"Are you sure all this isn't too much?" Abeer asked me for the umpteenth time, balancing the many shopping bags in his hands.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You were the one who wanted to go shopping for this, I don't even like shopping," I said grumbling, thrusting more bags in his hands.

"How do you not like shopping?" He asked bewildered, not able to grasp the fact that some women didn't relish a shopping spree. "My sisters always used to go shopping, draining my father's credit cards. And since I was the only male around - no Aashi, they never asked my father to accompany them - I was forced to be their driver and bag-carrier," he said, shaking his head ruefully.

"You're no better now," I murmured lowly, hiding a smirk.

"I heard that," Abeer said irritated. I simply rolled my eyes at him.

"Don't worry, Abeer, it's all good. If it is overboard, well, you can't do anything about that now, can you?" I grinned up at him, making him groan. "We have no babies around to dress them in baby clothes, right?

It was Saturday morning, and we were off to the mall to shop for our fellow colleague Nita who was going to have a baby soon. When we used to work together in the office, everyone had become quite a unit. Even now, they kept in touch with Abeer, and when he got to know about Nita soon becoming a mother, he couldn't resist going to buy gifts for the newborn baby due anytime. His kindness was a virtue I valued the most, amongst his other fantastic traits.

"Well," Abeer said, flinging an arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer to his side, " I don't mind having babies around, they're a delight. Insufferable, but a delight," he said, gazing down at me with his warm, chocolatey eyes.

I frowned. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked, confused.

He looked as if he was ready to hit a wall. "I was talking about our babies, Aashi," he sounded exasperated. My cheeks turned pink and I glared at him.

"Try and marry me first, you fool. Think about babies later."

His grip on my shoulders tightened. "But I do think about our babies," he said, leaning down to whisper against my ear. "Especially the act leading to them," he murmured seductively, making my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"Abeer!" I shoved him away with my elbow, making him laugh.

"No, but seriously, I would like to have a girl," he said lightly, catching up with me. I pulled his hand over to my shoulders and we walked like that.

"Just a girl?" I asked.

"Well, since you would be doing the work of pushing a baby out of body," (he shuddered at this point), "I thought to keep my requests bare minimum," he said dryly.

"I would like a boy and a girl," I said happily, ignoring his statement.

He raised his brows. "Boys are work. Girls are marvellous."

"Hey! Both are awesome!" I said, glaring at him.

"Anyways, I hope they don't get your vocal chords," he said swinging the shopping bags.

"Why? My vocal chords are fine!" I screamed before realizing that I had screamed.

"No, we don't want permanent damage to our eardrums with too many screaming voices in the house, do we?" He quipped and conveniently dodged my kick.

"We also don't want them getting your laugh, do we?" I said, satisfied at the scowl that now graced his handsome face. "Too much of that won't be good for the eardrums," I repeated his statement, basking in his ire a tad bit more. He grumbled under his breath but did not contradict my statement. All was going good when my phone pinged with a message from my dad.

"Lunch, now?" Abeer asked happily, looking around the mall, whistling. I closed my eyes, not wishing to divulge the next bit of news.

"Umm... not really. I have to get back now. My parents have planned to go to Akshardham today," I said apologetically.

"Oh," he said, his eyes dim from their earlier light. "With whom?"

Panic rose up my throat. "What do you mean?" I chuckled nervously.

"You said your parents had planned today's excursion, right. I was asking with whom have your parents planned the trip with?"

"Oh," I said, relief and guilt washing over me simultaneously. "There's a friend of my father's, from his college. Their family and ours are going for the trip," I said, sticking to the truth as much as I could.

"Okay, have fun. I'll take these bags home with me?"

"No," I said quickly, snatching the bags from him. "I don't trust these bags in your apartment. I'll take them."

He raised his hands in mock surrender and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'll see you then?" I said, getting ready to leave.

"When?" he asked, crossing his arms.

I fumbled with my words for a minute before I gave him a helpless look. He sighed and shook his head. "Bye," he almost grumbled, and we both went to the auto stand to get our respective rides.

------------

I sighed as we settled down in the minivan the parents had arranged for. It seriously wasn't needed, given that we were just six people sitting in a vehicle certainly meant for more people. The mothers had planned on playing antakshari, and were coaxing the four non-excited ones to play along. I had sighed and given in, cause really, it was impossible to wheedle out of something my mother had set her mind on. The rest also gave in pretty early, unable to put up a fight against the two determined women.

We were pretty awful singers, all except Dhruv. He had a melodious voice quite befitting a singer. I tried not to look impressed or praise him more than necessary. I had made up my mind regarding two things. One, that it was imperative to draw some distance between Dhruv and me, so that he wouldn't draw any ideas regarding my feelings towards him. And two, that I won't tell Abeer about Dhruv and my parents' matchmaking schemes until I had sorted the mess out myself. It was the only way now. It was already too late; I was way deep in keeping this piece of information from him. Telling him now would simply make him worry and feel insecure.

I looked out of the window, trying to digest everything that had happened in the last couple of days. It had all happened too fast. My parents had kept their departure on hold indefinitely. The topic of them leaving never made it to the dining table. The truth was, I liked having my parents with me. The apartment felt livelier, and homelier now that my parents lived there. The only thing I didn't like were the secrets I was holding from them. And the need to keep these things from them. It was infuriating, and utterly inconvenient. I couldn't go out with Abeer without getting paranoid about the time, or their calls. I shook my head and willed to concentrate on the game. It wasn't that horrible. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. My parents looked happy. Dhruv's parents looked happy. It was a beautiful sight. I played with vigor from hereon, humoring them.

We reached the restaurant we had booked for lunch. It was then that I was horribly reminded of the outfits that all of us were wearing. Or were forced to wear. Identical t-shirts. The person who had planted this idea in the mothers' heads was due for a strangulation.

They had gone shopping the other day and brought home these pieces of disasters which all of us were forced to wear. They had a quote on them saying 'Family Is Heaven'; it was, wasn't it? But we didn't have to advertise that, not six grown adults all together at least.

My father had grumbled and thrown tantrums around like a five year old, also picking up a fight with mom which he knew he wouldn't win, all to get rid of these ridiculous shirts.

We looked like children on their annual day. When we settled down in our reserved table for the lunch, it was all I could do to disappear from there. Everyone was staring and passing curious glances at us. One particularly brave 7 year old had the audacity to laugh even as I was glaring at her.

The kids these days!

The fathers looked highly awkward, picking up mundane conversation here and there and fidgeting in their seats to hide their embarrassment, but the mothers seemed to be lost in their own sweet bubble.

It didn't end there, they had even bought what they called fancy picnic hats. Thankfully we weren't subjected to those. Now, I didn't have anything against any colour, but the shades of orange and pink they had chosen were hideous, paired with the humongous flower that sat on one side of it, giving it a creepy look.

We hurried through our lunch, eager to get over with it and be back in the sanctuary of our minivan. But our efforts weren't as fruitful considering we only left the restaurant after an hour. I was sure the fathers and Dhruv had given up on embarrassment, simply going with the flow. I took their silent advice and followed with the same nonchalance they exuded.

But if you were under the illusion that our fathers were doing any better then that would be a gross misconception. My father seemed to have found his Whatsapp forward soulmate. Both of them were unleashing their stock of dad jokes which had been forwarded in all the Indian WhatsApp groups this universe holds. They were reciting jokes out loud and laughing with the pride of an six year old who had secured the main role in the school play. I had rolled my eyes so many times that afternoon that I was shocked my eyes weren't stuck to the back.

My hands itched to take out my earphones and play the meditation music Taira had sent me a million times over but I hadn't paid them attention, until now. Because my soul and mind needed a parental detox. But looking at their laughing, bright faces made my heart warm. They hadn't looked so happy or careless in a while.

They both had found two good friends; it's hard for old people to make friends, and they had hit their jackpot. My mind conjured up thoughts about what would happen when I refuse to marry Dhruv. But I pushed that to the back of my mind. This wasn't the time to worry about that. I stole a look at Dhruv to see him humoring the parents while keeping his distance. He would make a great husband to some girl, just not me. I sighed and let the thought linger for a while.

--------------------