A Mother's Will

Chapter 3

That very evening, she promised to be at Gratia. Karanveer was discharged that very afternoon and taken home to rest for a few days, and as promised, Jovana came to Gratia. Everyone saw her getting out of her car, now wearing shorts and a different top with black sneakers and no jewelry. She was stared at, her beauty so beautiful in the setting sun. When she came a little further, she was called by Uncle Param's oldest son, Ayaan. But even before she could turn, a tiger pounced on her. Ayaan helped her up, and then she petted her pet tiger, who would never behave such in front of anyone else but Karanveer. The baby her dad once bought home was now all grown up yet as loyal as day 1, it was her pet tiger Burno.

She looked up from her tiger and saw rafter, rafter was her horse, the very horse she once found at the race course alone, the elegant pure breed amber coloured foal for whom she fell for almost immediately, now all grown like her other pets, the horse looked even beautiful and the hair were definitely well maintained. As the tiger ran back to his cage. Rafter was 2 months old in 2005 when she got him, the fastest and no one in the family could every take control of him. Ayaan warned her that rafter was a cranky being and could not be handled if he went angry. To this Jovana ran towards him and rafter ran back towards her. Jovana then whistled and the horse and Jovana meet mid-way he stopped and she hugged him around the neck a beautiful reunion when the sun went down.

Later, Ayaan and Jovana walked to the door of Gratia, where she was welcomed with an aarti. Her old nanny, Maid Rani, took away the "balas." As she took her first step inside, she could sense two things: the cheerful changes in the gratia because it was renovated and the unwelcoming faces of many family members. Then Uncle Param asked her if she had eaten, and Jovana said yes. Make yourself comfortable, he said, and he left. Jovana then asked if her room was ready for Rani. Then Rani let Jovana know that her room had been taken by her stepsister and turned to her hobby room. The next moment, she turned to Ayaan, who still stood there, and asked him if he could get her room repainted and reinstalled as she had left it by the next evening. Ayaan smiled and asked her to take a rest, saying that it would be done. She then took a stroll around the house; it was mid-night now, and Jovana was still awake, as was Ayaan, due to work.

When Ayaan came out to drink water, he saw Jovana reading a book and went to her and sat by her with a cup of hot chocolate instead. Jovana closed her book and sat back with the hot cup in her hand, the brother -sister were closer that they looked, he was the only man after Jovana's paternal grandfather to keep in contact with her from her father's family. Both of them talked things and Jovana gave the details she wanted to be added in her room. The sun broke the darkness, Ayaan and Jovana had fallen asleep on the couch in the greenhouse garden.

Jovana took off with rafter to the île de nuages.