A/N: Kinda a filler chapter where Rajni and Kusum come and visit Karman during the pride march.

One month later

The pride parade was becoming the latest gossip for Rajni and Kusum. They sat down with Keshav, grilling him about anything and everything regarding the event, pestering he elders to let them go to Delhi for the upcoming march.

"Anyways, kuch zaroori baath karni hai un dono se, phone pe nahi kar sakthe. It should be a face to face discussion. Aur maybe hum use yahaan aane ke liye convince karenge... two birds in one stone!" Rajni said. (Anyways, we need to talk to them about something ver important, which can't be talked over the phone. And maybe we can convince them to come over here during the holidays... two birds in one stone!)

"Par yeh pride march kya hai?" Chaman asked. And the three of them (Keshav, Kusum and Rajni) sat down and started lecturing about what is a pride parade and what happens there. (But what is this pride march?)

"Mummy papa ne accept kar liya hai, do hafte ke liye hum tumhare saath reh sakthe hai. Par unhone yeh bhi kaha ki tum dono New Year ke liye Allahabad aana chaahiye ya phir woh tumhare Delhi aa jaayenge" Kusum said while they were talking to Kartik and Aman that night. (Mom and dad have accepted, we can come over there for two weeks. But they also asked me to inform that if you don't come over to Allahabad for the New Year they will come over to Delhi)

"Par maine bachchon ko promise kiya ki main unke saath Christmas aur New year bitaaunga!" Kartik said with a pout. Kartik had really grown very close to the kids at the children's hospital, getting to know them and their stories. He enjoyed the way they brightened up whenever he came over to visit, sometimes bringing along Aman whenever he was free. (But I had promised the kids that I will spend the Christmas and New year with them!)

"Toh phir Christmas ke pehle weekend aaja na? Aur masterji, weekend main aap free hoge, visit karna koi badi baath nahi." Rajni said, facing Aman. She could understand Kartik's point though, she knew that he felt happy spending time with the kids and didn't have the heart to break his promise. But this was family. (Then come over the weekend before Christmas no? And masterji, you will be free in the weekend, it is not a big thing to visit)

"Achcha baba, hum discuss karke batha denge ki hum kab aayenge. Diwali hi toh hum aaye the wahaan. It's not like hum unse milne hi nahi aaye." Aman said. "Woh naraaz hai ki tum unse baath hi nahi karte ho, aur kuch nahi." Kusum said. (Ok, we will discuss and inform them about when we will come over. We just visited you guys during Diwali. Its not like we didn't come to visit at all) (They are angry that you don't talk with them that often, nothing else)

"Toh... kab aa rahe ho tum dono?" Kartik asked. "Pride march ki do din pahle. Aur us din se do hafte hum tumhare saath Delhi mein rahenge. Sightseeing bhi karna hai na?" Rajni said. (So... when are you two coming?) (Two days before the pride march. And we will stay in Delhi for two weeks from then. After all, we need to do sightseeing)

"Ok then, see you in a week, dher ho rahi hai ab, kal masterji ko toh jaldi jaana hai na? Good night!" Kartik said, ignoring Aman's indignant 'hey' in the background. (Ok then, see you in a week, its getting late, masterji has to leave pretty early tomorrow no? Good night!)

Three days after this conversation, Kartik was sitting at home with Aman, both of them just chilling and watching TV when there was a sudden commotion of things being moved around. "Koi vacate kar rahe hai kya? Ya are they moving in?" Kartik asked. Aman just shrugged and went outside to look into it, only to see a very familiar face. (Is anyone vacating? Or are they moving in?)

"Tum!" he cried out as he saw her. "Oh hi Aman! Kaise ho tum?" R asked and waved. "Arey Aman kya hua?" Kartik asked as he approached him. "Tum?" Kartik asked in surprise. (You!) (Oh hi Aman! How are you?) (Aman what happened?)

"Hello Kartik, kahi thi na ki I'll be seeing you soon? Surprise!" R said. "Tum idhar kya kar rahi ho?" he asked. "I'm a male today. And it's obvious, naa inga shift panren" R said with a shrug. (Hi Kartik, didn't I tell you that I'll be seeing you guys soon? Surprise!) (What are you doing here?) (I'm a male today. And it's obvious, I'm shifting here)

"Ek minute, what do you mean you're male today?" Aman asked. R just face palmed and let out a sigh. "Main gender fluid hoon. Aap dono ko bhi iske baare mein explain karni hai kya ya?" she snapped. (I am gender fluid. Should I also explain to you both about this or what?)

"Humko patha hai ki gender fluid kya hota hai. We were just surprised when you said that out of the blue" Kartik defended for the both of them. "Did you just say you were shifting?" Kartik asked. (We know what is gender fluid. We were just surprised when you said it out of the blue)

"Haan, that's what I told... After all you'll need a babysitter soon. Adai, adha anga vekkadha, indha pakkama vei da! Sonna onnum puriyadhe. Iru, naane varen. See you laterz!" she said and huffed away, letting out a long string of curses. The two of them just blinked. "We are getting a new neighbour then" Aman finally said as he shut the door. (Yeah, that's what I told... After all you'll need a babysitter soon. Arey, don't keep that there, keep it this side! You won't understand when I say. Wait, I'll come myself. See you laterz!)

Four days later, Kartik had gone out to pick up Rajni and Kusum while Aman was finishing up the cleaning part when someone knocked on the door. "R? Kya chahiye?" Aman asked as he let her in. "Rajni aur Kusum aa rahe hai na? Usse baath karni hai. Aaj main ladki hoon" R said as she entered. (R? What do you want?) (Rajni and Kusum are coming right? I need to talk with them. I'm a girl today)

"Achcha theek hai, bhaito idhar, main chai lekar aatha hoon. Thodi dher mein aa jaayenge." Aman said and went into the kitchen to prepare some tea for all of them while giving Kartik a heads up about the guest at home. (Ok, sit here, I'll bring some tea. They'll come soon)

The moment the 3 of them entered the house, R got up and asked if the pamphlet pamphlet had helped a little. "Thoda help kiya hai par... it would be better if someone can explain it a bit more clearly." Rajni said. (It helped a little but... it would be better if someone can explain it a bit more clearly)

"Ok, ok, koi discussion karne se pehle, tum dono fresh up karke aana, Kartik saaman ko samhal lega." Aman said as he sat down with R, cuz guests shouldn't be left alone yaar. (Ok, ok, before any discussion, you two freshen up, Kartik will take care of the luggage."

"Ok so... asexuality..." R said, looking at the four of them. "It's like you don't feel sexual attraction like... kisi ko dekkar 'Hey, mujhe isse sex karne ka man kar raha hai' wali feeling nahi hogi. I mean, that can happen sometimes, it differs from person to person." she said. (It's like you don't feel sexual attraction like... you don't see someone and feel like 'Hey, I want to have sex with him'. I mean, that can happen sometimes, it differs from person to person.)

"So there are sub categories?" Kusum asked. "Haan, some people night be totally averse to sex, some might be completely averse to physical contact, some people might not prefer sex until they are in a comfortable relationship, some might not feel the attraction but can do the act... as you said, there is a large spectrum of asexual people. But this is just my understanding of things, you might want to talk with other aces in order to understand more about it..." R said.

"Don't worry, pride march mein tumhe chances milegi aur aces se baath karne ki." Kartik said, looking at Rajni's downtrodden face. (Don't worry, you will get to talk with fellow aces during the pride march)

The day before the march was spent on shopping around and looking at the preparations for the said event. Everyone got a cheesy shirt that relates to their sexuality. Kartik had decided to go with the rainbow cape, preferring to paint 'I'm GAY and HAPPILY MARRIED' on his body.

Aman had purchased a shirt with two guys kissing on them which read "I'm So GAY That I Can't Think STRAIGHT". R had purchased a bracelet that was in the shade of her community and a shirt that said "Ask Me WHO I Am, DO NOT ASSUME That I Am Some THING #GENDERFLUID"

Kusum had a shirt with a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with Girls and Boys painted on either sides (technically looked like "Boys / Girls", assuming the slashes as the tower) with a small note painted at the bottom saying "#BiPride"

Rajni's just got a white shirt and tie dyed the shirt with a mix of Pan and Ace colours and painted "I Am A PanAce, Doesn't Mean That I'm A Menace Doing A Penance" on it.

The next day, they proudly wore their outfits and joined in the rally, chatting up with people freely. A lot of people commented on Kartik's tattoos, some complementing Rajni's handmade merch, asking whether she was getting into the business of creating LGBT merch and all in all, it was an eventful day for everyone.

Rajni had her questions answered and could embrace her identity finally. Aman and Kartik could proudly state that they were married out loud into the crowd while R had managed to get someone's phone number. So yeah, all in all, a very eventful day.

A/N: 4 down 1 to go! Finally a breather from freakin Math *sighs in relief* ! Hope you all like this chapter! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated! This fic is betaed by girl. with. passion! Any prompts are welcome! Working on the next chapter, will be out either today or tomorrow.

NOTE: ALL the t-shirt quotes are my ideas so... if it sounds silly... sorry! Never been to a pride march so... I couldn't exactly describe it...

Thank you all for reading!

Rasi10 signing off

Published on 17 March 2020