Project Heart(h) ✓

Epilogue

It was working fine – considering he was still on the call – but his father's device kept acting up and the man was unable to fix it no matter how many times Junak showed it to him. He sighed. "I have to go."

"Yes." The women beamed and waved at him. "Have fun. Love ya."

"You too, ladies. Bye."

The moment Junak cut the call, Satan jumped off the bed, pushed open the unlocked door and ran outside. Junak followed.

His three-bedroom apartment was bustling with people. His father sat at Junak's artist's corner – a desk and chair near the balcony – with his laptop on. His mother and Faiza were sitting on the couch in the living room, chatting and watching Moana on TV. Puhor was pacing the length of the kitchen, on a heated call with someone about delayed deliveries or something.

Junak walked up to his father who was scowling at the screen. "You're changing your internet provider, Junak. This is outrageous."

"My internet provider is fine, Papa. Here, lemme look at it."

"He's probably turned airplane mode on again," his mother added unhelpfully. "He keeps doing that."

Her husband made a face. "It was one time. And may I remind the kids what happened the first time you got that Facebook account activated?"

"Niyor, don't you dare!"

Junak chuckled at their bickering as he worked through the settings to reboot the device. It connected seamlessly the next time. "There you go."

"If I lose orders, I will cut it out of your paychecks," Puhor was saying loudly, earning a groan from Faiza.

"It's your brother's birthday," she said. "Can you not make aggressive business calls today at least?"

Puhor smiled at her and blew her a kiss, all cute and innocent, then snapped at the person on the phone again.

Junak's cheeks were hurting from the strain of his smiles.

Satan barked and ran towards the door a moment before the doorbell rang. Junak's smile widened as he went to answer it, Satan running around and wagging his tail in excitement.

A familiar woman stood outside his door, with a baby tucked in her arms. "Happy birthday," Jiri said, while the baby raised her arms towards him. She was tiny and pink and the most adorable thing Junak had ever seen. "Say happy birthday to Junak mama," Jiri told her daughter who muttered something in gibberish.

Junak melted at the sight. "I love her already! Come in." He sidestepped to let his guests in. Anurag, Jiri's husband, walked in after her, shaking Junak's hand in greeting. Then came Dikhou's mother, smiling at him and cupping his face to wish him a happy birthday. Lohor, in his recently acquired teenage spirit, high-fived Junak on his way in before turning to play with Satan.

Dikhou entered last, closing the door after him like it was his own house.

Everyone pre-present immediately began gushing over the baby because of course, that was the charm of being a baby. Puhor got off the phone too, to gawk at the kid, while Junak's father chatted with Anurag. Dikhou's mother sat with Faiza and Junak's mother, comfortable and at ease. Lohor marched to the fridge to grab himself a bowl of ice cream, then groaned when Dikhou asked him to serve some to everyone.

How was your flight, how are you liking Delhi, let us show you around, etcetera filled the air alongside Satan's barks and the baby's random meaningless words. For a moment Junak just stood and watched all the people in his house smiling and chatting. All the rooms were brightly lit and he did not need any music playing in the background.