I'm back!! 😃 😆 Okay guys I do realise that is has been far too long since I last updated and I apologise for that from my heart. I have been back from home a week and yet I haven't had any time to actually write. 😭 Suddenly my lecturers decided to make us read all the books ever published since time began in one week and I've been doing nothing but work and sleep and of course coming to the cafe. But I am here again. It's long so I hope you don't all fall asleep and I hope it's actually worth the wait.
Chapter 16 – The Long Night
A long, loud and piercing wail jolted Kaajjal out of her sleep. Eyes flying open she struggled to focus her eyes in the dark, squinting at the garish red digits of the alarm clock, but seeing only floating numbers that blurred into one another the harder she tried to read them. In the background the human alarm clock was still wailing and as she rubbed her eyes she realised that it was one of the twins who had disturbed her sleep. She was all ready to push back the covers and climb out of bed when she remembered a scene that had transpired earlier that day....
She had been sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, her head resting on her hand and battling to keep her eyes from closing. The twins had only just settled down after a turbulent afternoon of tantrums and tears, making her run from one end of the cottage to the other trying to pacify them. This had followed a night of irritations as they both suffered from colic and kept her pacing the floor with them as she tried to reassure them. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was go and sleep, but she still had the dinner to make for Dev when he arrived home and when the twins woke up again she would need all her energy for taking care of them.
Just then Dev entered the kitchen, a bright smile on his face and eyes shining with perfect contentment.
"I'm home," he announced, bending down and kissing the top of her head.
She sighed and took a sip of her coffee as he sat down opposite her. The freshness of his apperance and his sunny disposition only made her feel more tired and shabby. She could sense that her hair was sticking out at all angles, like straw, and she didn't need to look in the mirror to tell there were dark circles under her eyes.
"So, what have my three angels been up to today?" Dev asked.
"Angels?" she repeated incredulously. "Uff! Some angels! Arjun and Naina are little devils aur main Mama Devil hoon."
At this Dev began to chuckle, his eyes lighting up with glee. Kaajjal shot him a murderous look, offended at his finding the situation humorous.
"Why are you laughing?" she demanded, narrowing her brows at him. "It's no laughing matter. Wahan tum...sitting in your office without any hassle, aur yahan main...running here there and everywhere so your children will be happy. They are exactly like you – demanding, hard to please and petulant."
As she announced this she banged her cup down on the table with such a thud that Dev, who had not been expecting it, jumped out of his skin.
"Kya kare tum?" he asked, placing a hand on his frantically beating heart. "I nearly had a heart attack there."
Kaajjal shrugged unconcernedly and placed her hands on her temples, massaging them with her thumbs. Seeing the real stress in her face Dev suddenly felt very guilty. He knew that he hadn't been doing enough to help with looking after the twins. His work at the radio office occupied so much of his time at the moment that he had not been around to shoulder the responsibility, leaving Kaajjal alone all day with the twins, having to cope on her own. The sight of her about to crack caused terror to clutch at his heart and rising to his feet he removed her hands and placed his thumbs on her temples instead. Amazed she titled her head back and stared up at him with wide eyes, reading the concern in his face and seeing the pain in his deep brown eyes.
"Dev..." she began, but he shook his head to silence her.
"Sshh, just sit and relax," he told her.
She smiled at him and closing her eyes she enjoyed the sensation of his thumbs massaging her temples. It was the most soothing experience she had ever had and as she sat there she wondered how many wives would be treated so wonderfully by their husbands. She was contemplating forgiving him for not helping her with Arjun and Naina when he suddenly said,
"Agar tum chahiye I will look after the twins tonight."
Such a statement from the lips of Dev Pratap Singh was so unexpected that she sat bolt upright and turned to look at him with a confused frown. She expected to see humour dancing in his eyes but those deep brown depths showed nothing but earnestness.
"Saach Dev?" she asked, still unable to believe he was serious. "You will take care of them tonight?"
"Haan," he agreed with a smile. "You have my promise."
"Matlab, if they cry you will actually get up and tend to them?" she enquired.
He nodded confidently.
"And you will be able to change their diapers and handle them without a fuss?" she added, arching a brow.
"Meri pyari bivi, tum fikar maat kijiye," he told her, folding his arms about her. "I will handle everything."
..."Oh! So this is what he meant by handling everything?"
Kaajjal turned and looked at Dev as the wailing continued in the back ground, loud enough to shatter the ear drums. Sleeping peacefully, his face buried into the pillow, he neither stirred nor showed any consciousness of his child's cries. Kaajjal wasn't in the least bit surprised, but she was determined to hold him to his bargain, and even though her maternal instincts were calling out to her to go and see her child she stubbornly pulled the cover over her head and closed her eyes.
"Dev will wake up and see to them," she murmured to himself. "Any minute now."
With this assurance she tried to relax but just then the second baby let out a deafening cry. Kaajjal threw back the covers with an aggravated sigh and rolling onto her back she glanced over at Dev again. He was still slumbering away, and his peacefulness irked Kaajjal. Nudging his arm she hissed at him to get up, but he didn't even move. Knitting her brows together she pushed herself up in the bed and shook his shoulders with force.
"Dev utho!" she shouted at him. "Arjun aur Naina are crying! Dev! DEV!!"
He gave a small grunt and then pulled the cover further over his head, not even bothering to open his eyes. Incredulous Kaajjal sat, mouth gaping, staring at him as her blood boiled away inside her like lava about to erupt from a volcano.
"You are useless!" she shouted at him, and then surrendering to the inevitable she climbed out of the bed and went over to the cots.
Both Arjun and Naina were red in the face from all their tears and as Kaajjal picked her son up she looked into his face with less sympathy and more irony.
"Beta," she said to him as she patted his back, trying to break the colic. "Look at your Papa and learn from him what sleeping means. Dekho, he's sleeping so quietly."
These words had no affect on Arjun and he continued to screw his tiny face up. Kaajjal looked over at Naina who was also screaming at the top her lungs, and with a sigh she placed Arjun back in his cot. Gathering up the Moses basket she placed each child carefully in it and with a weary sigh she took them through to the lounge. As she laid them down for changing their diapers her motherly instincts took over from her irritation and she smiling at them she said,
"Haan you are both exactly like your father. He makes a fuss about everything too. Just take tonight for example – I didn't even ask him to look after you, he offered, and yet when it comes to it he can't even surrender his sleep. Haan beti," she said as she lifted Naina into her arms, "This is what us women have to face in life. Men never will improve."
Despite his mother's feminist mantra Arjun seemed to be placted enough and with satisfaction Kaajjal watched him begin to fall asleep again after she placed him back in his Moses basket. Naina was not so easily defeated, however, and though her mother had changed and fed her she still persisted to cry. Shaking her head in mock despair Kaajjal sat on the sofa and lifted Naina into her arms, cradling her gently and smiling down at her, despite her tears.
"Kya hua beti?" she asked her. "Are you also going to be moody like your father? No one could doubt that you were the daughter of Dev Pratap Singh with this attitude, hai nah?"
As Kaajjal gazed down at her daughter she remembered an old lullaby from her childhood and as the tune began to hum on her lips she softly sung the words.
"Sleep my little princess, The breeze is blowing gently through the trees, Listen to what it whispers, It says one day your prince will come, He will take you far from home, So sleep my little Princess, In dreams he will come to you."
Lost in the song and the emotions is conveyed Kaajjal did not come to know that Dev was standing in the doorway until she heard his voice say in a tender tone,
"Beautiful."
Startled she looked up and her heart melted when she spied him in the doorway, leaning on its frame, his arms folded across his chest, hair toussled from sleep and those deep, dark brown eyes intent on her. There was a light in them, an enchanted expression, that gave her butterflies in her stomach, and though he had heard her sing before, she did not know why, but she blushed and lowered her eyes shyly with a smile. Dev's heart fluttered at how lovely she looked and crossing the room he paused before her, bending down slowly, his lips gently touching her forehead. It was the briefest of touches but it sent a million thrills through Kaajjal's nerve ends and made her breath catch in her throat. Lifting her eyes she met his, dark and full of wonder as he gazed intently into her face. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips and when he spoke his voice was nothing more than a whisper, tripping over her skin like a gentle summer breeze.
"Do you know Kaajjal, with Naina in you arms and that glow of love on your face you look more beautiful than I have ever seen you," he told her.
"Dev!" she said breathlessly, blushing.
"You look like two angels," he continued, enjoying her bashfulness.
His fingers brushed lightly across his daughter's tufts of hair and he bent and kissed her forehead too. It was then that Kaajjal realised that her crying had subsided and she was in a deep slumber, contentment shining on her little face. Smiling Kaajjal looked up at Dev and said to him,
"You have some magic on her. She's gone to sleep."
"Nahin," he disagreed. "She was asleep before I arrived. It was your mesmerising voice that settled her."
Kaajjal blushed and looked down again, wondering why even after all this time Dev's compliments could still make her feel like a teenager. Suddenly she heard Dev's velvet tones singing a tender song and heart missing a beat she looked up to see him standing with Arjun in his arms, singing a lullaby to him. It was the most amazing sight she had ever witnessed and as she sat enthralled she mused that she would never have imagined that one day Dev Pratap Singh would stand with a baby in his arms, singing a lullaby. Her heart had melted completely and her skin was tingling with delight at the lovely sound of Dev's singing voice. She was lost in watching and listening to him; everything faded into the background except him and his song.
"Sleep, baby, sleep, Your father tends the sheep, Your mother shakes the dreamland tree, And from it fall sweet dreams for thee, Sleep, baby, sleep, Sleep, baby, sleep , Sleep, baby, sleep, Our cottage vale is deep, The little lamb is on the green, With snowy fleece so soft and clean, Sleep, baby, sleep, Sleep, baby, sleep."
Dev's voice faded softly away and when he turned he saw Kaajjal gazing up at him, a soft glow in her hazel eyes. Suddenly self-conscious he felt a blush beginning to creep into his cheeks and a slightly foolish smile breaking across his lips.
"Kya hua?" he asked.
"Kuch nahin," she replied in a tender tone. "Bas...I think as well as Arjun and Naina you had me captivated with your voice. You should sing more often Dev."
A look of sheer horror passed across his face at this suggestion.
"Kya?" he spluttered. "Nahin Kaajjal, I am not singing for anyone."
"But you do it so well," she protested. "And look how peaceful your lullaby made Arjun and Naina. I have never seen them so settled all day."
Dev looked down at his son, cradled in his arms, and the gentleness of his face as he slept soundly. Looking up he smiled softly at Kaajjal and crossing the room he sat down next to her. She stared back at him with wide, expectant eyes, sparkling like the stars, and seeing the animation on her face made his smile widen.
"Tikka, how is this...I will sing...," he relented, "Lekin...sirf tere aur bacche ke liye."
Kaajjal's face broke into a delighted smile, which made her hazel eyes glisten.
"How could I possibly say no?" she asked, a teasing tone to her voice.
Dev grinned at her and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as his lips nestled among the tresses of her hair. In their arms their children slept peacefully, lulled to sleep by the lovely voices of their parents. Dev gazed down at them and he felt a special warmth inside that he had never known before. Just holding his son in his arms was magical and at that moment he decided that from now on he wanted to be much more involved in looking after the twins. He turned his eyes to Kaajjal and saw that she was beginning to slip into sleep. Smiling he began his lullaby again, his eyes nerve straying from her angelic face, watching as sleep stole across her features, making her seem more beautiful. As he finished his lullaby he kissed her forehead gently with his lips and then leaning his head against hers closed his eyes, a tender smile curving his lips.
Mala, this was especially for you. I am so sorry I made you wait for it yaar. I hope you all enjoyed it and please do leave your comments - they mean so much to me. 😳
Anu
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
