Back home, cooking in the kitchen, he told her about the one week plan Abhay told on their last phone call.

"When did you talk?" How ignorant could she be!

"In the afternoon. After lunch," he answered. He gave her a side eye for her unreasonable agitation.

"Just the two of you?"

"Hm."

"Fine then, I'll come too."

Ramit once again gave her the side eye. He could not help it. Just what went on in her mind? "Come on... You will feel out of place..."

"You think I care?"

"Look, you won't, but we will."

Oh boy was her husband getting bold in front of her? He did not beat around the bush. How cute! "Then ask him to call his girlfriend too."

Ramit covered his eyes. "Are you serious? Isn't it good to avoid any journey now?"

"I'm dead serious. Tell him that the journey has to be smooth."

He sighed and messaged Abhay, as Geetha looked into the screen. At one point, she even changed a few words as he messaged. Abhay replied, 'Oh! A double date then! Wish me luck, baby. I'm finally going to ask her to spend a whole week with me!'

Ramit sighed again and chuckled. 'All the best.' He had a feeling Abhay and Deepali would end up together. Their relationship was consistent with only incremental progress and yet Abhay was still persistent.

Geetha raised her head from his phone and said, "It's settled then. We're four going or nothing."

Just who did she think she was! But all he did was scoff and off the stove. Tomorrow he had to ask their maid who cleaned the house if she could also cook for them or find a cook. Geetha's tummy was getting heavier but she kicked him out of the kitchen every morning and not a single time was he able to wake up earlier than her and start cooking.

∼•∽

The next day went uneventfully until the afternoon when something caught Geetha's eye. amid the papers that lay in every possible orientation on Ramit's table, she found a navy blue bottle. She looked at the pen-stand on the side. "You had one ink pen and it's with me. Now you are using ballpoint pens. Why is this thing on the table? Stuff it in the draw or throw it away." When she picked the glass bottle up, she heard the wheels of his chair roll away from her.

He stood, leaned over the table, and caught her hand. "Get out."

She paused for a moment and scolded her stupid mouth. Realising it wasn't the fault of her mouth, she scolded her stupid brain. Why did she always speak without thinking when around him? "Sorry." She released the bottle. "When we go home I'll return your pen." She gave him a smile.

He released her hand. "Get lost. I'll ask someone to move your desk out of here."

She looked at him with horror. "I can't sit in that jungle! There isn't a single regular polygon there!" Nothing could persuade her in this matter. The walls outside, the ceiling, and the cubicles were all nauseating.

Ramit's eyes softened. This was a side of her he had always adored. She was particular about the weirdest things. He sat down in his chair and stored the ink bottle away. "Then don't talk about that pen again."

She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry. Were you really using it all this time?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Get lost!" So what if he did? He did not use it all the time but he used it to sign every important document.

"Fine. I won't speak about it again."

He still frowned at her.

"Fine, I'll go out too."

She walked to her table and picked up her bag, which was her chocolate store. On her way out, just before she opened the door, she said, "I'm doing whatever you said. So you should not stop talking to me."

He scoffed at the now closed door. But soon he smiled. What followed was a tiny giddy giggle. Soon after his face turned vulnerable. What a helpless situation, he thought. He squeezed his eyes and calmed down soon.

After working for an hour, he opened his drawer for no reason. There lay his ink bottle, separated from his pen. He still wanted the pen back. He covered his face with his elbow. He had to think before he acted. He sighed. He decided to let her come back into the office minutes later.

∼•∽

That night, she took out his pen from the deepest and safest rack of the cupboard of the bedroom and placed it before him without a word. Ramit did not touch it until she was out of his sight. Only then, he grabbed it and put it in the penholder of his laptop bag.

Later, they cooked together, ate together and as it should follow, Geetha saw to it that they slept together. She casually brought his pillow into the bedroom.

Ramit was still unsure of his fears, they did weigh his heart down. Yet, it was fun with her around. He sighed at her soft eyes and small smile as she peeped out of the bedroom door, hugging his pillow. He walked over to his airbed and opened the air valve to wrap it and put it in the cupboard.

Geetha caught his helpless expression but did not think much of it and walked over. "Poke a hole. It'll be fast." She presented a needle to him as she had one ready in her fist. "This thing is useless, anyway." She wanted to get rid of it.

"Seriously..." He pressed on it to pump out the air faster. "Don't do anything. If I ever find this damaged, I'll not talk to you for 2 months."

"Fine." She dropped the needles on the window sill beside and helped him wrap it up neatly before they snuggled in the bedroom.

After some time, she slowly asked, "Is everything okay?" The picture of his dreadful eyes just before was stuck in her head.

It was a dejavu that still managed to confuse him at the out of the blue question. "Yeah. Why?"

She had a frown as she said, "Nothing." She shifted to lie more comfortably and hugged him to sleep.

∼•∽

The next day an hour after they went to the office, Ramit received a call he wished he hadn't for life. His great granddad had died.

Geetha had looked over when she realised that it was a call from home and not work related. Ramit slumped in the chair and she could guess.

She rushed to him and asked, "Is it about pardada-ji?"

With a trembling and hoarse voice, he asked in a tone of accusation, "How do you know?"

She pursed her lips. Didn't they both have a tacit understanding about this, she thought. She silently hugged his head. He held her and said, "He died this morning. He didn't wake up in the morning."

Geetha patted his shoulders softly. After a few more minutes, she left his side. She quickly went out to delegate almost all the work to Veeru and the other assistant. She stepped back in and nudged him to get going.

On the way Ramit reminisced about all of his summer vacations with his great granddad. Whenever he sulked about not having grandparents like his classmates, his great granddad told him he was still lucky, because very few had great grandparents. During his early years at school, on every reopening day, the teacher asked where they went for the vacation. 9 out of 10 answered they went to their grandparents. The remaining 1 would say a vacation to some place. But he said, unlike any other, with pride his great granddad taught him, "I went to my great granddad!"

His great granddad was right. All of his classmates were awed about him for having a living ancestor who was 3 generations away. He told Geetha more bits and pieces of the precious bond. "Every time someone told him to take care of himself, he said he'd outlive them. He said he was definitely going to hit a century."

She was driving. She wanted to say something but she could not find an appropriate response.

"You saw how well he was. It hasn't even been a week!"

"He was blessed to have a simple death," she said in an attempt to make him feel better.

Ramit knew he could think of it that way too, but his heart refused it.

Having silenced him unexpectedly, Geetha did not say anything more.

∼•∽

By the time they had reached the village, the sun was red and it was setting. Ramit had calmed down. His parents were already there. His father was crying a lot. His mother consoled him, while crying herself.

Gloom had covered the entire village. Villagers came to share their sorrow. Other family members arrived one after the other. Ramit did not know any of them, but they seemed to know him. Receiving condolences from such people intensified his grief. His father seemed to know all of them. Every time someone approached him, he cried even more.

The funeral was scheduled for the next day, as some of his close associates said they'd come by tomorrow. When it was time for dinner, many skipped it, with the main exception being kids. Geetha ate a little, on her mother-in-law's insistence. Her mood had slumped too.

Soon she returned to the hall where the freezer box was kept. She quietly moved out after a few minutes in search of Ramit. She found him sitting on the edge of the corridor. In front of him was the yard.

When he saw her coming, he said, looking up, "It's still there."

She looked above, but from behind the eaves she did not understand what he meant. When she took a step forward, she saw the string, and with another, the kite. It was almost invisible, looking like a tiny speckle in the dark sky. He was sitting at the pole they had secured the kite.

She sat down beside him. Silence prevailed until they called it a night.

∼•∽

The next morning they were in the yard, under a peepal tree. She had just pulled him out of the hall since the atmosphere there was too overwhelming with the relatives who arrived that morning all weeping.

Under their watch, someone went towards the pole to remove the bright kite, saying it did not suit the occasion. Hearing that Ramit's hand squeezed hers. He let out a hiccup. He was already crying through the last one hour. In fact, everyone was. It was as if the sadness came in waves and affected everyone at once. Now he was just starting to calm down but the man had to pinch him.

"Please let it be until the funeral is over." Geetha said. They were 6 metres away from the pole.

The man stopped to look at them but turned around to pluck it anyway.

"Stop! We tied it along with pardada-ji. Don't touch it!" Geetha did not care if the man was her elder. She did not remember his name, although she knew he belonged somewhere in the family tree.

The man backed away. He told them he did not know about it and left. Geetha breathed out a sigh, thankful that the man did not turn it into an issue or ruthlessly cut the string off.

A few hours later, rites and rituals ensued. Rahul asked Ramit to fetch new clothes that had been placed in his great grandfather's room. When Ramit stepped in and opened the almirah, the smell of his great grandfather's old clothes filled the room. He slowed down. His hands went on to pick the item needed and close the almirah. His great grandfather was no more.

"Didn't find them?" Geetha came in.

Ramit lifted his hands, showing her the white textiles.

Geetha paused. It seemed like he was going to cry again. She stood close to him, in a fix not knowing what to say again. She quietly patted him.

Ramit shook his head, assuring her he was alright. He walked out, feeling the loss seep into his bones. At the same time the situation urged him to face reality and move on.

They looked at their great granddad for one last time before the rituals ensued and Rahul lit the pyre as the oldest lineal descendant.

∼•∽

After returning from the cremation site, somewhere around 4 P.M. Geetha and Ramit decided to take the kite down. When Ramit untied the knot, Kunal ran to them and said he wanted to pull the string down. They let him. Looking at his sad face it was evident he was not there to play.

"I won't fly this kite again. I want to keep it safe," Kunal said.

Ramit ruffled his hair. "Keep it safe."

When Kunal went back, Ramit turned to Geetha. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. She had an unpleasant face throughout the situation.

"Hm... No one will look down on you if you cry." He felt she was keeping everything in. Sure, she was not as attached to his great granddad as he was, but when she first got to know him during their visit here as newly weds, she loved speaking to him. During their last visit though, she did not seem to get many opportunities to speak to him, given that many relatives had come.

"If I don't cry, will you think I'm not sad?"

"I didn't mean that... Just... let it out if... you want to."

"He will curse me if I cry just for the sake of crying. I'm fine." After a pause she added, "I am sad." She did not feel that the death came suddenly at all. To her this was a long accepted goodbye. Their great grandfather had a vision at Kailash and then asked them all to visit in advance. It was still sad nonetheless.

"I know!" He still looked on at her bitter face.

Geetha nodded, although she no longer understood what he wanted. "Then, shall we go in?"

He scoffed and walked inside with her in tow.

∼•∽

Days rolled by. In the meantime, they received more visitors who knew the deceased until the Shraddha ceremony, the farewell, once and for all, sending off the deceased's soul. Now it was time to get back to normalcy.

One of Ramit's cousins, who was older than him by 10 years, gathered everyone in their generation.

"Pardada was alive and we all stuck together as one family. We should continue being like this." Many of them present were not lineal descendants of the deceased. They only shared blood ties. But the one in heaven was always kind to everybody alike. Even if he was no longer among them, they treasured his presence. Good deeds came around.

Ramit hugged him. "Thank you, brother."

He smiled and said, "Take care."

They all left, moving on, and getting back to life.

∼•∽