#2 | Arshi SS : Her Last Wish - Chapter 13 - Pg 86 - 15th Oct :)

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Sipping into his black coffee Arnav was working on his laptop when Khushi stomped in and shut his laptop.

"What the...!"

"Don't what the me. What's wrong with you, Arnav? I left you here to rest not to start romancing with your work. Now stop looking at me with that big owl like eyes and lie down." She ordered making Arnav bite the insides of his cheeks in order to stop him from laughing.

"I am not a kid that you are scolding me like this, Khushi." Arnav said pulling an innocent face.

"I am glad you know you are not a kid, so now stop acting like Arushi and lie down." She said in a strict tone and walked towards the table to get his medicines.

It had been a week that Khushi was staying in RM reason being Arushi's health. The little one had caught terrible cold and was suffering from high fever which got Khushi all worried. Just as she was getting well a little more was added to Khushi's worry as Arnav came back all wet from his evening jog two days back which resulted in him getting fever as well. So the current scenario of RM was Khushi running after Arnav and Arushi taking care of them and looking after their every small need while the duo enjoyed the special attention with rest of the family happily seeing the little family. They might not have realized but the others saw it really well how Khushi was unknowingly fulfilling the duties of a mother and a wife. Something had to be done about this the other thought while Anjali and Nani passes a knowing smile and agreed with the rest.

"Here take your medicines and try getting some sleep. And don't even think of using the laptop again until you are all fine." She said as she handed the medicine and a glass of water to Arnav.

"Yes boss." Arnav said pursing his lips and saluting her before gulping down the medicine. "How's Arushi?" He asked after drinking the water.

"She is better. No fever from morning. I guess she will be all well by tomorrow." Khushi assured him as she pulled the blanket over him. "Now sleep, I will see you in sometime." She softly said walking outside making Arnav smile at her retreating back.

"Maybe I was wrong in thinking we can't get back together. Maybe I hurried a bit in closing the whole marriage talk. I will have to give it another thought." Arnav mentally noted smiling at his own thoughts before he fell asleep under the effect of the antibiotic.

*

"Arushi baby, you want to be fine na? Drink little more of this milk please and my baby will be very strong and healthy." Khushi spoke to the little one in a baby language while she clapped her hands with glee.

"Maybe she wants to finish her milk from her papa's hand. Hai na mela baccha, papa ke haathon se milk piyoge na aap?" (My baby will drink milk from her papa's hand, right?) Arnav said as he walked towards them.

Arushi was just getting better and Khushi didn't want risk the baby catching any germs and falling sick again so she was with Arushi in the guestroom while Arnav rested on his room. Khushi usually took Arushi to her father's room in the morning and before she sleeps, but Arnav came there himself after waking up from his nap as he was missing Arushi and also now-in-strict-mode Khushi.

"How are you feeling now? When did you wake up?" Khushi asked as Arnav sat by her side.

"Some fifteen minutes back. I waited for sometime but you were not around so I came here to see my baby. And for your other question, I feel fresh and a lot better." Arnav said taking Arushi from Khushi. "Come my little princess, finish this milk with papa." He kissed the baby and nuzzled his nose with her tiny ones.

"I was feeding Arushi so couldn't come check on you. Anyway, now that you're here, take care of your daughter for a while; I will bring some soup for you." She said and stood up on her heels.

"Sweet corn soup please, I am bored of the same old mushroom soup." Arnav said making a sour face making Khushi chuckle.

"Aye aye captain." Khushi said saluting him and with a final look at the duo walked downstairs.

"Your mumma is cute, isn't she?" Arnav asked the little one who jumped on her father's lap. Shaking the bottle, he made her drink the milk while his mind went back at his words. "Oops, I meant to say your Maasi." Arnav corrected biting his tongue for the mistake. But why did the slip of tongue sound so good, why did the word "mumma" sound more natural than "maasi"? Shaking away this thought, he concentrated on feeding his little princess but his mind was still going around these things, making him think more and more about his words and the errant thoughts.

*

The morning sun rays had just entered the room making the room shine with the reflected rays. He squirmed a little as the rays hit his eyes waking him up to a new day. Sitting up he stretched his body and was rubbing his eyes when he saw her enter inside his room through the french door. Dressed in a red anarkali with her silky long hair left loose she came into his room with some red roses in her hands.

"Good morning." She chirped happily as she opened the curtains.

"Good morning yourself." He greeted back with a smile and rested his back on the bed.

"So how're you feeling today?"

"All good. I guess I don't have fever anymore." He said. He didn't know what exactly the reason was but he was but he was feeling really fresh and happy like this morning had some new beginning.

"That's good then but if yoi think you will get your laptop back already, that isn't happening." She said seeing him smile goofily.

"I was not even thinking about the laptop yaar. Waise heyy.. subah subah fool ke haathon mein phool? Kya baat hai!" He exclaimed as he for the first time noticed the fresh roses in her hands.

Khushi gasped at his words and handed him the flower immediately before saying, "Now it suits well, you can repeat your sentence again." proudly flipping her hair back.

Arnav's eyes grew wide before their eyes met and they both burst out laughing remembering the similar conversation they had years back.

**Flashback**

The first two lectures were done and there was a small break before going for the third one so Arnav was there in the garden sitting by their favorite tree which they called as "their spot" waiting for her, his Khushi. Just then he saw Khushi walk towards him with a red rose in her hand and he smiled knowingly.

"Arre wah, fool ke haathon mein phool? Not bad." He said as she sat by his side.

"Haww I am not a fool, the one who gave me this rose can be one though." She shot back smiling sweetly at him.

"True actually, he must really be a fool isi liye toh tujhe diya yeh rose." Arnav teased back making her shrug her shoulders as if saying "whatever".

"You know what? You are stupid and so is this flower of yours." She hmph-ed, taking his hand and slamming the rose on his palm.

"Don't say anything about my flower; I have grown it with great love." He sulked making her go "aww" but she pulled up a straight face giving nothing away.

"I will kya karega?" She asked stubbornly as he smirked at him.

"I can think of many possibilities baby." He said huskily before winking at her and leaning over.

Khushi blushed at his naughty words before smiling at him mischievously. She moved a little back maintain a safe gap between them. "You know these days a lots of people post "My life, my rules." on their facebook wall. Maybe you should also post something like that but for your case it would be, "My gamla, my phools" as you obsessively love your flowers." Khushi said poking her tongue out at him.

He held her tongue between his thumb and index finger smiling evilly at her.

"Aahhh lwau mua twang" Khushi said trying to say "leave my tongue" but with him holding her tongue, it came out as alien language.

He laughed at her pinched face leaving her tongue making her smack him on his chest as the duo burst into fits of laughter.

**Flashback ends**

"By the way these flowers are from your garden only so you can still say my gamla, my phools." Khushi said and the smile they had on their faces tuned wider and they laughed together.

Oh those good old days!

"Has Arushi woken up?" He asked now that they had stopped laughing and were breathing hard.

"Yes, she woke an hour back. She is really energetic this morning; she is probably troubling her bua." Khushi smiled shaking her head remembering how Arushi had jumped into Anjali's arms as soon as she entered the guest room.

"This morning is not that good for Di then." Arnav chuckled and they both shared a knowing smile.

Arushi in one of those "energetic" days of hers would be a very naughty kid unlike her normal self. She would bounce on the arms of whoever carried her making them all tired and if they placed her down on the bed to take of rest she would start crying making them carry her once again. She would make them go round and round the house while she snuggled to them and enjoyed the walk.

"Freshen up and come down for breakfast. Now that you are fine, I am sure you would prefer having breakfast with everyone over having breakfast in bed." She smiled and walked out leaving him to freshen up.

****

"Good morning, everyone." Arnav greeted as he took his seat on the dining table.

"How are you this morning, di?" He asked Anjali seeing Anjali also join in.

Anjali looked at him accusingly before saying, "Ask your daughter." Everyone laughed while Anjali faked a pout before laughing with them. "I don't know what gets over her on these days." She shook her head taking a bite onto her sandwich.

They were all eating their breakfast silently when the doorbell rang. HP opened the door to invite Sashi in, who smiled at the family and walked towards the dining table.

"Did I disturb you all between your meals?" He asked.

"It's nothing like that uncle. Why don't you join us for breakfast?" Arnav said in everybody's behalf.

"Is it the love for your daughter that brought you here early in the morning, Sashi beta?" Nani teased him as he took a chair.

"It's not just the love for my daughter Nani ji but it would be a complete lie if I say I was not missing her. With her being the only one at home, it feels empty when she is not around." Sashi said earnestly as he looked at his daughter.

"I missed you too, papa." Khushi who was serving him the breakfast said and hugged her father tight before they all started with their breakfast.

After the breakfast was done, Aakash left for office while the rest got seated in the leaving room.

"I missing Khushi was a part of a reason for me being here Nani ji, apart from that I had another reason too." Sashi spoke up gaining everybody's attention.

"Yes, what is it Sashi?" Nani asked.

Sashi looked at everyone specially Khushi before looking back at Nani and continuing. "Nani ji aap ko toh sab pata hi hai, Khushi gets irritated whenever I talk about marriage and I understood her point. But lately there is this news of her all close friends getting married and like every father I also want my daughter to get married and settled with her life. If I had directly said this to her, she would have fought with ne again so I thought maybe I should share this matter with you all hoping you will make Khushi understand that it's high time she starts thinking about marriage." He put forward his concern.

Khushi fiddled with the end of her dupatta not feeling very comfortable with this conversation while Arnav took in the scenario numbly.

"Your concern is valid Sashi, like every father you must have dreamt about your daughter's alliance with a prince who would come and fill her life with happiness. Do you have any good guy in mind that you are looking for our help in making Khushi understand?" Nani asked seriously.

"Uhh yes. A rishta had come for Khushi last month. She denied for it without even hearing about the boy properly but Nani ji the boy and his family - both are very good. They are well reputed and are from our social circle and from what I have heard they are wonderful people. Khushi would be very happy there Nani ji, but this girl just doesn't understand." Sashi said looking specifically at his daughter as if saying "Had you not waved this topic away without listening to what I had to say, maybe I wouldn't have been doing this."

The hall fell into pin drop silence as they all took in the seriousness of the matter. Even though they all wanted to see Arnav and Khushi together, they knew that can't happen. Arnav had clearly said he was not interested in getting into any relationship again, so in that case they couldn't keep Khushi hanging. She was a girl and like the old people said a girl wouldn't get a good groom if she is not married in time, thus it's high time they all stop being selfish and start thinking about Khushi, they all thought before they started enquiring about the guy Sashi had searched for Khushi.

Helplessness seeped into Khushi's form as she saw everyone agreeing to her father's words. Her head spun and eyes startled filling up with tears. She looked at Arnav desperately hoping him to say something or react in anyway but seeing him sit there quietly hurt her even more. Tears rolled down her eyes which she wiped away quickly before she ran upstairs. Arnav in the other hand was blank, he couldn't believe his ears. He had never thought him shutting the marriage talk with Khushi would lead to this. Yes, he was not ready to think about second marriage then, true, but at the same time he never wants Khushi to get married to someone else. He couldn't even think of seeing Khushi will somebody else as his wife, his possession. His blood boiled at his own stupidity and eyes became red with anger. He will have to do something, he will have to stop this shit, he thought. With that decided he looked up to check on Khushi when he saw tears roll down her cheeks which broke a part of him. She ran upstairs wiping her tears while his fingers curled up into a fist.

He will surely stop this nonsense, not for anyone else but for the sake of him and his love. There is no way that he could let her go away from him not again!!!

_________________________

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Love,

Rhea.

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