Destiny's Fusion

Surprise Surprise

I finally reached Hargobind Villa in the afternoon. It was exactly as I had remembered it...

Nothing had changed - except the new coat of paint which dad must have got done at the last minute to welcome me home. Strangely enough, there was also a black Lancer near the house

whose car could that be, I thought as none of my relatives owned such a vehicle. The driver parked the car at the opposite side of the house under the big palm trees.

I got out of the car and as I pushed open the main gate of the house, Kripal our servant came running with a big smile on his face to pick up my luggage.

"Kidaan sab kripal?!"(How is everything?) I asked our oldest & most loyal servant in the household.

"Sab changa ji choti baby"(Everything is good) he replied with the smile still on his face.

He was trained by my mom to always call me Choti baby and Preeti di as badi baby. Now that she is married, he started calling her Malkin (Madam). Only I was left to be honored with his nickname now.

I could feel that he was very happy to see me at home. He shouted at the top of his voice,

"MALKIN! Choti baby aa gayi je!" (Madam, Choti baby has arrived.)

My older sister came out first, screaming out my name excitedly as she then ran towards me and hugged me tightly.

"It’s so good to see you back home!" She said. I smiled and returned her hug. I felt something licking my toes. It was our dog, Sammy.

"Even HE missed you a lot!" my sister chuckled.

"I can see that!" I said and then bent down to pat & nuzzle him. Judging by his tail and slobber, he must have been very glad to see me!

I remember how heartbroken I was when I had to leave Sammy before setting off to college. He didn't forget me at all in these 2 years and I was ecstatic at that.

A voice came from within the house,"Roopinder!"

My mother and father were walking briskly out of the house with their arms outstretched.

When I saw their faces, I realized how much I had missed them both so I ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

"Mummaaa! (Mom)" I cried out. That's all that I could say at that time. Tears of joy sprang from my eyes,

my dad placed his large hand on my head while I was still in mom's embrace.

"How was the journey beta?" He asked and I looked at dad.

"Quite tiresome, papa!" I replied.

"Why wouldn't it be?" my mom interjected angrily then she looked at dad, "I told you there was something wrong with that driver! He was drunk, wasn't he?"

Dad and I just laughed loudly. "Mumma, he wasn't drunk!" I reassured her.

"Tenu kiddan pata?" (How would you know) she asked, clearly annoyed.

"Kyunki je oh drunk honda te main zinda thwade kol nahi hondi!"(Because if he were drunk then I wouldn’t have been alive here with you!) I replied with a giggle and my mom hit me softly on my head.

"Shut up! Don't be ridiculous!" I laughed again and hugged her back.

"Oh God! I missed you guys so much!" I told them with tears in my eyes. Mom then lightly kissed my forehead and my sister hugged us both.

"And we all missed you too! There is a surprise waiting for you inside so you better hurry up your soap drama!" Preeti Di said, dragging me inside.

"Preeti is right. We shouldn't make them wait any longer. I'll pay the driver." Dad said & hurried outside.

For a minute I got worried.

"Make who wait? Mumma, what's going on?" I looked around before continuing, "And what surprise is Preeti di talking about?"

Mom & Preeti di held my hands and took me into the house.

I was getting annoyed now. "Would you both please tell me what's going -"

"There she is!" My brother-in-law Harsh stood up from the sofa chair and smiled brightly at me.

The three people sitting on the other sofa immediately stood up.

I couldn't help but stare at them confusedly and they did the same too until my sister introduced me to them.

"This is my younger sister, Roopinder, but I call her Roop because Roopinder sounds too dull which she is not really. I mean, she might be now because she was travelling and -" Harsh nudged her shoulder and stared at her. She immediately stopped her blabbering, which she only does when she is nervous.

"Roop... This is Mr. & Mrs. Grewal" Harsh introduced me to them.

"Sat Shri Akal!" I greeted them politely by joining my hands together and they returned the greeting, as expected.

"This is their son, Kawalpreet." He stuck out his hand and I reluctantly shook it.

"You can just call me Kawal," he said with a big cheesy grin.

I just stared at Kawalpreet-AKA-Kawal bitterly.

"So, what do you think of my sister, Mr. Kawalpreet?" my sister said teasingly to break the silence around us.

"She is - umm - very pretty" he said shyly and his ears began to turn red.

"Really now! But not prettier than me, right?" She said with a smug face and everyone laughed except me.

"C'mon now. Let’s sit down and chat," Dad said as he came inside and sat on the other sofa.

"Now, isn't he a wonderful surprise?" My sister whispered to me and winked before going to stand beside her husband Harsh.

"Beta, (child) why don't you and Kawalpreet take a walk outside and get to know each other more?" Dad suggested cheerfully.

I looked at my sister for some support but instead of helping me out of this sudden messy situation, she just winked at me as kawalpreet got up from the sofa and grinned more.

"Actually I'm quite tired after the journey papa so I would like to rest for some time. But It was really nice meeting you all. Have a nice day!" I smiled awkwardly and left the living room to go to my room upstairs. Lucky Escape!

I could feel their eyes piercing my back with all sorts of unanswered questions and my odd reluctance but I had no choice.

I didn't want to make everyone sad the moment I had arrived and this was the only way of avoiding the prospects of this unexpected marriage coming my way..