the 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔣𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍

|| 05 ||

There was a buzz that greeted me as I stepped out through the doors of my bedroom, and walked towards the foyer. Servants rushed forth to and from various different corners, carrying heavy drapes and fabrics as well as flowers and jewels—— something I deduced to be due to Prinku's wedding preparations.

I was greeted by the sight of Rudy laying across a couch—— taking up every single inch of space—— despite Badi Maa's chidings. Om walked towards his brother——a cup of his daily morning tea, held between his hands—— and smacked the back of his head, causing Rudy to pout. A small smile graced my lips, as it did every time I watched my brothers and sister interact with one another with the same carefree attitude I'd lost over the years.

"Shivaay?" Mom called out loudly, as she peered down at a thaal placed in front of her with distaste. "What's Annika's favourite colour?"

Why did she want to know?

"Why do you need to know, Mom?" I inquired, fixing the cuffs of my blazer as I walked towards them.

Dadi and Badi Maa were engrossed in pouring over magazines consisting of Arshana's bridal collections over the past few years. Prinku sat beside her mother, while her fiancé sat on her other side. Roop Bua was busy eating one almond after the other, as she aimlessly flipped through some brochures of destination wedding venues.

It felt far too surreal—— Prinku was the youngest out of all of us, merely twenty-three—— and she'd found a man she trusted and loved enough to live the rest of her life with. I could still, quite easily, recall when she had been born: Badi Maa had placed her in my arms, stating that I was her eldest brother and so she was trusting me to look after her. Not Om, not Rudy, but me. I'd just been eight, but I'd promised myself that she would never cry nor have any needs or wishes of her unfulfilled for as long as I was alive.

Over the years, it had always been me that she would come running to anytime she'd want something, or had something to share—— the first time she had wanted a Barbie doll set that had yet not been released in India; the time she had wanted a PowerPuff Girls plushie of Bubbles but Bade Papa had to listen to Badi Maa who had scolded her husband for spoiling their daughter too much. Prinku had begged me to not let her mother know—— and I hadn't. I'd bought it when I had been studying abroad at Harvard for my undergraduate degree and gifted it to her, when I'd come back to India for the summer holidays. Despite Badi Maa's displeasure, she'd allowed me to give it to Prinku as I was someone she could never say no to.

It felt like yesterday that she'd sat me, Om and Rudy down and told us that she had a boyfriend and they wanted to get married. We'd had no prior warning and she'd already told Dadi, Badi Maa and Mom, knowing that her brothers and father and Chote Papa would not be too keen to not have met the boy when they'd started dating.

Despite our hesitance and reluctance, we'd agreed to proceed with the wedding—— Prinku loved him as deeply as Dadi still loved our Dadaji, as deeply as Bade Papa and Badi Maa loved each other.