DMG FF - Part 8 Updated *2/21

Part 1

Abhimanyu Modi walked into his cabin and slumped into his chair, massaging his temples with both his hands. He had warned the Sanjeevani Board of Directors that this decision would not fare well with the staff, but all they cared about was profit. And now all of Sanjeevani had turned against him when he was just following his orders. He had been brought to Sanjeevani to save it from falling into a crisis. How ironic, he thought. It's bringing itself into a crisis. The staff, patients, and interns had rioted and protested outside his cabin for almost two hours, until he finally decided to call Dr. Shashank in to take care of this mess.

It was too much for him to handle. He decided to go home.

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On the way home, he recalled med school, and how similar it was to Sanjeevani. He was the youngest in his batch, because he had skipped a grade. And then he remembered how he met his wife. And how they had their son. And then how they got married and had the rest of their kids. He grinned. And more to come, he thought.

He called home, not sure how everyone was.

"Hewwo?"

"Hi sweetheart, it's daddy."

"Hi dwaddy! I show you my pwainting that I mwade!"

He chuckled at his adorable daughter, who was still at the lisping stage . "Honey, you can't see something through the phone' When I come home I'll see it." he tried to explain to his daughter.

"But yewshteday you show me Shid chachu on yow phown. I shee him!" she insisted.

"Okay, okay, I give up. Show me your painting," he sighed.

"Hewe you go! Do you wike the pwincess? That's me! And the qween is mommy. And yew the kwing. Do you wike it?"

"I love it sweetheart. It err' it looks very nice."

"Twank you dwaddy. Do you want to twalk to mommy?"

"Please."

"Okay! Mommmyyy! It's dwaddy. Hewe."

"Hello?"

"Hi baby. How's it going?"

"Tiring. Running after the boys, and then finally had time to play with Nisha and cook."

"Dr. Shubhankar and Dr. Keerti are coming over tonight."

"ABHI! Pehle kyun nahin kehte! Aur khana bana deti main!"

"Arre! Isliye toh nahin kaha! Tum poori hospital ke jitne ke liye khana bana deti agar batata toh! And you can't be cooking and running around after the boys like this!"

"Abhi chill. I can handle the cooking. It's just the boys really. And only when they're done with school. Anyways, what happened at the hospital? I heard it was pretty bad."

Abhi groaned. "Rather not talk about it. Just wanna come home and sleeepp."

Nikki smirked. "Which you won't be able to do. Basketball, remember?"

"Aghhh. Me and my promises. See you at home."

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"Keerti' Do you think we can convince him to let you stay?"

"Shubhanker. I honestly don't know. We know Abhi. He wouldn't do something like this to us... to me."

He sighed. "I know, it's just' isn't there any possible way? He knows how much you love Sanjeevani."

"I know. He definitely does. That's why I'm gonna talk to him."

"Speaking of which, we better leave. Hey, do you ever wonder how they always make it on time with four kids? We only have Navneeta, and we always manage to be late."

Keerti smiled. "Nikki keeps them in line."

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Abhi panted as he bent down, hands on his knees, stopping to catch his breath. He sat on the bench and watched his seven year old son dribble the basketball and perfectly swoosh it into net. He smiled, proud of his son. Already 4' 4", he showed signs of reaching his father's height of 5' 10".

The bell rang suddenly, startling Abhi. Nevertheless, he yelled, "I'll get it!

The door opened and Keerti, Shubhanker, and Navneeta were greeted with the sight of a sweaty Abhi in a vest and tracks.

Abhi sheepishly smiled, realizing how he must look. "Hey guys. Come on in' I was just playing basketball with Aryaan. NIKS!"

Nikki walked out of the kitchen and gave the three of them a big hug. "Come on guys, let's go to the living room. And Abhi. You and Aryan. Showers. NOW." she glared at Abhi and Aryan.

"Yes maam."

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Abhi came out of the bathroom, wearing a tshirt and a new pair of tracks. He stopped suddenly, realizing Keerti was sitting on the couch.

"Hey," he said surprised.

She looked up. "Hi," she smiled nervously.

They both waited nervously for the other to start.

Suddenly she laughed. "Abhi. Look. There are rumors floating around. I'm sure you know what this is about. If it's true, just tell me. Am I being fired?"

"Keerti di... You're like my sister. You know I wouldn't hide something like this from you. But to tell you the truth, I called you here today to tell you that yes, they are thinking of it. But I have proposed something to the board that I want your permission for. If you are okay, I propose that we keep you on, on less salary ' just until Sanjeevani starts doing better again. Is that okay? I know how much the hospital means to you, and I know you'd want to work there no matter what."

Keerti had tears streaming down her face. "Abhi. Thank you. So much." She took him into a hug, and whispered, "you're the best little brother ever."

Abhi's grin grew and he hugged her back. "Thanks di."

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Part 3

Saturday morning, the Modi house was full of noise.

"Aryaan! Abhi! Get up!"

"Ayan bhaiyya' Can I twake youw cowowing bwook pwease?"

"Mamma! Aman's wearing my shirt!"

"Mamma! Ayan's taking my toy!"

"Mwommy. I cwan't find mwy pwink dwess."

"ABHIMANYU AND ARYAAN MODI GET UP THIS INSTANT! IF I HAVE TO COME UP THERE IT WON'T BE GOOD!"

Abhi and Aryaan shot up in bed. Abhi yelled, "WE'RE UP!" He turned to look at his son.

"Dad, we're dead."

"I know."

They had fallen asleep in Aryaan's bed last night while playing videogames. They went downstairs to find Nikki making sandwiches.

"Hey honey," Abhi kissed his wife's cheek.

"Hi mamma," Aryaan kissed her other cheek.

She looked at the two of them, their hair sticking up the same way, both of them sleepy-eyes, and looking just like each other.

"Just go change. We're gonna be late."

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"Lets go dad!"

"Cmon Dad! Beat him!"

"Gwo dwaddy!"

"DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD!"

Shubhankar turned to Abhi. "Not fair man. You have a whole army cheering for you."

Abhi smirked as he made a basket. "One of the pros of having so many kids."

Nikki shook her head as she listened to him brag. She and Keerti were sitting on a picnic blanket under the shade of a tree. Keerti turned towards her.

"So, how's it going so far?" She asked, referring to Nikki's pregnancy.

Nikki smiled. "It's gonna be a boy. Again. Four boys." Somehow, Abhi could tell if it would be a boy.

Keerti smiled and shook her head in pity. "Well, atleast now you know when you'll be due. Just three months more, right?"

"Yeah' the due date is three and a half months away, so this guy should be coming out in about three."

She suddenly turned to Keerti. "Di' Is everything okay at the hospital? Abhi comes home so tired and worried. I'm starting to get worried now."

Keerti smiled sadly. "The interns are giving him a hard time. Somehow, they found out about the Board's decision to fire me, and they completely hate him now. They get up to all kinds of pranks that Abhi can't help but be strict. The interns have never seen this side of him. And on top of that the funding for Sanjeevani isn't coming through. He has a lot of stress."

Nikki looked over at Abhi, who looked so much at ease, teaching Aman and Ayan how to shoot the ball and throwing Nisha into the air while chasing Aryaan and Navneeta. He actually looked his age when he wasn't so stressed. He looked towards her and smiled at her. She smiled back and gestured to the water bottle next to her. He took off his shirt, just keeping his vest on, and ran over to Nikki to grab the water bottle she had kept next to her. He lay down on the blanket with his head in her lap and closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Ten minutes later, Shubhankar called him for a last round.

"Bet you can't beat me."

"Ohhh man you're on."

Part 4

Armaan ran to the basketball court ahead of everyone else, hoping to reserve it before someone else got there. But when he got there, he saw two men already playing there.

"Shubhankar sir? And Dr. Modi."

Groaning, he turned to the rest of the gang. "Guys, look. Shubhankar sir and Modi are already here."

Muskaan spotted Keerti on the court, giving a water bottle to Shubhankar. "Hey guys, look! Keerti maam! Let's go say hi!" as she dragged everyone to the court.

"Hi sir, maam, Dr. Modi." they chorused.

Abhi nodded. "Doctors."

Shubhankar and Keerti smiled and said hi.

Suddenly a woman that they hadn't noticed called out to Abhi. "Abhi! Help me up?"

Abhi smiled and jogged over to Nikki and helped her up. They walked to the court where Abhi introduced her.

"Doctors, this is my wife Nikki. And Nikki, these are my interns." She smiled and said hello.

Armaan whispered to Rahul, "Dang man. His wife is beautiful."

All of a sudden, the kids ran up to their parents.

"DAD! Can we go to Neeti didi's house today? Please please please please please?"

Abhi sighed. "And doctors, these are my kids."

Their eyes popped out. "Haila yaar. Che che bachhe?"

Abhi laughed. "Not Neeti though."

Shubhankar stepped in to claim his daughter. "This one's mine."

Armaan whispered to Riddhima, "Basket, hume bhi tips lene chahiye. Che bachhe- what say?"

Riddhima blushed furiously. "ARMAAN!"

"Di, should we get going? Let's go eat."

Keerti turned to the interns, "Why don't you join us? We're going out to eat."

They all agreed to take separate cars and meet up at the restaurant.

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The interns silently piled up into Armaan's car. They started driving when Armaan spoke up.

"Guys, I can't believe that Modi actually has a life. I think today was the first time I saw him laugh! And he actually has kids-"

Muskaan piped in, "Oh my god did you see his kids?! They are so cute! They all look just like him! Except for the girl, she looks just like his wife! Rahul mujhe bhi aise hi bachhe chahiye!"

She blushed when she realized what she said. Everyone started teasing her until Atul suddenly asked, "Then how old do you think Modi is? He has like four kids! And the oldest one looks around nine…"

Armaan gasped. "Then he must be like 39!"

Anjali gasped too. "Holy crap but he doesn't look like it! He looks 30! And his wife looks like she's so young!"

Riddhima was flabbergasted too. "Yah guys, but they have a nine year old son. I guess he must be 39 then. But isn't that too old to be having a kid?"

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They all sat down at the restaurant table. Rahul sat next to Muskaan who sat next to Keerti , who was sitting next to Nikki, who sat next to Nisha, Riddhima, Armaan, Aryaan, Abhi, Shubhankar, Anjali, Atul, Aman, and finally Ayan.

After ordering, everyone got into their own conversations.

Part 6

Muskaan, Keerti, and Nikki were having their own conversation about work.

Keerti turned to Nikki. "So when does leave end?"

Nikki sighed. "Soon I hope. If this guy is out in three months, then it'll be four months before I start again. Abhi needs to take a leave too. Hopefully if he gets off in a month, he can be here until the baby's a month old.

Muskaan was listening intently. "Where do you work?" she asked Nikki.

Nikki smiled, "The same place you do. Sanjeevani."

Muskaan was shocked. "You' you're a doctor?"

Nikki laughed. "Yeah. I'm the gynocologist. "

Muskaan's eyes went round. "You're Dr. Nikita Modi! I'm supposed to be shadowing you!"

Keerti smiled, "That's right. Nikki, meet your new intern. Or should I say new interns. Drs. Muskaan and Riddhima."

They lapsed into conversation as Muskaan asked her questions about her work and the cases she had."

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Nisha and Riddhima were having their own conversation.

Nisha held up her Barbie. "She's pwetty. Just wike you. You'w wevy pwetty."

Riddhima blushed and smiled. "Thank you. I'm Riddhima. I work with your daddy. What's your name?"

"I'm Nwisha. My dwaddy cwalls me Pwincess."

Riddhima smiled. "You're daddy's princess, huh? I'm my daddy's princess too! How old are you?"

Nisha held up three fingers. "I'm two."

Riddhima laughed and put one of her fingers down. "There you go! That's two!"

Nisha laughed too. "How owld awe you?"

"I'm 23! That's old isn't it? Look, my number starts with two too!"

Nisha giggled. "And my mwommy and dwaddy! They stwart with a two!"

Riddhima was puzzled. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"Yesh. Mwommy is two sheven and dwaddy is two eiwt."

"No way," Riddhima whispered. That means they were so young when they had their son!

Nisha continued blabbering on. "And my Shid chachu ish two thwee. And my dowwly is two!"

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Armaan, Aryaan, and Abhi were looking into their menus when Aryaan noticed Armaan's tattoos.

"Hey you have tattoos too! Just like dad."

Armaan smiled. "Yep. But my mom got so mad. She didn't speak to me for like a week."

Abhi laughed and spoke to Aryaan. "Your mom did the same thing!"

Aryaan asked Abhi, "Dad, why don't you ever talk about your mom and dad?"

Abhi stiffened as Armaan watched him carefully.

"Well buddy, my parents, and your mom's parents didn't want to talk to us anymore when we were in college."

"Why?"

"Well, because we were going to have you."

Armaan was surprised. "You' you had him in college?"

Abhi smiled. "Well, Nikki did. We found out she was pregnant right after I graduated. So she finished her classes in the summer, and Aryaan was born in December. I was halfway through my first year of med school then. Then Nikki joined and we both finished med school together. We were about to start internship when we found out that she was pregnant again- with Aman and Ayan. She did her internship for six months and then started again after they were three months."

"She's a doctor too?"

"Yeah. She's the OB/GYN at Sanjeevani. Up until a month ago when she went on maternity leave. She was actually supposed to be your supervisor instead of Dr. Keerti."

"Hang on ' so you had Aryaan in college. Which means you're like 29!"

Abhi smiled. "28 but yeah."

Armaan whistled. "Wow. We all thought you must be 40!"

Abhi looked appalled. "Do I really look that old?!"

"Nah. But you're like second in line to Shanky! We thought for someone to be in that position, they would have to be atleast 40!"

"Shanky?!"

Armaan sheepishly smiled. "Sorry. I've been trying to get him to see me in good light so I can propose to Riddhima. You know what Dr. Modi? You're not as bad as we all thought. I'm sorry for causing you all this trouble."

Abhi smiled. "It's okay. Oh, and now that you know I'm not 40, you don't have to call me Dr. Modi outside of Sanjeevani. And what's up with you and Riddhima?"

"Well..."

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