Chapter Eighty-Four: The Garden of Tears
The morning of the third day was gray.
Clouds covered the sun. The garden looked muted, colorless, like the world itself was mourning.
Jay had managed to eat a few bites of breakfast. Keifer hadn't left her side.
Shreya hadn't come down at all.
---
Mithun found her in the garden.
She was sitting on the bench near the rose bushes—the spot where she and Mithun had first confessed their feelings. Where everything had begun.
She was staring at nothing.
He sat beside her. Didn't speak. Just took her hand.
For a long moment, there was silence.
Then it started.
Quiet at first. A single tear. Then another.
Then the sobs came.
---
Loud.
Wracking.
Uncontrollable.
Shreya cried like her heart was breaking—because it was.
"She was real, Mithun." Her voice was shredded. "She was real and she was here and now she's gone and I never even got to hold her or see her or tell her I loved her."
Mithun pulled her into his arms. "I know."
"I was going to be her aunt. Her favorite aunt. I was going to teach her everything, show her everything, love her—" She couldn't finish.
He held her tighter.
"Why? Why did this happen? She didn't do anything wrong. Jay didn't do anything wrong. The baby didn't do anything wrong. WHY?"
He had no answer.
No one did.
---
From the kitchen window, Jay saw them.
Saw Shreya's heaving shoulders. Saw Mithun holding her.
She turned to Keifer. "I need to go out there."
"Jay, you're barely holding it together yourself."
"I know. But she's my sister. She's hurting. I need to be there."
He nodded. "I'll come with you."
---
They walked into the garden.
Shreya didn't hear them at first. She was too deep in her grief.
Jay sat beside her on the bench. Reached for her hand.
Shreya looked up. Her face was destroyed—red, swollen, wet.
"Jay—"
"I know." Jay's voice cracked. "I know."
"I can't stop thinking about her. About what she would have been like. About—"
Jay pulled her into a hug.
And then Jay started crying too.
---
Not the quiet tears she'd been holding in.
Loud sobs. Deep grief.
The two sisters held each other and cried.
For the baby they'd lost.
For the future that would never be.
For all of it.
---
Mithun watched, heartbroken.
Keifer stood beside him.
"I don't know what to do," Mithun whispered. "I can't fix this. I can't make it better."
"You can't. No one can. You just... stay. You hold her. You let her grieve."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Mithun nodded slowly. "It doesn't feel like enough."
"It never does. But it's all we can do."
---
They let the women cry.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours.
Time didn't exist in the garden.
Finally, the sobs quieted.
Shreya pulled back, looking at Jay.
"I'm sorry. You're the one who lost your baby. I shouldn't be making this about me."
Jay shook her head. "You're not. You're grieving too. We all are. That's what family does."
"She was my niece."
"She was. And she knew you loved her. Even for the short time she was here."
Shreya wiped her eyes. "You think?"
"I know. She heard us talking. She felt our love. That doesn't just disappear."
---
Akshi appeared at the garden door.
Her eyes were red too. She'd been crying again.
She walked toward them slowly. Sat on the grass at their feet.
"I can't stop thinking about her," Akshi whispered. "I keep imagining what she would have looked like. What her laugh would have sounded like. What—" She stopped. Cried.
Jay reached down, touched her hair. "Me too."
"It's not fair."
"No. It's not."
---
The four of them sat there—Jay, Shreya, Akshi on the grass, Mithun and Keifer standing close.
Grieving together.
Holding each other up.
---
After a long time, Keiran appeared.
He walked carefully, Rex in one hand, Ganesha in the other.
He went to Jay first. Climbed onto her lap.
"Mamma sad?"
"Yes, baby."
"Rex wants to help."
Jay kissed his forehead. "Rex is helping."
He looked at Shreya. "Auntie Shreya sad too?"
Shreya managed a small smile. "Yes, baby."
"Rex can help you too."
"Tell Rex thank you."
Keiran nodded. Then he looked at Akshi. "Auntie Akshi sad?"
Akshi nodded, crying again.
Keiran climbed down. Went to her. Hugged her.
She held him tight.
---
They stayed in the garden until the sun broke through the clouds.
Little by little, the gray faded.
Little by little, the tears stopped.
Not because the grief was gone.
But because they were together.
And together, they could bear it.
---
That night, they ate dinner together.
No one talked much. But they ate.
Keiran sat between Shreya and Akshi. Rex and Ganesha on the table.
Percy made a joke. No one laughed, but no one glared either.
C.N. shared a fact about stars. About how they're born, how they die, how they become something new.
Jay looked at Keifer.
"Maybe that's what she is now. A star."
He squeezed her hand. "The brightest one."
Shreya looked up at the sky through the window.
"Hi, baby girl. We love you."
Akshi nodded. "We'll always love you."
The table was silent.
But it was a different silence now.
Not empty.
Full of love.
---
End of Chapter Eighty-Four