Hey guys! I know it's been long since I updated last. Many of you might know that as I'm trying to finish TSOUHF, I've put my other books on hold, including this book.

Yet it's impossible for me to stay without writing about KaIsha. So here's the update from Kabir's perspective.

Enjoy the one shot. And do comment and vote! :)

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One Shot #11

The Trial of the Twins

Life's weird, you know? I'm the same man who never thought he could live a normal life. But here I am, with my wife and three kids, living a very peaceful life.

"I'm so done with these two, Kabir! They are in their final year of schooling, and will be appearing for 12th boards in just few months. Still they are not serious for their studies and busy with their stupid pranks," said my lovely wife, Anaisha, who actually wasn't very lovely now in her angry mode.

"Yes, Dada, Mom's right. Arman Bhai and Ayaan Bhai always loiter around school during classes, especially Ayaan Bhai. Instead of studying, they just indulge in pranking, that's so bad," added my 12-year-old daughter agreeingly, looking like a miniature version of my wife.

My sons were about to retort back to Kayra, but stopped as my wife passed them a glare. They knew it was better to stay quiet then speak because one more word and Anaisha's temper would cross all limits.

Okay, so yeah, it wasn't peaceful now. But that's okay because life's about bittersweet moments, right? And certainly this was the sour moment, not bitter. I had just returned home an hour back, quite early today as my wife wanted me home urgently. She had been called up by a teacher at my sons' school over a prank that they allegedly did today. Though actually it wasn't supposed to be a big issue, but since it was the fifth time in a row in just one month, it was really a big deal and my wife wanted a trial immediately. So then, here I am!

"Calm down, guys," I said, "There's no use in being angry or pissed now."

"Yeah, it's easy for you to say that since you don't have to attend their parent-teacher meetings and face their teachers who have more complaints than praises for your dear sons," said my wife, whom I know I had pissed badly.

"No, I didn't mean that," I tried to cover up but in vain.

"Oh please, don't try to act innocent with me," said my wife, extremely miffed.

"Okay, fine," I said, not actually knowing what else to say now. So instead I turned to my sons and in an stern tone, said, "Why did you both do that prank on your teacher? It was so wrong to put paint bucket on the door to make it fall on your teacher."

"We didn't do that, Dada, rather we were just helping the teacher," said my younger son Ayaan.

"It wasn't us who did that prank, it was Manan," added my eldest child Arman.

"Really? But what were doing at the site of crime?" accusingly said my daughter Kayra, looking suspiciously at my sons.

"What?"

"Site of crime?"

"How can you say that?"

"We aren't some criminals."

"That's completely gross!" exclaimed my sons in unison with indignation obvious in their tone.

"Kayra, don't speak like that. Your brothers aren't some criminals nor have their crime been proven, so let's not call them the culprits now. Let them first keep their case and put up their defense then only we can confirm their prank," I said, like all the times when my sons did one or the other prank which got them in a serious trouble with their teacher at school, and in a worser situation with their mother and my wife Anaisha. Though Anaisha was supportive of their pranks, but she didn't support pranking in school or at the time of studying because learning is something which should be done with utmost concentration and focus, not with playing pranks on others.

"Fine," said Kayra, her dismay with me clear on her face. My daughter honestly was so much like my wife that I sometimes wondered how her brothers handled her.

"What do you think you're doing, Kabir? They've done a prank, not the first time actually, it's fifth time in a row in just a month!" said my wife, still in a miffed tone, not looking at me, "And as per the conversation last time, it was decided if they again do a prank, they'll be grounded for a month with their cellphones and laptops seized!"

Frankly, I had forgotten this, but I won't chide Annie too. Because I knew it was hard for her to manage our three kids with her work being just as hectic and slightly more emotionally draining than mine. And with our sons doing stuff like this, she's ought to be mad and upset and I won't blame her for her agitation right now.

But at the same time, it didn't make sense to directly punish the boys without giving them the benefits of doubt. As much as I know my sons, they never lie about their pranks. Whenever they did a prank, they always took the full responsibility for it. But when they didn't, do whatever you want, but they won't just accept the blame.

Sighing, I knew I had to make my wife and daughter (who had some personal grudge with the boys over the last slice of red velvet cake that they ate without sharing with her) that it was necessary for the twins to prove their innocence, before Annie and I announced their punishment.

"Look, Annie, Kayra, I understand that last time we had that pact with the boys but," I stopped as Kayra and Annie both passed me a displeased look, "it's necessary for us to know the truth before we go ahead with the said punishment for them."

Anaisha gave a thoughtful look to me after I finished speaking and a few minutes later and much contemplating, she said, "Fine, I agree with you, Kabir." Turning to our sons, she added, "Boys, ring up your friends and call them up here. Your dad and I would hear the story of this incident from your friends, first hand."

"Sure, Mom," promptly said my younger son Ayaan.

"All of them must be free now as it's already five," added my older son Arman.

Without wasting a minute, they started calling up their friends while my wife and I settled on the three seater sofa, my wife looking quite tired. I wrapped my hands around her shoulders and pecked her forehead. She passed my a weary look and in a bashful tone said, "I really hope they aren't the culprits. I know my sons well and quite sure they haven't done that prank but I need to be strict with them, otherwise you know how it's easy for the kids to get spoiled."

"I understand, Anaisha, and I completely agree with you. Need coffee?" I asked, her head on my shoulders.

"Yes, I'd love to," said Anaisha. Then turning to my daughter, she said, "And, Kayra, it's very bad to accuse your brothers like that. At least you gotta trust them."

"No, I won't. They ate my cake last night and didn't even share it with me. I can't trust people who eat my cake," said Kayra, her arms folded and cheeks puffed.

Me and my wife both looked at each other and then sighed. Kayra was just as stubborn and adamant as my wife and me, pretty much like our sons. But it's important for us to make her understand that she shouldn't mistrust her older brothers, though the boys were no less. My kids apparently only fought over food, though one or the other time things got more serious. Like the time when the boys made the then 4-year-old Kayra believe that we brought her from the zoo and she was instead a cat, though that got them in trouble with Annie as Kayra kept crying and acting like a kitten.

Or the time when Kayra got the boys in trouble for the mayhem she created in the house in our absence. Or even the time when these three ganged up and got me in trouble for not supporting them when they were asking Annie for a new video game and console. So yeah, things were quite messy in our house, but that's how we loved it. And my wife understand that, as she knew how lonely my childhood was. I always feel like I'm living my childhood with my kids, and honestly it's a lovely feeling.

Some minutes passed and the doorbell rang. Arman hastily went to answer it and Ayaan followed him. Anaisha and I just kept sitting where we were some minutes back. Kayra was playing Subway Surfer on my iPad.

The boys came back to the living area and behind them were their friends, Shivin, Anaisha's nephew, Sana, Shaina's daughter, Samara, one of Anaisha's friend's daughter, and Manan, a friend of the boys and the alleged real culprit.

They all came and stood infront of us and Annie politely asked them to settle down and served them orange juice and chocolates. But the boys kept standing as I could understand from their faces that they wanted this trial to end soon.

Once we all were done with formalities and all, in a very serious tone, Anaisha said, "So, kids, I think Arman and Ayaan have told you all why they have called you all here." The kids nodded, all hesitant and nervous, and Annie continued, "So I won't beat around the bush and would come directly to point, did Arman and Ayaan really put the paint bucket above the entrance of the classroom door, or someone else did it?"

Sana, who was sitting just perpendicular to us on the single seater sofa, immediately replied, "No, Aunty, they didn't do anything. It wasn't them this time."

"Yes, Bua, they have no hand in that prank. All the time throughout the break and between the classes, they were with me and Sana," added Shivin, looking quite nervous. Unlike Kanan, Shivin was quite shy around Anaisha and me. Kanan was more forthcoming than Shivin, but it was no surprise as after all Kanan was Aarav's son.

My sons, who were quite more confident and relaxed now, looked at Annie and Ayaan said, "See na, Mom, even they are us supporting us now. Really it wasn't us. It was," pointing to the boy with the same height as Arman, who was now 6'2, and a guilty look on his face, "Manan, who planned that prank and executed it, right Arman?"

"Yep, I agree with him. And you know Shivin and Sana never lie," said Arman, his eyes on Sana and his cheeks a light shade of pink which made Sana's cheeks pink as she well. I seriously sometimes wonder if anything was brewing up between these two, though Anaisha considered it platonic. Well she considered our friendship platonic too, but it wasn't so.

"Yes, Aunty, it was Manan, who planned that prank but the teacher caught Arman and Ayaan. Since Manan's reputation isn't as bad as Arman and Ayaan's, so the teacher thought that Manan was covering up for them. But they really didn't do this prank," said Samara, Anaisha's friend's daughter, throwing a dirty look in Manan's direction.

"Is it all true? Your teacher, Mr. Jha was telling me that Arman and Ayaan did that prank to get revenge on him for seizing their football kits," said my wife intrusively, though I could guess it easily from her tone that she was sure of our boys' innocence.

"That's rubbish, Aunty," said Manan, "Jha Sir just needs excuses to complain about kids specifically from science and humanities streams. He doesn't even teach PCB students. He's an accountancy teacher, and you must be knowing about the rivalry between commerce students and science students in our school. So yeah, he was trying to get even with science section as last week one of his commerce student was caught by Shweta Ma'am, who teaches chemistry to PCB students. Since Arman and Ayaan are from the class Shweta Ma'am is class teacher of, he caught them up when they infact were helping him. And when I tried to explain to him that it was me who did the prank and it was for a friend of mine, he didn't believe me and instead called you up and made the matter look awfully big."

Anaisha and I both sat silent with the revelation that Manan made, a little shocked. Though we both knew that our boys hadn't done anything wrong, we still wanted a proof of it, after all we're their parents, and needed to be sure that our boys hadn't done the prank.

"Hmm... okay, I believe in whatever you kids have told us," I said, with full faith in my sons. The twins heaved a sigh of relief.

"And the first thing I'll do tomorrow is, to complain about Mr. Jha to the principal. It's very childish of him to do such things," said my wife, vexed over the behaviour of the teacher.

"Okay, so thank you, kids, for coming here and clearing things out," I said gladly.

"Yes, thanks a lot," added my wife, turning to the boys, she continued, "But that doesn't mean you guys aren't completely innocent. I don't want anymore complaints of you two from any of your teachers. Your boards are just 5 months away and I want you two to focus on that. Otherwise, stay in India for your MBBS."

"Ay ay, captain!" chorused our boys gleefully, relieved with the fact that their mother was in harmony with them now.

As the kids started talking, Anaisha left to get snacks for them and I took Kayra with me to her room as she wanted me to help her with her social science homework.

Some time later, their friends decided to go home but Shivin stayed back as he already had a sleepover at our house. But this created a problem for Sana, who I think wasn't at good terms with either Samara nor Manan.

So, Anaisha asked me to drop her along with Arman, while she had something to talk with Kayra and Ayaan. Arman took the passenger seat beside me while Sana settled on the backseat. It took us some fifteen minutes to reach Sana's home.

"Why do you always blush like that when Sana's around?" I asked teasingly, on the car ride home. Throughout the journey these two were blushing shyly and triggered off my curiousity.

"What?" blurted Arman a little too loudly, concreting my doubt.

"Is there anything going on between you two?" I asked, slightly more intrusive of me.

"No, not at all," said Arman indignantly, "What makes you think that, Dada?"

"Nothing, just a thought," I replied. After this neither of us spoke again.

It was late at night, Anaisha and I entered our room after wishing it night to our kids. We settled on our bed and Anaisha kept her head on my chest, her same old habit, which I loved.

"You really think I was a little too strict with the boys when I decided to punish them without hearing their side of story?" asked Anaisha, playing with the button of my tshirt.

"No, not really. But I think it was right. Because see, Arman and Ayaan need to understand that though we like their pranks and mischievous antics, but still we won't entertain their mistakes, which maintains a small fear in their heart of us as parents, which is certainly important for the kids to stay on the right path. Though we're like friends to them, but a little fear is super necessary to maintain the image of the parents. What happened today, although wasn't their fault, but still it was a serious thing. And as the boys are soon going to start their life outside school, it's beneficial for them to understand that not always they'll be given the benefit of doubts and would be punished for things they didn't commit. This would keep them alerted as the world outside isn't so kind and they need to be alarmed about it," I said thoughtfully.

"Hmm... that's what I believe," said Anaisha, "I'd love it more when they were kids. Now in some months they'll leave for London for five whole years. That's so long."

"Sure it is, but it's important for their career," I said, understanding her inner turmoil, "And we'd still have Kayra with us."

"Yes, that's true," said Anaisha, slightly happy and then added, "She's so much like me. She really haven't forgiven the boys for eating the last slice of the cake."

"Well she's Little Kitty's Kittu, how can she forgive her brothers so easily, haina?" I said teasingly.

Anaisha slapped my arm lightly then chuckled, making me chuckle with her. Some seconds later we stopped laughing and soon fell asleep, relaxed and tension free.

Of course parenting isn't an easy job, but we are managing it somehow!