flowers," muttered Aadit.
"I'll take the flowers, judging by that smell, the baby is pooping!" said Freddy, picking the bouquet out of Aadit's hands neatly. They walked into the living room. He went straight to Naniji.
"Hello Naa-niji! Some flowers for the pretty lady," he handed the bouquet to her. "Thank you Mr.Meek," said Nani very correctly as Aadit looked on, outraged at having been outsmarted by Freddy.
"Oh! Call me Freddy," said Freddy airily, nodding a general Hello to everyone in the room. He kissed Khushi on the cheek and shook Nigel's hand with a wink. Payal was looking at him wide-eyed as if she'd seen a ghost. "Mr.Meek! It's such a pleasure to meet you, I'm a fan!" she said wringing his hand. Khushi looked at her, surprised. She hadn't thought of Payal as a fashionista. "Pleasure, fan whose name I don't know," said Freddy shaking her hand.
"Oh! I'm being silly. I'm Payal, Khushi's sister." She said.
"Hello Minnie's sister with the pretty name and the even prettier face," said Freddy making Payal blush. Khushi looked on amused. Aadit walked up to Khushi. He thrust Nita into her hands. "She's pooping," he stated baldly. "No! Nita. I told you not to," Khushi wailed.
"Oh No Khushi! That's 2 things you can't control that I've counted so far," said ASR smiling coldly. "The weather and your 18 month old baby's pooping habits. I bet that list is pretty short, huh?" he smirked.
Khushi glared at him and held Nita's butt up to her nose. She sniffed a little, and then heaved a sigh of relief. "She's not pooping Aadit. It must've been gas," she said seriously.
"Gas! You mean she farted?" asked Aadit looking horrified.
'Either that, or Freddy farted and put the blame on my poor baby!" said Khushi now laughing. Freddy slapped her shoulder. "Minnie. I'm Freddy Meek. Even my farts smell like roses!" he admonished laughing.
"No, they don't! Liar," said Nigel.
"That's quite enough. I've heard enough about flatulence for one evening," Said ASR his lips twitching. Everyone else was in whoops.
"Oh! There's Angel!" said Freddy audaciously. Anjali had just come down the stairs. She was wearing a white lace sari studded with crystals. She looked ethereal, mused Khushi, staring at her. Aadit's jaw was slack. To him, she was a vision in white.
"Angel?" asked ASR, not too happily.
"Oh! Anjali, sounds like Angelie. Which is almost like Angel. Besides in that sari, she looks like one too. I'm going to call you Angel, if you don't mind," said Freddy holding an arm out to Anjali.
"I don't mind at all," said Anjali laughing. Freddy plucked one rose out of Nani's huge bouquet. "A rose for a rose," he said, with a flourish. She accepted with a blush. Aadit turned pale. ASR turned purple. Of the men in the room, Nigel alone maintained a normal skin tone in response to Freddy's awful flirting.
"Hi Angel! I mean, Anjali," said Aadit correcting himself after one look at ASR's furious face. "Hi Aadit!" she smiled. They all sat down and applied themselves to the excellent snacks.
"Anjali bitiya made the samosas especially for you, Aadit beta!" said Nani, who'd never be a diplomat. Aadit looked at Anjali and smiled. "For me? How nice of her." He took one. He'd barely bitten into it, when Freddy spoke. "These samosas are to die for Angel. Of course, they're from heaven's kitchen, so I'm not surprised," he finished. Khushi rolled her eyes. Freddy was clearly harvesting corn tonight. Nigel smiled to himself and took another samosa. Freddy alone knew what he was doing. Nigel was just along for the ride. With Freddy, there was never a dull moment.
ASR gave Freddy a look so full of murderous promise that Freddy decided to back off for the moment. "They are truly wonderful Anjali," stammered Aadit. "Glad you liked them Aadit," said Anjali. Khushi just groaned inwardly. They might as well get a room, she thought, with all the mooney looks they were giving each other.
Arjun and Khushi chose that moment to come running into the living room. Payal led them to Khushi and her kids. "Sheila, this is Arjun and that's Khushi," said Payal. Sheila smiled at them tentatively. "Mommy, this girl has the same name as you," she tugged on her Mother's sari.
"I know darling. Go, play with them," said Khushi smiling at her daughter's wide eyes. Payal gave Khushi a grateful smile and told Arjun and Khushi to take Sheila to the playroom. The kids ran off upstairs happily. "OP will watch over them, don't worry!" said Payal. Khushi nodded at Payal. "Thanks!" she said.
"Anjali bitiya, why don't you show Aadit your paintings," said Nani, who obviously specialized in being obvious. Anjali flushed, "Nani! You know I don't show anyone my paintings."
"Please Anjali. I'd love to see them," said Aadit, his tongue almost hanging out at the thought of getting Anjali alone for a few minutes. He managed to pretend a very heavy interest in Art, especially the work of female artists like Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe. They talked art for the next 15 minutes, at the end of which there remained only 2 people in the room not bored to tears. Those 2 people decided to go up and look at Anjali's paintings. Freddy decided to stop annoying Aadit and didn't evince any interest in the Angel's paintings. Instead he and Nigel indulged in polite small talk with Nani and Payal. Garima had retired to the kitchen to oversee the dinner. Aadit and Anjali went upstairs slowly to her room where she kept her work hidden.
"Khushi! Come with me," Said ASR imperiously.
"Err! Where?" she asked.
"I want to show you my paintings!" whispered ASR so only she heard, baring his teeth in a scary grin. "What do you think?" his eyes challenged
"Huh?" she said. He plucked Nita out of her hand and handed her to Nigel. "Here Neil, watch Nita for a bit" he said. "It's Nigel!" said Khushi, Freddy and Nani together"
"Sorry, Nigel. Please watch Nita for a bit," said ASR so politely that poor Nigel almost had a stroke. He nodded mutely and bounced a sleepy Nita on his lap. "I'll give her her bottle," he said, reaching for his baby bag.
"Thanks Nigel!" said Khushi, following ASR.
"What is it that you want to show me? I know you don't paint. You can't draw a crow that looks like one," she said as they walked into his favorite part of the house. The pool.
"Nothing. I just wanted to say something to you," Said ASR.
"What's that?" asked Khushi.
"I hope you dressed to kill for my sake tonight!" he said leaning in and planting a quick kiss on her lips.
"I did not! I so did not!" she yelled, but she was talking to his back. He was going down to the living room. "Come on Khushi, dinner awaits. Plus, your FAN club might assassinate me if I keep you here for longer than 5 minutes," he grinned. "They think I'm up to no good,"
"You ARE up to no good!" muttered Khushi, rushing past him.
ASR smiled. "Tonight's gonna be a good night, tonight's gonna be a good night! Tonight's gonna be a good good night!" he sang softly.
Any thoughts people? Fart jokes too much?😆😆 Sorry, I can be fairly crass sometimes.😉
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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