Avneil FF

Chapter 36

Neil, Aman and neelama had coordinated over messages the last evening about the plan for Rakshabandhan. It was around 9am and when Avni came downstairs she saw that the house was bustling- bheema was doing saaf-safai, bebe was busy decorating an aarti thali and shweta was making some sweet in the kitchen. Prakash and neil were both dressed in ethnic wear.

Avni- Papa, maddy bua aur kareena toh Canada main hai, toh aaj itni tayyari kis baat ke liye?

Prakash- arey puttar, voh yahaan nahi hai, but rakshabandhan ke din celebration toh banta hai na. aur pooja, mithai, iss sab se hi toh festival waali feel aati hai.

Avni- smiled at him- and said haan ye bhi sahi hai. And immediately she was lost in thoughts about aman. He was just out of jail but she didn't think he would remember that it was rakshabandhan today....and they hadn't really celebrated it much before. She remembered the last raksha bandhan 2 years back when she had tied the rakhi and soon after that the whole DVM saga had played out and avni had realized that aman had tricked her and lied to her. Although she knew that things were different now, unfortunately their relationship was very new and raw...it needed to be rebuilt slowly.

Neil immediately noticed the look on Avni's face and thought to himself- Wifey, this raksha bandhan is going to be a special one for you. Its going to mark a new beginning for you and Aman.

Bebe and shweta had also gathered in the living room. Bebe brought the rakhis that maddy, kareena had parceled and then quickly dialed a video call. Over the call, they exchanged pleasantries with maddy and kareena and bebe tied rakhis to neil and prakash on behalf of their sisters. Maddy and kareena did a virtual aarti over the video call too! They chit chatted for a while ctaching up on each others lives...thanks to technology even though maddy and kareena weren't physically present it was still a very lively and festive mood.

A few minutes after they had hung up the doorbell rang.

Avni opened the door and was shocked to see Aman and neelama. Aman was decked up in a very nice kurta.

She stood speechless

While neil and khannas happily ushered them in as if they were expecting it.

Neil- so wifey, kaisa laga surprise?

Bebe- avni puttar, aja, tera bhai ab agaya hai tere saath rakshabandhan celebrate karne.

Avni was controlling her tears.

Shweta moved to Avni and ushered her inside and handed her a thaali. Chalo beta, tum bhi rasm puri karlo.

Avni nodded, too choked up to respond and took the aarti thali from Shweta.

Aman sat down and Avni proceeded with the rasam. She did the aarti, tilak, tied a rakhi and then finally offered him a sweet. Aman bit a little bit and then offered the remaining to Avni.

What happened next surprised not just Avni but everyone!

Aman got up and did a full sashtang pranam- prostrating in front of his sister,

Avni was very emotional. She had a quick flashback of how she had asked him to touch her feet and take her ashirwaad long back when she was trying to sudharofy him and how he had to be forced to comply by DVM and how upset and annoyed he had been then but had done it only to make avni withdraw her FIR against him. And now here he was- her baby brother fully prostrate in front of her because he genuinely wanted to show his respect and affection.

Aman touched both her feet getting her blessings and Avni snapped out of her flashback and said- Chiranjeevi bhava

Aman got up and Avni immediately pulled him into a hug.

Aman- Vaise di, I have two surprises for you.

He placed a hand on her shoulders and guided her to his earlier seat and said- normally rakhi toh bhai ko bandhi jaati hai but it is actually you who's always looked out for me and tried to do the best for me. So aaj main aapke liye rakhi laya hun. Kya main aapko rakhi bandh sakta hoon?

Avni-(emotional) just nodded, since she was too emotional to speak

Aman pulled out a handmade rakhi from his pocket.

Everyone was smiling looking at this beautiful gesture from Aman.

Aman picked up the thaali and repeated the procedure and tied a rakhi to Avni.

Aman- aur ek cheez hai.

He took a gift from the bag neelama was holding up and handed it to avni. Avni opened it to reveal a photoframe- she fingered the picture on it and had a huge smile on her face with happy tears in her eyes.

Bebe- puttar, humein bhi dikhao kya gift hai.

Avni held up the photo frame for everyone to see and all the ladies awed at the cute picture. It was a photo of a baby aman wrapped in a blanket in avni's arms- the first time she had held him after he was born. Avni had the most radiant smile on her face. Neil and Prakash also were smiling looking at the picture.

Bebe- aman puttar, yeh toh bahut hi changa gift hai!

Shweta- haan tum donon iss photo main kitne cute lag rahe ho!

Avni turned the picture over looking over at it once again with a smile looking at it lost in thoughts

Neela- kya soch rahi ho baccha?

Avni- August 5,1997- I still remember the day like yesterday....i don't think I had ever been so excited for anything in life! Iss photo main jo maine dress pahni hai- I had made Ayesha maa buy it for me specially so that I'd have something new to wear on the D-day. Nanno ko toh maine pagal kardiya tha with my over excitedness...i wanted to do everything myself...make the sweets and decorate the house. Unke kaan pak gaye mera "my brother is coming" gaana sun sun ke! As she narrated the story she had a wistful smile on her face and so did everyone else hearing her.

And then finally when he came I couldn't wait to hold him in my arms! Suddenly avni let out a huge chuckle

Aman- aap has kyun rahe ho?

Avni- yeh soch kar ki iss photo ke baad kya hua

Aman- kya hua?

Avni- tumne mere excitement par paani pher diya! She laughed again

Aman- kaise?

Avni- Mutravisrajan karke! She said laughing

The others also started laughing but aman said- kya? Mutra what? Matlab

Avni- matlab tumne mujh par aur mere naye dress par susu kar diya! And I was also the first person you ever peed on, even before Ayesha ma! She winked at aman and laughed!

Aman was now red with embarrassment and said- Sorry di!

Avni- moved closer to aman and said- thank you!

Aman- huh?! Ur thanking me for doing mutra whatever?

Avni- nahi duffer! I'm thanking you for gifting me this- because this is and will always be my most favorite childhood picture and one of my best memories ever! She gave aman another hug

Everyone else was happy to see the brother-sister bond and sent out a wish that their relationship would continue to grow and become stronger in the times to come.

Later that day, they all enjoyed a family lunch together. Avni took aman to see the flat as promised and he loved it. Later she also went out with him to have chaat at Chowpati. Finally after spending the day with her brother when she got home she looked for neil and gave him a hug

Avni- thank you! For planning this surprise for me.

Neil- you are welcome wifey! He said as he tightened his grip around her.