The next morning, Aadya cooked breakfast and tea for the family. Her in-laws were to depart to her brother-in-law's place for a few days, so she had to wake up a little earlier than usual to get things ready.
Her bhabhi loved ladoos made by her. She had made all the preparations already. So, this morning she packed them in a box and hesitantly walked towards her mother-in-law.
"Um, bhabhi loves these. If you could..."
"There is no space in the bags" Her mother-in-law dismissed.
"What happened?" Tanay stopped right behind Aadya.
"Nothin'-"
"What's this?" He cut Aadya off. "Ladoos?"
"Haan, bhabhi loves them, so I thought..."
"If there's no space in your bag, mom, put it in dad's bag. Aadya's put so much work and effort into making this, no?"
Not saying another word, his mom took the box from Aadya's hand.
Both her in-laws then walked over to the dining table.
Tanay turned to Aadya. "Are there any left for me?"
"What?" She questioned in confusion.
"Ladoo, Aadya."
"Oh, yeah. I have made enough for everyone; don't worry." She smiled reassuringly.
It was Saturday, Tanay was home today. No work, no headaches.
After breakfast, Tanay helped load the luggage into the cab and bid his parents goodbye while Aadya stood there, beside him, trying to make small talk with her mother-in-law but failing every time.
Once the cab disappeared from their sight, Tanay sighed and unconsciously placed his hand on Aadya's lower back, leading her back into the house.
"Come on."
They locked the door and suddenly, the house felt a bit too big.
It was the first time Aadya and Tanay had had alone time in a whole year.
"I'll go shower, pick a movie." Tanay said, heading upstairs.
"Any movie?"
"Yeah."
Aadya picked up the remote and settled on the sofa. She scrolled through movie suggestions and settled on 'Dil Dhadakne Do' for the time being. She decided she would change it if Tanay wants. Doesn't really matter because she had seen it a few times already.
Thirty minutes later, Tanay came back in a track pant and a white, a little loose, t-shirt.
She suddenly felt jealous of his outfit. The blouse was itching her.
"You can go change into anything comfortable you want." Tanay said. He was well aware of his parents' stone-age thoughts.
"Really?" She asked to confirm. He nodded. "Can I grab one of your t-shirts? I don't have any."
"Sure."
Aadya opened her suitcase from under the bed and shuffled through the sarees and blouses until she saw her sweatpants.
She wasn't supposed to bring them here but she had, just in case she is left alone at home and wants to be comfortable.
Which never happened until now.
She put the pants on, grabbed a random t-shirt from Tanay's side of the cupboard, and tied her hair up in a bun before coming down.
Tanay almost immediately noticed the change in her mood. She seemed a little happy and relaxed.
"I'm ordering pizza." He announced.
It was a movie marathon. They played movie after movie, and munched on pizza and anything they could find in the kitchen.
In the middle of their third movie, Tanay's phone rang. Aadya paused the movie.
"Hello?... Yeah. Oh? Congratulations! It's tomorrow? Yeah, yeah, okay. We will be there."
After he hung up on the person, he turned to Aadya, who was already looking at him.
"One of my colleagues got engaged. He's throwing everyone a party tomorrow evening. We can make it, right?" Tanay asked.
"Yeah, sure." Aadya nodded with a smile. "I've never met your colleagues before."
"They are good people. My boss will also be there, probably. She's a humble person." He said, smiling a little. Aadya smiled too.
She used to think Tanay was just like his parents, conservative. But Tanay has been proving her wrong every day.
She looked at the clock and stretched her legs and arms.
"What do you want for dinner?"
"I'm full. I don't wanna eat." Tanay groaned. "You?"
Aadya bit her lips. "Ice cream."
"For dinner?"
"Yes."
"We have very different definitions of dinner and they are miles apart." Tanay narrowed his eyes on her, playfully. She giggled and placed her hand on his knee.
"Please?"
Tanay was lying on the couch while she sat on the floor, saying she was comfortable this way.
Tanay breathed out and chuckled. "What flavor?"
"Chocolate."
"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes." Tanay stood up.
"I'll come along?" She asked.
Tanay smiled. "Okay. Come on."
They locked the house and left. The store was just around the corner. The sun had just set, leaving the sky purple-ish.
While they were walking, Tanay casually held her hand. A moment later, he felt her intertwining their fingers. He smiled, squeezing her hand.
"Okay, by the way," Tanay turned to her, acting completely casual, "if you want to go shopping tomorrow, let me know."
"Oh, yeah. I have no makeup products but..." She looked at him unsurely. "Are we okay on budget? Month-end is going on."
"Don't worry about it." He smiled, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Okay."
She still wasn't sure.
But her worries temporarily melted away when she saw ice cream.
She also got a couple more snacks and Maggie.
"Anything forgotten?" Tanay asked as he pulled his wallet out to pay.
"Umm, no. I got everything." She nodded.
They paid and left the store, walking back home.
Until almost 2 in the morning, both of them were binge-watching and eating.
When Tanay saw her yawn, he said, "Let's go to sleep."
"Five more minutes."
Not even two minutes into that five minutes, Tanay felt her head drop on his leg.
She was out cold.
"Aadya," he softly called and she jerked awake. "Let's go to sleep; I'm feeling drowsy."
"Okay." She yawned again. "I'll clean this up."
"Mm. I'll help you."
They cleaned up and went upstairs to their room. She passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. She wasn't used to staying up late, after all.
Tanay pulled the comforter on her and lied down beside her, facing her. He didn't know why, but he couldn't sleep.
A while later, Aadya pulled the comforter close to her and shifted towards him, still in her sleep. Her hand was out of the comforter and between them.
Tanay softly grabbed her hand and smiled at how small it was compared to his. And oh so delicate.
Aadya was beautiful.
Suddenly, his mind flashed him a picture of her crying that night when they lost their baby.
He inhaled sharply and kissed her knuckles.
That will be the last time she would be crying. He promised himself.