The next morning, Armaan, with his eyes closed, extended his hands and groped on the bed, trying to find the love of his life.
He frowned when his hands encountered the cold side of the bed.
He opened his eyes and then with disappointment, realised that Janani had gone to her mother’s place.
“Damn!” Armaan muttered under his breath and went to freshen up.
As soon as he got out after his morning business, he took his phone and dialled Janani’s number.
“Hey… Good morning Maan” Janani greeted him as soon as she picked up the call.
“I miss you terribly. Remind me to always say No when you tell me you wanna go to your mother’s house.” Armaan said grumpily, making Janani chuckle.
“Don’t be so grumpy, Armaan.” Janani teased and Armaan huffed in annoyance.
“I don’t know how I am going to start my day without your kiss and coffee.” Armaan muttered again.
“Ah. Kiss. That I can give now. Muaahh.” Janani made the kissing sound through the phone making Armaan chuckle.
“And coffee is also handled. I had taught Aaru how to make coffee to your liking.” Janani said in an easy tone, making Armaan frown.
“You didn’t have to involve her,” Armaan said gravely.
“Do you know your son has grown up a lot?” Janani said, changing the subject.
“What did he do?” Armaan asked curiously.
“There is a small stationary shop near our house. Papa took the kids with him there yesterday evening when he went to get some groceries. And he bought chocolates for them too..” Janani started narrating the incident.
“And?” Armaan asked.
“And this morning, when my attention got caught by something in the fraction of a second, he walked out of the house towards the shop alone. And he got the chocolate from there and came back as if he is quite used to going to shops and getting chocolates. Thank god the uncle from the shop sent his son behind Advi to make sure he reaches home safely.” Janani said and Armaan chuckled.
“He is getting naughtier by the day. Soon, he is gonna get uncontrollable.” Armaan said.
“True…”
‘Janani…’ Armaan heard his mother in law calling out to Janani from the other side of the phone.
“Okay Armaan, Maa is calling me. God knows what ruckus your son has created there. Lemme go and check.” Janani said and hurriedly disconnected the call making Armaan chuckle.
He missed this morning's craziness.. So much..
He went out of the room and as he reached near the kitchen, he saw Aadesh also coming towards them.
“Bhabhi called?” Aadesh asked.
“Yeah. Just now..” Armaan narrated Advi’s incident, making Aadesh also chuckle.
“I miss them all,” Aadesh said sadly.
“Ahh…” The painful scream from the kitchen made them rush into the kitchen.
There they saw the coffee pan on the floor with coffee spilled all over and Aaru clutching her hand and blowing on it.
“Aaru.. What happened?” Armaan asked and they both hurried towards her.
They saw the burn on her palm and immediately pulled her towards the sink. Armaan opened the tap and made the cool water run over her burned palm. Aadesh quickly took some ice cubes from the freezer and gently rubbed it over the burn.
Aaru momentarily forgot her pain seeing the care her brothers had for her. She didn’t mind getting injured if this is how they will treat her.
Tears started running down her cheeks.
“Is it burning so much?’” Armaan asked, seeing the tears. She shook her head.
“I will get the ointment for the burn.” Aadesh said and hurried towards the first aid kit.
Aadesh hurried back with the ointment and gently applied it over the burn and Armaan kept blowing over it so that she would feel better.
Aaru felt her heart filling up with emotion. This was what she had dreamed of all her life. Right from childhood, she had grown up hearing that she has two elder brothers and in her head, she had created a fantasy of having those two over protective and loving brothers right by her side. She had seen her mother yearning for her sons and she had yearned for the same.
“I am okay..” Aaru said softly and Armaan glared at her.
“What the hell were you doing?” Armaan asked angrily, once the panic died down.
“I kept the milk boiling. That’s when my friend messaged. I was chatting with her and didn’t notice the milk going to overflow. When I noticed, I tried to take the pan off the stove. It was too hot and I couldn’t hold it. It got spilled and fell on me too.” Aaru admitted regretfully.
“Are you mad? How could you hold a hot pan with your bare hands?” Aadesh asked angrily and Aaru’s lips jutted out and her eyes filled up hearing both her brothers blasting her for her stupidity.
“I am sorry..” It was a wail that came out of her lips after that. Armaan and Aadesh was perplexed seeing the eighteen year old crying like a three year old.
“I just wanted to make coffee for you two because bhabhi wasn’t here. This is my first time making coffee” Aaru cried once again.
“Okay okay.. Stop crying..” Armaan said and wrapped his arms around her shoulder and took her to the living room.
“Aadesh, order breakfast” Armaan called out and Addy did as asked.
Armaan made Aaru sit on the couch and sat opposite her.
“Aaru, you don’t have to do anything in the kitchen. We have staff here. We don’t usually ask them to cook, that’s why they don’t enter the kitchen, but if asked, they will prepare the meals. Janani cooks here because she loves cooking and she doesn’t like anybody else cooking for us. That’s it..” Armaan said and Aaru nodded her head, sad at her attempt at impressing her brothers with her awesome coffee being such a huge failure.
“Are you going to college today?” Aadesh asked.
“Noo.. How can I go with my burned hand?” Aaru asked and her brothers rolled her eyes seeing the small reddening of her skin. It wasn’t such a big burn. They just panicked out of shock. It was a small one only and taking that as an excuse, Aaru was planning to take leave.
Before they could respond, Aaru phone rang. All three of the looked at the phone screen. Aaru face brightened seeing the name and picture on the screen, while the brothers face darkened.
It was the picture of Aaru hugging an older woman.
And it was written on the screen..
Momma calling!!!