Chapter 17

"Our next stop is India," Ayesha said .

"India?India as in my hometown,I mean my home country?" I asked surprised .She nodded as she walked towards the car .

"Cool," I said following her ,she didn't want to talk because apparently the hangover got to her mouth ."India?I'm not going to ask ," Anurak said as he hugged me ."Morning ," I said .

"You don't look horrible ," he said." I know I am naturally magnificent ," I said twirling .We were waiting for our director as he had to go and finalize some things somewhere ,"We didn't even get to tour around this city ," he said standing next to me ."I know but we are on work duty so touring will be after all this is done."

"Ayesha turn up the volume quickly!" I said as I jumped up and down excitedly .I pulled Anurak to dance,"I am live on instagram!"

"Oh come on," I said as i opened the door of the car and increased the volume for myself .I started dancing as Anurak joined me .The song playing :Keri Hilson - Knock You Down ft. Kanye West, Ne-Yo .Ayesha was filming us as we danced ,"Sometimes loves comes around and it knocks you down just get back up when it knocks you down ," I singed .

"So how is everything?" Anurak asked as we were sitting in the car."Everything is okay ,everything is getting better i guess ."

"Liam?"Anurak asked as he sensed the unsureness in my voice ,weak and frail.

"Yes,I am worried if he will be okay ...it's been really hard for him you know he lost his brother and sister-in-law then our child is also taken away from us -it's a lot to handle and i just wish he gets better and he walks on a new path ."

"He will conquer,i know that," Liam said as he rubbed my hand.

We finally made it to India! I was excited,home is where the heart is ."We are home!"Ayesha shouted in excitement as we got off the plane .

We checked into our hotel rooms and i immediately video called my dad .

"Chocolate mush mush!!" I said in excitement ."What happened to you ?" my dad asked.

"Nothing happened to me i am just excited to see you," I said smiling sheepishly."You and i both know that you don't just call me chocolate mush mush unless you did something wrong ."

"Oh come on dad i am tryna butter you up and here you are being a very good father and questioning my sweetness ,"I said jokingly rolling my eyes.

"That sweetness of yours will make me have stroke if not a heart attack ,"he said.

"You are mean," I said folding my arms pretending to sulk.

"No I am your dad."

"Guess what father ."

"What?"

"Guessss."

"It didn't work out," he said with a straight face.

"Wait what ..no..what didn't work out?" I asked confused.

"It ," he answered with a straight face.

"Argh father never mind you are a bad guesser."

"What the hell am i supposed to guess there is so much to guess about like Michael Jackson came back from the dead or that you met Jackie chan or perhaps you are dating Cheng Yi ...wait are you dating Cheng Yi?" he asked as he widened his eyes.

"Aah Papa i knew i shouldn't have made you watch Love and redemption i am not dating Cheng Yi argh fine I am in India !"I announced excitedly.

"Oh dating Cheng Yi was actually a better guess than you being in india ," he said .

"Why don't you go and date him ,since you not excited it's fine bye," I said dropping the call .

"Old man has become a meanie ugh," I scoffed as i sulked .

I decided to go and freshen up and then ordered some food to eat as i ate i was reading the script and practicing my lines .Later on as i was practicing my lines my phone rang and it was Ayesha ."What you want ?"

"Get out of your room quick you won't believe what's in my room right now!"she said sounding terrified. "What is in your room Ayesha ,I swear if it is a damn spider imma-"

"Just get here quick!" she said and dropped the call.I wore my slippers and went to her room upon entering i saw my entire family.

"Surprise!" they said as they stood there smiling ."What in the world of hel-heaven is going on here ," I said smiling. "Kaju barfi!" my aunt said as she approached me with her arms spread open i ran into her arms and hugged her so tight . "Auntieee!"

"Kaju!"

My cousin Fakir came and joined us in the hug and so did Malik,Vidya ,Anush and my dad."A hug is not always complete without me ," Ayesha said as she joined the big hug.

"When did y'all get here and how did you know we were here and dad i am still angry with you," I said all at once .

"You sure do still talk a lot ," Malik said .

"Well i do have a mouth and i can use it ," i replied.

"I wanted to surprise you the way you surprised me by not telling us you were coming until you arrived ," dad said as he pulled my cheeks.

"Oh my Kaju (me) and my jalebi (Ayesha) i missed both of you ..you guys look thin oh my gosh your hair needs oiling and some helpful herbs and you look pale-,"My aunt blabbered as she analysed Ayesha and i .

"Mother ise band karo krpaya unhen aisa dikhane kee jaroorat hai kyonki ve prasiddh hain aur ve bahut sundar aur achchhee tarah se dikhate hain kaash meree bhee aayasha jaisee peelee tvacha hotee (stop it please they need to look like this because they are famous and they look so beautiful and well taken of I wish i had such pale skin like Ayesha)," Vidya said as she admired Ayesha's skin.

"tum kya jaanate ho, is peedhee ke bachche, kuchh nahin jaanate meree bechaaree kaajoo kee shaadee kaise hogee vah bhookhee lag rahee hai aur meree jalebee tum aise lag rahe ho jaise bhaarat chhodane se pahale tum marane vaale ho, main vah sab theek karane ja raha hoon(What do you know ,you children of this generation know nothing how will my poor Kaju get married she looks starved and my jalebi you look like you are about to die before you leave india i am going to fix all that),"my aunt said .

"My sweet little cousin," Anush said as he hugged me even tighter ."My sugar plum marshmallow ," I replied kissing him on the cheek . "That's discriminatory you call each other sweet things and yet you call me rascal ,mouse ,housefly ,mosquito the list goes on and on," Malik said trying to separate us.

"Stop it you jealous mosquito," Anush and I said at the same time and we all laughed.

"My chocolate pumpkin," dad said as he hugged me ,"Daddy," i said hugging him back .

"I missed you ," he said ."Me too a thousand times," I replied we were standing by Ayesha's balcony."I heard about Liam ," he said looking at me ,his eyes sparkled with love and adoration but a little sadness on the matter he had raised.

"Oh Ayesha and her mouth," I said .

"He will be fine," I added.

"He will hopefully how about you?"

" She also told me about your fainting incident the other day are you okay?"

"She certainly told you a lot of things ,I am okay ...it was because i worked too hard but i am fine even the doctor said so ,trust me father i am okay," I said holding his hand in assurance.

"No doubt you are okay i mean like did you see that guy you were with the time i called," dad sai nudging me.

"Which one?" I asked confused for a while.

"Cinnamon huh?" dad said .

"Ahh Hoseok,oh come on nothing is going on between us i swear you should have been a woman you literally are a woman your behaviour is questionable," I said trying to put on a straight face but we ended up laughing .

My dad always tried to fulfil the role of a mother in my life giving he was strict as a dad but free spirited as a mom .

He liked teasing me about certain men or tried playing mix match mostly because i think he feared i would die without getting to experience real love .Well after the incident with Zhang and Liam acting up dad helped me get over Liam and he mix matched me with Anurak

He said ,I quote ," You still have more beautiful moments to live ,You have more people to save as a life jacket don't waste it on someone who is still drowning themselves in a life jacket ," meaning i was the life jacket who was trying to save Liam but Liam ignored my help and still wanted to drown himself so as a life jacket i should go and save people who want to be saved ...there is only much someone can do.

"You always told me about different potential boyfriends even when you knew i was dating Liam ,you always acted like you forgot," I said slightly pushing him while smiling.

"You have a weird taste in man you want to keep it in the family huh?" dad asked .

"Eww what do you mean keep it in the family ?"

"Like Asian ,Liam is Chinese -half chinese half american ,Anurak is filipino ,your crushes are either Chinese ,filipino,vietnamese,Japanese, Korean ,thai well you get the picture.Your exes were asian too your first crush was an Indian boy and you crush wrecker was Indonesian ,your first boyfriend as a little girl was from Pakistan and you are probably going to have some history with this Cinnamon guy who is Korean."

"Please leave Hoseok alone we are just good friends well i still need to see how home treats me before i go all out you see test drive at home then if it treats you right stay home if not go all out baby," I said smiling .Dad chuckled shaking his head ,I laid my head on his shoulder as i held on to his arm .I was safe in his arms and i felt loved in so many different languages .

"I love you my chocolate pumpkin ."

"main aapase bahut pyaar hai(I love you so much) my chocolate mush mush doctor daddy ."