Strangers- Complete FF - Pages 136 to 139 - Page 44

Part 10

Sahana's arrival had made a huge difference to the lives of the inmates of Mishra Mansion. Everyone of them wanted their slice of time with her and fought amongst themselves to get to her. Feeding time was the only time Prachi could exclusively spend with her daughter. The rest of the time which included playing time, sleeping time, even nappy changing time was shared by Milind, Baba, Bua and even Ramu kaka. Every day Baba kept finding innovative ways to entertain in his little grand daughter. He also sang her lullabies in his deep baritone voice to put her to sleep. His doctor was amazed that his blood pressure which was always on the higher side was well within normal limits and advised him to stop taking his BP pills as his grand daughter seemed to be a better medicine.

Bua, who kept saying that she will leave after Prachi's delivery, was reluctant to return to her home. In the pretext of helping the new mother she found an excuse to spend time with her little grand niece. She took it upon herself to prepare all the herbal remedies to take care of normal complaints that little babies may have like tummy upsets or colic pain or constipation. Prachi tried to expain to her that as long as she was feeding the baby, she need not worry about these things but she wouldn't listen to her. She also showed Prachi how to bathe the baby but even after Prachi learnt the art, she never let her bathe Sahana, insisting on doing it herself. Every morning she massaged the baby's body with ghee and wheat flour balls saying that it would improve her grand niece's complexion. Milind overheard this and expressed his annoyance at Bua's remark. How could she even consider his daughter's complexion needed improvement in the first place, he asked her and had to be reassured that she thought that Sahana was the most beautiful baby in the world.

Ramu kaka too found his unique way of spending time with the baby. He made different instruments in natural matter such as bamboo, coconut shell, sticks etc and played them for his little guddi, making her gurgle in laughter.

Milind's efficiency at work had nearly quadrupled as he was keen to get back home as early as possible and whisk 'his' daughter away from the prying eyes and hands of his relatives. Once he was around, the rest of the family could not as much as lay a finger on her. He completely monopolised all the time. He sang perfectly off-key songs to her; he played with her; he burped her; he changed her diapers; he even read bed-time fairy tales to her although the poor little baby could not comprehend a single word he said. Sahana too took a fondness to her dad. She recognised his face around the time she recognised her mother's face, i.e., in a month's time. She seemed to absolutely adore his beard and moustache, for as soon as he lifts her up her tiny hands would invariably extend to them, pulling and tugging at them.

Although Prachi got to spend less time with her baby, her cup of joy was just overflowing seeing all the love and care her daughter was getting. Not only was her baby being taken care of but she too was receiving a lot of loving care. Bua kept a hawk like eye on what Ramu kaka was serving her. Her diet was modified to help in lactation. Bua also showed her how to tie her tummy up with a band to push the sagging flesh in and soon her body returned back in shape, a fact that did not escape the keen eye of her admiring and doting husband, although she herself was unaware of the effect her shapely figure had on his senses.

Sahana was a relatively easy baby to handle and did not wake up more than twice every night. Not wanting to disturb Milind's sleep, Prachi kept the baby's cradle close to her so that as soon as she made the smallest whimper, she woke up to feed her or change her nappies. Although Milind was aware of Prachi's night vigil he did not let her know he was awake, for he knew she will feel guilty for troubling him.

Their relationship had reached a stage where although they continued to hesitate in expressing their love for each other vocally, the awkwardness that they felt in displaying their physical attraction towards each other was slowly disappearing. Prachi did not feel the need to cover herself up whenever Milind walked in on one of her feeding sessions. Milind did not hesitate to change his clothes in front of her. They were behaving like any normal couple although they had not taken their marital relationship to its logical conclusion. There were several times when Milind nearly blurted out to Prachi how much he loved her but there was something that was always holding him back. Just what it was, he could not say.

Days turned into weeks and weeks, into months. Soon Sahana was nearly five months old. It was the day before their unforgettable first meeting in the train a year ago. Milind decided there could not be a better occasion than the anniversary of their first meeting to bare his heart to his wife and tell her how much he really loved her. He planned to make elaborate arrangements for the grand confession the following day.

That morning Prachi had just finished feeding Sahana when Milind stepped out of the bathroom in his towel. Droplets of water stuck to the rippling muscles of his chest and biceps making them glisten. Prachi could not help but admire her husband's taut athletic frame. His hair was still wet from the bath. Buttoning up her nightie, Prachi asked him to hand her the towel so that she could scrub his hair dry to prevent him from catching a cold. He smiled at her concern and handing her the towel, he sat by her side, taking Sahana from her lap. While he held his daughter in his arms and cooed to her, his wife pulled his head in level with her hands and vigorously scrubbed his hair. A couple of droplets of water fell on Sahana's face and she giggled at the sensation. Milind laughed back and tickled her belly to make her giggle more. He turned to see Prachi and his eyes fell on her cleavage which was in line with his vision. He gulped at the sight and looked up to see Prachi's gaze reflecting the desire in his eyes. For a moment he was tempted to lean in and kiss her supple lips but decided to rein in his feelings for one more day. He wanted his love confession and the anticipated make out session after that to be special. Quickly handing back Sahana to her, he proceeded to get ready for work. Just as he was about to brush a light goodbye kiss on her forehead, a habit he had developed of late, Prachi asked him if he can watch over Sahana for a couple of minutes so that she can attend nature's call. Milind was only too willing to spend a few more minutes with his darling daughter. Sitting on the bed, he took her from her hands and asked her to go ahead. Sahana resumed her giggling as soon as she realised she was held by her favourite member of the family. In all the giggling she ended up wetting Milind's expensive pants.

Prachi felt bad that Milind had skipped his breakfast because of her. Had she not asked him to take care of Sahana, he could have had a quick breakfast before he left. She wanted to make it up to him and prepared his favourite dishes, including dhoklas. She decided to pay him a visit at work and personally hand him his specially cooked lunch. She packed the food and taking leave of Baba and Bua, she left with Sahana to Milind's office in the chauffeur driven company car. Once she reached his office she eagerly walked up to the reception and asked for Mr. Milind Mishra's cabin. She has never visited him at work before so she did not know where it was. The friendly receptionist gave the directions. With Sahana on one hip and the tiffin career on the other hand, she briskly walked towards his cabin. She was about to push open the door when she overheard him speaking to someone. She waited outside till he finished.

She stepped back, stunned to the core. Her Milind was in love with another woman and she was the one in the way. Sahana looked at her mama's face in puzzlement and started making noises. Prachi quickly closed her mouth with her palm and left the place. On her way out she handed the tiffin carrier to one of the sub-staff and asked him to give it to Milind. She blindly headed to the parking lot where the driver was surprised to see her back so early. She told him that Sahana was very restless and she wanted to return home. Throughout the journey back Prachi kept weeping silently. Sahana touched her face and felt her tears in wonderment. Realising she had to get a hold of her emotions, Prachi quickly wiped her eyes and turned her attention to her daughter, talking to her and laughing with her, much to Sahana's relief and happiness.

lucky sahana, she's the apple of everyone's eye. poor prachi, she thinks milsi is in love with ayesha, looks like prachi is gonna decide to pack up and leave :(

Originally posted by: Shabz.

lucky sahana, she's the apple of everyone's eye. poor prachi, she thinks milsi is in love with ayesha, looks like prachi is gonna decide to pack up and leave :(

Originally posted by: ShubS

Loved loved and loved this update. Milind's attraction for Prachi, Prachi's admiration for him, and the cutie pie Sahana giggling and even wet her father's pants.. That was so cute.
I was scared to read about Neev in this part, here you have brought in Ayesha- who would be a mere misunderstanding I suppose. Still hope the confession will happen on the anniversary and things will be cleared between the Michi.

Originally posted by: ShubS

Milind is the most favourite person in the house for Sahana. Please don't even separate her from him- even for a day! Please.