SS - Can we talk? Part 6 pg 84 Feb 14 - Page 58

Originally posted by: Pramila.harish

Wow..I wish it goes like this

On serial also, I hope they make golu and soha friends. And less complications.

Originally posted by: -AditiS

read all 5 parts in one go. superb! beautiful n mature writing 👏

liked loved lived it. thank you⭐️

Originally posted by: Suvika.

<font face="Comic Sans MS, Times, serif" size="2" color="#0000ff">Sabr😉</font>

thats one difficult task 😉 😆

A Very Happy Valentine's Day to Everyone. Here is the last part of the OS... Seriously last part okay!! So no amount of begging, cajoling is going to do the trick.

"Par Dev..."

Try as much there was no convincing Dev Dixit especially when he made his mind up and especially now. Ishwari was left with no option but to storm out of Dev's cabin. She was tear eyed, angry some but definitely betrayed. Betrayed by her own son. As she stepped out of Dev's cabin, she spotted Sonakshi sitting in her office working seriously. If Sonakshi had seen her, she wasn't making it out to be. Ishwari contemplated walking up to Sonakshi and demand of her to know her granddaughter, to meet her or even beg her to see Suhana once. That's all she knew about her grandchild, her Dev's child, was her name Suhana.

A couple of steps towards the cabin and Ishwari stopped.

"Because of you, she didn't have a father for the first six years of her life. I will NOT do anything that would take her away from her mother"

No she shouldn't meddle, she couldn't meddle. If she did she'd risk losing everything not only her grandchild also her Dev forever. And this time Dev wouldn't forgive her. Troubled by her own situation and completely dejected, Ishwari quietly left for home.

Ishwari got back to her room dazed, sad and worried. She didn't stop to greet any of the family members. She just wanted to be left alone. All these years, Ishwari claimed that she and Dev were one. It was easier to fight the world. If anything she prided over knowing her son. Her son prided over knowing her. They didn't have to share anything with each other and yet they would know how the other felt.

They were a team. And suddenly today she wasn't even a part of Dev's life. She didn't even know that part existed. Dev was with her for namesake only. She lost her Dev forever. And this was when Sonakshi came into his life. She changed everything. Or did she? No, when Sonakshi was around he tried to balance all other relationships with that of his mother. He skipped his honeymoon for her. Not once did he stop to think if Sonakshi would be upset. When she was upset about Sonakshi not being able to conceive he dropped everything to pacify her. Come to think about it, she was always his priority. She only lost Dev when Sonakshi was no longer in his life. When Sonakshi left, she left him with such a vacuum that a mother's love wasn't enough to fill it.

Dev watched his mom storm out of his cabin. He kept staring at the door as Ishwari left. He knew Ishwari would be upset. There was a time when he would have rushed behind her to pacify her. But not today. Though Dev felt bad for her he couldn't help but fear losing Soha. Now was not the time to get weak. If anything he needed to be strong. It pained him to see the situation they were in. He knew he had to talk to his mother... but how does one wake someone up who is pretending to be asleep was beyond him.

Dev realized how ironical life was. When he met Sonakshi he hesitated to share that part of his life with his family. Did he have an inkling already that his mother wouldn't accept Sonakshi? He always mentioned to Sonakshi that he was being selfish in love and he didn't want to share her with anybody.

"I need you for myself" he claimed then and here with Soha he felt the same.

Try as much he couldn't control his thoughts. Subconsciously he kept switching the table lamp on and off for a long time. That's the position Sonakshi saw him in as she quietly glanced at him before she left office.

***

Ishwari just couldn't sleep. She couldn't come around the fact that her son, her own son would keep her away from his happiness. There was a time they found happiness together. Their happiness lay in each other and now... Dev was moving on moving away from her.

A lone tear slipped Ishwari's eye as she tried to look back for the first time in so many years. She tried to find out just what and where things went wrong.

"Maa..." Dev came into Ishwari's room.

"Dev," was all she managed to say.

"I know you are upset." and Dev just waited for her to continue.

If Ishwari thought Dev would apologize for hurting her, no Dev wasn't going to. She realized how far they had come along.

"Where are we Dev? How did we get here? I thought we were a team. Did you not want to share your happiness with me?

Main kya itni parayi ho gayi?"

Dev otherwise would have stormed out. Ishwari was trying to emotionally hit him but for once Dev was not in a hurry to leave the room. He needed to address whatever was going in his mother's mind and he couldn't afford to mince words not anymore.

"Maa can I ask you a question. If I asked you to choose between your roles of a daughter, a sister or a wife, which will you choose?"

"Dev, what kind of a question is this?"

"Bata na maa... All these years you took pride in being Dev ki maa. But there were other relations in your life. You and Mamaji talk about your childhood so fondly. It was so full of love, your father adored you. Mamaji still loves you to the moon and back and you have mentioned so many times that the 10 years you lived with Dad were the happiest years of your life. If you had to choose one over the other what would you choose?"

"Yeh kaisa sawal hai Dev, saare rishte apni jagaha. One cannot take the place of another."

"Exactly maa... mein bhi toh yehi kehna chaaraha tha. Tu apni jagaha hai, Sonakshi apni jagaha hai... ya thi... "

Ishwari didn't miss the lump in his throat.

"Maa, I have to be thankful to Sonakshi for letting me even close to Suhana. The prenup I signed, I have written away my rights. I have no right over Suhana. I lost everything. In the last month I have finally found a reason to feel happy, light and complete. I will not let anything or anyone disturb that."

"One document cannot define the love of a parent, can it?"

"Sadly it can, Maa."

Ishwari quietly waited for Dev to accuse her for ruining his life. But Dev didn't say anything. If he had complaints he wasn't sharing. If he held her responsible he was no longer accusing. Dev had changed. He held himself responsible for all that was happening in his life today and he wanted to be in control. Ishwari saw him in new light that day. The "Bhakt" in her son was long gone. The person who sat next to her was just her son, a lover and more importantly a father.

"Dev, years back, you hesitated to share about Sonakshi with me. Is that why you hesitated to share about Suhana too?"

Dev merely looked at her. Ishwari found her answer. She was indeed responsible for breaking Dev's family once, no wonder Dev was worried that she could do that again.

Finally Ishwari realized, Forget God, she didn't even act like a good mother.

"Dev, will I ever get to meet her?"

"All in time maa... All in time.."

***

Sonakshi gave the ground floor of her house a thorough once-over. It had shaped up quite well. And the first floor refurbishment would be taken care of in the next one week, thanks to her able and efficient interior designer. Her baba was going to be so happy, she thought, with a smile. And she was happy that she got the house back. It had been a long, often lonely battle but she finally did what she had vowed to do.

"Mamma, where should I keep my dolls?" Suhana came running into the hall, dragging her toy bag along with her.

Sona smiled. "For now, let's use the downstairs bedroom for everything Soha. Once the upstairs gets ready, you can arrange your room however you want."

Soha agreed happily. "Are they really going to paint my room like the way I want?" She was almost hopping from one foot to another in excitement.

Had her daughter always been this expressive in her emotions, Sonakshi wondered for the tenth time. Like it or not, she had to accept that her daughter had probably toned down her natural exuberance in order to accommodate her single working mother. And now with Dev in the picture, she was shedding her reserve, breaking out of the "matured" shell. Even Golu seemed to share some of his abundant energy with his cousin.

"Yes Soha," Sona pulled her close for a quick hug. "Your room will be just the way you want it to be. Butterflies on the walls, large bay window..."

"Curtains should have animals on them and castle bed!" Soha piped up. "Papa and I chose the bed. Baby pink colour with a ladder to climb up and a slide to come down! Then I'll keep all my dolls and toys inside the castle."

"Yes, yes! You can arrange it however you want."

In the last few days Dev had been spending a lot of time with Suhana. Once a workaholic, now he rearranged his schedule quite ruthlessly just so he could spend as much time as he could with his daughter. She got Soha ready in the mornings, dropped her at school and went to work. Dev started his work early and freed his afternoons so he could pick up Soha and bring her to the office where he spent time with her until Sonakshi wrapped up her work and took her daughter home. The few hours he had with Soha, his cabin was turned into a play area. He became Soha's playmate or horse or elephant, depending on what they chose to play that day. A couple of times, when she had been in the middle of a client meeting, she had to knock on the wall in between. Her way of telling them to tone down their volume. On the days when he had a busy schedule all through the day, he tried to make it in the evenings to take Soha out or at least catch her at her dinner time.

When she had decided to move back to this house, he had fretted about 1001 things. Too much dust, what if Soha was allergic, what if there was a stray nail or screw on the floor and Soha stepped on it...but he could see the hotel stay was tiring her out so he didn't push her after that. Instead he had contacted the interior designer to give explicit instructions about the safety measures. She wasn't supposed to know about it though, Sonakshi thought with a small smile. But the interior designer was Sona's friend first so she outed his secret. He was concerned about his daughter so Sona didn't take him to task for it, instead she let it be. Dev was...Dev. He has changed in a lot of ways but he was still the same guy in some ways.

"Now, did you finish your dinner like a good girl?"

"Yes mamma!"

"Fantastic! Now go and brush your teeth, I'll come and tell you a story."

"Mamma, when will Papa come?" Soha asked with a glum face. Dev had gone to Jaipur on official work a couple of days back and although he did call to talk to his daughter every day, Soha still missed him. Just then the doorbell rang. Soha saw Dev's grinning face through the glass, gave an excited screech and ran to open the door. "Papa! Papa!"

She threw herself into his arms the minute she opened the door and he caught her with a loud whoop, threw her up in the air and caught her back with Sonakshi shouting in the background that Soha just had her dinner, she would puke if he did that. With a grin, he hugged Suhana. "Aaah Angel! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Papa!" Soha smacked his cheek with a loud kiss. "Your work in Jaipur is done?"

"Yes, all done!" Dev smiled at Sonakshi. "Hi."

"Hi!" He looked tired, she couldn't help thinking. Did he drive down here straight from Jaipur without going home?

"Sorry for dropping in suddenly. I was on my way home but then wanted to see her once."

"It's...it's fine. Not an issue. Had your dinner?"

"Yeah. I got hungry so ate on the way."

"Coffee?"

"Sure." They had been friends before becoming lovers and that friendship was breaking through the initial stage of hesitancy and awkwardness.

"Papa, today you tell me a story and put me to sleep."

"Soha..." Sonakshi opened her mouth to insist that Dev was probably tired after the long journey.

That tone only made Suhana scowl, wriggle out of her papa's arms and stomp her feet in the beginning of a temper tantrum. "I want papa to put me to sleep. I want papa..."

"OK OK! Papa will tell you a story and put you to sleep." Dev pacified his daughter. "Brushed your teeth? No? Scat then. Get ready for bed."

"Yaayy!"

Soha ran inside and was ready on the bed with her story book out by the time Dev finished his coffee. He settled himself on the bed beside his daughter, kissed her forehead and opened the book. But just then his phone rang. It was Golu. "Hi Golu! You are not asleep yet?"

"BigCha, when are you coming home? I want you to come and tell me a story."

For a few moments, Dev looked completely torn with his daughter snuggled up at his side waiting for the story and his Golu waiting for him to come to him.

"BigCha! Story! I need to sleep or I'll miss school tomorrow!"

"Papa! Story! I need to sleep or I'll miss school tomorrow!"

His helpless gaze found Sonakshi standing at the bedroom door, watching him with a small smile playing on her lips, as if she knew that he was stuck, almost challenging him to un-stick himself. Fine. He would meet the challenge.

"Golu, this is your mamma's phone, right? Ask her and come on FaceTime." And he did the same. A few moments later, Golu popped up on his screen. Suhana peeked in and gave an excited yelp!

"Hi Golu!"

"Hi Soha!"

Soon both kids were jumping on their respective beds in excitement, forgetting all about sleep time and story time, chattering away a mile a minute. Dev was pretty sure neither was hearing what the other was saying and half the words comprised of yuppies, giggles and making faces at each other. And Sonakshi was watching everything, biting her lip to stifle her giggles. Throwing her a look of renewed determination, he took the phone away from Soha.

"KIDS! STOP! Settle down both of you or no story time!"

After another round of howling and protesting, both the kids settled down and he opened the story book. "Once upon a time..."

****

A couple of days later Sonakshi ended her call and exhaled in frustration. What a way to start a Saturday! Being a single parent ain't a cake walk. She'd known that since the moment the pregnancy test had shown two blue lines. Well, at least she had a choice this time. She called Dev.

"Good morning Angel!" Dev followed up his greeting with a loud kiss.

Try as she might, she couldn't do a thing about her rapidly reddening cheeks. "This is not your Angel. It's her mom," she said with a scowl.

"Oh. Ummm...hello Sonakshi."

"Today I have a meeting at 11 o'clock and there is Soha's PTM at the same time. I tried to rearrange my schedule but the client isn't willing." Dev waited for her to continue. "If you are free, could you...maybe...attend the PTM?"

It was a tossup what was brighter. The sun shining outside or Dev's face in his room. Suhana's father would be attending the PTM with her. "Sure. I will be going for Golu anyway so not a problem. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Dev. I'll send the consent letter through Soha."

"OK. Golu and I will pick her up on our way to school."

"On the bike?" Sonakshi practically screeched.

Dev winced and rubbed his ear. "Relax. I know better than to take two hyperactive kids on the bike. I'll take the car. Good luck with your meeting."

"Thanks. Bye."

Dev ended the call and went in search of Golu. After the initial awkward start of Soha's PTM where the teacher looked taken aback that he was Miss Suhana Bose's father and her failed attempts to dig into that aspect of his life, the meeting went fairly well. If the teacher was disappointed with his toned down, non-flirty attitude, she didn't let on. At least not much. His chest puffed up with pride when he heard about Suhana's neat handwriting and grasping power. The teacher added that the little one had initially been a little surly but now has adapted to the environment and become quite friendly with her classmates, just as Golu's focus and attention in the class and his homework has improved. The kids sure were teaching each other in their own way, thought Dev, with a contented smile.

****

The cab halted in front of Dixit Mansion. Sonakshi paid the driver and helped Suhana out of the cab. Both stood in front the gate. Neither made any attempt to take a step further. She never thought she would be here again, let alone that she would bring her daughter anywhere near the vicinity of this house, out of her own volition.

The previous Sunday Soha had thrown a full blown temper tantrum over a broken toy. Having never been used to her daughter behaving that way ever before, Sonakshi had been at a loss. Finally, giving up trying to reason with the unreasonable child, she had called Dev and explained the situation. It took some convincing on Dev's part too but finally he bribed her that he would take her to a movie the coming weekend. And Soha being Soha, shared it with her best friend / cousin about the upcoming movie plan, who in turn had cornered his BigCha, demanding to know why he was being excluded. At a loss on how to handle the situation, he went to Sonakshi. She helped him out of the fix and suggested all four of them could go to the movie together so that Dev wouldn't be left alone to handle two kids.

And all these days, not once he had asked or even mentioned his family or his mom to Sonakshi. She was sure she wouldn't have known anything about Ishwari's visit to his office if she hadn't overheard them talking. That had given her the confidence to take the first initiative and ask if his mom would like to see Suhana. Dev had given her a long, intense look and finally shrugged.

"Only if you are comfortable with it, Sonakshi," was all he'd said.

So here she was. But try as she might, she couldn't make her feet step over the threshold. Sensing her mamma's inner struggle but not knowing the reason behind it, Suhana clung to her hand tighter. Dev came striding out.

"Hey!" he greeted Sonakshi. But for once, she didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the house, her mind back on that last day, her ears hearing GKB screaming at her to get out. Dev wasn't stupid. He could practically read her thoughts. But could do nothing except stand there. Helpless. Watching.

"Hi Papa!" Soha broke the tension with her warm greeting.

"Hey Angel! All set for the movie?"

Soha bobbed her head enthusiastically. Then with a child's innocence said, "You have a very pretty house papa!"

Dev hugged her gently. "Thank you Miss Suhana Bose."

"Mamma said I am to meet my daadi today."

Dev once again glanced at Sonakshi. This time she gave him a small smile. "Do you want to meet her?" Soha nodded once. "Let's go then." Then tentatively asked Sonakshi. "Want to come in?"

"No. That's fine. I'll...I'll wait here. You guys go ahead." Sonakshi refused politely.

Dev took his daughter's hand and led her inside. Everyone was waiting. Ishwari, mamaji, GKB, Elena and Vicky, their expressions ranging from eager anticipation to curious to bored disinterest. Dev guided his daughter to Ishwari, who was standing beside her brother.

"Maa, this is Suhana. My daughter. Your granddaughter. Suhana, this is your daadi."

Ishwari smiled at Suhana. Suhana smiled back, her hand still firmly in her papa's. "Hello dadi," was all she said. Dev went around, introducing everyone and Suhana limiting her greeting to a smile or a hello. Only with Elena she added, "You are Golu's mamma. My maasi, right? Mamma told me."

Elena got down on her hunches and kissed Suhana's cheek gently. "Hello Suhana." Then Golu came down and both the kids met like long-friends, whispering to each other excitedly, excluding all the elders.

Dev caught his maa's look of obvious disappointment. "Maa, It's going to take time. Todne ek pal lagta hai par jodne poori zindagi lag jaati hai. Give it time. You have to build this one on your own." Ishwari ruefully smiled and nodded in acceptance.

Dev turned to the kids. "You two want to come to the movie or spend the rest of the evening in this kusur-phusur?"

The kids came running to him, each grabbing one hand. "Papa, tumi ekdom impossible! We were waiting for you because you were doing kusur-phusur!"

Dev's eyes lit up and turned damp at the same time. The rest of the evening was spent watching the movie, munching on the popcorn, laughing right along with the kids and Sonakshi, trips to the restroom and kids demanding to sit in the lap of the adults in favour of their own seats. They rounded up the evening by dragging Dev and Sonakshi to Pizza Hut. Golu too warmed up to Sonakshi, sharing his pizza slice with his MaaChi. Maasi + Chachi = MaaChi, he said, when Sonakshi tried to say Maasi, making both Dev and Sonakshi dissolve into a hearty laughter. All the excitement wore the kids out and they were out like a light the minute they got into backseat of the car.

"PaCha, MaaChi...what have the kids turned us into!" Dev said, laughter still spilling from his eyes. Sonakshi grinned back. "You know, Suhana is just like you," he said, remembering his daughter's tumi ekdom impossible.

Sonakshi shook her head, still smiling. "Actually she's like you. She might talk like me but scratch the surface and she's all you."

Dev grinned, pleased at those words before a yawn overtook him. He rolled his shoulders. "Can't believe how much energy they have! They wore me out."

"Hmmm...me too! House is still away. Want to stop for a cup of coffee?"

Dev stopped the car. Both of them got down. Dev went to get the coffee while Sonakshi adjusted the kids so they don't wake up with a stiff neck. They looked so cute together, she thought with a smile.

"Sonakshi?" Dev called out, extending the coffee cup to her.

And just like old times, they leaned against his car and sipped their coffee in companionable silence. Her house renovation was almost done and soon her parents would be joining her. She sighed. Dev would need a heads-up on that, she thought.

"Dev?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can we talk?"

------x------

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Res !!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by: deepsel

Res !!!!!!!!!!!

I am first i am first...Geena am first

Hi, Suvi and Divya today my review will be in two parts. Sorry I didn't know it will be that long.😔

Aww

Such a lovely one this was...

And yes,coming to think of it, Dev in his unadulterated version was sketched to sweep any woman off her feet.

Your Dev's got me all gooey.. .. Eiasa wala kahan milega. I am ready to dump my current BF..hee hee..

Originally posted by: deepsel

<font size="2" color="#ff0000">Res !!!!!!!!!!!
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Deeps 😆 Go to sleep dear. 😆