Arylie a family is born- Part 2

The sister

Imlie's sister lived with her father, Dev -
and mostly his sister, her buaa who was Dev's cousin sister. Dev loved Meethi but didn't have the courage to love and accept her in front of the whole world! he had begged Meethi to have and hold one of their children, He could not bring Meethi into his life but he was able to bring a small piece of their love with him. He made sure that Malini and her mom never got wind of Shalini, she was the only good thing in his life, his only memory of Meethi, after Malini married Aditya for the second time Dev had left India and was living with his mother, sister and his daughter Shalini !

Dev's presence in Shalini's life would always be transitory as he would divide his time between Malini and hee. Shalini was a happy child, loved and adored by everyone who met her. She was intelligent and an artist like her father. She had tried her hand at painting, dancing, playing a violin. But Shalini had found her home in the theatre, acting was her passion, it would awaken a deep self expression in her that couldn't find its outlet in anything else.

Shalini would find it easy to empathize with others, she would never judge or condemn people because they were having a hard time, she stuck it out with many of her friends who were struggling with drug abuse or teenage pregnancies, she was always a shoulder they could cry on and find unconditional support. Shalini always defended those who couldn't do so for themselves, that drive had turned into her opening one of the biggest homeless shelter in the city.

But her personal life was a beautiful chaos! She moved through life carefree, unattached and living each day as she saw fit, one of her favorite sayings which she would tell Dev when he expected her to behave as society expected was- " I will Always be a first-rate version of myself and not a second rate version of someone else" .

Grown up only with her aunt and an absent father meant she never really understood the true meaning of having a family. Everyone Shalini met was her family and this would sometimes bring joy and sometimes agony but she took it all in her stride.

Her one rock, was her boyfriend CJ, she met him briefly after one of her plays when he came backstage to congratulate her on an outstanding performance, a five minute meeting had turned into 5 year long companionship, partnership and love. CJ was her complete opposite! She would always say that she would wake him up and he would calm her storms, they never thought marriage was necessary, their love didn't need a name, it was beyond the societal rules and norms.

The day Shalini learned about Imlie had been one of the best days of her life, how she longed for a family and to know that she had a mother, a sister and 3 adorable nieces, and more nieces or nephews on the way, she was ready to cross the world on foot to meet them! Dev had told her all about Imlie's struggles, her hardships and her strength, Imlie felt like an inspiration to her, and who she was meeting after so long, too long, thought Shalini.

They were planning to do a video call with Shalini and seek her help, she had already agreed but Aryan wanted to meet the person who would be taking his wife's place in his home, Imlie was irreplaceable, unique and one in a million, he thought, but her sister could be a close second. They decided to jump on the call sooner prior to meeting Shalini to discuss how the sisters would swap places.

Imlie had barely been awake that day, still exhausted 1from the combined effects of past few days, Chini woke her up in time for the call and made an excuse for Imlie with rest of the family.

Ar- Hello Imlie! Good morning Jungli

I- Morning! shyam ke 4 bajje hai, hum pura din aaj sovat hai, bass khaane ke liye uthe hain

Ar- Very good, you need rest last few days have been too hectic for you! Par Imlie you are still looking very tired!

I-Hmmm, ab hum tumhare paas aajayenge, phir tum humme thik kar dena, abhi toh humri aakh bhi jyada der thak khuli nahi rahegi aisan lagat hai, bahut thakk gaye hai hum.