Celebrating Holi with the now extended family had been a lot of fun. The Chandnas had gone over to the Mehtas' in the morning, partaking in their Puja and playing with colors in the little garden they had. For lunch, Mrs. Mehta and Mrs. Chandna had cooked together—a mixture of Rajasthani and Punjabi dishes. They celebrated the festival in splendor, glad that their childrens' love had brought them together. It was only in the evening, after relishing on some gujiyas and mathris with tea, that the Chandnas got up to leave. Surbhi was allowed to stay back after Nakuul promised her father that he would drop her home after dinner. Even after all this time, he was intimidated by Mr. Chandna, who still treated Surbhi like his little princess.

After the Chandnas along with Praachi and her family left, and Mr. and Mrs. Mehta retired to their room to rest after a tiring day, Nakuul and Surbhi went up to his room and lay cuddling on the bed. It had been only a week since he had arrived, and after the one-month separation, they couldn't get enough of each other.

"I'll pick you up at 9 tomorrow morning?"

They had decided to attend Rohit's Holi party at his farmhouse the next day.

"Sure. I'll have to get up so early to get ready, ugh."

"It'll be fun though," Nakuul chuckled.

"I know. I'm super excited. I've had my outfit ready for days."

"Jaan, you do realize we're going to play Holi, right?" Nakuul asked, amused. "It doesn't really matter what you wear."

"Of course it does!" Surbhi rebuked. "You won't understand."

Nakuul only shrugged his shoulders in surrender.

"Did you like your gifts?" He asked after a while, caressing her soft cheek. Surbhi smiled widely.

"Loved them. Mum and di were elated that you'd gotten them gifts, too. Dad only nodded when I gave him the cologne, but I could tell he really appreciated it."

"Thank God," Nakuul sighed. "I just hope I can manage to win uncle's heart in, I don't know. The next ten years or so."

"Oh come on," Surbhi laughed, hitting his chest. "My dad loves you, he just doesn't show it. I mean, di is going to get married in a few weeks, and Sanjay jiju is still scared by dad's glare when he drops di home late. He's just being the typical angry father to his daughters' boyfriends."

"It's just not fair," Nakuul whined like a child. "My parents adore you like you're their daughter and I'm your boyfriend. Why do I always get this treatment?"

"That's because you're not as lovable as me," Surbhi said, sticking her tongue out. Nakuul narrowed his eyes at her, before rolling over and pinning her on the bed. She yelped as he started tickling her sides.

"That's what you get for being so lovable," Nakuul said, before replacing her giggles with his kisses.

--

True to his word, Nakuul was at her doorstep at 9 am sharp. He had dressed in a simple white kurta-pajama, with his aviators on, and looked dapper even in that simple look. Surbhi, for her part, looked beautiful in her plain sleeveless white kameez and patiyala pants, with a dupatta draped over her shoulders. She looked like a gorgeous Punjabi kudi and when Nakuul told her the same, she replied haughtily that this was why what she wore mattered.

Rohit Sharma's farmhouse was on the outskirts of Mumbai; a beautiful posh bungalow with a large garden at the back. When Nakuul and Surbhi arrived, the party hadn't started yet. They greeted all of their friends and sat down for a delicious breakfast of pooris fried in ghee and served with aloo ki sabzi; oily kachoris and samosas; and gajar ka halwa to finish it off. Rohit's wife, Ritika had managed everything very well, and Surbhi saw herself doing the same in the distant future—arranging such parties for Nakuul and her friends.

Soon after everyone had finished their breakfasts and the tables had been taken away to clear the garden, Yuvraj got up to his usual mischief and dumped a bucket full of pink-colored water over Rohit's head. And with that, the party kicked off. It was only after three hours of playing with colors and dancing crazily to Bollywood songs that the Holi party came to an end.

"God, I'm so tired," Surbhi said, slumping down beside Nakuul on one of the lawn chairs. They were all still in their Holi clothes, too fatigued to go and freshen up. Nakuul lay his head over Surbhi's shoulder.

"So am I," He mumbled. Beside him, Virat was almost in the position, except that he was resting his head on Anushka's lap who was trying irritably to get him off.

"Come on, guys," Ritika appeared, clapping her hands to gain their attention, all freshened up already, "Go and change! We need to take pictures before the sun sets."

"As if the gazillion pictures we've taken already aren't enough," Virat grumbled while getting up, earning a glare from Ritika.

After everyone had taken their turns to shower and change, they gathered downstairs and were forced to smile for pictures by Ritika, taking turns to hold little Samaira who had been sound asleep all this while. The cooks they had hired prepared a delicious meal for dinner, and it was late night by the time all the guests left. In the car, Nakuul again sat with his head on Surbhi's shoulder.

"I'm so sleepy," He told her, and she pulled his cheek lovingly.

"Me too, but today was so much fun. I hope they throw a party next year as well."

Seeing Surbhi's excitement brought back a little energy in Nakuul. He sat up straight and gathered her in his arms.

"Stay over at my house tonight?" He asked hopefully. Surbhi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. My parents are waiting up, preparing list after list for di's wedding and I'm supposed to go and help them, but mister here wants me to stay the night. Idiot."

Nakuul let out a low chuckle, before kissing the top of her head. They were silent the rest of the way; Nakuul resting comfortably in her arms, and Surbhi thinking about the kind of lehenga she would wear for the wedding.

--

The following week, Surbhi was extremely busy preparing for the wedding and left with little time to meet Nakuul, who for his part was kept involved in practice. With IPL and World Cup being scheduled so close, the team would barely have a month to practice before taking off to England again, so they were getting as much done now as possible. Nakuul was also trying to clear up his schedule for Pranavi's wedding since Surbhi had given him a few responsibilities and demanded that he be there for every function, big or small, but at the moment that looked quite difficult to carry out. World Cup wasn't something they could take lightly, and the team was working harder than ever to get the cup this time. They showed up at the field at 7 am sharp and got into a rigorous practice routine after warm-up exercises. By the time Nakuul reached home in the evening, he was usually too exhausted to go and meet his girlfriend. Thankfully for him, Surbhi was very understanding and always texted him to make sure he was having his meals on time.

After another tiring day of practice, Nakuul came home and called Surbhi after a long shower. His eyes were droopy with sleep but even then, talking to Surbhi was more vital and effective in ridding him of this exhaustion. She picked after a few rings.

"Nakuul, raita phail gaya!" She said without any greeting. By now even Nakuul had gotten used to her talking in Annika's language.

"What happened, love?" He asked gently. Sometimes, she would make mountains out of molehills and he would have to make her see reason. Apparently though, that was not the case this time. Surbhi had gotten the offer to model for a famous fashion company and would have to fly to Jaipur this weekend. This was a great opportunity and yet, she was reluctant to go leaving all the work behind. Being the sister of the bride meant that she had to take care of the smallest of things, starting from what Pranavi would wear in every function to what wrapper would be used for the gift-packing. Nakuul, however, convinced her to accept the modeling offer right away. The family could function without her for two days.

"It's not that easy," Surbhi said in despair. "It's like everything is taking place at the same time. On top of that, you also have the World Cup to prepare for. Gosh, I thought the wedding would be all about having fun, but so far I haven't even been able to sit and relax for a bit!"

"Surbhi, calm down baby. Listen to me. I'll take a day off from practice this Saturday, and will do whatever work you were supposed to do that day while you go to Jaipur, alright?"

"Absolutely not!" Surbhi chided instantly. "Nakuul, you are not comprising on your practice because of me, okay? Oh God, I shouldn't have needlessly worried you. Many of my cousins have already come over to Mumbai from Punjab and I'll assign them the work, alright? Don't you dare say you'll miss practice, Nakuul. You have to bring home the cup, Goddamit!"

After scolding him for a few more minutes, Surbhi finally hung up, not before assuring him that she would call the fashion company right away and accept their offer. Nakuul lay down on his bed, but sleep was far. His girlfriend's authoritative demands and reprimanding often left him grinning like a fool.

--

Even though Surbhi had warned him to not skip practice, Nakuul left the field early on Saturday and went to her house. She had flown to Jaipur in the morning, and he had decided to go over and help the Chandnas in whatever way possible. He had informed Pranavi about his arrival, but as he entered their house, Nakuul realized he had grossly miscalculated the number of people that would be present there. It seemed that most of the relatives had come over to the house from their hotel for the day, and the house was buzzing with so many people, they failed to notice him entering through the open door. When a young boy of about 8, wearing a turban on his head, did see Nakuul, he almost shrieked.

"Nakuul Mehta!" He yelled, before running towards him and wrapping his little arms around Nakuul's legs. "You are my hero!"

"Thank you," Nakuul smiled, patting the guy's head. By then, the rest of them had gathered all around him, all of them simultaneously trying to introduce themselves to this star cricketer. It was only when Surbhi's mother came out of the kitchen and rebuked all of them that Nakuul was allowed to sit in the living room.

"You know, when I heard Jinni was dating Nakuul Mehta, I didn't believe it!" Another male cousin of Surbhi's talked animatedly with him as Nakuul sipped his lemonade. "I thought she had photoshopped the pictures she posted on Instagram."

"Nakuul bhaiya, will you take a photo with me?" Asked the young boy who had previously hugged him, and Nakuul posed for a selfie.

"Areh Tillu, call him jiju, not bhaiya," Surbhi's badi bhuaji giggled, making Nakuul turn pink.

"Enough of this now," Mr. Chandna's voice rung out as he entered the living room. Nakuul stood up to shake his hand formally. "Let the man be. There is so much work to be done, and you all are just here gossiping."

Grumbling, people slowly started getting up and going back to their respective tasks, asking Nakuul to stay over till dinner so that they could talk later. Mr. Chandna sat down on the sofa with his eyes closed and head leaning back, to try and cool himself down in the AC; although it was only mid-March, Mumbai was already experiencing scorching heat. Nakuul cleared his throat to gain the older man's attention.

"Uncle, I'm free for the whole day today, so do let me know if there is any work to be done."

Mr. Chandna opened his eyes and frowned.

"Shouldn't you be at practice? Or do they give you off on weekends? At this rate, how will you win the World Cup?"

Like father, like daughter, Nakuul thought to himself.

"We do have practice on weekends, but it was scheduled only till noon today," He lied, not wanting to admit that he was slacking off. Mr. Chandna nodded.

"Well if that's the case, I do have some work for you. I'm going to go and check out a few catering companies now and decide on one for the wedding. Come along with me."

Before Nakuul could process it all, Mr. Chandna had gotten up, and Nakuul hurriedly followed him out of the door. Maybe this would finally give them the much-needed bonding time.

That night, when Surbhi video called Nakuul all the way from her hotel room in Jaipur, she found her boyfriend smiling widely.

"And what has gotten you so happy?" She asked with a tired smile.

"Oh, you know. I spent the day wandering about Mumbai in the blasting hot sun with my father-in-law, tasting different cuisines and-"

"You what?" Surbhi enquired, sitting up straight on the bed. Laughing, Nakuul told her all about his day and how he and Mr. Chandna were now at the relationship level where they could joke together. At the end of it, Surbhi only groaned.

"I told you to not miss practice, stupid. Did my relatives bother you?"

"Not at all. They're lovely. Although, it was a bit intimidating to be the only Rajasthani boy in a house full of Punjabis..."

Surbhi giggled at that.

"Anyway, at least now you're assured that my dad likes you."

Nakuul nodded with a wide grin. Finally gaining Mr. Chandnas full approval had filled him with childish glee, and he was really looking forward to the dinner the older man had invited him to tomorrow—since he had specifically mentioned that it was a family dinner.

--

honestly, this story isn't really going anywhere at this point, and I've started to try and find closure. obviously, there are still many chapters to go before I can give it a proper ending but just wanted to let y'all know that it's on my mind.