yun hi tu mere saath rehna

Chapter Twenty Eight

Armaan shook his head fondly, liking the picture that Ramya had just sent in the Rajvansh cousins’ group chat - a lively shot of all the ladies of the house along with Abir, dressed in baby pink pyjamas, all of them grinning into the camera. Abhira was squished between Dhriti and Abir, a wide smile on her face as Dhriti placed a sloppy kiss to her cheek, Abir's arms wrapped around both of them as he laughed. 

Coincidentally, all the men were away for a few days on business trips - Kunal was called to put out a metaphorical fire in Red Pear's Calcutta office, Hrishi & Atul were both in Mumbai - Hrishi recording a new song and Atul shooting for an ad, Amish was at a tech conference in Bangalore, Ketan was attending some big fashion show in Delhi, while Shrey had made a trip to Mussourie for an important client. With all of them out of town, the girls had decided to have a slumber party and he was banned from the house for the night. Abir had always been an honorary invitee to these parties, ever since Misha and Amayra had started having them as kids, because of course he was.

Armaan was glad that Abhira was finally finding some respite. The last couple weeks had been a complete whirlwind. Once Krish Mama, as he had insisted Armaan call him, had come over to speak to them, he had also pleaded his case for including his parents and of course, Abhira had agreed. It was followed by another tearful reunion between Abhira and her Bade Mamu, Naksh, Badi Mami, Keerti, and Radhika Mami, Krish Mama's wife. 

There was still some frostiness that lingered between Mishti and Naksh, but Armaan could see that she was trying to move on from what had happened, for Abhira's sake if no one else. Abhira had been slightly cold in her reception of Naksh, disliking the fact that Mishti had been treated in a similar way in the Singhania family as her own mother had in the Goenka family. 

She had actually been more upset about Mishti's treatment because Mishti had been a teenager when it had happened, and she wasn't even being punished for her own mistakes. She was being punished because of someone else. It had only been when Mishti had calmed her down, making Abhira see that the Singhanias had not blindly abandoned her like the Goenkas had done to Akshu, that they had made sure she found loving parents in her own Badi Maa and Bade Papa, that Abhira had calmed down enough to actually agree to meeting them.

Since then, the Singhania family was trying hard to make it up to both Abhira and Mishti, a fact that heartened Armaan immensely. He knew that forgiveness would not come in a day, but seeing them all acknowledge their mistakes and take steps to make things better soothed his aching heart. He had never seen the elders of a household apologize before, so it was a novel experience for him to see it happen. He knew that no one deserved it more than his silly girl and his Badi Maa, so he was even happier. 

However, the reconciliatory atmosphere of the house was marred by the looming shadow of Manish Goenka's impending trial. There had been no communication between the two families in the days since that confrontation, and Abhira spent every moment worried about whether she would have to face that man in court for her grandmother's academy. 

Abhira had even reached out to Madhav. She was very insistent about proving Akshara's innocence and was using every resource available to her. Now that everyone knew her connection to the Goenkas, Madhav didn't need any explanation as to why she was doing what she was. He was thankfully very supportive of the endeavour and had promised Abhira to do everything in his power to find out what he could. While his assurances had helped Abhira a little, she was still anxious about the whole thing, running around the city in search of clues. Armaan went on every excursion with her, and he could see how it was taking a toll on Abhira. 

On top of that, the sudden distance from Vidya also hurt her. Ever since that fateful day, Vidya had been keeping her distance from Abhira, as had Abhira from her. He understood where Abhira was coming from because he himself was in the same boat. He was extremely hurt by his mother's behaviour and the way she'd expected Abhira to sideline her own feelings for the sake of Rohit and Ruhi. He knew that compromises were a part of life and everyone had to make them. Heck, he had been doing that for most of his life, for the sake of this same family. But, he had never wanted Abhira to sacrifice the way he'd been expected to.