Maan knew it was her typical behavior among little newborn
babies and little children. He smiled remembering his own angel's birth.
Neither him nor Geet could take their eyes of their little tiny miracle wrapped
in pink cloth and constantly fought to have her in their arms. In fact, Niha
was a miracle child as Geet had a lot of problems conceiving but he never gave
up hope and Niha was a God sent gift for them and he would be always thankful
for that.
"Teekhai Maan, I need to rush, catch
ya later, love you!" Geet said interrupted his thoughts.
"Love you too jaan!" he
called back as he rolled into his garage and parking the car.
He pulled off his seatbelt and opened the rear door. He
carefully unlocked Niha's booster seat and lifted his sleeping beauty. She
snuggled closer to him and wound her arms around his neck. He picked up rest of
the shopping bags and managed to close the door and walk into the house. He
dropped the bags on the couch nearby and decided to let Niha sleep for a little
while more for tonight would be long at the party. He went to his room to pick
a dress for Geet while he chose a dark purple shirt along with black formals to
go with it. He chose a long purple elegant dress with butterfly back to match
with his shirt.
The clock chimed showing 5:30PM; Maan switched off his
laptop, finishing some work that needed immediate attention and got up to wake
Niha before they could get ready and headed to the Christmas party.
"Niha baby, wake up, we need to get
going," he said slightly patting her cheeks. Niha woke up after a
few attempts and he got her ready in her new white and red formal dress.
"Where is mama?"
Niha asked, sitting on the counter top and sipping her strawberry Nesquik.
"She's at the hospital and shall come
over there directly," Maan said grabbing the car keys,
lifting her, and walking out of the house.
"I miss mama,"
Niha quipped, settling in her booster seat while Maan buckled her up.
"I miss her too baby," he
said looking through the rear view mirror before hitting the road.
***
The party was in full swing when Maan entered Arun's
house. Arun and his wife, Prerna greeted him warmly at the door and kissed
little Niha nestled safely in Maan's arms. After the initial exchanges, he let
Niha down as she ran to meet her friends while he stood to catch up with his
buddy. Arun's tall and well-built figure stood towering his petite and elegant
wife, Prerna while the three stood talking. Arun and Prerna had met in college
before they decided to tie the knot 4 years later.
Arun studied with him from kindergarten until they
completed high school in India before moving permanently to New York when his
family shifted. Both had kept in touch and when Maan came on a business trip to
New York they finally met up and things had headed for a sweet surprise when he
met his Geet in the same hospital Arun's father had been admitted to. And the
rest was history.
"Geet kahaan hai?"
Arun asked seeing no trace of Maan's wife.
"Oh some emergency at the hospital so
she had to leave early this morning. Me and Niha did all the shopping and here
we are," he smiled.
"Dekha Arun,"
Prerna said whacking Arun's arm, "Maan please teach him the basics of helping
his wife."
"Ouch sweetheart, it hurts,"
Arun whined while furiously rubbing his arm. "Maan was the shopping details
necessary?" he asked glaring at Maan. "You are always intent on getting
me beaten by my wife!"
"Oh please Arun, stop complaining
will you?" Prerna said sternly. "You know Maan, I have to take care of all
the work at home, go grocery shopping, and then take care of his kids, who
hardly listen to a word of mine," she said exasperated.
"Oh no!" Maan
reacted alarmed at the revelation, "Arun are you making my darling work?"
he said side-hugging Prerna while glaring at Arun.
"Stop ganging up against me! Gosh!
You guys are taking advantage of the fact that Geet is not here to support me," he whined
like a child causing Maan and Prerna to crack up.
Just as they were about to walk into the main living room,
Geet walked, looking a bit morose. "Ah there comes my savior!" Arun
said loudly, making Maan and Prerna turn to see her.
Maan noticed her looking a bit aloof and walked to her and
kissed her forehead, "Is everything alright jaan?" he
asked with concern.
"Huh?"
Geet replied shaking off her daze, "umm yes, everything is fine, I need to
freshen up a bit please excuse me," she said unable to look at him in
the eye.
Prerna saw the sudden change in atmosphere and volunteered
to walk Geet to the guest room and Maan and Arun headed to the living room. "You
okay hun?" Prerna asked.
"Yes Prerna, sorry, I am fine just
had a long day," Geet managed to say and smile that
didn't reach her eyes.
"Alright if there is anything you
know where to find me," she offered not wanting to press the
issue before letting Geet get ready.
"Thanks," she
mumbled before walking to the bathroom and changing into the dress brought by
Maan for her.
Geet walked down the stairs only to have every head turn
at her arrival and gape at her divine and angelic beauty. The dress fit her
perfectly accentuating her curves in the proper places and her skin glowed with
the minimum make-up on her flawless face. Yet the most important thing seemed
to be missing, her radiating smile. She walked down the stairs to be joined by
her husband who was no less than a perfectly chiseled Grecian god. She wound
her arm around his well-toned arm while he pulled her close to him and placed
his arms possessively around her, claiming his right on her. Everyone subtly
nodded their head in approval as a sign of greeting before returning to their
original job of chitchatting.
"Geet, kya hua, you look pale,
tumhari tabyat teekh hai na?" he asked, concern and anxiety
evident in his tone.
"Yeah, it's just been a long day
Maan," she said looking away.
"Geet look at me love, I know you too
well to hide things from me."
Geet was about to say something when someone in the crowd
shouted, "Oh my god they are standing under the mistletoe and that calls for a
kiss!" causing everyone to laugh and look eagerly at the couple.
"Jaan they want me to kiss, and I
cannot disappoint the crowd can I?" he said bending to take her
lips but only to find her reluctant to respond to his touch. The crowd hooted
not knowing the internal conflict while Maan let go of Geet and looked at her
with his brows furrowed in worry. He quietly slipped from the crowd along with
Geet and walked to the nearest guestroom. He made her sit on the couch and bent
down to meet her eye-level. She had her eyes cast down so he slipped his
fingers under her chin to make her see him. Her eyes clearly spelled her
internal turmoil. "Geet please tell me what is bothering you, I kills me to see you like
this," he said earnestly making her burst into tears. He instantly
cradled her and let her sob while calming her with his soothing words.
"Shh it's alright baby," he
said rubbing her back, slightly calming her back. "Kya hua jaan?" he asked
finally when her sobs died down.
"Voh, voh, they couldn't save that
Aliya," she managed to speak as a fresh set of tears trailed her
cheeks, "she, she died in my arms Maan!"
Maan knew Geet was very emotional and sentimental type.
She would be easily affected when she saw someone in pain and that was the main
reason she had chosen a career in medicine. She wanted to alleviate the
suffering of people and it killed her to see people around her in hardship. It
always amazed him how determined and had an amazing quick mindedness for a
doctor yet when she saw people in pain she would take it on herself and become
very emotional and attached. He combed her hair and rocked her, "It's
okay, I am sure she'll find peace high above," he said.
"She died in my arms Maan, asking me
to take care of her child," Geet sobbed.
"Of course jaan as a doctor you shall
make every effort to take care of that child," he
said wiping her tears with a swipe of his thumb.
Geet kept quiet for sometime and silence prevailed among
them. She seemed to be in deep thought as she sniffed back her tears. "Are
you okay now, ab hum chalein?" he asked trying to get up but she held
his wrist firmly.
"Maan I was thinking," she
began unable to find the right words. She looked at him and he smiled, asking
her to continue, "I was thinking of adopting the child." Maan was stunned
initial at the sudden declaration and bent down again to look at her to see if
she was joking but her serious and eager expression showed otherwise.
"Geet I am sure we can provide for
the child without having to adopt the child officially," he
said with a serious tone.
"But I want to adopt the baby Maan,
please?" she asked hesitantly.
"Geet let's talk about this later, ab
hume chalna chahiye," he urged.
"Nahi Maan I am not going to change
my decision, I am have made up my mind," Geet affirmed.
"Yeh kya pagalpan hai Geet? Just
because you saw the mother die in your arms, you are not responsible to adopt
the child and make it our own," Maan said firmly, scrunching
his eyebrows.
"Maan this is neither about my
responsibility nor about sympathy!" Geet said frustrated. "Maan
why do you find it so odd to adopt a child?"
"Geet I like kids and I would like to
have our own kids," Maan stated blatantly, stressing on 'our'. Geet was appalled at Maan's
declaration at his sudden narrow-minded thinking. "Maan?" she asked in
disbelief.
"Geet dekho, we shall provide
everything for the child, I promise magar uskeliye you don't have to take hasty
decisions," he said calmly, cupping her cheeks.
"Maan you think I am making a hasty
decision? I have thoroughly thought about this and I personally want to adopt
the child to provide for the little one as a mother," she
said earnestly looking at Maan. "I have made this decision as a mother. When
I held that child in my arms it was the exact same feeling when I held Niha for
the first time," she confessed. Yet Maan still seemed to not be fully
convinced by Geet's revelation and kept quiet. "Maan you know and have seen me
suffer a lot before I conceived Niha, what if, what if I would have never
conceived our child, even then you wouldn't have adopted one?" she
asked at point blank.
"Don't say that Geet, I knew you
would carry my child," he said looking away with guilt.
Seeing him still reluctant she withdrew from his hands and
stood up. "Forget it Maan, it would just be a waste of time to convince a man who
feels it is something below him to adopt a child. I never knew you were so
narrow-minded Maan!" she said before huffing out of the room, angrily
wiping away her tears.
"Geet!" he
tried to call but all in vain. He walked out of the room to find her talking to
Prerna and her other friends and thus couldn't talk to her.
Throughout the rest of the party, she gave him a royal
ignore and moved to talk to someone else thus giving him no lone time to talk
to her. It pained him to see her ignoring him, but what irked him more were the
words that had pierced his heart. He had never thought about adopting and the
whole notion of becoming a father to a stranger child was very foreign to him. He
had initially tried to convince her to see reality but she had stubbornly
refused his advances and before he knew it she had left the main living room
where all the people were present. He panicked at her sudden disappearance and
scanned to crowd to get a glimpse of her. He rushed out of the house and was
relieved to find her standing by the end of the porch looking sadly at the
moonless sky. He went to stand close by her but not too close to alert her of
his presence.
"I am sorry
baby, I though I would be blessed by becoming a mother to you, but I guess I am
not very fortunate to call myself your mother," she
confessed, tears freely flowing down her cheeks,
"Maan doesn't seem to be fond of
you. I don't want you to suffer being ignored by him. I am sorry, so sorry,"
she said silently sobbing her heart out. Maan's heart tore to see her cry
silently and wanted to hug her tightly and ask for forgiveness. He never
expected Geet to take the child's adoption so seriously. He felt disgusted with
his own thoughts of denying the poor child a good family. He wiped his lone
tear before turning around and resolving to fix his follies.
Geet stood looking up at the sky for a long time before
finally wiping them and heading inside before she attracted a search party in
her name. The dinner buffet had begun and Geet walked through the crowd to feed
Niha. She found her daughter enjoying her meal with her friends, laughing and
enjoying and looked to see Prerna helping the kids settle in the corner so that
they could have fun and at the same time eat properly.
"Thanks Pri,"
Geet said walking over to her.
"Of
course Geet, isn't Niha like my own daughter,"
Prerna replied giving a smile. "I hope everything is fine now?" she
asked referring to Geet's dull mood.
"Umm' yeah," she
said not wanting to elaborate further.
"Geet tum bhi kha lo, Maan informed
me he had to leave on some urgent business call,"
Prerna informed.
"Oh!"
Geet began loudly. "And he couldn't even
inform me personally," she finished mentally, peeved at his behavior.
***
Geet finally managed to get home. She walked into the
house with Niha peacefully sleeping in her arms, free the turmoil and tension
around her. Geet managed to pry off the dress off of Niha and tucked her in her
bed before walking to the balcony hoping to get some peace of mind. She looked
at the time and it was quarter past 11 and yet there was no sign of Maan. However
much they fought Maan would always return home to appease her as he hated to go
to bed angry but today there was absolutely no sign of him. In spite of her anger
towards Maan she wanted him to be safe. She dialed his cell phone only to be
answered by his voicemail. She sighed and kept the phone on the coffee table
and leaned on the railings and staring into nothingness.
***
The sudden shrill of the cell phone brought Geet back from
her slumber. She jerked open her eyes open only to realize she had fallen
asleep leaning on the railing. She stretched to get the phone, "Hello,"
she answered groggily.
"Hey jaan, could you please open the
door, I kind of have my hands full," Maan said cheerfully from the
other side on the line.
Geet scrunched her eyebrows in doubt; did he really forget we fought? She got up, adjusting the dress she
didn't change out of and walked to the living room to open the door. She opened
the door to find Maan smile cheekily while his both hands seemed to be hidden
behind his back.
"Are you alright Maan? Why do you
have that silly grin of yours and what is that you are hiding?" she
asked irritated and guessing he probably had a bunch of her favorite calla
lilies to make up.
"First let me apologize for being
such a jerk Geet, I swear I never meant to be so discriminating. I guess I was
very narrow-minded afterall," he pleaded apologetically.
"It's okay Maan it was my fault too.
I shouted at you without giving you time to think. I, I was overwhelmed and
became emotional without letting my rational judgment have the better of me," she
said looking down guiltily.
"No love, please don't apologize. I
realized the depth of love and magnanimity of it with your simple gesture of
wanting to become a mother. And as a token of apology will you please accept me
back negating my folly?" he asked hesitantly. The clock
struck 12 in the background when he brought his hand forward, holding something
precious in a little car seat. "Merry Christmas my love!" he said
smiling at her.
Initially she was shocked at the sudden gift and gasped in
surprise. Bust slowly as the fact that Maan had brought the precious little
baby she wanted to become the mother of sunken in, tears of joy streamed down
Geet's cheeks. She tried hard to stifle a sob by closing her mouth but her
emotions refused to listen to her. She was overwhelmed at Maan's genuine and
heartfelt apology along with the world's best Christmas gift. She knew he was
being a bit immature when he scoffed about adoption but his apology and
realization had touched her deeply. She had never seen a man so sincere and
heartwarming after her father and thanked her stars for allowing her to become
part of his life. She walked towards him slowly, uncertain this whole thing was
a dream while he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He
opened the hood of the baby seat to reveal the little angel sleeping serenely
with her little pink throw, securely wrapped around her tiny body and her tiny
hands covered in little pink mittens.
The sudden gushes of wind from the balcony brushed the baby
causing her to jerk her face off a bit and cover her face shabbily. Geet smiled
at the cute gesture and looked up at Maan. He smiled contentedly at her, "Go
ahead Geet, she is waiting for you to be picked up," he said forwarding
the car seat. She carefully picked up the tiny cherub and cradled her in her
arms and nestled her near her bosom while admiring her all the while. He kept
the baby car seat and came to stand beside her, admiring the little one as
well.
Once cradled securely in Geet's hands, the baby snuggled
into her warmth as though that's where she belonged always and continued to
sleep peacefully. Geet softly ran her hand on the baby's cheek before looking
up at Maan, "Thank you," she managed to say in between her crying. He bent
to kiss her forehead lovingly.
"No sweetheart, thank YOU," he
said wiping her tears away. "Thank you for allowing me to become the
father of the such wonderful and precious angel," he said cupping her
cheeks. "Agar tum nahi batati, then I think I would have missed something
important in life," he said lovingly gazing at the child in her arms. She
gestured to take the baby in his arms and he most willingly acceded to take the
little one in his arms and cradling her head carefully. He bent to softly peck
the baby when the baby cooed as though she was satisfied with his gesture. Both
chuckled at the baby's response while Geet hugged Maan. He balanced the baby in
one hand and wound his other around Geet, bringing her closer to him.
"When the nurse first kept the baby
in my arms, it was literally love at first sight. This little angel had
captured my heart with her serene and calming beauty. Tab pata chala why you instantly
fell in love with her. You were right Geet, she is indeed absolutely adorable
and I thank God for allowing me to become the father of such a sweet little
one," he whispered.
"Mujhe pata hai Mr. Khurana I am
always right," Geet tried to lighten the mood, sniffing back her tears.
"Oh really Mrs. Khurana?" he
teased, "and that is the reason why you always chose to ignore my proposals to
marry you?"
"I was right in doing so too. If not
who would have guessed the great business tycoon Maan Singh Khurana had a heart
to love and give?" she asked smirking. "And
if you haven't realized until now, let me remind you, a woman always loves
attention," she winked naughtily.
"Ah! How could I have missed that!" he
exclaimed with amusement before bending to take her lips for a soft kiss. He
was about to deepen the kiss when the baby stirred and made little sounds, as
though trying to gain attention. They broke away from the kiss, laughing, "Haan
haan mera baccha I didn't forget you," he said his eyes sparkling
seeing the little one open her doe-eyed eyes, revealing a beautiful pair of
aqua blue eyes.
Maan started to walk towards the guest room holding the
baby in one and Geet's hand in other. "I am sorry baby but please adjust in your
older sister's crib tonight, papa will get you a new one tomorrow, teekhai?"
he asked as if she could understand. Geet's eyes filled up at his concern and
stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheeks. He turned to see her smile, "vaise
jaan, what are you going to name my kid?" he asked seriously.
"I have always loved the name
Mehrunnisa, it means 'Sun of Women' and it seems she was the most beautiful
wife of Jahangir. And the story has it she was more beautiful than Mumtaz who
was her niece. And she too had these pair of beautiful aqua blue eyes,"
Geet said in reverence.
"Hello Nisa,"
Maan greeted his daughter with the new name given by his wife and kept her
carefully in the crib before placing a kiss. Geet kissed her fingers and
brushed them on her daughter and smiled, thanking God for this joy.
"Maan what are we going to tell
Niha?" she asked looking a bit worried at her older daughter's
reaction.
"We are going to tell her the truth," he
stated plainly. She cocked her eyebrows in confusion. "We are going to say Nisa is a
God sent gift for this Christmas," he finished as though reading her
mind. Geet smiled and hugged him tightly before kissing his chest where his
heart lay.
They stood for a while absorbing the surrounding calmness
while their daughter slept peacefully in the crib. And a moment later Maan
deftly lifted her in his arms and headed out of the door. "Maan what are you doing?"
she asked alarmed at his sudden act.
"You got your Christmas gift, but
where is mine, my love?" his voice reverberated huskily.
"Shameless!"
Geet scolded, hitting his chest lightly but nonetheless enjoying his gesture.
"I have already told you Geet, I need
a lot of junior Khuranas running around this house. Ab toh mujhe do betiyan
hain, but I wanna a baby boy, aur uske liye mehnat bahut zaroori hai," he
said throwing her on their bed and falling right on her, causing her to giggle.
He started to work on the zip of her dress while kissing her. "Did
I tell you, you looked absolutely ravishing in this dress," he said
breaking off their kiss while she urgently unbuttoned his shirt.
"Nope! But you
can show how ravishing I was now," she said mischievously, biting his shoulder before
licking off the area she bit. And that was enough to make Maan rip off other
barriers before making her his, in body and soul.
l*THE END*l
geet's dress... Niha's dress...
wish u all MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 😊 (i know i am a bit late... but better late than never 😉😳😃)
Edited by Maaneet099 - 12 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount