One Step Closer (IPKKND FF | Complete)

Epilogue

The Raizada Mansion was perfectly still, illuminated by the many facade lights. No passer-by in this lush, quiet neighbourhood would have sensed the buzzing air of anticipation behind those grand walls tonight.

One of the white family cars pulled up in the driveway, and the driver set to work unloading the luggage. Akash stepped out into the warm evening air and gave Payal a hand before grabbing a couple of the bags - always uneasy about making other people do all the work for him. Soon enough, they both made their way up the steps of Shantivan's vine-covered entrance hall.

"Ready?"

Payal nodded. She was so delighted to be back in India, to be close to her family again, even if it meant an end to the intimate bubble they both had enjoyed so much in Italy. Even after spending so much time with the sophisticated expat women at the core of Milan's upper-class Hindi community, Payal was happy to finally return to a more domestic life. Besides, the time was right.

Akash gently kissed her on the nose, and hit the bell that would announce their arrival.

The door opened, and there they all were. Family.

Devyani led the proceedings with a veneration plate for the homecoming ritual, closely followed by Mama and Mami, and Payal's parents, and Buaji, of course. Shashi and Garima had once again moved over to Delhi, this time at their youngest daughter's insistence. Once the blessings were exchanged and marigold petals sprinkled, the hugging ensued - starting off with Manorama's iron grip on her son.

"Welcome back, my dear," Shashi smiled and gently embraced Payal.

Even though Payal had been in constant touch with her family on the phone and over the internet, the sight of her father leaning on a walking cane still brought tears to her eyes. Shashi Gupta would always be limping on one side, and the stroke had left a permanent line across his features, but his recovery had gone better than they all had ever hoped.

"JIJIIII!" The elders were hardly done with the hellos when lightning with pompoms on her sleeves breezed past everyone and nearly knocked Payal off her feet with a furiously tight hug.

"Hello hi bye bye, Phati Sari, wotsh out, pleesh! Payal-bitiya needs to sit down, not be attacked like this after the long road! Be careful!"

"Manorama, you're being silly," her husband reprimanded. "Payal-bitiya is pregnant, not sick - she can walk by herself!"

"Oh shut up you, I know what's best for the mother of my future grandson! Come, come Payal-bitiya, let's sit down..."

Akash managed to sneak in a wink and a smile as Payal was whisked away to be seated on the sofa, enjoying the unexpectedly warm welcome from her mother-in-law.

"Good to see you, bhai," Arnav hugged Akash. "Congratulations, man!"

"Thanks, bhai! And... um... same to you, congratulations on the engagement!"

"Thanks, Akash," Arnav smiled, his eyes trailing towards the girl who was now also on the sofa, peppering her sister with endless questions about the journey home.

"Uh, where's Di?"

"Apparently she's in a traffic jam," Devyani smiled. "But if you ask me, it looks like the sister is more similar to her workaholic brother than I thought, and forgot to leave her office on time."

"Nani, that's not fair! There was an accident on the road and we couldn't get through for an hour!" Anjali appeared at the front door just as her grandmother started the accusations.

Anjali also greeted Akash with a warm embrace and made her way to the sitting area - where Payal was still very much in the eye of a fussing storm made up of nearly every elder in her family.

"She's so much better, isn't she?" Akash asked with palpable relief in his voice.

"Now that we know he will be behind bars for a long time, she is... better. But her heart will take a long time to heal," Devyani answered with a sigh, her expression hardening as she suppressed the still-raw memories of her family's ordeal. "Come, bitwa, sit down and let's have some tea."

The trial of Suresh Jha had transpired quickly and, most importantly, without any noise - family lawyers had successfully appealed to the judge to suppress media coverage of court proceedings, in order to protect Miss Raizada's mental health. As harrowing as it was for everyone to testify - even Akash and Payal had to dial in via videolink to make their statements - in the end there was no shortage of evidence to lock him away for many decades.

To everyone's surprise, Anjali - even if it was a paler and more subdued version of her - recovered swiftly after the sentence was finalised. The fact that her marriage had never been legally valid helped her reconcile with the broken relationship, and nobody outside the family knew the full truth about what Shyam had done, not beyond the extent of the "he scammed us all for money" version.

So, next thing everyone knew, Anjali had thrown herself into a new project - the establishment of a shelter and charity for domestic abuse victims. "I'm glad you're finally using that business degree of yours, Di," Arnav had teased her. "But I guess Aman will have to plan my wedding, now that you're so busy?"

"Oh, don't worry Chhote, we'll get you married soon enough," was her response, delivered with laughter.

The engagement of Khushi Kumari Gupta and Arnav Singh Raizada had been the talk of the town, of course. As much as ASR detested media prying into his private life, being "one of India's most eligible bachelors" meant he had to at least play along - if they didn't release some official info, the gossip magazines would make up the most ridiculous garbage, and Khushi deserved better. She deserved everything in the world, he would make sure of it.

He didn't want to wait another second to be with her - but they ended up having a compromise. Khushi agreed to an engagement party, if the wedding itself could be delayed for several months until her jiji finally returned from Milan.

Just like Arnav had suspected, Khushi did have a difficult time dealing with the media attention. She found it baffling that suddenly everyone was so interested in what soon-to-be Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada wore, what she ate, what she liked and disliked. Suddenly, her quiet life wasn't her own, and she hadn't even married and moved into Shantivan yet!

Things got better once Arnav hired her a media consultant - and by the time the engagement party came around, Khushi walked the red carpet like a filmstar, smiled sweetly to the cameras, ate only the appropriate amount of sweets, had to be talked out of dancing too much, and afterwards made Arnav swear that their wedding would be a completely private affair.

And secretly, she kept that cover photograph from one of the tabloid newspapers - the one snapped of her and Arnav-ji at the party. It was a candid photo catching them both unawares: her in profile, in a stunning red sari from the latest AR collection, gesturing and saying something to her fiance while holding on to his arm. Him, his head thrown back, joyfully laughing at what she had just said.

She loved his laughter so much. The cut-out of the photo was now hidden in her diary.

"It's so good to have you both back," Nani beamed as they all finally settled down for tea and sweets. "With Nanhe away on his big sightseeing trip with dear Navya, and these two constantly away at work, it's been very quiet in this house! But I am grateful for every new day, and for our growing family!"

With those last words, she warmly smiled at both Payal and Khushi.

The latter grinned, having just finished serving everyone tea and fresh jalebis. She sat down, right next to her soon-to-be husband, as was her right. And while everyone was distracted in their talk about children and weddings and how many weddings there would be within the year, Khushi gently poked Arnav's shoulder to get his attention, and spoke to him just loud enough so only he could hear.

"I'm so, so happy, Arnav-ji! Do you want to know why?"

One eyebrow raised, he knew he better ask the question - her voice was full of mischief.

"Why?"

She leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Because I love you... dammit!"

The End