The Rawat mansion was having one of those rare peaceful evenings — no work calls, no emergencies, just warm dinner smells and distant music playing from Yuvika’s cartoon channel.
Kaushiki was in the kitchen with Anita, helping her roll out rotis while Kritika prepped salad and Bhumi Chachi hunted down the mysteriously vanishing atta container.
“Bahu, yeh roti round bani toh honeymoon pakka,” Anita teased.
Kaushiki blushed so hard she nearly flipped the rolling pin.
“Maa!” she squeaked. “Aap bhi...”
Bhumi chachi chuckled, joining in. “Waise Ashwin aur Kaushiki ko abhi tak ghoomne nahi bhejna toh paap hi hoga.”
“Itni padhai, itni internship… bechaari thak gayi hogi,” Anita said softly, looking at Kaushiki with a rare kind of mother-in-law affection. “Ab thoda Ashwin bhi toh samjhe…”
Kritika raised an eyebrow. “Ashwin aur samjhe? Maa, yeh overexpectation hai.”
Everyone laughed.
Meanwhile, in the living room, the men had just finished dinner.
Vikram, Kushal, Yuvaan, and Ashwin were sipping chai.
Vikram leaned back. “Toh beta, ab kuch time nikaal lo. Tum dono ki shaadi ko kitna time ho gaya?”
Ashwin replied calmly, “Four months.”
“Exactly!” Yuvaan said, grinning. “Aur honeymoon zero.”
Kushal finally added, “Beta, kaam aur zimmedari ki koi umar nahi hoti. Lekin kuch pal sirf jeene ke liye hote hain. Aur yeh honeymoon unmein se ek hai.”
Ashwin looked down into his cup. “I don’t think she even wants one. She hasn’t said anything.”
“Bhai, woh tumse dar kar nahi bolti,” Yuvaan muttered under his breath. “Tum kabhi romance ke mohalle ke aas paas bhi nahi ghoome ho.”
Ashwin scowled. Vikram chacha burst out laughing.
“Tu serious zone se niklega kab?” Vikram asked. “Ashwin honeymoon pe bhi medical books le jaayega"
Everyone gathered in the hall after dinner. All eleven Rawat family members in one room.
Kritika clapped her hands. “Toh sab suno — ab hum officially honeymoon destination decide karne jaa rahe hain!”
Kaushiki, curled up beside Bhumi chachi on the sofa, nearly choked on her juice. “Kya? Abhi?!”
Yuvika shouted, “Mummy honeymoon kya hota hai?”
The room went silent.
Ashwin coughed.
Kushal saved the day. “Ghoomne jaate hain beta. Akele. Do log.”
Yuvika blinked. “Main nahi chal sakti?”
Kaushiki smiled nervously. “Main bhi nahi jaa sakti. Intern shift hai…”
“Nonsense,” Bhumi declared. “Kaushiki, tu hamari bahu hai. Permission dena hamara kaam hai. Tum dono jaa rahe ho.”
Anita brought out a notepad. “Options batao. Hills, beach, abroad?”
Ashwin stood. “Mujhe lagta hai—”
“Tu chup baith,” Vikram said, smacking his arm lightly. “Yeh sab hamara kaam hai.”
Kritika: “Shimla gaya tha, tick. Manali mein ladayi hui thi, tick. Goa? No. Maldives? Hmm.”
Yuvaan: “What about Italy?”
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𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚
Romance"Marry me," he said. And just like that, my life became a rom-com gone wrong. Kaushiki Rajput-clumsy, loud-mouthed, and hopelessly optimistic-never expected her first encounter with Dr. Ashwin Rawat to involve publicly accusing him of child neglect...
