He raised an eyebrow. ‘At this time of the night, Ananya? Whatever will your Nani say?’ he said softly as he prowled towards me, trying to trap me in front of the counter.

‘I think we should find out for ourselves,’ I told him as I ducked and escaped, laughing.

‘She’s most likely going to join us, considering all this noise you’re making,’ he muttered as he switched off the kitchen light and followed me outside through the back door.

It was a quiet night. We couldn’t see a single star in the sky but then, we weren’t really looking. Raghu didn’t even wait till we reached the garden. He whirled me around and had me in his arms the moment I stepped outside and then we were kissing.

Epilogue

None of us had slept in days. Weeks. Months. Even years.

Okay, that was an exaggeration but that’s how it felt.

My little terror of a brother, Arjun, ensured that no one got a decent night’s sleep once we brought him and Ma back from the hospital. He didn’t cry. He screamed. And we all rushed around and fell over one another to see how we could make things better for the little emperor.

After a week, Nani decided she was going back to Chandigarh. No one knew what Papa said to her at the hospital.

When Arjun was a month old, Aunty V said it was time for her to go back to Mumbai. We were all sitting in the living room, and Ma was rocking Arjun to sleep in her arms. I looked at Raghu in dismay.

But Aunty V announced that Raghu had been accepted at a hotel management college in Bangalore and would be staying at the hostel. I looked at him in delighted surprise.

Why didn’t you tell me?

I texted though he was sitting right there. He looked at his phone and smiled.

Because I wanted it to be a surprise.

I smiled back, unable to contain my happiness.

Ma put Arjun down in the crib and looked over at both of us.

‘What about your girlfriend, Raghu?’ she asked him sweetly.

I looked away, pretending to be busy unfolding and refolding Arjun’s clothes on the sofa. Ma was no fool.

‘Um . . . I . . . she . . .’ Raghu stammered.

‘What girlfriend?’ Aunty V intervened, frowning. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about her? Who’s she? Is she in Mumbai? Didn’t I ask you if you wanted to join a college in Mumbai or even Pune but you wanted to join here in Bangalore.’

My heart did another happy dance.

‘Mom, we’ll talk about this later,’ Raghu said, his teeth gritted.

I was surprised that Aunty V hadn’t caught on to what was happening between us, but Ma had. Ma looked at both of us fondly though and I looked away.