"Vanraj, have some more daal dhokli." Baa served another portion on to his place. Vanraj merely nodded, scooping some of the food onto his spoon before placing it in his mouth.

"How does it taste? Is the salt okay?"

He stayed silent, continuing to scoop food into his mouth.

"Beta," Leela sat next to him, gently running her hand through his hair. "What's done is done. Kavya has gone. Anupama is not coming back. There is no point sitting around moping. It's time you snap out of it all.

"And remember, you're a man. A well-educated, successful, good-looking man. You'll get any woman you want. What's this childish insistence on wanting Anupama back in your life?"

Vanraj looked at his mother and then turned his focus back on the food, refusing to answer.

"Vanraj..." Leela gently tried again.

"No Baa. Please don't. No one can replace the mother of my children in my life."

"But Vanraj, you yourself never liked Anupama, because she was uneducated and not worthy of your stature."

Vanraj dropped his spoon into his plate with a clang, the noise scaring Leela for a moment. He then looked hard at her, his eyes red with fury, his lips quivering with the unsaid words he was holding within his being.

"Vanraj?" Leela questioned.

"Please..." he begged her to keep quiet. He was this close to losing his restraint.

"What is it beta?"

He didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was her tone. Perhaps the fact that she had referred to him as her son. Perhaps it was all of the taunts he'd managed to overhear since his wife's with Anuj Kapadia photo had made to the papers. Perhaps it was the fact that the management had earlier that day notified him that his dreams of becoming a partner had died a rather painful death. He was no longer in consideration. He was lucky he still had a job.

That thread of patience that had held his tongue in place snapped and for the first time in 48 years, he lashed out at his mother.

"No Baa. My marriage with Anupama DID NOT fail because of her. It failed because of YOU.

"It failed because YOU made me believe those things about Anupama. When I got married to her, I found her cute. But slowly you poisoned my mind against my wife. You made me dislike her. You kept telling me she wasn't worthy of me until I genuinely began believing it.

"You lied to me, you led me astray, you broke my marriage, you ruined my life. It was because of you that I strayed towards Kavya. Look where that has landed all of us?"

Leela looked at her son flabbergasted and worried.

"What happened?"

And he held his mother's arm and cried.

"Everything is over Baa. Everything is over. My dreams, my aspirations, my career. It's all finished. Nothing remains. Nothing."

As Leela gently threaded her hand through her son's hair, soothing him with her touch, her mind went back to Vanraj's accusations. She had always supported him in all his decisions. And yet, Vanraj had squarely blamed her for everything that had happened in his life. 

All because of that Anupama. 

Vanraj wanted her at any cost, and if he didn't get her... Leela shuddered to think of the repercussions it would have on her relationship with Vanraj. For the first time in 48 years, he had raised his voice on her. Leela had to ensure that it would be the last time. 

She decided to visit Anupama herself. 

She'd sent the children and had received Anupama's response from Samar.

"Ma is happy, Baa," Samar had told her. For the first time in her life, she is smiling, laughing,  dancing."

"Dancing? I didn't know your mother knew how to dance."

"You didn't know anything about her Baa. Because you never considered her part of the family. I still don't understand why you got her married to Papa if you disliked her so much."

Grunting at the audacity of her grandson who dared to talk back to her, she cut him short. "Will she come back?"

"No," he responded.

"She is finally living a life where her family respects and values her. There is no way she will come back to this hell."

"Is that what you think this family is, hell?"

"Ma was the person who made it heaven. Look at what's happened since she's gone. Is anyone in this house, including you, happy?"

When Leela looked at him with a deathly glare, he laughed.

"Save it Baa. You don't have to give me an answer. But your heart knows what the truth is, even if you refuse to accept and acknowledge it."

Anupama's kids were as ill-mannered as her. And yet, she was the only person who could bring Vanraj out of this depression he was slowly slipping into. Because if things continued the way they currently were, Leela would soon lose her son. 

If Anupama is what her son wanted, she would drink her pride and meet Anupama and ask her to come back home. Anupama, in the past, had always listened to Leela. She hoped, she would this time around too.

*****

"Kaka?" Kinjal asked GK, as she held his hand during their night walks. It had become a sort of a routine between the two of them. Every day after dinner, Kinjal and GK would take a short walk. GK would regale the girl with anecdotes from his youth and the girl would share stories of her childhood.

Kinjal had adjusted well in the Kapadia household. Although she continued to sleep in Sheela's room, in the one month that she'd spent with the Kapadia's she'd perked up and started sporting a healthy glow. She'd begun laughing again. And Anupama had informed Anuj and GK that Kinjal's grades had picked up. So had her diligence towards the practice sessions for the dance festival.

While she'd bonded with all at home, she still stayed quiet in front of Anuj.

That changed on a fateful day Kinjal, in the process of trying to make instant noodles for herself had dropped a pot full of boiling water on her feet. She'd screamed in agony and Anuj had rushed to her, picking her up, rushing her to emergency where she'd received first aid. Throughout the journey, she'd clung to Anuj. And when the ordeal was over, she'd apologized for her clumsiness and meekly thanked him.

He'd smiled, fondly ruffled her hair, and told her she had done nothing wrong.

"It was an accident. They happen."

When she'd looked at him with eyes full of gratitude, he'd laid his hand on hers and told her that she didn't need to thank him. She was his responsibility.

Kinjal had broken down, hugged Anuj, and cried.

Two hours later, when Anupama and Kaka had returned home, they'd found Anuj and Kinjal laughing on the dining table; Anuj feeding Kinjal the noodles she'd set out to make.

GK noted that she only shared stories of her father. When it came to her mother, the girl was strangely silent.

"What happened?" asked GK, pulling her to sit on a bench.

"If I don't like my mother, does it make me a bad person?"

GK looked at Kinjal with eyes full of love and asked: "Why would you say that?"

"She never cared for me. Even when Papa was alive, she only cared for herself."

"And you? Do you miss her?"

"I thought I did," Kinjal honestly responded. "But since I've come to live in this house, I don't miss her anymore."

The two stayed silent for a while, taking in the weight of the statement that had just been uttered.

Then abruptly, Kinjal asked GK: "Kaka, can I stay with you guys forever?"

*****

"Anuj."

He hmmmed.

She called him again.

"Anuj."

He turned to look at her. They were back at their favorite spot, on the banks of River Sabarmati, by the moonlight. He gently looped his finger through her hair and placed it behind her ears.

She sighed, tightened her grip on his biceps, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Her life had become a mess. Samar's revelation had left her unsettled. With Kavya out of their way, she didn't know what the Shahs would do next. Baa, Vanraj, Pakhi, Toshu - she trusted none of them. And yet, she felt helpless that she couldn't block their access to her. She wished she would never have to see them again, ever in her life. But she lived in the same city as them. And sooner or later they were bound to bump into each other, that is if the Shah's didn't actively seek her out like they'd done today.

"Anuj," she whispered his name again. "I love you."

He looped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed it. "I know."

And then he turned to look into her eyes.

"We'll find a way," he promised, answering her unasked question.

She sighed and placed her head on his shoulder and he kissed her on her forehead.

She raised her head and placed her lips on his, pouring in her anger, helplessness, and frustration. He responded, weaving his fingers through her hair, caressing her nape, calming her down.

As they broke their kiss, Anupama placed her forehead against his.

"Time is running out," she whispered.

"For what?"

"I don't know. I don't know why I'm feeling so restless."

Anuj looked at her with all the love in his eyes and smiled.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You said you were feeling something."

"Yes..." she broke off, smiling, the moonlight enhancing the expressions on her face.

"You're feeling afraid. The good kind of afraid. When you're afraid of losing something that's valuable."

After a pause, when he sensed her blushing and cursed the dimly lit Sabarmati banks for not being able to witness it, he added: "You're afraid of losing me. Afraid of losing this." And he pecked on her lips again.

He got up and pulled her along with him. He held her hands and pushed and pulled her, twirling her and dipping her, dancing with her to the sound of the waves, to the light of the moon.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, but she was smiling. It was as if a burden had been lifted off her chest, even if it was temporary.

He brought her closer and engulfed her with his arms. She placed her head near his heart, taking comfort from its steady rhythmic beating.

"We're celebrating, Anupama", he said.

"Celebrating what?"

"You're rebirth. You're finally alive again." She laughed at that and then sobered.

"Promise me, Anuj, promise me that you'll never leave me and go."

"I promise that I won't leave you until death..."

And she tiptoed to silence his words with her mouth. There was no way even death would take him away from her. When death came, Anuj and Anupama would meet it together, for she realized and acknowledged, that life without him had no relevance for her anymore.