"Hey… how are you?" Swara asks nodding to her colleague and going back to home… 

"Fine… where are you? Why are there so many sounds of traffic?" He asks, relaxing in his seat on the way back home…

"On the footpath heading to my apartment…" 

 “you are walking back home”… she heard his slightly disturbed voice…

"Relax… it's just 15 mins away from my office… I like walking… and I can buy necessary things while heading back home…"

"Ok… that's ok… swara" he calls with earnest feeling…

"Han… ek minute… bhaiya how much is this cucumber?... and these potatoes? And this pointed gourds?... ok 5kg aloo and 500gm pointed gourds and 250gm cucumber" sanskar heard all this stuck in traffic… medly seating at front seat looking curiously at his master, his ears are stuck at the name Swara his master’s wife… he loves her very much… 

“Yes sanskar, say” he heard her saying from the other side of the phone…

“Umm… wo… swara…”

“What happened sanskar? What you want to ask…” swara asks knowing him well over this 1month… he stammers like this when he wants to ask something and he is feeling utterly embarrassed to ask her this…

“Swara wo… you… I wanted to know that…” sanskar paused…

“Sanskar, say na” swara encouraged him… she dropped on the sofa in her living room…

“Wo… bhabi has sent you the sonography report?” Sanskar asks sadly…

“Han sanskar… yesterday you know i slept admiring the image” she says with a smile…

“How… how… how does it look like?” Sanskar barely whispered… how much he wanted to see it… but his disability… he wished god could give him some other disability, why god punished him in this way… blocking him to see so many pleasant things… 

Swara’s heart pained listening to his painful whisper… 

“Its… its small sanskar… baby has a small head and two legs… I could see it has small eyes also…” she says softly giving detailed information so he can imagine in his mind…

“Oh” he says at last… “thank you” he whispered again…

“You know na you don’t have to thank me” she says again softly… 

“Yeah… i will talk to you later… home has come…” 

Swara took a deep breath looking at her phone and then something stuck her mind… she smiled inwardly...

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

It's friday night… almost 9pm… both sanskar and laksh haven’t come till now… ragini is sitting on sofa munching puffcorn and watching tv when the calling bell rang… she smiles at her house help and caretaker chanda masi who walks out before she gets up from sofa… sanskar’s other two body guards are sitting near her leg… stormy gets up walks after her to see if anyone else has come other than his beloved masters… 

Loud bark from stormy alert ragini… he never barks like this when laksh and sanskar come… and soon her eyes closed in reflex as someone closed her eyes with his hand… 

She has no one close enough to do something like this but still she tries to touch her hand… it's a girl… but…

“Swara?” she didn’t want to hope but still couldn’t help…

She looks back and gasps seeing swara… she squealed happily… putting the bowl on the table she tried to get up…

Swara didn’t let her get up, she hugged her tightly sitting beside her: jiji… 

“you … came… i am so happy” ragini couldn’t stop her happy tears hugging her tightly… she cups her face: how are you… you become lean…

“Offo jiji i am perfectly alright… Monday is a public holiday and Tuesday is our office founder’s death anniversary so another holiday for us actually me… i have next office on wednesday…” she explains… 

“You come here for 3 days only... “ she gets sad…

“No 4 days… I have a flight on Wednesday at 3 am… I got a short vacation… I thought my family would dance when they will see me… but my beloved jiji is sulking…” she says playfully…

Ragini smiles, consoling herself at least she came… after one month… she smiles and hugs her tightly… swara looks at Breezy and Stormy who were nuzzling on her leg for a long time…

“Oh my…” she sits down and keeps her face on stormy’s back at the same time caressing it and with other hand she cares Breezy’s neck…

“I miss you too… come to room… who will stay with bhabi and who will come with me?” Both stand up to go with her…

“Who is staying here? I am also coming with you…” ragini says standing up…

Swara: no bhabi… Sanskar will get suspicious… i want to surprise him also…

“oh … ok… but you can take both i promise i won’t sift a inch from here…” ragini says happily…

Swara looks uncertain… then looks at Stormy… she kissed his head: please stay with bhabi… please… 

Stormy nuzzles to her neck then sits at Ragini's leg again… swara kisses his head again: good boy…

Breezy follows her to the room… Ragini couldn’t hold her happiness… she starts to imagine how will laksh and sanskar’s reaction…

After some 20 minutes… the calling bell again rang… her smile widened ear to ear… 

“Stormy sssshhhhhh…” she squealed a little…

“Medley where are you going…” She looks back, listening to Sanskar's call… and looks at the stairs as he was running through it… medley smells her as soon as he steps in, that's why he just runs away upstairs…

“You are looking so happy…” laksh frowned and looks at tv… then looks at her more weirdly… 

“Ragini you are seeing ‘sanam re’ and smiling this much…” Laksh couldn’t understand as he heard it was a tragedy movie…

“Bhabi” sanskar stretched out his hand to behold “you and my champ is ok?” 

Ragini cares his face: i am very happy… go go…

“Why is Medley shouting?” sanskar frowns… stormy nuzzles his hand… sanskar holds his harness… both left upstairs… 

“Is there something i don’t know?” Laksh says hugging her

“I am so so so happppyyyyy” ragini squealed in his arm…

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

Sanskar enters the room with Stormy who snatched his harness and runs away… hw frowns again to join the others who are with swara…

“What happened” he asked

“Who… who is there… Breezy, Stormy, Medley” he stretched out his hand… and his breath hitched, feeling a soft hand holding his…

“Swara…” he gasps… and without any thinking he pulls her in his arms hugging her tightly… 

“Swara…” he whispers burying his face in her hair… 

But swara hasn’t expected this kind of welcome… she couldn’t react rationally… she stays numb until her mind and heart both tell her to hug him back… slowly she touches his back and that's when he realizes what he is doing… he slowly and gently pushes her back but holds her arm…

“Swara… i… you came… i am so happy…” he says with a choked overwhelming voice…

Swara looks at his hesitated face: I have holidays for the next four days so i thought…

Sanskar smiles: thank you… 

Swara hesitantly cups his face: now go freshen up….

“No… i… sit na… we will talk…” sanskar hurriedly says and tightens his hold on her hand… 

“Sanskar, I will stay with you for next four days… please go” 

“Ok…” he hurriedly tries to go towards his wardrobe but strikes with the table… swara holds his hand shouting his name with fear…

“I am… i am ok…”

“You stay here, I will bring your casulas… and I am staying here only so no need to hurry Mr husband…” she says, handing him his t-shirt and lower… Sanskar's heart flutters with happiness…

“I know… i just don’t waste any time…” he confessed… swara smiles at him amusingly…

“Go…” 

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

“Medley, I also missed you…” he heard her animated voice as soon as he stepped outside of the bathroom…

“They love you very much may be more than me” he comes to the bed then stretches his hand to sit beside her in the proper place… swara holds his hand…

“It's not like that… they love you so much… i still remember how they were angry with me when i was going…” she says in a mock complaint voice… medley makes a sad sound and nuzzles in her lap… 

“We didn’t say sorry to you right?” Sanskar asks gently, rubbing her palm…

“And why you will say sorry… we both know in which situation this all happened… and we are still trying…” swara says softly… 

“Hmmm” sanskar sighs… 

“Let's not talk about the past…” 

“Hmmm… so what's the plan for these 4 days…” sanskar asks enthusiastically…

“I have no plan except one…” 

“What?”

“I want to sleep tomorrow up to 10… days were so hectic for me…”

“Okay… this bed is all yours mam…” 

Swara laughs… “and han i want to meet dida also… if she heard i came here and didn’t come she will be hurt…”

“Yeah sure… we will go…”

“You will come?”

“Han… why?”

“No… i was just asking… maybe sheetal will be there… and she insults us… so i was thinking…”

“Then you also don’t go… I will send a car for dida…”

“Masi and mausaji… they were there in my tough time… i have to see them also… at least i will be in peace thinking i never step out from my responsibilities and duties…”

“Ok… but we will go together please”

“You don’t have to say please… we will go… may be on sunday…”

Sanskar smiles… swara looks at her happy face… every corner of his face is glowing like anything… happiness is oozing… her small step can make someone so happy she wouldn’t have believed if she wouldn’t come here like this… not only him but the whole family… she hasn't met laksh maheshwary yet… he was not very satisfied with her over this whole situation may be not even now… 

“Let's go for dinner…” Sanskar says as his watch makes a sound saying it's already 9:30…

“Yeah lets go…” swara says standing up…

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

Laksh has to take a double look to confirm himself he is actually seeing his brother’s wife or he is hallucinating her...he is not much fond of her that he has to hallucinate none in the world but her… but still he thinks may be his brother’s happiness is making him mad?

“You got surprised na? my throat was itching to tell this…” ragini’s squeal brought him back to his senses....

He looks at both… sanskar seems like the happiest person in the world… swara is also looking happy… she is holding his hand guiding him down the stairs at the same time talking something… 

“Jiji…” swara goes to ragini… 

“You seat… i will serve…”

“No need… all of you sitting down we will serve ourselves…” Laksh says in a strict voice… 

“Talk to him” ragini whispers in swara’s ear…

“He is looking angry,” she whispered back…

Ragini encourages her through eyes… 

“How are you bhaiya…” swara asks sitting beside sanskar…

“Fine…” laksh says without looking at her… then asks “you are here suddenly?”

“I have a four days holiday so…”

“Hmmm… then sanskar you take leave… you can resume from wednesday… i will ask misha and alisha to postpone your meetings and all…” 

“Yeah bhai thank you…” sanskar says and a red hue is crawling on his neck…

“You also take leave na… these 4 days we will spend with each other…” ragini says happily…

“No ragini… you know how important the project is…” laksh says denying… 

“But laksh baby wants to stay with the whole family…” ragini pouts… 

“Ragini… no… don’t be dramatic…” laksh says with slight irritation… office tension is making him mad sometimes… 

“Stop your drama… i have no time for your shit… do you understand how complicated it is?” 

“Children are also saying…”

“That's why i don’t come… children’s noise, your drama, i am getting fade up with you…” 

“Swara… swara…” Ragini's concerned voice and slight jerk brings her back into reality…

“You ok?”

“Yes…” she says gulping…

“Then eat na…” ragini says with a smile…

“Bhaiya… jiji is saying so much can’t you stay…” she asks with timid…

“We also said so much did you stay?” Laksh snapped back immediately until Ragini pressed his hand… he left from there… 

“Sorry swara…” ragini apologized guiltily

“It's ok bhabi…” swara looks down…

Ragini looks at her for some seconds then gets angry at her husband… she gets up and marches towards her room…

“Swara…” Sanskar asks slowly… “wo bhai… i am so sorry…”

“It's ok sanskar… bhaiya is not wrong totally…”

“He wants to finish every important meeting before bhabi enters her last stage of pregnancy… he will work at home from then… so he is delaying all small projects and doing the bigger projects… so i won’t face any further problems… you see we are returning after 9 now days… 

“Hmmm… it's just that jiji was saying so much… so”

“Bhabi is having her mood swings… She is behaving like an 8 years old child sometimes…”

Both also get up and head to the room with swara guiding him again with holding hand…

“I know… she sometimes becomes so emotional when we talk…”

Both sit on bed…

“You don’t mind right? For bhai?”

“No baba… I said na… he is right at his place…”

“So you got this type of holiday before also right?”

“yes... I used to stay there only… may be some relaxing and cleaning my room..”

“Ok… but this time you come here… thank you…”

That time she realised… yeah she planned to come this time… she loved her me time… but she preferred to come and spend it with her family????? Yes family… they care… they do…

“Maybe… may be because I didn’t have you all…” swara whispered…

Sanskar wished he could see her face… her expression… swara looks at him… he is smiling… she also smiles looking at him… 

"I am saying again… I am happy, very happy you have come… and i will be very happy when you will give me this type of surprises again" sanskar says holding her hand… 

"Why should I have to give the surprise only… aap bhi kabhi hamari haveli pe ayie… aao kabhi haveli mein…" 

Sanskar laughs then says : how can i ignore such a ghostly invitation….

Both giggles…

"Ok we should sleep now…" 

" yeah… can you hand me the pillow and blanket…"

"No need… you sleep here… actually we both will sleep here only…" 

"You… you sure?… i don't want to make you uncomfortable…" he asks hesitantly…

"As long as you don't snore… i have no problem.."

Sanskar smiles listening to her giggle…

"Ok… on a serious note… this bed is big enough and i trust my friend…" swara says smiling…

"Thank you," Sanskar says, feeling overwhelmed…