At fifty, Meher Kapoor can still pass for any model or actress. Her features are soft and beautiful, and as I grow older, I begin to morph into her copy.
“You didn’t tell me you were planning on visiting,” I say as I pull her towards our couch, ignoring how Reyansh looks at us with a soft smile as he takes her luggage into the guest room.
“Oh, it was sudden,” she tells me, her eyes roaming over me as if checking if I am alright. While my mother has always been affectionate and doted over me, right now, the way she is looking at me is different. Something I can’t decipher.
“Sudden?” I quirk an eyebrow, curiosity taking over me.
“Yes,” she says. “Reyansh arranged everything. He is amazing.”
I roll my eyes internally. She idolizes him too much. More than he deserves, maybe.
“That I am,” he comes in, and I roll my eyes physically this time. He winks at my mom, and she laughs, and I swear I feel like an outsider.
“Cute,” I deadpan. “You came here for me or him?”
“Both of you, Aisha,” she says as if tired from my antics. “I spoiled you too much.”
I raise my hands up in the air as they both chuckle at my helplessness.
If I could give one tip to any woman getting married—make sure your mother doesn’t adore your husband too much because one day they will start ganging up on you and you will feel like the outsider.
“Stop ganging up on my daughter-in-law, you two,” my eyes widen as I hear my mother-in-law’s voice. A smile breaks onto my face as she makes her way inside.
I giggle like a child as she engulfs me in a hug, and her familiar scent wafts through my nose. I love my mother so much. Both of them. I adore my father-in-law too. He literally dotes on me like I am his daughter, and I like the affection.
But he rarely shows up; he’s too busy managing his business alone. This is another reason why Reyansh felt guilty wanting to start his own firm. But his parents love him more than he cares to admit they do.
They pushed him to pursue his dreams, and that’s all he did.
“Glad someone’s here to take my side,” I say as she caresses my hair.
“Happy belated birthday, sweetheart.” She presses a kiss to my forehead before joining my mom and Reyansh on the couch.
“Hi, Mom,” Reyansh says, his eyes narrowed on us. “Good to see you too.”
“Now, who’s the one getting jealous, huh?” I taunt back.
Tit for tat.
He rolls his eyes, getting up.
“What will you guys like for breakfast? I will whip something up real quick.”
“You guys haven’t had breakfast yet?” Mum asks.
“No, I just woke up.”
I smile sheepishly as my mom gives me a look. She hates me getting up late, but what she doesn’t know is that I was tired because of her beloved son-in-law and not for the right reasons.
“We will decide what to make, don’t worry,” my mom says. “You go take a shower. You stink, Aisha.”
“Geez, thanks, Mom.”
Reyansh chuckles as he watches me drag myself away to my room, and after months a genuine smile takes over my face.
All I am worried about is how to break the news to them too.
* * *
