Avani felt like dying when she heard Kasai’s nervous reaction next to her in the sofa, but didn’t turn to look at her. She stared straight ahead, shifting a bit in her seat. When Kasai asked her what she thought about the offer, Avani didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. Thankfully she didn’t need to come up with a response, as Kasai didn’t wait for one before clarifying that she was joking as well. She breathed out in relief. Hopefully her grandmother wouldn’t push the topic further, because she was fairly certain she’d been serious. It wasn’t really in her power to give any of the kids away though, as they were probably Avani’s cousins. She imagined it did get annoying living with so many noisy kids, but giving them away was hardly the best option.

“It is a nice home I suppose.” Ekta finally said after having been silent for a while. “Shame. Well there’s still time for you, but you shouldn’t wait too long, dear. Avani here isn’t gonna become any more of a man over the years.” She paused and muttered to herself. “Stories about little Avani, hmm…”

“Ekta!” Her cousin scolded their grandmother when she returned to the living room with tea and cups on a tray. “Don’t try to push everyone into getting kids.” She placed the tray on a table in front of the sofa, then took a seat next to Avani. “Though I do wonder what your poor mother will think when she hears about your… predicament.”

Avani wasn’t surprised by Jaya’s attitude towards her. They had never gotten along all that well, even as kids, and maybe a part of her had hoped they wouldn’t have met now that she returned. She was grateful that Jaya had interrupted any embarrassing childhood memory from surfacing for the moment though.

“Pfft, her poor mother.” Ekta scoffed. “I’ll deal with her, and you too if you don’t watch your tongue.”

Jaya grinned at Avani, but didn’t say anything else. Instead she sipped on her tea.

“What was I about to say…” Ekta muttered to herself, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Embarrassing stories about Avani as a kid, nana. She’d love to share them with her girlfriend.” Jaya kept grinning at Avani, and didn’t pay much attention to the other two. She got the urge to punch her in the face, which reminded her of all the times she had pulled Jaya’s hair or pushed her around. Maybe she had it coming, karma for what she’d done so many years ago.

“Ah yes, I remember. Avani was as bad as those out there, but I guess it’s a family trait. Yeah, she was boisterous, but she liked storytime too. It happened more than once that we realized she’d been gone for a long while without anyone knowing where she was, and then we’d find her in some odd place where she was searching for fairytale creatures or spirits. Once she turned a storage room upside down and fell asleep.”

Avani waited for something worse to be brought up, expecting her grandmother to think of a better story than that because she was sure there were quite a few. She could have told Kasai herself if she’d asked, but then what was family for if not to embarrass her. 

“Oh, I know.” Jaya said, and turned towards Kasai. “I have an older sister, Avani’s cousin.”

“Please don’t.” Avani whispered, and closed her eyes. She knew where this was headed, she’d tried to forget certain memories of that one cousin.

“Avani used to follow her around all the time when she was like five or six. My sister even treated her as a friend. I was kind of jealous, cause it was my sister, right? So I asked Avani why she spent so much time with my sister, and she confessed she may have a crush on her.” Jaya snorted. “It gets better, cause I convinced Avani that she should tell her, and eventually she did after some persuasion. Except she did it at a family dinner after we’d heard that an old friend had died to brighten up the mood.” Jaya burst out laughing, but soon yelped and spilled some of her tea when Avani pinched her arm hard. She glared at Avani, then placed her cup on the table and used her apron to clean the worst of it up.

Ekta shook her head and smiled. “Heh, children. Of course, no one took her seriously because she was a child, and children don’t understand that kind of love. It actually did make some of us laugh too, so she did brighten the mood even if it wasn’t in the way she’d intended.”