16 years before....

kavin, half-asleep, as he had his head reclined on the wall, sitting on the bed, with an almost a year old bani in his arms, cradled to sleep, his mouth still open from all the lullabies he had to sing, drooling even more than the baby. purvi, who quietly entered the room, her hands full of bags, as she tried to not make the door bang loudly while shutting it close. she took a huge sigh of relief, looking over to kavin, as a fond a smile crept up on her face, she kept her bags aside, and switched off the lights, letting the sleepyheads doze off peacefully. 

                                                                       ***

purvi wakes up drowsily the next morning, as she turns to her left, her hand stretched out, only for her to realize, the left side of the bed was empty. she opened her eyes, yawning, only to look at the clock and see it was 7 in the morning, he had left already. 

                                                                     ***

purvi sighed in relief, after she typed the last word of her report, when her glance fell on the the time on her computer, it was time for lunch! she smiled excitedly, and grabbed her phone, upon unlocking it revealed the walpaper of  a photo of bani, when she looked up for kavin's contact to dial. 

she held the phone against her ear, happily, as the ringing of anticipation stopped, and the call was answered. 

"hey handsome..."  began purvi the conversation on an upbeat note, but it all went downhill only from there. 

"mumma!" exclaimed bani from the phone, as purvi felt more dumbfounded than she ever did in her life before. 

"bani..." responded purvi, an awkward laugh accompanied the pause, as she considered stabbing the pen in front of her, right into her eye, for a split second. 

"papa! mumma!"  exclaimed bani, only getting more excited for a reason completely out of purvi's mind. 

"bani.." grunted kavin, as extensive commotion accompanied, kavin trying his best to just get the phone back, purvi, just awkwardly remained on the call, not knowing what to do. 

"thanks bhabhi...shaitaan! apna hi phone cheena pad raha hai...." heard purvi, something probably not meant for her, but hey, atleast she'll finally get to talk to the person she called originally. 

"hey, what's up?"  received kavin the call casually, as purvi was still cringing from what happened earlier. 

"uhh, kya horaha tha...wahan?" asked purvi, fumbling. 

"arre, kuch nahi...woh main bani ke liye fruits kaatke laa raha tha, tab tak usne mera phone pakad liya, khelne ke liye...aur tumhara call aa gaya, aur isne uthana kaise seekh liya yaar! anyways, bhabhi kitchen jaa rahi thi tab dekh liya unhone, toh abhi le gayi usse...thank god, right?" uttered kavin at once, as he seemed to be eating in between too. 

"oh, tum, uhhm, lunch kar rahe ho?" questioned purvi, indicative from the munching noises, that accompanied kavin's words. 

"arre aaj mera favorite lunch hai, kaise rokta khudhko..." remarked kavin, taking another bite. 

"rajma chawal? woh toh dinner mein tha.."  replied purvi instantaneously. 

"tumhe kya khilate hain tumhare office waale ki itna dimaag kharaab ho gaya tumhara? yaar mujhe curry chawal pasand hai..." grumbled kavin with his mouthful, not even chewing at this point, as purvi's mouth formed an 'oh'. 

"uhh, you know what, tum lunch karo...uhhm, i have work, so..bye..." hung up purvi on the call, throwing her phone away and face palming herself. 

'my marriage is over...'  thought purvi as the spiral of self-loathing began. 

                                                                 ***

"di....main kya karoon!" cried purvi for help, as she drove back home. 

"calm down?" replied ishita, as she was in the middle of changing a diaper of jasmine. 

"di! main hafte mein 3 din ghar hoti hoon, usmein bhi raat ko aati hoon, tab woh soh raha hota hai...subha uthti hoon, gayab hota hai! lunch plan  karne ki soche, mahashe pahaunch ke lunch kar rahe hain maze se already! joh time hota hai saath, usmein hum bani ko dekh rahe hote hain...kya karoon main!" ranted purvi, as she realised she has crossed a red light. 

"damn it!" yelled purvi out of frustration, as ishita who was in the middle of throwing the dirty diaper out, freaked out. 

"kya hua?" questioned ishita, panicked, as purvi put a rushed brake on the car. 

"di, batao na, main kya karoon! mera ghar basne se pehle hi toot jayega!" exclaimed purvi, as ishita rolled her eyes. 

"purvi overreact mat karo....long distance mein aise hi hota hai...you know, you both just..." attempted ishita to rationalise the situation, but in vain. 

"di...papa bhi toh shuru-shuru mein aise hi the na...affair shuru hone se pehle..." recounted a teary-purvi, with her confession of vulnerability, as ishita sighed in distress, knowing her fear all too well. 

"papa ne kabhi humare saath help out kiya mummy ko? nahi na, woh dono ek nahi hai...ok? bas bahaut normal se cheez ho rahi hai tum dono ke saath, ki bache ke baad time nahi mil raha hai ek dusre ke saath kyunki tum dono working ho...uhmm, how about this? main dushyant se baat karti hoon, kavin ko thoda jaldi nikalne ko convince karein office se, tum aao, usse surprise karo! main, bani ko dekh lungi...you both enjoy!" advised ishita, as purvi seemed to calm down. 

"you are right...uff...thanks, seriously....kya hoga mera aapke bina!"  commented purvi, as they both shared a chuckle. 

"ok then, get home, and i  don't know, dekho kya dekh kar kavin khush hojayega..." remarked ishita, as purvi chuckled. 

'ok..bye.." hung up purvi on the call, as ishita kept it back too, when she looked at jasmine. 

"behen aayegi raat ko, behave yourself!" faked ishita some sterness, as she jokingly scolded jasmine, before letting out a giggle, and dialing for dushyant. 

                                                                        ***

"tujhe kisne accountant banaya be!" rebuked dushyant in frustration, as he was sitting in front of a mess of paperwork on his desk, an embarrassed employee in front of him with a file, when dushyant's phone rang. 

he couldn't find it, as he looked around his very large office. 

"itne dhyaan se accountant dhoonda hota woh hr waale ne toh tu meri company doobwaane mein nahi laga rehta!" exclaimed dushyant, as he found his phone in the mess that was the paperwork all over the desk. 

he picked it up, about to receive it, when he glared at the accountant. 

"baatein sunni hai meri?" questioned dushyant rhetorically, as the man shook in no out of fear and left, when dushyant finally received the call. 

"hi..." let out dushyant one of the most exhausting 'hi' in the entire century, which ishita noticed. 

"kya hogaya, iss hafte tuesday mein hi thak gaye..." remarked ishita, as dushyant who was pressing the tip of his forehead in tiny circles, couldn't help but agree. 

"inka bas chalein main monday dekhne ke liye uthon hi na..." retorted dushyant, as ishita reacted in disbelief. 

"acha ab itna bhi dramatic hone ki zaroorat nahi hai...tumhe kaam se phone kiya tha, kavin ko office se nikalo." stated ishita, as dushyant sat upright in shock. 

"kya! yaar ek-ek competent insaan company mein important hai, warna main pagal ho jaunga unke bina..." replied dushyant, as ishita, weirded out at first, realised what he thought she had said. 

"arre, aaj usko thoda jaldi ghar aane do! purvi surprise karna chah rahi hai...you know na they have not spent some alone time since forever! we'll fix that tonight." clarified ishita, as the earlier shocked dushyant was relieved, but got even more perplexed with her another statement. 

"ek second, hum kahan se aa gaye beech mein?" queried dushyant, as ishita rolled her eyes. 

"hum bani ko dekhenge na, tabhi toh woh akele honge!" replied ishita, frustrated at this point. 

"arre par...kyun?  ek second, aakhri baar jab humne bani ko dekha tha, toh tumne mujhse bacha karne ki baat ki thi...yeh dusre ke liye toh nahi hai?" interrogated dushyant, as ishita just slapped her forehead. 

"tumhi ekdom bow-kaa-cho-dah! it's useless talking to you...ghar aa jao shaanti se.." hung up ishita on the call, as dushyant was left completely baffled. 

but the night was only to get zanier. 

                                                                  ***

author's note: hey guys, i was yesterday just looking back on the first part of the story, and i realised what you all  really liked about it, the comedy of errors, zany plotlines, yet the heart of it all at the end. tbh, i just wanted the story to feel that way again, and hence this update. do tell me in the comments what do you think about this, and don't worry, the twists and mysteries and drama are still waiting ahead so stay tuned.