Raghav's Pov:

Mom was going to kill me. I was dreading the moment when she would come to know that I was leaving again. Last night, I think I ate much more of her scolding than dinner for coming back home after two months.

Descending down the stairs, I saw that everyone was already gathered at the dining table.

Greeting them, "Good morning", I took my seat near Trisha.

"I thought someone was married, then why is she always here? Seriously, I had so much hopes that she would leave us and irritate her husband instead. Alas! Not every dream comes true", I teased Trisha, muffling my laugh, looking at her frowning face.

"Who cares if I am married or not, this is my home. I will come here whenever I feel like it", she retorted while sticking her tongue out to me.

Looking at us, mom made a tutting sound, before turning towards dad, "Look at these idiots. All of them are grown ups, one is even married yet they fight like 5 year olds".

"Trisha came late into our lives. We never got a chance to tease our little sister when we were five, so we are doing it now", Rishi shrugged.

"Yeah, I can still remember the 15-year-old, Trisha who had a massive internal breakdown upon looking at the size of our house", Dad reminisced, while filling his plate.

Trisha's eyes widened at that. "You weren't supposed to notice that", she mumbled quietly but it was audible to me as I was sitting near her.

"Well, I had spent fifteen years in a mansion so coming to a house where all the rooms were visible in one glance was not something, I could digest", Trisha responded in a defensive tone, trying to hide her embarrassment.

She was right in a way. From the living room itself, we could see the kitchen in the left, Mom and Dad's room to the right and the staircase that led to our room.

"I too remember the funny moment when Trisha thought she had to share a room with Raghav and Rishi", Mom added.

"Really?! Rishi and I asked in astonishment as this was a news to us.

"It wasn't really my fault, okay?" Trisha spoke getting agitated.

"How was I supposed to know that another room was attached from inside?" She asked with a pout.

"You must have been scared". I ruffled her hairs a bit.

"Not my hair!! It will fall on the food", she shouted, shrugging away my hands.

We all chuckled seeing her getting so riled up.

"Yeah, the famous joint rooms for us. Raghav was so angry when he had to give up his room", Rishi chuckled.

"Which 16 year old would like to give up his room? That too for a cousin, we were meeting for the first time", I answered with a roll of my eyes.

"Can we please change the topic?" Trisha pleaded, making puppy eyes, knowing that if we kept talking, more embarrassing moments would come up.

"Well your wish has come true. Check the email", Rishi spoke as he read his own email.

A smirk crept on Trisha's lips as she read the mail and in that instant I knew what it was about.

"Raghav, you aren't checking?" Rishi asked with raised eyebrows.

"I already did, before coming downstairs", I answered in a low voice.

"Yet, you didn't bother informing everyone", Trisha spoke in a sing-song voice.

"I was going to, after we had finished breakfast", I answered with a glare so she would shut up.

"What's going on?" Mom questioned, looking at us suspiciously.

"Ragh...Raghav has to go to...go to another branch in two days for some work", Rishi replied, while choking in laughter.

The way Mom's eyes narrowed was enough for me to shit my pants. For few seconds, no one spoke anything. But I knew this was the calm before the storm. Forget scolding, Mom directly started hitting me with the kitchen cloth. Her hits didn't hurt, but her sad eyes did.

"Why do you even bother coming home? This is not a hotel where you come for some days and leave after your work is done", Mom said angrily.

"Mom, mom". I stood up and and clasped her shoulders.

"This is the last time, I promise. After this, I won't go away from you for a long time. Even if something comes up, I will send these idiots", I said pointing towards Rishi and Trisha while saying 'Idiots'.

I engulfed Mom in a tight hug and waited for her to calm down and hug me back.

"HEY!" Both Rishi and Trisha shouted at being called idiots but I ignored them as I waited for Mom to come around.

As soon as she sighed and wrapped her arms around me, Rishi shouted, "GROUP HUG", and jumped upon us. Dad and Trisha too joined us, squeezing everyone tightly.