"What! Have you gone mad? I cannot do that," Lakshya yelled wide-eyed.

"Shh! Keep it quiet will you!" Adarsh warned. He quickly locked the door to Lakshya's room.

"Why? Chickened out already?" Sanskaar grinned.

"Ask me to do something else. Anything else," Lakshya pleaded.

Sanskaar shook his head. "This is the bet. You have to do this one or accept defeat."

"Come on, Bhai! You can do it," Uttara said bouncing in her seat.

"What 'you can do it'!" Laksya said mimicking Uttara. He shook his head, annoyed, "Do you think this is some joke?"

"Did you really think it was going to be cake walk?" Raghav asked. "This is Sanskaar we are talking about."

"Look, cut the idle chatter. Are you going to do it or not?" Sanskaar asked Lakshya.

"I cannot do this," Lakshya said pointedly.

"Lucky, you know you will have to bear the punishment if you back-out. You know he is not going to make that one easier," Adarsh said.

"It cannot be worse than this," Lakshya reasoned.

"Are you sure about that?" Sanskaar asked raising his eyebrow.

"Just tell me what your stupid punishment is," Lakshya said annoyed.

Sanskaar rubbed his hands and sat up a bit. "The punishment is simple," he said with a bright smile.

When he didn't speak for a couple of minutes, Uttara jumped in. "What? What is the punishment? Why are you torturing us with the suspense?" she complained.

"Oh my baby! I can never torture you. You know that," Sanskaar said pulling Uttara into a side hug.

"Are you done?" Raghav asked rolling his eyes.

"Okay! Okay! Hold your horses," Sanskaar said raising his hands in surrender. "Are you ready for this?" he asked Lakshya.

"Out with it already!" Lakshya said.

"You have to dress up as a woman and flirt with Bade Papa," Sanskaar said.

"What!" Lakshya blurted even as the others hooted and cheered Sanskaar.

"Thank you. Thank you," Sanskaar said getting up and taking a bow.

"Hang on! This is not fair!" Lakshya said waving his hands in the air. "So let me get this straight. The bet is that I need to get Papa to romance Maa in front of the entire family. And the punishment for not doing it is dressing up as a woman and flirting with Papa?"

"We never agreed on it being fair," Sanskaar said shrugging his shoulder.

Lakshya looked at Sanskaar in disbelief. "Fine! You win! I will do the stupid bet!" Lakshya said angrily.

"How do you do it every time, Bhai?" Uttara asked rushing over to hug Sanskaar.

"It is simple really," Sanskaar told her, "I always ensure that the punishment is worse that the bet."

"Wise thinking," Adarsh said.

"We really missed this while you were away," Uttara admitted quietly.

"So when do I have to do this?" Lakshya asked looking pointedly at Sanskaar.

"Ummm tonight," Sanskaar said as though he was stating the obvious, "before dinner gets over."

"Sanskaar, you are too much," Raghav said.

When everyone started walking out of the room, Lakshya called out, "Hang on! We aren't done yet!"

"What is left now?" Adarsh asked.

"What do I get if I complete this bet?" Lakshya asked looking at Sanskaar.

"How about I get you an amazing gift for your wedding?" Sanskaar suggested.

"You would do that anyway," Lakshya said.

"So what do you want?" Sanskaar asked.

"If I win this bet, you have to do exactly what I tell you to," Lakshya said with a serious look on his face.

"Which is what?" Sanskaar asked.

"You will know once I win," Lakshya said casually, "But you have to agree to do it now, if I am to go ahead with this bet."

"Ohh! This is getting interesting," Adarsh said looking between his two brothers.

"So you want me to agree to do something in the blind, without knowing what it is?" Sanskaar asked seriously.

"If I am taking this bet, I deserve to win at least that much," Lakshya pointed out.

Sanskaar looked at him cautiously. Something was going on in Lucky's head. Something not good.

"Come on, Bhai. Agree to it," Uttara said pulling Sanskaar's hand. "I want to see Bade Papa romance Badi Maa."

"Don't tell me you are scared," Lakshya said, trying to prod Sanskaar.

"Do it, Sanskaar. You know Lucky. His tasks can never be as crazy as yours," Raghav said.

Sanskaar looked at Lakshya closely. Lakshya raised his eyebrow in challenge.

"He will do it," Adarsh said after a long while.

Sanskaar's eyes snapped to meet Adarsh's. "What?" Sanskaar asked wide-eyed.

"You know you are going to accept it. Get on with it, already," Adarsh said plainly. "You wont be able to resist the curiosity."

Sanskaar sighed. "Fine. I will do whatever you want me to, if," he said, "only if you win the bet."

"Great!," Lakshya said brightly. Too brightly for Sanskaar's comfort. "Lets shake on that," Lakshya said before quickly shaking Sanskaar's hand and heading out of the room with the others.

Sanskaar turned to look at them leave. "I hope I don't regret this," he said.

Thanks for giving this chapter and this story a read. If you liked it, please do vote and let me know what you think about it through your comments.

Glossary of Indian terms:

Bhai /Bhaiya = brother

Maa = Mother

Bade Papa = Eldest uncle

Badi Maa = wife of the eldest uncle. An aunt

Chacha/ Chachu = uncle

Chachi/ Kaki = wife of a uncle. An aunt

Bhabhi = brother's wife