The next morning Abir and mishti checked out of the resort and because it was sunny, took a cab till the Mumbai airport. Mishti was a little upset because she was going back home and that she wouldn't have all this alone time with Abir anymore but she was sort of looking forward to see her family. This constant internal battle, led to mishti being awfully quiet and Abir couldn't wait to surprise her. He was about to message nanko for a go signal, but Kunal beat him to it,
"Take off ke liye ready?" Abir chuckled and said, "all set nanko. She doesn't know what's going to hit her!" To which Kunal replied, "hope she likes it bhai. Can't wait to see you."
Abir smiled and put his phone inside. Abir let mishti be, till they were to get their boarding passes. Mishti was expecting a flight back to Rajkot, but the boarding pass said, Goa.
"Abir, humare boarding pass pe Goa kyun likha hai?" She asked him. Abir smiled and said, "woh Hume waha pahuchkar hi pata chalega! Ready?" He asked her. Mishti just looked at him completely shocked. Abir chuckled and led her towards the security. Throughout the flight mishti tried to interrogate Abir about the change in plan but he wouldn't budge. No matter how much she pouted or cribbed or tried her hand at emotional blackmail, Abir didn't budge. Soon, they landed in Goa and a cab was waiting for them at the airport.
"Ab toh bata do! Ab toh hum Goa bhi pahuch chuke hain abir!" She tried again. Abir just zipped his lips and winked at her. Mishti narrowed her eyes but let it go. And lucky for them because they had reached.
Abir helped with the luggage and helped mishti outside the cab. They had reached a beautiful bungalow, with a huge lawn surrounding it, with big French windows and coconut trees surrounding the place as far as the eye could see. They could hear the waves crashing, which meant that the beach wasn't that far. Mishti was awestruck.
"A..a..bir! This is beautiful. I mean I can't believe this. Tum jaante ho, mujhe beaches kitne pasand hain! Thank you thank you thank you!" She jumped and gave him a hug. Abir laughed and hugged her back and said, "lekin, tumhara actual surprise andar hai." And he led the way for her.
Inside the bungalow, everything was dark and mishti immediately turned around to ask Abir what was going on, when suddenly the lights switched on and a bunch of people shouted, "SURPRISE!" Mishti turned around and she actually froze!
Kunal, kuhu, Atul, ketu, nanu and masi were all standing with big grins on their faces. Mishti started jumping like a small kid. Kunal was the first one to walk towards them, he was so happy to see them that he immediately pulled both Abir and mishti in for a hug. "Maine aap dono ko kitna miss kiya pata hai? Finally, some normalcy. Warna yeh kuhu ki bak bak agar mujhe aur ek din Sunni padti na I swear mein pagal ho jata!" He teased. "#NotFair. Abir bro, aapka nanko bohot boring hain!" Kuhu cribbed.
"But important yeh hai ki all my gadhedos are together and we're going to rock!" Said nanu. Everyone laughed and Ketu and Atul hugged Abir and mishti too. Parul masi looked in much better spirits and it's all that mattered to Abir mishti and Kunal. Mishti was extremely happy, but seeing her entire family together, made her miss her parents more.
"Bhabhi, I have to show you the beach. Let's go? Waise bhi yahan bohot noise pollution hai, courtesy of your sister. Please?" He pleaded. Mishti nodded at Abir who was busy hogging on the dhoklas that masi had made for them, and agreed to Kunal's request.
"Did you have fun with bhai? Finally something breathing space?" Kunal asked as they were walking towards the beach. "Yes kunal. It was so good. And I know you were responsible for a lot of it, so thank you. Waise, did kuhu max your card yet?" She teased. Kunal laughed and said, "wouldn't have it any other way! Uski khushi ke liye toh mein sab karta hoon. Anyway, aap kaise ho?" He asked. Mishti smiled and said, "perfect. Maine humari family ko bohot bohot miss kiya tha and I can't wait to spend time with everyone." She said.
"Bilkul waise hi, jaise inn logo ne aapko bohot miss kiya!" He said and gestured towards the ocean. And as they walked closer, they saw that two people were sitting on a table together. Kunal led mishti towards them and badi ma and bade papa turned around with huge grins.
Mishti couldn't believe it! She ran into their embrace. Bade papa kissed her forehead and said, "pichle 12 saalo se we haven't spent this day away from each other, why break the record this year?" He said. Mishti nearly broke down in his arms. "Aaj ka din humare liye utna hi special hai, jitni humari beti special hai. Hume phir se ek beti dene ke liye thank you, beta." Badi ma said. Mishti cried in the embrace of her parents. When they pulled apart, mishti held both their hands and said,
"Badi ma, bade papa, jab aap log mujhe apne ghar lekar aaye the, tab mein ek angry, disturbed, frustrated 12-year old thi, woh jiska pura parivar usse apne saath nahi rakhna chahta tha, but amidst all that, aap log mujhe apne ghar lekar aaye. Mujhe woh sab diya, jiski wajah se mein aaj yahan hoon, ek ladki jisse har ek cheez ki wajah se panic attacks aate the, uss ladki ko aapne apni life apni terms pe jeena ka confidence diya. So thank you. This day will always be the most important day of my life. Thank you!" She cried.
"Aur isliye tera naam Ms Teapot hai, Ms Teapot!" Came a teasing voice. Mishti, turned around towards the house and found her entire family standing there, and of course a smug looking Nannu.
"NANNU YAAR!" She grumbled.
"Nannu beta, aap humari beti ka mazak uda rahe hai?" Bade papa said in mock anger.
"Hum jaante hai ki woh roti thoda zyada hain, lekin, Ms Teapot naam galat hai!" Bade papa further teased. Mishti pouted and Abir laughed and gave a high five to Bade papa.
"Ha ha ha very funny, bhabhi, hum inn losers ko humara plan nahi batayenge, aur haan pizza toh bilkul nahi share karenge! Aap chaliye!" He teased and put his hand on Mishti's shoulder.
"Oho, nanko, tu toh naraz ho gaya mere bhai, chal bata ab kya plan hai?" Asked Abir with a grin.
"Uske liye aapko mere aur bhabhi ke saath aana hoga. It's a surprise!" He said and led everyone inside the house. Mishti made an excuse of seeing the sunset and stayed back and so Abir stuck around too.
Mishti was standing there, facing the sea and all the beautiful colours of the sunset stretched over the horizon with an incredibly satisfied smile on her face. Abir came and hugged her from behind and placed a kiss on the back of her head. Mishti's smile widened and she said, "Abir, this doesn't even feel real. I can't believe I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky to have found such a beautiful family, who love me despite everything and I'm just feeling so blessed Abir. And of course, without you, I would have embraced them so fully, so thank you. Mujhe humesha yeh sikhane ke liye ke ki yeh parivar mera hai, tum mere ho. I love you." She said, still overlooking the ocean. Abir sighed and kissed her temple and said, "pata hai mishti, what do the waves teach us? Humara saath jo bhi hua, accha bura, sahi galat, woh sab humara past hai, ki change chahe kitna bhi scary kyun na ho, aage badhne ke liye hume uss change ko accept karna hi padta hai. Agar yeh waves, aage nahi badti, toh yeh ocean itna beautiful nahi hota. These waves teach us, that moving forward is the only right way. If you are climbing the steps of your life you have to let go of the previous step in order to climb the next one. And all these people, all of us are going to be right next to each other when we climb each new step and we won't let each other fall. I promise." He vowed.
"I know that now, thank you!" She said as she turned around and pressed her lips to his, with the golden sunset casting its beauty over them.
A/N- goa🥺
