Dear Sweetheart!

The Families

I get to know Bhaiyya is onboard when he knocks on my bedroom door at 4 am with O by his side.

By onboard, I mean he finally got his senses back and is no longer a self-sacrificing Majnu. Or Romeo. Whatever.

"So how did you break up with her, because I do not want to be trashed by Didi's chappal if she resents some part of you?" I come straight to the point.

"It was honestly amicable." Really? I absolutely do not believe that. No breakup can be amicable.

"Shivaay, be honest." O says.

"I just told her I needed to go back, and she understood the unsaid implication of what it meant for us." Bhaiyya sounds sour about their breakup, rightfully so.

"How can someone be so understanding?" O mutters, honestly perplexed.

I was not wrong when I said that this couple were meant for books and novels.

Did I say that before though? Well, I am saying it now.

On a professional front, Annika Didi will be a regular with all the visits that Mom and Dad are going to do.

On a personal front, the family is just going to conspire with Bhaiyya to woo Annika Didi again.

It is just not her this time around. Now she has grandparents who love her. And we do not think she told them about Bhaiyya or this live-in relationship they had for five years. I do not think Indian parents are built to take that information, let alone grandparents.

"You know just because she is understanding and kind does not mean she took the breakup well. The world often thinks kind and understanding people can take anything, inflicts a lot on them, and expects them to not hold a tinge of resentment even. It is unfair." I immediately regret my tone when I see Bhaiyya's dejected face.

O shakes his head, muttering, "Why did I get these two emotionally dumb brothers?"

I frown.

Before I can retort, Bhaiyya whispers, "I will deal with all of that."

I go up to him and tell him of what I strongly feel, "Bhaiyya, even if she resents the breakup, she loves you, and that is a stronger force in this equation. Do not worry!"

O mutters again, "When did Rudy become so eloquent and smart?"

"Oh hello, I was always like this." I shrug my shoulders in pride.

"Yeah, yeah." He says.

O in the morning is a menace.

"Mission Shivika on!" I exclaim.

"Shivika?" Bhaiyya questions.

I reply, "Oh ho, Bhaiyya, your ship name with Didi. If you want, you can name your daughter Shivika too. Won't charge for copyright or anything."

I love how flustered Bhaiyya gets at that moment at the mention of his baby.

But O, of course, has to ruin the moment, "God, please don't mention a baby now."

Bhaiyya smacks him in the head. The baby is going to arrive in a few months, and O was going to have to deal with that reality without making the baby unwanted when he or she gets older.

***

"Toh, woh maan gaya? Chal, Annika ka ghar chalte hain rishta keliyes. Angrezi mein kya kehta hain, alliances?" Choti Maa stands up immediately after listening to what I and O had to say.

"Choti Maa, no." O calmly explains.

She pouts. "Why nots?"

"Pinky." Dadi sighs. "Baccho ko thoda waqt do."