Aarush glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw that there was only an hour left until midnight. He turned to his grandfather, who had turned his head away.

“What exactly happened during Karthik-chinnaana’s wedding?”

Arun shook his head.

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about this anymore.”

Aarush then turned to Karthik, who took a deep breath.

“The point of no return for the twins.”

Aarush turned his head down.

“Please tell me.”

Karthik stared at him. He saw just how worried the teenager was getting, and finally, cleared his throat.

“Okay.”

Aarush sat up straighter, now paying more attention than he’s ever paid anything in his life.

“So I and Gracy were getting married soon in Kochi, and actually everyone was fine with me dating and marrying a Malayali Catholic lady. As Arun Uncle told, Rani came to India for the first time since Ravi’s wedding, and this time she brought Elena also.”

“Wait, so Avva was okay with both of them staying in her house?” asked Aarush.

“No no,” said Karthik, shaking his head. “She basically told that Rani can come, obviously, but Elena can’t. So Rani being Rani, she refused to stay without Elena.”

“Wait, yeah, I remember now,” said Aarush. “They stayed in our apartment. But then how was Dad okay with that?”

Karthik smiled.

“He also wasn’t. Rani and Elena stayed in your apartment because Aditi offered. Rani was actually very surprised by this.”

“That makes sense to be honest,” said Aarush, nodding. “Like I said, Mum’s always liked her.”

“Do you remember anything from their stay in your apartment?”

Aarush thought for a second.

“I think I remember the day they told me they were dating. I remember feeling… ‘warm’, if you get me.”

“Ah,” said Karthik. “I know what scene you’re telling.”

“Can you tell me the whole story of that day?”

Karthik turned to him and smiled.

*******

The sky was overcast, but also somehow bright: typical for Bangalore weather in July. But on that afternoon the diffused sunlight scattering into Ravi and Aditi’s apartment gave the place an atmosphere of yearning.

Six-year-old Aarush Shivaram was sitting on the floor with his feet tucked under, surrounded by sheets of printer paper sprawled out around him. There was an open box of crayons in front of him, and he’d just finished making a crude drawing of a small dalmatian with upright ears. Proud of his creation, he showed it to his aunt who was sitting next to him.

“See, Attha! Is this Tippy?”

Rani turned to her girlfriend, who was sitting next to her.

“What do you think? Fridge-worthy?”

“Definitely fridge-worthy,” said Elena, smiling. “This is so cute, Aarush! Tippy will love this.”

“Tippy will eat this,” said Rani, smirking.

Elena ruffled Aarush’s hair as he beamed.

“What to draw next?”

Rani and Elena smiled knowingly at each other, then Rani bent down a little and spoke softly into the boy’s ear.

“How about two girls walking in a park while holding hands?”

“And you can make them look like me and your Attha,” said Elena.

“Okay!”

Aarush got to work. The two women started giggling at each other.

“Why are they holding hands?” asked Aarush. Rani smiled.

“Because they’re in love, silly!”

Aarush’s eyes widened.

“But I thought only a boy and a girl can do that…?”

“It doesn’t have to be,” said Elena, laughing. “You can have two girls, or even two boys too!”

“Oh.”

Aarush started filling the grass in with light green.

“But how do you know you’re… in love?”

“Well…” said Rani. She turned to Elena. “They’re always the first person you think of when you wake up in the morning.”

“They’re the one person you can talk to for hours about anything,” said Elena, grinning.

“You always want to be close to them, and you miss them when you’re apart.”

“You always think about what they want before what you want.”

“Just thinking about them makes your heart beat faster!”

“And…”

Rani and Elena’s faces were now barely a centimeter from each other.

“... when you look into each other's eyes…”

“... the rest of the world just… disappears.”

Elena nuzzled Rani’s shoulder while Aarush stared at them, part shock and part awe.

“Are you both in love?” he asked softly. The two women smiled.

“What do you think?” said Rani, giggling as Elena gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Aarush’s eyes widened.

“Woah!”

Rani and Elena burst into laughter.

“Come on then,” said Rani. “Let’s see your drawing.”

Out of the corner of her eye Rani noticed Aditi forlornly watching them from the kitchen.


About an hour later Aarush decided he wanted to take a nap. After putting her son to bed Aditi somewhat cautiously approached Elena, who was sitting on the sofa with Rani.

“I heard you do tattoos.”

Rani and Elena glanced at each other.

“Sometimes,” said Elena. “Why do you ask?”

Aditi hesitated.

“Can you do one for me please? Small one.”

Elena smiled.

“Lemme go get my stuff.”

In a matter of minutes the dining table had been turned into a makeshift tattoo studio. Aditi rested her forearm on the table while Elena prepped her skin.

“Hey, this won’t hurt too much, na?” asked Aditi, a hint of anxiousness in her voice.

“Oh no, not here,” said Elena. “This is one of the least painful areas. Also I like how you have like, NO hair on your arms. I’m actually super hairy, I have to shave all the time!”

Rani slapped her forehead and started laughing. Aditi smiled awkwardly, but then her face suddenly fell.

“I was seeing you both doing sketches with Aarush.”

“Oh, okay,” said Rani, nodding. She already knew of course, but decided not to reveal that. “Yeah, he’s a sweet kid.”

“You both really love each other, don’t you?” asked Aditi, softly.

Rani and Elena smiled at each other.

“We do,” said Rani, playing with Elena’s hair. Aditi’s eyes started to become glassy.

“I… I wish I had that.”

“What?”

“I wish I had what you both have,” said Aditi. “I thought I found that with Ravi, but…”

Rani got up from her chair, stood next to Aditi, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Talk to us.”

A tear trickled down Aditi’s cheek.

“My life just feels so empty. This Ravi doesn’t do anything or say anything, he’ll just simply go off in the morning and come off in the evening. And I know Ravi will listen to your Mum only. He’ll simply do whatever she tells, and I can’t do anything about it. You know she didn’t even let me pick my own son’s name? It’s so frustrating!!”

“Have you tried talking to him about this?” asked Elena. Rani scoffed, and Aditi nodded slowly.

“Aa, once. He couldn’t even understand what I was telling, and simply told that I watch too much ‘nonsense’ on TV.”

“Yeah that sounds like him,” said Rani, rolling her eyes. Aditi sniffled.

“You know when I was younger, I used to dream of meeting a handsome prince someday. And he would carry me off into the sunset.”

“You loved fairy-tales as a kid, didn’t you?” asked Rani.

“Oh yeah, I used to LOVE fairy-tales,” said Aditi. “But unfortunately I didn’t get to have one. Not like you both did... I really admire your freedom, Rani, Elena.”

Rani and Elena looked at each other.

“Well, maybe this will help,” said Elena. “A small reclamation of agency from your– what's the word? Your ‘co-sister’.”

Aditi smiled, then wiped her tears. Elena picked up her tattoo gun and inserted a fresh, new needle.

“Okay, I’m about ready to start. Just let me know if at any point it hurts too much.”

Aditi closed her eyes.

*******

“You know your Mum has a small tattoo on her forearm, right?” asked Karthik. Aarush nodded.

“Yeah, I think I called it a ‘stamp’ when I was younger. But…”

Aarush looked at his uncle worryingly. Arun still hadn’t said a word.

“Was Mum really feeling that bad about how her life turned out?”

Karthik looked at him with sympathy.

“Yes.”

“And it was Dad’s fault?”

Karthik took a deep breath.

“Not fully. Ravi’s an idiot only, but you see who made him like that in the first place.”

Arun covered his face with his hand. Aarush knew the answer, but at this point he felt like he didn’t need to say it out loud.