The evening had begun to mellow, shadows stretching softly across the courtyard as everyone gathered their belongings, still lost in leftover laughter and half-finished conversations. They weren’t gone yet—not completely. A few stood near the doorway, delaying their departure with one more smile, one more story, one more promise to meet again. The house buzzed with that tender in-between moment, when people are still present but already on the edge of leaving, carrying the warmth of the reunion with them as they prepare to return to their own homes.

Veena looked at Ishani & Aradhana and said excitedly,