Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 63 - Monster

When Arnav got to Shantivan, it was... anticlimactic. The house was peaceful enough – his grandmothers were in the living area with Di, cups of tea in front of each of them. The rest of the family was nowhere to be seen.

"Dadi...?" he said, stepping towards them.

"Arnav," Dadi said, and stood up, Di and Nani standing up too after her. She looked exactly the same as he remembered, from almost 15 years ago — stern faced, intimidating even in her severe, ascetic clothes.

"Congratulations, you are getting married."

Di was eyeing him meaningfully, pointing her chin to Dadi's feet. He tried to resist — but Dadi hadn't been antagonistic yet, and not touching her feet would mean he started it. So he shelved away his distaste, and strode forward to touch her feet.

"Be at peace," Dadi said haughtily. "I was just telling Devyani and Anjali, I am disappointed that no one bothered to tell me about my eldest grandson's wedding. I had to hear it from your uncle."

Here we go.

"You didn't speak to us when we came to invite you to Di's wedding," he said, tone carefully calm. "It was only natural to assume you would not be interested in mine."

Dadi's mouth was set in a straight line. She never appreciated being talked back to. But now, he was Arnav Singh Raizada. And this was his house.

"I would have liked to know," she said. "In any case, Devyani, I would like to pray and rest now. I will talk to my grandson later. Please show me where I can stay."

Just then, Khushi's loud voice announced her arrival, followed by an equally loud Mami.

"Hello-hi bye bye –" Mami caught sight of Dadi, and let out a small scream. She had stopped abruptly, and grabbed Khushi, who almost dropped the several shopping bags she was carrying. Payal, who was walking right behind them, bumped into them, and made an annoyed noise.

Khushi didn't notice. She was looking between Mami and Dadi in puzzlement.

Time to take control. "Khushi, this is my grandmother," Arnav said. "Dadi, this is Khushi, my wife. You know Mami. That's Payal, Akash's wife."

Khushi stepped forward, her face a picture of confusion. "Your — your grandmother?"

"Your wife?" Dadi was saying, meanwhile.

Ah, fuck. Arnav took a deep breath. "Maybe Nani and Di didn't tell you yet," he glanced at them, their shifty gazes confirmed it —"Khushi and I are already married. It's been around five months now. We didn't have a full religious ceremony then, so we are having it now."

Dadi looked thunderstruck. She was eyeing Khushi in a way Arnav didn't like. Finally, she said, "It's time for me to pray. Show me my room. Devyani, I will finish in an hour, I will speak to you then. And Arnav, you can come and see me after that."

Nani called for Hari Prakash to take Dadi's things to her room, and Dadi, who seemed to think she ran things wherever she went, followed him.

"What is she doing here?" Mami muttered, as Dadi walked away, while Di tried to shush her desperately.

Arnav took the bags from Khushi's hands, and said, "let's go to our room," nodding upstairs.

"Your grandmother?" Khushi repeated when they were in their room. "You never told me about this grandmother."

It had to be the abbreviated story, he couldn't bring himself to explain everything. "After my parents died she went to stay in an Ashram. We hadn't seen her since. She's here for the wedding."