I Belong With You part 30 updated (Arsh ff) - Page 25

hey abner

thanks for pm

really nice part . love shona and her tantrums so much.

hope Rohan will not create any problem.

just awesum ff

wooowww maazing part..

loved shona n her antics....

hope armi n shilpa solved the problem n make it less complicated...

thnx for the pm..........

part 27

While rocking Shona, Anjali paced around the room, shrugging at Shilpa's question.

Confused, Shilpa reached for her watch. "Aren't you supposed to be at work at this hour?" she asked her.

"No, and neither do you," Anjali answered. "Apparently we exceeded the worked hours allowed. We should get some rest today; that's what the Chief said."

"Really?" Shilpa asked. Not that she would have minded staying home with Shona for the rest of the day. "But what are you doing here?" she asked then.

Anjali shrugged again while she still tried to calm Shona down. "This looks like a good place to hang out."

In that moment, the door flew open and Sapna stepped inside, glaring at Anjali. She first checked to see if Shilpa was still sleeping before she snapped at Anjali. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to wait down stairs?"

"The baby was up," Anjali retorted. "Besides, you don't get to tell me what to do. I hired you," she added sharply.

"Anjali!" Shilpa scolded, standing out of the bed.

Anjali looked at Shilpa in disbelief. "Are you taking her side?"

"She's right. You show up most of the time uninvited and make yourself comfortable here," she pointed out.

"And?" Anjali shrugged.

Sapna laughed sarcastically at Anjali's answer. "Did you hear that?" she asked Shilpa.

Shilpa let out a sigh. That wasn't the perfect wake-up call; she would have preferred to hear her daughter's scream as alarm rather than the banter between Sapna and Anjali. She walked over to Anjali and took Shona into her arms, gently rubbing circles onto her back in attempt of calming down her whimpers.

"She's already inside," Shilpa gave up and told Sapna. "And I should get up anyway."

Sapna raised a brow disapprovingly. "Do you want me to take Shona?"

Shilpa shook her head. "No. I will take care of her. Thank you."

Sapna smiled and nodded before she shot one last glare towards Anjali and walked out of Shilpa's room.

Shona was calmer now; the shouts and the sharp remarks seemed over, so she could stick her thumb into her mouth again and suck it. She put her head on Shilpa's shoulder and watched Anjali with a frown on her face.

"You disturbed her sleep," Shilpa scolded her.

"She was awake," Anjali answered. "She was awake and she was trying to stick her foot into her mouth."

"That's worse," Shilpa retorted. "You ruined her good mood."

Anjali just rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair, while Shilpa took Shona back into bed, settling on the pillows again. Something had disturbed Shona's good mood; she was whimpering quietly and frowning now.

"What's your problem with Sapna?" Shilpa asked while she had Shona onto her lap and started bouncing her. "Maybe you hired her, but I pay her."

Anjali kept giving absent-minded answers, shrugging. She took a folder she found on Shilpa's desk and placed it on her lap as she started browsing through it. "Life's boring when you don't have a job."

"And you find entertaining pissing the Nannies off, huh?" Shilpa giggled.

Anjali raised her eyes from the folder and smirked at her. "That's not so entertaining though," she stated and let out a sigh.

"Adopt a baby," Shilpa suggested. "You seem to like babies."

Anjali looked at her amusingly, "Let's not exaggerate. I wouldn't say I like babies. It isn't exactly my type of enjoyment."

"You like Shona," Shilpa pointed out. "And there's no point in denying it, because I know it's true." Anjali just rolled her eyes. "You seriously don't want to have a baby?"

Anjali seemed to consider an answer. "I will," she mused. "When I will retire."

Shilpa had to laugh. "So you're not planning on dying in the OR? Really?" she asked sarcastically.

Anjali rolled her eyes as sign of annoyance. "I don't even know why I bear your company," she grumbled, browsing through Shilpa's papers.

Shilpa giggled. "Maybe it's because I saved you from the unwanted marriage," she pointed out. "Or the better context would be… I bear your company," she mused. As Shona started fussing on Shilpa's lap, twisting her torso as she was trying to see Anjali, Shilpa picked her up and turned her around, facing her special friend. "You made her cry earlier, but she still wants to see you," Shilpa stated, smiling at Shona. "You two have a special connection."

"That doesn't mean that I am cut out to be a mom," Anjali stated, discreetly smiling at Shona. "Who lives to this address?" she asked as she took out of the folder a piece of paper.

"What are you doing there?" Shilpa spat as she had just noticed Anjali looking through her things. "Put that back and mind your own business."

"I don't own any business at the moment so I mind yours," Anjali replied, not paying attention to Shilpa's scowl. "Do you want to move?"

Shilpa let out a groan of exasperation. "That's the address where my father lives."

Anjali curiously looked at Shilpa, "I didn't know you have a father."

Shilpa rolled her eyes and pulled Shona into her arms. "Apparently I do."

"You want to visit him today?" she asked her.

Shilpa frowned. "No. Why would I do that?"

Anjali shrugged. "Because you noted down his address and because I need something to do today," she answered.

"I don't think I will be visiting him anytime soon; not today anyway. I have other things to worry at the moment and I don't need my daddy issues to overwhelm me too," she stated.

"Is it because of Malik's mother?" Anjali asked.

Shilpa looked curiously at her. "Maybe."

Anjali closed the folder and threw it back on the desk. "I saw her arguing with Malik earlier at the hospital."

Shilpa stared at her, panic washing over. "Who? Armaan and his mother? They argued? Why?"

Anjali shrugged. "I walked past his office and heard them, but I didn't care about the conflict that much," she answered. She let out a sigh and stood up from the chair, looking around Shilpa's room. "So? Are we going to see your dad?"

Shilpa shook her head and came out of her thoughts and worries as Anjali asked her that. "No. I haven't seen him... like ever. Why would I bother to go and see him now?"

"Why did you take his address if you don't want to see him?" her friend pointed out knowingly.

Shilpa looked down, avoiding the eye-contact with Anjali. "I just wanted to know where he lives," she tried to make it sound matter-of-factly, but it wasn't that successful.

"You should go," Anjali stated. "You should take Shona with you too. He should see how your life moved on without him. "

Shilpa stared at Anjali for a moment. That sounded tempting, but did she have the courage? "I don't think so," she sighed.

Anjali lifted a brow, suggestively looking at Shilpa. "Are you coward like him?"

"I am not!" Shilpa gritted her teeth angrily, but then she understood. She was as coward as he was, just that she had nothing to be ashamed of; at least nothing as big as giving up to her baby.

Anjali noticed Shilpa's thoughtful look and knew she had convinced her. "I will come with you and drive the car. Besides, it is better than thinking about whatever problems you have with Malik's mom."

"It's not better," Shilpa shook her head. "Between these two things I choose to think about nothing."

"Just go and say hi. You don't have to go inside and have a tea. Then you can take this off your list of worries," Anjali suggested.

"I don't have a list of worries," Shilpa frowned.

Anjali looked at Shilpa's wrinkles of worry and disagreed. "I would say you have a long list of worries. Just cut one off the list and it will feel … better."

"You don't know that for sure. You are not about to go and meet your father. We are not going to jump into each other's arms and cry and be daughter and father."

"Most definitely," Anjali agreed. "But you would have a worry less, because you did something about your relationship. You gave him a chance without him asking you for one."

Shilpa kept her brows furrowed as she considered Anjali's reasoning. "You're horrible when you're bored."

Anjali snickered. "I know. Give her to me," she said, holding her hands out for Shona. "She needs something special to wear for this event."

But Shilpa refused to let her go and she got out of the bed, still carrying Shona into her arms. "She needs to eat first."

"I will go look through her closet. I don't want the Nanny to poison her because of me," she said as she walked ahead of Shilpa out of the room.

Shilpa stood for a brief moment, shaking her head. "You really are horrible when you are bored. You're a nightmare."

Anjali just glanced over her shoulder, "It not my fault that your life is a nightmare."

"Why don't we use your life for entertainment?" Shilpa asked.

"Because your nightmare comes first," Anjali replied and disappeared into Shona's room.

Shilpa shifted Shona on her hip and asked her, "Do you think her life is a nightmare too?" Shona frowned and threw a fist in the air towards her bedroom. "Let's not care about her crap huh?" Shilpa giggled. "I mean… her nightmare. Forget the C word."

Her mind was in complete haze as she climbed down the stairs. Her life had been so peaceful lately; being just her, Shona and Armaan felt heavenly. Everything took a sudden change once her mother came to visit and Armaan had to talk to her about Shilpa's father and once Armaan's mother came into town wondering about Shona's biological father.

Anjali was right somehow; Shilpa had to cut off the list one of the worries. The daddy issues seemed the easiest to handle at the moment. As she walked into the kitchen, Shilpa found Sapna baking a cake.

Sapna looked up and smiled. "I told her not to disturb her."

Shilpa nodded reassuringly, "That's fine. She's special," she giggled. "I have to feed Shona because I am planning a short visit… to a friend."

"Oh but I already fed her," Sapna stated. Shilpa looked confused. It was almost noon and by this hour Shona should have screamed her lungs out for the food. "She didn't sleep with you, so I took her earlier and gave her something to eat."

"She didn't sleep?" Shilpa asked, surprised. "Was I this tired not to hear her?"

Sapna chuckled. "She seemed to be enjoying your company, though you were sleeping. Do you want me to help you get Shona ready?"

"Anjali offered, but I think I would prefer to have you around too," Shilpa smiled.

Sapna put the spoon aside and wiped her hands before she came and took Shona from Shilpa. "She is a smart woman and she behaves nice to Shona, but she needs to revise her attitude toward the other people," Sapna stated about Anjali.

"Probably she had a rough life," Shilpa excused her.

Before they could walk out of the kitchen, Sapna stopped and looked sympathetically at Shilpa. "You need to make more friends. Maybe you need some friends outside the hospital."

Shilpa frowned a little, not liking to be told about the friendships she should make; her mother used to do that when she was little and that was the reason why she had to play only with mean children. "Right now my time doesn't allow me other friends," she replied and walked ahead, but stopped quickly, turning to Sapna. "Mrs. Malik left to see Armaan?" she asked, slightly hesitantly.

"Yes; she said she would be back to say goodbye," Sapna nodded.

Shilpa nodded too, thoughtful , and spun on her heels. She stopped again and turned to Sapna. Sapna questioningly waited for her to ask or say whatever she didn't have the courage to say. "Did she… look angry? Before she left?"

"No," Sapna answered. "Why?"

Shilpa shrugged. Maybe they fought for a different reason. "So she wasn't angry after she talked to me this morning," she wanted to check. Confused, Sapna nodded. "Ok," Shilpa sighed and after a second thought she walked out of the kitchen, closely followed by Sapna.

While Shilpa entered her room, Sapna took Shona into hers, where Anjali had already took out of the closet a few clothing items.

"This girl has the whole Paris in her closet," she stated as she felt someone's presence in the room, thinking it was Shilpa.

"And she hasn't gotten to Paris yet," Sapna replied.

As she heard her, Anjali rolled her eyes and picked the clothes she liked the most. "Blue suits blonde girls," she stated and showed her a baby blue dress with a white band to tie around the waist, bringing it to the table where Sapna had put Shona down. "I'll take care of her," she said, trying to block Sapna.

Sapna didn't want to argue and defensively took a step back. "She needs her diaper changed first," she said.

Anjali rolled her eyes at Shona as she lifted the baby into her arms. As she had her into her arms, Anjali realized she didn't know how to start stripping her.

Sapna pressed her lips together, hiding her amusement, and watched Anjali putting Shona back down on the table. Anjali took one of her legs, but let it down again as she realized that wouldn't help at all.

"It doesn't hurt her if you lay her onto her stomach," Sapna suggesting, hardly hiding her smile.

Anjali didn't say anything and she just rolled Shona onto her stomach so that she could unbutton her clothes. As the last button was off, Anjali put Shona back onto her back and her hands started wandering clumsily over her clothes, without precisely doing anything. She carefully lifted Shona's shoulder as if it was breakable while she slid the other hand under her, but then she put her down.

Shona giggled at her and started wriggling her legs, trying to catch her feet. She loved whatever Anjali was doing to her.

"She won't break," Sapna cut in calmly.

"I am a doctor; I know she won't," Anjali replied sharply. Discreetly she took a deep breath and picked Shona up into her arms. She leaned her against her chest, while carefully she started stripping her clothes. Finally convinced that Shona's small body wasn't that fragile, Anjali didn't show much difficulty in taking her clothes off. "Can you bring me a clean diaper?" she asked Sapna, annoyed of being watched.

Sapna nodded and went to Shona's cabinet, where her toilet items were, leaving Anjali making faces at Shona.

Shona started laughing delightfully; she just loved Anjali.

"Oh!" Anjali exclaimed, horrified, as she opened Shona's diaper.

Sapna quickly ran to her to check on her and started laughing at the reason for Anjali's shock.

"How can you live like this?" Anjali asked Shona. "Your anus blew up or what happened to you?"

Sapna kept laughing and took Anjali's place at the table. "And her diaper is not even full yet."

"And she likes it like this? How can she stand it?" Anjali asked and grabbed the diaper out of Sapna's hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sapna asked her.

Anjali shot her a glare. "Shona, you and I need to talk," she said to the baby. "I am going to teach you some things. First of all, if you pee, scream and ask for a clean diaper. Do not pee and poop and pee again and … again and then you start crying. It's not sanitary."

Sapna didn't like very much what Anjali was saying. "She is very well taken care of. You don't wake her up at each half an hour to change her diaper."

Anjali knew Sapna had a point there so she didn't comment. Clumsily she took Shona's feet with one hand and pulled the diaper away. Sapna could see her face turning white because of the disgust and smiled; she made a wrong impression about Anjali. Maybe she did have a rough life and she wasn't as mean as she showed. Sapna helped Anjali clean Shona and taught her how to put the clean diaper; she also helped her dressing Shona with the dress she had chosen for the meeting with her grandfather.

After Baby Shona was finally clean and dressed, Sapna went downstairs to prepare a bottle of milk and one of water in case Shona would get hungry. Left alone with Shona, Anjali held her in her hands, away from her body so that she could have a better look at her. "Cute cheeks," she stated and cuddled her into her arms. Through Shona's wardrobe, Anjali found something else she liked; a white cloak. She dressed Shona with it and pulled the hood over her head, although they were still inside at warmth.

As she stepped into Shilpa's room, Anjali found her dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring blankly ahead. Anjali rolled her eyes; she knew her friend was having a panic attack. She took Shona to Shilpa put her onto her lap, just then Shilpa woke up from her trance.

"Look at you," Shilpa giggled at how precious her baby girl looked. Shona had her hand into her mouth as her mother complimented her; she let out a giggle and struggled to look outside the hood at Anjali. "Anjali dressed you?" Shilpa laughed as she took the hood off.

"I have some style," Anjali stated matter-of-factly.

Shilpa just half smiled this time. She let out a sigh and cradled Shona to her chest, resting her chin against Shona's head. "I am not going to see him," she muttered. "We're going out for a walk."

"It's raining outside," she pointed out, glancing at the window.

Shilpa followed her glance and sighed at the rain that poured against the window.

"Let's go," Anjali said. "Did you take the address?"

Shilpa squeezed the piece of paper in her hands as she stared at Anjali. She could do that. Somehow. She nodded and stood up, taking Shona with her.

Shilpa stopped the car and watched the quiet street. "I think we chose a bad moment," she muttered. "It's noon. Maybe they're having lunch." She kept gazing out the windshield at the house down the street. Cautiously she hadn't stopped the car right in front of it.

"Do you want to wait for them to finish?" Anjali suggested.

Shilpa looked at her friend and nodded. She turned and looked at the backseats at her daughter. Shona was happily playing with a toy, smiling at her Mommy as she felt her gaze on her.

"Do you think she sleeps enough for her age?" Shilpa asked Anjali.

Anjali turned and glanced at Shona before she got comfortable in her seat again. "She knows what she does and what she needs."

Shilpa leaned her head against the chair and kept watching her baby.

Staring out the windshield, Anjali patted Shilpa's shoulder. Shilpa turned and followed her stare. She froze as she saw a young woman leaving the house with a baby in her arms, waving at someone from the doorway; someone Shilpa couldn't see. Shilpa swallowed a lump and watched the woman settling the baby in its car seat, taking her time before she drove away and left the street.

"I guess the dessert is also over," Anjali stated and looked at Shilpa.

Shilpa nervously started tapping her fingers against the steering wheel, glaring out the windshield at the house. The rain had stopped in the meantime. She had prepared a speech in her head; something to tell her father; she had repeated it several times on their way there. She had nothing in her head now.

She unfastened her seatbelt and got out of the car. She opened the backseats door and also unbuckled Shona from her seat. Carefully she took her out and pulled the hood over head, nestling her into her arms. Shilpa drew in some cold air and refreshed her brain. As she headed towards the house, Shilpa still didn't know what she would say to him.

Shilpa stopped on the large porch, in front of the white door. She stared blankly at its pattern, desperately trying to find the words to say to her father. Shona was giving signs of weariness; she had her head on her mommy's shoulder, sucking her thumb and waiting to finish the visit and go back home in her crib. Shilpa ran her hand over her baby's forehead and planted a kiss on her cheek. Shona sighed and lifted her head as she looked at the same door as her mommy; she looked at the door and then back at Shilpa as if she wanted to ask her something.

"Should I?" Shilpa asked her. Shona lazily put her head back down on her shoulder and stuck her thumb into her mouth. Shilpa gave another kiss to her daughter, still staring at the door and wondering if she should knock or leave.

Shilpa startled as she heard her phone ringing. She fumbled after it through her jacket's pocket and looked surprised as Anjali's phone number was flashing on the display screen. Confused, she flipped it opened and turned looking at her car. She saw Anjali had taken her seat at the steering wheel.

"Does he have any supernatural powers like Edward Cullen who can read minds?"

Shilpa narrowed her eyes as she watched her friend. "Who is Edward Cullen?"

"Not important," Anjali answered. "You can ring once and run if you want to. I have the engine started, ready to pick you up on the run."

Shilpa turned and looked back at the white door. "There's no point in doing this. Maybe I should leave," she said, talking to herself. "I stopped thinking about him a long time go."

"But you wrote down his address," Anjali replied.

"This is only Armaan's fault. He had to talk to my mom about Thatcher," Shilpa grumbled in reply. A muffled thud came from inside and Shilpa froze. She remembered someone was living in that house and that someone could hear her or see her talking on the phone on their porch. "I need to hang up," she spoke into the phone and shut it before Anjali could ask her what she would do. She slid the phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath.

Shilpa felt her daughter's curious blue eyes watching her while she was deciding either to knock or leave. She looked at her baby and a wave of courage swept through her. She had her baby girl now and nothing else was more important than her; not Thatcher, not Rohan, not whatever Nikki thought about her.

She took another deep breath and rang once. She took a step back and leaned her cheek against Shona's forehead as she waited. Shilpa heard steps approaching the door and her heart started drumming against her chest; there was a moment when Shilpa thought she was having a heart-attack.

The latch clicked and the door opened. An elder woman, shorter than Shilpa, showed up in the doorway, politely smiling at her and quickly giggling as she saw the baby in Shilpa's arms. She questioningly looked at Shilpa saying a kind, "Hi."

"Hi," Shilpa nervously smiled and held her mouth open for more words, but no sound could come out. She swallowed a lump and felt drops of cold sweat all over her body. Maybe she was at the wrong address, she encouraged herself. She didn't know this woman, but of course she didn't know her father either. Maybe she was at the wrong address; she hoped.

The woman kept looking questioningly at Shilpa. "May I help you with something?"

Shilpa came out of whatever trance or panic she had fallen into. She nervously smiled at the woman, just picturing herself how ridiculous she was looking. "I am looking for…" she suddenly felt her throat dry and coughed. "I am looking for Mr. gupta?"

"Yes. He lives here," the woman answered. "Come inside," she said as she opened the door wider, inviting her inside. "He is in the kitchen."

As the woman opened the door wider and Shilpa could see a little from the inside of the house, she felt like she was living a horror movie. Quickly she made a few steps back and kept smiling nervously at the woman while shaking her head. "No. I will wait for him here. I don't have… much to say to him."

The woman cautiously looked at Shilpa, surprised with her reaction. Out of nowhere she started giggling as she glanced at Shona. "She's not his daughter, is she?" she laughed.

Shilpa froze as she heard that. If that woman was his father's new wife, then he deserved the madhouse he was living in now. "No," she managed to breath out the sounds.

The woman kept laughing. "I am sorry. That was an inappropriate joke," she excused herself smiling. "Wait here then and I will go bring him," she said and left the door open as she disappeared inside.

Only when she started chocking, Shilpa realized she had forgotten to breathe. She kissed her daughter and waited. If earlier her heart was drumming like crazy, this time she couldn't feel it anymore; every nerve was numb.

A gray-haired man showed up in the doorway, questioningly looking at Shilpa. Shilpa couldn't do anything else but stare at him. He did look a little like her father. She couldn't tell exactly because she only had one photo of him, when he was much younger.

"Hello," the man said as he saw the woman unable to speak. "You're looking for me?"

Shilpa nodded. "I mean… are you… Mr. gupta?" she stammered. The man nodded. "Thatcher gupta?" the man nodded again and Shilpa found herself staring at him again. He didn't look like he knew her or remember her. "Hi," she found her voice again. "My name is Shilpa," she introduced herself, not moving from the place she had frozen earlier when that woman had invited her inside. Shilpa felt Shona's head lifting and looking at Thatcher gupta. She looked at her daughter and she was indeed staring at him. "And this is my daughter. Shona Muskaan gupta," she added. Her eyes quickly shifted on him again to find him staring at her. Now he definitely knew who she was.

They both stood there staring at each other for a moment. Maybe Thatcher was checking her features; Shilpa couldn't tell. She was waiting for a reaction or the smallest change in his feature. His face remained expressionless.

"I am sorry," Shilpa apologized sincerely.

Thatcher gupta didn't move an inch. What Shilpa couldn't see in that moment was Shona's frown towards her grandfather and her fuss. Shona wanted to go; she was either too tired for visits or too uncomfortable with this man, so she let her mother know.

When Shona started crying, Shilpa shook her head. "I am sorry," she apologized again, smiling wearily. "I shouldn't have come. I don't know why I came in the first place. I don't need anything. I am good," she started rambling and composed herself enough to be able to turn around and climb down the porch carefully.

"Shilpa," she stopped briefly as she heard him calling her name. She looked back at him and smiled. "Honestly, I don't need anything. I am sorry I showed up at your door," she said and anyone could hear she was honest. Surprisingly, she didn't hate him. She just felt nothing for this unknown man. He could be Thatcher gupta, but Thatcher gupta was also unknown to her.

Shilpa carried Shona back to the car as Anjali had pulled it in front of the alley already. She jumped in the backseats and shut the door, demanding to Anjali to drive away. Shilpa laid Shona into her arms, busy with calming down her whimpers, and didn't glance once back at the house and the man that was still standing on the porch of his house watching the car disappearing in sight.

Anjali drove in silence, now and then looking through the rearview mirror and checking on her friend. Shilpa had quiet, painless tears sliding down her cheeks as she gazed out the window. Shona was sleepy but not sleepy enough to fall asleep and leave her mommy alone with the tears; she clung on Shilpa's finger and tried to take it to her mouth. Shilpa giggled at Shona's gesture and gently lifted her so that she could kiss her. She ran her hand over her cheeks and sniffled as she leaned forward to look out the windshield.

"Turn right at this corner and keep driving ahead," she told Anjali. Anjali obeyed without asking about the destination and followed Shilpa's directions.