Page 27 of Twisted Bonds

“That’s great. I missed home-cooked food, and I’m already feeling hungry.”

“I’ll tell the cook to prepare for an early dinner, sir.”

Rumi was close to sixty-five, but the older woman ran like a young girl to the kitchen to inform the cook to prepare for an early dinner. Gauri was still amused by how much her people adored and wanted to impress Rishab even though he had lived in the Bhil mansion for over ten years.

“Papa!”

“Ma!”

Gauri smiled when she saw Anika and Neel arriving home from their school. Their school uniforms were muddy from their playing activities.

But Rishab knelt down and spread his arms to receive them. The children rushed into his arms.

“Oof! Did you grow bigger and stronger while I was away for a week?” Rishab asked.

The children giggled. Anika was nine years old, and Neel was five.

“Papa, I won the horse race and archery competitions at school!” Anika said excitedly.

Rishab smiled. “Congratulations, princess. I knew you would win as you have been practicing hard.”

Anika beamed at her father’s praise.

Anika was her papa’s girl. Although both Anika and Neel were well-behaved children, Gauri sometimes had to discipline her daughter for breaking the rules. A few weeks ago, Anika had chosen to ride a horse that was still under training. As a consequence, Gauri had told Anika she wouldn’t be allowed to ride for a week.

Anika was upset and pleaded with her papa to cancel the punishment. Although Rishab told Anika to listen to her mother, he later teased Gauri, saying that Anika inherited the feisty attitude from her.

“Papa, I was able to ride Durga!” Neel said excitedly.

Until then, Neel was only allowed to ride ponies with supervision. It was only in the last week that Gauri had allowed him to ride Durga, who was now an aging, gentle horse.

“That’s great news, buddy,” Rishab told his son with a smile. “We’ll tell grandma and grandpa you can ride a big horse now.”

Neel looked excited about sharing that news with his grandparents.

“Are you both excited about the holidays?” Rishab asked, even though the answer was obvious.

“Yes!” the children shouted.

The children loved the holidays, most of which were spent in the Thakvar mansion, where they had fun with their cousins and extended family.

“All right, change your clothes and freshen up,” said Gauri. “Papa and I will come and help you finish your packing.”

The children’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Yay!” they screamed and ran towards their room, where they had been putting together all their favorite toys to take along with them for the trip.

Gauri and Rishab headed upstairs to their bedroom. As soon as they stepped in, Rishab pulled her and kissed her.

“I missed you,” he said. “You should have come with me to Africa.”

“I will next time.”

Gauri missed him, too. She and sometimes even the children joined him on various trips around the world. But she couldn’t join him on his recent trip.

“How are Komal and Jatin?” Gauri asked.

Although Gauri spoke to her younger sister often, she missed seeing her sister as Komal and her husband Jatin traveled across the world as a part of Doctors Without Borders. They were volunteering in Africa right then. After a year, they would return to join the Singoor Hospital.

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