Royally yours

72. The 'Life' of her family

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After taking a nap everyone except Chaitra and little Vivaan sat in a garden to spend some time together before getting back to the arrangements. 

"Where is Chaitra?" Akash asked no one in particular as he noticed his sister did not appear even after 10 minutes. 

"She's bathing Viv. I asked her to let me do it but she was adamant about it," Ishika replied and he hummed in reply. After that, everyone started talking about Mahira Dastoor that would happen in a while when they heard the sound of anklets followed by giggles and everyone turned to see Chaitra and Viv coming to them with Chaitra chasing little Viv who was adamant about getting his hair combed.

As Chaitra and Viv ran around with Chaitra acting to be unable to catch her naughty nephew, her family started to reminisce about the moments they spent with her from the time she was born.

Raghav felt the moments he spent with his Chitti thalli right from the moment a nurse handed over his little princess to him wrapped in a soft towel. She was so little and angelic that he felt a sense of pride and protectiveness towards her from the moment he knew Pallavi was pregnant. But seeing her in his hands made his heart swell with love and warmth. That day he showered all the hospital staff with numerous gifts and made donations to all the orphanages in the city saying he wanted to feed as many children as possible in the happiness of getting his daughter into his life.

Her first smile, her first word, her first steps to him, the time when he taught her to write, the way she made him act like eating from her small kitchen set saying it was lunch for him to the moment she actually cooked her first dish and rushed to him to make him taste it played in front of his eyes making him tear up.

"Are you all right?" Pallavi placed a supportive hand on his shoulder at which he nodded wiping his tears.

"I am not going to be the first one to see her after she gets ready any more, right? How am I going to live without her, Pallu?" He asked his wife as he hugged her from the side and Pallavi glanced at her daughter who was now busy making Viv giggle as she tickled him.

She remembered the way her daughter used to roam around the house holding her pallu, the way she complained about having milk, the way she made faces while getting her braids done, the way her daughter always asked her to choose her clothes because she was confused, the way her daughter used to talk to her endlessly sharing her day sitting on the kitchen slab, the way she set her saree pleats, the way she always hugged her and asked her to do champi when she was feeling tired and the faces she makes when she orders her to do some work played in front of her as she admired the smile on her daughter's face made her overwhelmed.

"She won't be asking me to choose her clothes, right?" Pallavi murmured to herself before wiping her own tears and snuggling into her husband's embrace seeking comfort.

Chaitra finally caught Viv, combed his hair, and kissed both his cheeks making him giggle. Seetha who was seeing all this remembered the times when Chaitra used to run into her kitchen and hug her waist every Sunday as she spent her all holidays either with her aunt or with her maamu. 

Seetha played a significant role in all the important events of Chaitra's life as paternal aunt plays a major role in a girl's functions. The way her niece always seeks comfort in her embrace after having a tiff with Hithu, the way she used to complain to her about everything, the way she asked her to teach her how to drape a saree after failing in doing so, standing in the middle of a pile of saree, the way she clapped jumping when she tied the saree around her and their kitchen sessions where Seetha thought Chaitra how to cook telugu dishes and the endless bickering of Chaitra and Hithen made her overwhelmed with emotions but she was quick to wipe off her tears and smile as if nothing made her sad.