Part 32

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"You can't make everyone happy. You are not a jar of Nutella"

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"... You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away..."

Arjun softly crooned the song as he played his guitar sitting on the edge of the swimming pool with his legs dangling under the water.

"He sings well" Inayat muttered to Radha. They were sitting behind him on the canopy swing.

"His mother sings well and from her only he got the interest on singing." Radha said proudly looking at her grandson. "Arjun is the closest one to Madhu.”

Inayat nodded her head with a smile. She knew that already. Veer had told her.

“Ever since he started talking he started singing along with his mother. It's a joy to hear them sing together and my Rishab secretly admires them but never acknowledged how good they sing"

"Oh. Yeah, I have heard her sing in kitchen while we were cooking together. She has a lovely voice" Inayat said with a soft smile as she glanced up and found Madhu and Rishab standing in the balcony of their room and gazing down at the backyard.

Madhu caught Inayat's eyes and waved her ‘Hi’. Inayat smiled and waved back.

"No Veer. No Naira. Arjun is so dull. Inayat hardly speaks. Our house is so silent, Rishab. I don't like this at all." Madhu said with a dramatic sigh. "We should have had one more baby to keep us busy and also entertain us, Rishab." she said glancing at him.

He gave her a look of horror and shook his head. "I could have kept you busy and entertained in bed but I couldn't, why, because you had to run behind our three monkeys all the time and now you say we could have had one more monkey! Why? To add more problems to our head than we already have?"

"What problems do we have, Rishab? Our kids have problems and they are handling them so well on their own…"

"And you don't worry for them at all?" He questioned cocking his brow.

"Um... That... I worry because I care for them"

"Ahaan! Then more babies mean more worries for you. So it's a good think we settled for 3 children which I never imagined of having"

Madhu laughed. "You never thought you would compete with your friend Mukkund, right?"

"Right and I am a clear winner because I have a baby girl which he doesn't" Rishab grinned proudly.

"Now you got two more daughters" Madhu showed a V with her fingers in front of his face.

"True" Rishab smiled looking at Inayat who was nodding her head at something Radha was telling.

"What's his problem? For how long he is gonna sing that 'Oh my sunshine' song?" Madhu asked her husband as she got irritated hearing the same sad song in repeat mode.

He shrugged.

"His girlfriend... will she be coming back to India or planning to settle there in the US?" Madhu asked with a frown.

"She has college, starting next month so, obviously, she will be here before that."

"Then why this boy is creating a big scene out of it as if she broke up with him?" Madhu asked as she picked up a smile faced stress ball from the floor and threw it accurately on Arjun's face from the balcony.

"Ahhh" Arjun winced in pain as he cupped his cheek.

Madhu grinned victoriously on stopping her son’s sad crooning and moaning. Rishab chuckled and shook his head at his wife. She is still a kid. He thought.

"Your throwing skill still amazes me, Madhu"

"Dad" Arjun shouted looking up at the balcony thinking it was his dad who threw the ball.

"Why does he always come to me for a fight?"

Madhu softly giggled covering her mouth with her palm.

"Why did you hit me with that ball?" He shouted as he stood up from the floor, holding his guitar in his hand.

"I didn't. Your mom did"

"No, she won't hit me" Arjun refused to believe his dad. Madhu took advantage of his trust and acted innocently.

"Right, why would I hit my baby?" She asked her husband hiding her smile.

"Liar" he growled at his wife before looking down. "Inayat, you saw, right?" He asked as he noticed Inayat watching them when his wife threw the ball. Inayat nodded her head. "Well, then tell him who hit him with the ball" he commanded. He knew she wouldn't lie.

"Sorry ammi" Inayat said with a smile and then looking at Arjun she said "Uncle is right. Your mom only hit you with the ball"

"Why?" Arjun asked in shock.

"I don't know. Ask ammi." Inayat said softly.

"To shut your mouth" Radha commented and giggled like a school girl.

"Dadi!" Arjun marched angrily towards Radha and Inayat and sat in between them on the swing. "If you keep eating ladoos, your blood sugar level will shoot rocket high and you will meet grandpa in heaven sooner than destined" he scolded.

"These are sugar free ladoos, doctor" Radha said with a grin.

"Sugar free sweets taste like shit, dadi"

"You didn't tell me you have tasted shit, you yucky boy?" Radha swatted him away as she made a disgusted face. Inayat softly giggled. Arjun scowled.

"You didn't tell me you play guitar" Inayat asked, of course not in an accusing tone but just in her usual sweet tone.

"Sorry, I forgot. I learned to please Kathryn" Arjun said sheepishly.

"He even tattooed his skin for her" Radha muttered disapprovingly.

"Really?" Inayat asked horrified.

Arjun pulled his T-shirt sleeve to reveal his forearm and showed a tattoo of what seemed like a pussy cat.

"Is that a cat?"

"Yep! My wild-K.A.T." he winked. "I couldn't tattoo her name 'KAT-hy' because I worried my mom would find it out"

"Ammi doesn't like tattoos?"

"No. She likes tattoo and she herself has one, a beautiful mermaid tattoo. So she wouldn't mind me inking my skin but she would mind me having a girlfriend at 18. I got this tattoo for my girl like some two years back."

"Oh. Well, I vehemently hate tattoos"

"You have such a flawless skin, Apple, so I am glad you didn't do anything crazy like this boy and his mother" Radha appreciated Inayat. She blushed shyly.

"Dadi and dad hate tattoos" Arjun said in a secret-tone.

"Veer and Naira like tattoos?" Inayat questioned as she wondered whether Veer had any tattoos in his body.

"I haven't noticed any." She thought with a frown.

"How you would have noticed that when you haven't seen him naked at all?" Her mind voice mocked her.

"Wrong place and wrong size of Tattoos on your body may get you barred from entry into Indian Army so Veer bro never took the risk of getting his skin inked though I think he likes tattoos. Even Naira di but she is scared of needles."

"Oh"

Arjun kept checking his phone hoping to receive at least a text message from Kathryn. She didn't care to inform him about her safe arrival at NYC but informed his dad and it pissed him off to know information like this, about his girlfriend, from his dad.

"What's wrong with her? Why can't she just talk with me like an adult?"

"Why don't you try talking with her?" Radha suggested.

Arjun turned his head and looked at his grandma puzzled. "How the hell you heard my mind voice, dadi?"

Radha burst out laughing. Inayat pressed her lips tightly to prevent her laugh.

"What?" He asked irately.

"You thought it was your mind voice but it wasn’t. You talked out loud, idiot"

"Oh. I didn't realize. Well, you suggest me that I should try talking to her?"

"Yes. Call her. She might be missing you already"

"You think?" He asked wistfully.

"I wish so because I don't want to see my grandson moody"

"Oh dadi. I love you" Arjun wrapped his arm around his grandma's shoulder and pecked her cheek.

"Now, c'mon, make her a video call. I would love to see her, why, even talk to her. I will straightaway ask what her problem is. Why's she ignoring my grandson?"

"Great dadi. Wait, I will call her and you do all the talking." Arjun quickly made a video call.

Once Kathryn answered the call and her face appeared on the screen, Arjun forgot everything, forgot everyone around him. He kept staring intensely at Kathryn and she matched his intense gaze.

Radha gently poked Arjun's arm silently asking him to open his mouth and pour out his words.

"Arjun" Kathy managed to break the spell and let out his name. Her voice was barely audible in the loud background noises.

She must be in a bar. He thought noticing a wine glass in her hand.

"Kathy" he said in a raspy voice. "I...I miss you, baby"

Kathryn's vision got blurred as tears brimmed her eyes and her emotions choked her up making it hard for her to say ‘I miss you too more you would ever know’

Kathryn tried to reach for him, tried to feel his beautiful face with her fingers but all she could touch was the phone screen.

"Aww" Radha awed seeing the young kids’ love.

"Kate! Ignore that piece of shit and come and dance with me" Alex, her so called friend wrapped his arm around Kathryn's shoulders possessively from behind and kissed her neck as he glanced at the phone screen.

"What the fuck?" Arjun roared as he stood up from the swing and stared his phone in dread. "She bloody cut my call. Why? She didn't want me seeing that asshole Alex kiss her? And how fucking dare he call me a piece of shit? And dare ask her to ignore me?"

"Arjun, calm down, please" Inayat said. "I think he meant the phone. He asked her to ignore the phone, not you."

Arjun and Radha gaped at Inayat in disbelief for few good seconds.

"How could she be so naive and innocent, dadi?" Arjun asked with a frown as it was beyond his understanding capacity.

"Oh my sweet Apple, that macho American boy meant him only as shit." Radha said pointing her finger at Arjun. He nodded his head in agreement.

"He even deliberately kissed her. He wanted to make me jealous and guess what? He succeeded" He said to Inayat hoping she would get the actual picture.

"Arjun, that American-drop-dead-male-model is a real threat here" Radha said shaking her head as she didn't like that boy's entry in her grandson's love story at all. "He wants what's yours so you better be careful." She gave him a clear warning. Arjun nodded. He knew his dadi was right because he always saw Alex as a threat.

"But Kathryn loves Arjun, dadi, so he doesn't have any reason to worry or feel insecure" she said to Radha and looking up at Arjun she added "You just trust her, please, Arjun."

"Yeah, yeah, she loves me but she lets him kiss her. Brilliant, nah?" He clapped his hands as he twisted his face in disgust. "I think she cut my call because she wanted to enjoy her dance with him"

"Why you always think all negative, Arjun? Why can't you think like she cut the call because she didn't want you to see him kissing her? Like she didn't want to hurt you?"

Arjun frowned as he thought whether that could be the other possibility.

"From what I saw she was lost in you and she wasn't expecting her friend to come and hug her from behind or kiss her. She was completely taken by surprise and her first reaction was to block you away because she didn't want you to see that. I think she cares for your feelings, Arjun." Inayat patiently explained. Radha silently adored Inayat's maturity with a smile.

"You think?" He asked as he knelt down on the floor in front of his bhabhi and took both her hands in his which were placed on her lap. She nervously glanced down at their hands but didn’t withdraw from his hold. She could tolerate his touch as she got quite familiar with it.

"What you think, Arjun?" She asked emphasizing each word as if she was talking to a child.

"I think she likes him and they look good together, don’t they?" Arjun asked with his eyes full of fear and sadness.

Radha snorted. "No, they don’t look good together. Well, maybe, they do as brother and sister… but as partners, only you both look perfect.”

“You’re not saying this because I am your grandson?” Arjun asked with narrowed doubtful eyes.

Radha rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why this boy as such low self-esteem?”

“He has trust issues too” Inayat pointed out. Radha agreed.

“Even you have trust issues… You don’t trust men” Arjun said in an accusatory tone as he let her hand go.

“Arjun!” Radha admonished him for taking a rude tone on his bhabhi.

Inayat gaped at him for a moment, stunned. “I am scared of men so I couldn’t trust them easily, I agree…” she said in a shaky voice “…but then I do trust the man I love. I trust my Veer but you don’t trust the girl you love. You know what your problem is? You fail to see the spark of love in Kathryn’s eyes for you”

“Spark of love?” he laughed. “You know what your problem is, bhabhi? You read too much of romantic craps and imagine things.”

“If you are going to tease me then I am not going to talk to you. I’m going to my room” she stood up from the swing and took a step but Arjun held her hand and stopped her hand.

“I didn’t know my bhabhi can even get angry” he teased as he grinned widely.

“Let me go, Arjun” she said keeping a straight face. He shook his head as he smirked.

“Alright” she sighed and picked up something from the swing seat and tossed it into the pool. “Now, go get your phone”

“You threw my phone?” Arjun’s eyes went wide as he leapt up on his feet and dived into the pool. Few seconds later he resurfaced and glared at his bhabhi. Inayat couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“You threw this damn plate?” he showed the plate he found under the water.

Radha held his phone and dangled it in the air, laughing. Inayat had winked at her when she took her plate in which she had her ladoos.

"Shall I throw your phone? Will you catch it?"

"No, dadi, no!" He shrieked. "Neither you have accurate throwing skill like mom nor I have efficient catching skill like dad so you better keep my phone safely with you. I will come and collect." He said to her and then awerted his gaze towards Inayat. "Help me!" He growled at her. She shook her head in no.

"Please?" He asked giving her his puppy eyed look as he held his hand up for her.

Still she refused to Take his hand and help him out. "I may be naive and innocent but definitely I am not stupid to give my hand to you. I still remember how you pulled me into the pool the other day, you wicked boy"

"I can still come out and grab you and throw you into the pool"

"Try catching me" Inayat stuck her tongue out in a teasing way and ran into the house and to her room, her sanctum, before he could come out of the pool and catch her.

"I like her playful side, dadi" Arjun said with a smile as he folded his arms on the edge and rested his chin over his arm. 

"Yes. She is happy here. Veer would be delighted to see the change in his wife." Radha said with smile. She wanted nothing but her kids and grandkids' happiness.

... To be continued

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