The sound of children wrangling and their laughter filled the living room and escaped through the French window onto the porch of Aryaan's new terrace as he pulled up to the driveway from afar. He was finally home- his home; the place was his own, a dear prize to himself after years of back breaking hard work, relentless house hunting and it had all paid off over a year ago.
It has been an exhaustive journey so far. A total of four hours from the work site to the airport by car, but his arrival to the terminal didn't affect the unsettling weather conditions lately, it is expected to be so this time of the year. The rain and snow fall made the roads far more dangerous to travel upon, let alone long windy roads to the mountain tops. The weather, along with his pure dumb luck caused his flight to be delayed for yet another couple of hours. 'When will I ever catch a break...' he thought to himself.
It's definitely been rough couple of years for him, he voluntarily put himself in a place where he doesn't speak the language, where con-artists and lawyers work in the same firms and wear the same uniforms, where he rarely got a full night's sleep when production is up and the loneliness, not to say the least. He called to move and work in remote sites in hopes that setting up a production line in the outskirts would be far more affordable. And besides, he had nothing to lose, no wife, no kids, no dependents, he was a free man and so he took the risk. Rightly so, the business profited three folds in less than two years... But the implications that came along with such decisions were too difficult to live with so he thought he could use a break.
He completed eighteen months away from family and familiar faces. The commotion at work had conclusively bubbled-down and it was safe enough for him to leave the operations and hand it over to the site engineers for maintenance. Tired and exhausted as he was, he was finally going home - but not until two hours from now.
Aryaan thought it would be a good idea to call home and let everyone know he's been delayed. His brothers' wife panics and expects the worse to have happened to anyone when in fact they were just running late.
Someone answered before he heard the second ring.
"Hello. Who's there?" A little mousey voice trying to sound sophisticated.
She answered before he could respond to her. "Aryaan maamaa!" His face on the caller ID was a dead giveaway.
"What time will you be here?" Tanya is the four year old princess of his heart, she had just about enough of mishaps, excuses and delays and she won't be dealing with another from Aryaan. He felt his heart smiled at the sound of her lovely voice. He could picture her soft little cheek pressed onto the receiver at the other end, Aryaan heard her so clearly that he felt her so close, he could reach out and hold her that he almost forgot to respond to her question.
"I'm coming home as fast as I can sweethea-" Someone pulled the receiver away from her and she started wailing and kicking on something hard in efforts to display protest. Aryaan panicked thinking what if she had a fall! He realized that much of Tanya's mother's superstitious thinking had rubbed off on him too.
"Hello?" Aryaan said as he stuck his index finger in his ear and proceeded to squint in efforts to drown out all the noises from his surroundings, he thought maybe it was the reception on his mobile.
"ARYAAN MAAMA CAN WE USE YOUR COMPUTER IN THE STUDY ROOM? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! DAKSHAN AND I WANT TO FIND OUT IF BATMAN AND IRONMAN ARE FRIENDS OR ENEMIES?" Such excitement in his tone, Aryaan smirked to himself in relief. Of course, it was Darshan. The mischievous yet charming- no less, little six years old twin. He was older by 2 minutes. Dakshan was now wrestling his older-by-120 seconds brother to get a chance to run another question by to Aryaan.
"Yes, but only if you be -- Darshan? Dakshan? Guys?? Hello?" Further interruption again and yet another unanswered question. He could hear Tanya snatching the phone and trying to pull it away from the boys, but her brother was too strong, and times two.
Aryaan began to rub his forehead and pace back and forth around the lounge area in the airport and decided to wait until someone from home was ready to have a decent conversation without having to have their hands on somebody else's face.
"Hello? Darshan? Guys come on now...Hello" Aryaan knew he could just hang up and redial in hopes that someone else, preferably an 'adult' would pick up, but he simply didn't. He missed the children; he wanted to somehow be present with his nephews and niece by listening in on their feuds.
"Aryaan?" He immediately recognized that voice. He sat up straight and cleared his throat as he lost his train of thought. Somehow that voice dissipated everything else.
"Hey!" The soft, honey glazed luscious voice called out. He heard a slight smile on her face. It was as if a nightingale had spoken. All the weight that was on his shoulders scurried away, he felt a tingle on his chest.
"Hey Kay." That was all that he could muster out. He was weak in the knees and felt a little light headed.
"Is everything okay?" she asked. He could still hear that smile. Aryaan's niblings had long forgotten about their bickering and was now crowding around her like little picket fences around a lush green garden.
"Everything is fine; my flight got pushed back for a couple of hours. We couldn't get the clearance because of the storm outside." He said trying to sound casual.
"Ohh Noo, I'm sorry... Just... ummm... just take your time and get here safely. I'll inform your brother." She assured him. His knees grew weaker. Aryaan felt the need to rush home now more so than ever.
