through thick and thin

Chapter 13

After some time, the family loaded back into the car, this time with Shrishti behind the wheel. Rudra stretched in the passenger seat, humming to himself, while Aaryan sat in the middle seat, phone connected to the Bluetooth, scrolling through the playlist.

"Bhaiya, kuch solid bajao na! Mood full-on set karna hai," Aarav called from the back.

He finally stopped at Matargashti and hit play. The music burst through the speakers just as the windows rolled down, the breeze rushing in. In seconds, the car was alive with energy. Aaryan, Aarav, Aaira, and even Shrishti sang along-her voice effortlessly leading them like she always did at home.

Shrishti grinned as she kept her eyes on the road. "You know, main toh soch rahi thi teacher banna chahiye tha. Music teacher, kya talent hai mere bachchon mein!"

"Maa, aap toh already overqualified ho," Aaryan said with a wink.

"Bhaiya, ab next song bajao!" Aaira chimed in.

"One hit at a time," Aaryan replied, pretending to be a celebrity DJ.

"No wonder you three sing so well," Rudra added. "All maa ke genes."

"Obviously," Aaira said with a playful eye-roll. "Papa ka singing toh bas... background noise hai."

"Oye!" Rudra turned slightly. "That's emotional damage!"

Shrishti laughed, eyes still on the road. "Emotional hi sahi, par sur ke kareeb bhi nahi."

As the song faded out, Aaryan leaned back. "Time for Antakshari?"

Rudra clapped his hands with flair. "Toh chaliye shuru karte hain, full speed mein-ladke vs ladkiyaan!"

"You're going down," Aaira declared, pointing a dramatic finger at them.

Rudra started with a retro number-loud, proud, and as off-key as ever.

"Papa!" Aarav burst into laughter. "Mic hota na, ab tak toot chuka hota."

"Beta, yeh mic nahi, dil se aayi aawaaz hai," Rudra replied, placing a hand on his chest.

Shrishti shook her head fondly. "Bas gaate raho sab, but kisi ko road directions yaad honi chahiye. Rudra, map check kar lo zara."

"Main hoon na," Rudra said, pulling out his phone. "Google Maps bhi confuse ho jaata hai mere saath."

And with that, the singing, teasing, and cheerful chaos continued, their car moving like a bubble of laughter through the highway, wrapped in music and sunshine.

After almost two hours on the road, the earlier excitement had settled into a quiet hum. The music was still playing softly in the background, but the backseat had gone unusually quiet-until the sound of rustling plastic broke through.

Aarav was elbow-deep in the snack bag, followed closely by Aaira.

"There's literally nothing left," Aarav muttered, frustrated.

"Wait!" Aaira exclaimed, pulling something out. "Chips!"

The single packet stood out like a golden treasure.

"I want that," Aarav said instantly, grabbing one side of it.

"No way. I saw it first," Aaira snapped, holding on tight.

"Mera."

"Nahi, mera."

The back-and-forth started, voices rising just enough to make Shrishti glance at them through the rearview mirror-but she said nothing. Beside her, Rudra was half-asleep with his head resting on the window.