"Late ho gaya bacche?", his mother questioned lovingly, locking the door behind him as he sat down on the sofa removing his shoes and socks.
"Haan maa, woh aaj Kushal aaya tha set pe, phir nikalte, nikalte late ho gaya. Aapne khana khaya na?" he checked, knowing that his mother would wait up for him, unless Sana had blackmailed her to eat.
"Nahi, saath me khayenge na. Sana ne bola woh kha ke aayi hai aaj, toh maine wait kar lia tera", she said, starting to heat up the dinner.
"Mom, kyun karte ho aap aisa?...aur ye kab aayi? Isko call kia tha maine 8ish pe, isne phone hi nahi uthaya", he complained.
"Woh thaki hui aayi thi Sid, aaj jaldi aa gayi 7:30 pe aur aatey hi so gayi...", his mother told him.
"7:30 aayi hai, toh khana kab khaya isne?...aap lagao, main fresh hoke aur change karke aaya bas...", he walked inside his room to find her lying on her side hugging the body pillow as if it were him. It was between his legs and she had wrapped her arms around it. Her hair fell loose above her head and she was deep asleep. He chuckled, switching on the dimmest light of the room, lest she would wake up and within seconds felt cold. The AC was at 18 and she was sleeping in a tank top and cotton shorts. He sighed and picked up a duvet and covered her legs and went to the washroom to freshen up.
He quickly washed his face, changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and his sleep t-shirt and came out to find that his wife had already kicked the duvet away from her body. He rolled his eyes and searched for the remote to turn up the temperature a bit and the noise of the remote disturbed her.
"Kya kar raha hai...", she whined.
"Hello to you too", he chuckled "baby, Kashmir bana rakha hai room tune...ya toh odh le thoda, ya main temperature badha deta hun...beemar pad jayegi aise...sardi lagegi phir", he explained.
"Sidharth...mujhe bohot thakaan ho rahi hai, please irritate mat kar abhi...Remote idhar de de...", she mumbled.
"Khana khaya tune?...", Sidharth asked her, giving her the remote.
"Haan...tu jaa...sone de mujhe...", she growled and decreased the temperature with closed eyes and kept the remote under her pillow.
"Bas beemar mat padna...", He complained and left the room for dinner.
"Kya ho gaya? Tabiyat theek nahi hai Sana ki?", his mother was alarmed hearing the words he muttered exiting his room.
"Nahi, nahi Mom. Woh 18 pe AC chala ke, shorts pehenke baithi hai khana khaya, nahi khaya kuch pata nahi...sunti bhi nahi hai...", He reported in irritation, serving chapatis to his mother while she poured dal into his bowl.
"Arre, Shehnaaz ko hormones ki wajah se garmi lag rahi hogi....ho jata hai aise me, koi baat nahi...thodi der me khud ac kam kar degi, don't worry...", She explained with an understanding smile.
"Andar north India ke winters chal rahe hain...aur bahar Mumbai ki chip-chip wali garmi....aapka din kaisa tha aaj ka?" he asked his mother, like every other day.
"Normal beta, subah tum dono nikle, phir main Neetu ke ghar gayi thodi der. Thodi der kuch centre ka kaam tha, phir Sana ne phone kar fia ki woh jaldi aayegi gayi shaam ko, toh main bhi aa gayi...bas", she explained while the two of them had dinner.
"Kushal pooch raha tha aaj, aapke haath ki lauki ki kheer ki baat kar raha tha...", Sidharth chuckled. The last time Kushal was here, his mother fed him lauki ki kheer and he couldn't guess what the dessert was made of. He hated lauki but got one helping packed for himself to have the next day.
