I know there are many who like to skip the drama and just get on with it. But honestly, what’s life without a big dollop of drama thrown in to add that little hint of zest. So I thoroughly enjoyed the chaos that followed. Parents frantically trying to reason with Sona. Samrat’s folks coming down having a serious chat with my folks while Sona and Samrat sat near the sidelines watching the whole show, glee written all over their faces. Truth be told, they were least bothered with what conclusion the parents would arrive at. In that moment, I think they were so involved with each other that they didn’t even care.
I played my part, the chirpy kid who everybody thinks is too young to understand what’s going on. So I also managed to get a chunk of the gossip before Sona and Samrat. The parents were mighty concerned that this was a phase and they wanted to take things slow.
“They’re so young!” Samrat’s dad had said, echoing my dad’s thoughts. The mothers had nodded in agreement. Of course, there were other serious discussions about the hows, whats and whens but I didn’t need the details. The summary was that there was going to be a long wait before anything happened. At least I would have time to get used to this new person who was hanging around in my room as if it was his.
I eyed him suspiciously as he rummaged through my books.
“Ummm, I would rather you didn’t.” I said primly.
Samrat turned a little, “Sona mentioned you were possessive about them.”
“She did?” I asked, despite myself. Sona spoke about me? Suddenly I wanted to know more. What did Sona really think about me?
Samrat smiled at me, “Oh yeah, she talks about you all the time.”
“She does??” I was stunned. I mean, I know I used to talk about Sona all the time. But that was only because I thought(despite repeated attempted not to) that she was incredible. I wanted to be more like her. Hearing that Sona spoke a lot about me implied that either I annoyed her to no end or that the feeling was reciprocated. And I was really hoping it was the latter.
“Why are you so surprised?” He asked, placing the book he held in his hands, back into the shelf.
“Something I never knew.” I said honestly, “She’s pretty great isn’t she?” I asked Samrat, smiling to myself having recently discovered that my sister didn’t hate me.
“Yes she is.” He said smiling at me. In that split second, I knew I had found someone who shared some of the awe that I felt for Sona.
“What’s going on here?” Sona entered the room, probably realizing that we were talking about something serious.
“Nothing!” I said immediately. Samrat winked at me and repeated after me, “Nothing.”
“That was definitely not nothing!!!” Sona protested. She snapped her fingers at me, “I’ll deal with you later. Samrat, we need you in there.” She pointed at the room where all the “adults” were sitting.
“Okay, let’s go. I’m ready.” He ruffled my hair as he walked past. “Good talking to you kiddo.”
I smiled back at him and then again as he casually took Sona’s hand into hers and guided her into the living room.
I wish I could look into the future and see how it all turned out. But life’s like that right? You take what you get, one day at a time and see how things go. The door shut behind Sona and Samrat and I was left to speculate about the discussions.
Even as all the grownups sat around trying to make sense of what was happening with their kids, I mentally prepared myself to add one more to my family. You know, moved the cousins around a bit, erased some bad feelings and voila I had some space for Samrat. I had a feeling he was going to be around and it didn’t hurt to be prepared. Breaking someone new into the family is an uphill task and I felt bad for the poor boy that he had to deal with my family!
So that was all the jargon up till now, the door has been locked for eternity! I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why I started off a whole rant about my family encompassing firmly around my sister. Maybe the people who matter the most are the ones you take for granted. I think we’re all a little guilty of that. I sat around for a long time wondering how this change would impact “the family” and heck! It wasn’t even me getting hitched! I mean, we were as close knit as possibly could be without being creepy. No wonder Sona had decided to come clean. It was important that we all got along.
As the door opened a little and everybody started stepping out, I found myself praying a little. A little that everything turned out well. A little that we could be one happy team, My family and I and hopefully +1
