Nothing Can Keep Us Apart
Part 99 - Tough luck
"Geet, I'm going to go home now. Will you be alright?" Maan caressed Geet's face and moved a strand of hair away from her eyes.
"Of course, Maan. We'll both be fine."
"Ma and Bauji are staying, and I'll be back in a few hours." Maan couldn't keep the worry out of his voice, making Geet smile at his concern.
"Maan," she said, bringing her hand up to cup his face, "everything is fine. Go home. You know that Amit and Dhiren won't have gone to bed, even though it's past their bedtime. You have to go home, if for no other reason than to save everyone from our naughty duo. The baby and I will be fine. Really, this time the labor was much shorter and easier than I expected."
"It didn't seem that way when you were cursing me and threatening to kill me if you ever got pregnant again." Maan chuckled, remembering how she had shocked even the doctor with the way she yelled at him when it was time to push.
"Oh, hello! Mr. Khurana. Not a good idea to make fun of the woman who just spent hours in extreme pain in order to give birth to YOUR child."
Maan knew he had reached his limit, so he held his ears and asked for forgiveness. Geet pretended to be very upset at Maan's lack of sympathy, and did not immediately accept his sorry. Only when Maan had begged and praised her as the world's best wife and mother, did she pardon his remarks.
They said their goodbyes, Maan leaning down and placing a light kiss on Geet's forehead, Geet squeezing his hand in response. Glancing around quickly and seeing they were alone, except for the sleeping baby in the basinet, Maan altered his position and planted a quick kiss on Geet's lips.
"Maan, yeh aap kya raha hai? Hum hospital mein, ghar nahi!"
Maan just walked out of the room, leaving Geet to wonder if her husband could become any more outrageous. Already, she noticed the remarkable similarities between her boys and their father. If they grew up to be as naughty as her Maan, how would she cope. Hopefully, the Khurana Terrors hadn't caused too many problems at home during the absence of their parents. Thankfully, she had their darling Priya Princess, and now their latest darling little one, to balance out the mischievousness of the others.. As her mother came in the room to sit with her, Geet felt a pleasant tiredness begin to envelope her. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep, getting a well needed chance to rest.
****************
"What picture is this?"
"It's a picture from when we went to Switzerland to visit Uncle George and Aunty Rose."
"But I never went to Swa...Swee...Swizzyland!"
"Yes you did."
"Then why I'm not in the picture?"
"You are."
"Where? Show me!"
"Look, see? There's me and Papa and Amit and Mama and there you are, inside Mama's tummy."
"WHAT? Didi, that's not what I wanted to see," complained Dhiren, sticking his little mouth out in a pout.
"It isn't? You said you wanted to see your first baby picture. That's it, the very first picture of you as a baby." Priya smiled and ruffled her little brother's hair.
Dhiren batted her hands away and growled, not happy with the way he was being treated. "Tough luck, Chote," said Amit, moving to sit by his brother. "But it's kind of your own fault. You shouldn't have been so pesky and interrupted the story so much. Never mess with Di, she's too smart."
"Ugh. When I grow up and go to school I'm gonna be smarter than Didi. Haan!"
"I don't know. That might be kind of hard. Di is really smart. Everyone says so, even Mama and Papa."
"I want Mama! Where is she?"
"Come on, Dhiren, you know Mama had to go away for a little while. That's why Didi was telling us the story." Amit looked at the upset face of his little brother and knew he was going to start crying if something didn't happen to distract him. "Hey, do you want to watch cartoons with me?"
"Right now?"
"Sure, why not." The two boys wandered over to the entertainment center and Amit had Dhiren choose a DVD. Then, being the capable elder brother of five, he turned on the tv and player and pressed play.
With her two little brothers occupied, Priya went off to find what the adults who were supposed to be watching them were up to. Considering that it was Pinky mausi and Adi mausa who were there at the moment, she had an idea of where to find them. Walking through the familiar halls, she made her way to the kitchen. Sure enough, when she was only a few steps away from the kitchen, she could hear the familiar voices of her aunt and uncle.
"Pinky, please, eat this."
"Adi, I'm not hungry. Please stop shoving food at me!"
Priya came in to the kitchen and saw her Adi mausa holding a fork full of food up to the mouth of a very pregnant Pinky. Adi was extremely frustrated with his wife. Ever since they had been given the happy news that they were going to be parents, he had the most difficult time trying to get Pinky to eat. Pregnancy hormones had the opposite effect on Pinky than the norm, and all but got rid of her appetite. As the husband and father, it was Adi's sad duty to try and make her eat. He was having a particularly hard time accomplishing anything when Priya came into the room.
"Mausi, what's wrong?" she asked, walking over to where they were sitting.
"Your Adi mausa is trying to make me eat, and I don't want this."
"Pinky, if you don't want this, is their something you do want?"
"What I want is for you to leave me alone! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not hungry?"
Adi threw up his hands in defeat. He had no idea how to convince Pinky to eat. Not only were her hormones messing up her appetite, but they also had changed her from a happy, bubbly, sweet wife, to a short tempered, stubborn, crazy woman. If this child didn't come soon, he might go crazy himself.
"Mausi, maybe you're not hungry, but I'm sure the baby is. If you don't eat, how will the baby get any food? Don't you remember telling me that you and Mausa really wanted a baby, but God wasn't making easy for you to have one, and then how happy you were when you found you were going to have a baby?" Priya walked over and placed her hand softly on Pinky's stomach and rubbed gently.
"You love my little cousin a lot don't you?" Pinky nodded her head yes. Priya picked up the fork of pasta primavera, one of Nakul Chacha's best, and held it up to her mouth. "Then eat this so my little cousin can grow big and strong, okay?"
Pinky opened her mouth and let Priya feed her. Adi stared at both of them, his mouth opened in shock. He had been trying everything he could think of to get Pinky to eat for the last ten minutes, with no success.
"You eat for Priya, but not for me?"
"She's cuter than you and she wasn't being mean to me."
"I was being mean? I was being MEAN? You..."
"Uh, Mausa, maybe you should go see what the boys are doing. You never know, they might be coloring on the walls." Priya knew that her brothers would be sitting like zombies, watching the cartoons, but she thought that it might be a good idea for her Adi mausa to take a little break. Adi rushed off, concerned about what Maan would think if his children were allowed to run amuck under his care. This left Priya and Pinky alone, and gave Priya an opportunity to coax her Pinky mausi to eat her food.
Not too much time passed before Maan came home. Priya was the first one to know he was back, and went running to get a hug from her Papa. Fast on her heels came the boys, who launched themselves at Maan at the same time. He caught them both and swung them around, causing them to giggle and yell with glee.
"Hey, Bandaron, what would Mama say if she saw you acting like this?" asked Priya, shaking her head with sisterly disapproval.
"Papa, Mama kaisi hai?" questioned Amit, trying to sound grown up, but clearly asking as a little boy who worried for his mother.
"Mama bilkul theek hai."
"I want Mama," stated Dhiren, putting his arms around Maan's neck and squeezing.
"You'll get to see Mama soon," promised Maan, picking his son up, and giving him a bit of a cuddle. "In fact, I have something to show you." While still holding Dhiren in one arm, Maan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small video camera.
"What's that, Papa?" asked Amit.
"It's a video message from Mama. Let's go plug this into the tv, and we can watch it."
All for Khuranas walked together, with the children taking turns talking to Maan about their day. Soon they were settled on the sofa, and waiting to watch the video from their Mama. Dhiren wasn't satisfied where he was sitting, and climbed into Maan's lap, leaning his head on his chest. A bit of noise showed on the screen and then the video started.
"Geet, look into the camera and say hello to the children."
"Maan, not now. I look horrible! My hair is a mess and I'm all sweaty."
"Nonsense. You're beautiful, just like always. Isn't Mama beautiful, children?"
"Yes," came the combined response.
"Mama is the most beautiful," added Dhiren.
"Priya, Amit, Dhiren, I want to introduce you to our newest family member."
Camera moves and zooms in to show the bundle being held in Geet's arms.
"This is your choti behen, Tanaya. Tanaya say hello to your brothers and sister."
Camera shows Geet gently holding Tanaya's hand and moving it slowly back and forth, in a waving motion.
"Papa, is that the choti princess?" asked Dhiren, getting off of Maan's lap and walking up to the tv screen.
"Oh, Stupid. Di is the choti princess. This is our new baby sister."
"Amit, don't call your brother stupid."
"Didi is the choti princess? But Didi isn't choti, she's Didi."
Amit hit his head with his hand and marveled at his brother. "Dhiren, use your brain. When Di was a baby she was choti, just like our new baby. Anyway, you should know Di is the choti princess. Mama and Papa tell her that story when she goes to bed."
"But, I go to bed before Didi." Amit just shook his head. What to do? Dhiren was only three. Maybe when he was five he would understand.
"I hope all three of you are being good for Adi mausa and Pinky mausi. I love you all very much and I'll see you soon. Tanaya says good-bye."
The children wanted to watch the video over and over. Not only did they feel better about their mom being away, but their new little sister was so cute. Priya, especially was happy to get a sister. Now she wouldn't be the only girl in the family. After a while, Dhiren remembered a complaint that he had, and went to tell his father.
"Papa, I asked Didi to show me my first baby picture." Dhiren went to get the photo album, and bring it over by his father. "Look, see the picture she showed me!"
Maan looked at the picture and saw that Priya had cleverly found the first picture that was taken when Geet was pregnant with Dhiren. He laughed at the expression on his son's face and said, "Well, that is the first picture of you that we have."
"But Papa, I didn't mean a picture like that."
"Oh, what picture did you mean?"
"I meant the first picture of me as a baby when I wasn't in Mama's tummy any more."
"Did you tell that to Didi?" Dhiren shook his head no. "Well, maybe you will get what you want if you do. And a please would probably help too."
Armed with this new information, Dhiren rushed over to Priya and asked excitedly, "Didi, can you please show me my first baby picture when I'm not in Mama's tummy?"
Priya saw the expression of excitement on her chote bhai's face, and considered that he hadn't been too annoying for the last few minutes. She gave into his request, and they spent 20 minutes looking through old photos from when Dhiren was a baby. All too soon for the children, Maan declared it was time for them to go to bed. He accompanied all of them to their rooms and helped tuck them in. He also told them that he was going to be going back to stay with Mama and the baby, but that Nana and Nani would be there when they woke up.
Precap:
Coming home.
And Thanks Goes To:
Nothing this time
Who Got There First:
Nothing this time
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Final exclusive interview with laxmi2010, author of FF - Nothing Can Keep Us Apart (Part2)
how many kids have they planned? by hinalshah
So Priya is (obviously) unplanned, but very much loved, baby #1. (Child #1)
Amit is planned, but also very much loved, baby #1. (Child #2)
Dhiren is planned, but also very much loved and spoiled, baby #2. (Child #3)
Tanaya is uplanned, but very much loved, baby #2. (Child #4)
So as you can see, only two of the pregnancies were planned, and Maan and Geet were only planning to have 3 children. But, they went on vacation alone, and Maan couldn't keep his hands off Geet, and the result was cute little baby Tanaya.
how many childrens that maneet have ? by mrk_1
4. That's it. Geet meant it when she told Maan that she was never going to go through labor again. But, no abortion obviously, so as you've all pointed out, they need to be a bit more careful about their family planning.
oh n amit n dhiren r both names that u hd in ur boys' name list ryt ?! by scorpiobhavika
Good catch. That's exactly right, and Tanaya was the other girl's name, that quite a few people favored. Actually, this is the real reason that Geet and Maan had 4 children, because I like all four names so much, that I wanted to use them all. I also didn't want to have the more typical, cliched number of 1 or 3 children. Now, I don't have anything agaisnt people having a small number of children, I myself am an only child. I just think it's a little weird that on many of the current running serials couples either have one child or three children. Yes, sometimes other numbers are there, but still it's strange. In the real world families come it all sorts of sizes, and frankly even the best "family planning" doesn't work 100%.
Khurana Foundation. What is that?
So, I somehow thought I might work this explanation in to the story, but it's not really fitting now that the story is about to end, so I will explain here. Khurana Foundation is a non-for-profit company funding in part by the Khuranas. Geet is the one who started it with Maan's blessing. It supports lots of different charitable efforts, and as was mentioned it has a Women's Rights Office that Tito wants to become a part of. It helps with all kinds of women's rights issues, but the particular focus is helping women who find themselves in situations simliar to Geet's. Most of the family involvement is done by Geet and Dadima, though Maan helps from time to time.
Who was telling the story?
So the story is actually a blending of Maan and Geet's versions. I didn't want to give away too much, so I was purposely vague, but the story is actually being told by Priya to Amit and Dhiren.
One day a prince came to choti princess ki mom's family. He said that he wanted to marry choti princess ki mom and take her away to a wonderful life. Choti princess ki mom's family thought he was wonderful, so they got married. But they didn't know that the prince was a bad prince. He was already married. He only married choti princess ki mom so that he could steal her jewels and land, then he left her alone. Everyone was upset. When choti princess ki mom found out that she was going to have the choti princess, her family was angry. They were afraid that people would think choti princess ki mom had done something wrong. They wanted to kill choti princess, so no one would find out. But choti princess ki mom loved her choti princess a lot. She ran away to save her choti princess, but her family still tried to kill her. Both choti princess ki mom and choti princess would have died, but for one thing. During all these bad times, choti princess ki mom met a dusht danaav. The dusht danaav always caused choti princess ki mom problems. He would yell at and threaten choti princess ki mom, pull and push her around, and never listen properly to anything she said. Choti princess ki mom thought the dusht danaav was the most terrible person, worse than even Raavan. What no one knew was that he was only dusht danaav on the outside. On the inside he was a good prince. Actually, the bad prince was the brother of the good prince, but the good prince thought that his brother was good, and would never do bad things like he did. The good prince didn't know what had happened to choti princess ki mom, only that she always seemed to be in trouble. He was always there when she was in trouble, so he would help choti princess ki mom. When choti princess' family tried to kill her and her mom, the good prince saved them. Choti princess ki mom left her family and went to Delhi. There she got a job as a secretary, so that she could take care of choti princess. But there was a twist. The boss was none other than the good prince! Choti princess ki mom thought that he was still dusht danaav, and they fought a lot. After a while they became friends. Choti princess ki mom found out that he was dusht danaav on the outside, but good prince on the inside. Choti princess ki mom and the good prince liked each other, but choti princess ki mom was afraid. The good prince didn't know about choti princess. He didn't know what the bad prince had done. Choti princess ki mom was worried that he might think like her family. She didn't know how to tell the story, but the good prince found out by himself. He still wanted to be friends with choti princess ki mom. Everything was happy. Until one day everyone found out that the bad prince and the good prince were brothers. Choti princess ki mom didn't trust the good prince any more. She thought that he was all dusht danaav and ran away. The good prince was angry. His brother had hurt choti princess ki mom. He wanted to punish him, but the bad prince ran away. The good prince found choti princess ki mom, and proved that he was good. He loved choti princess ki mom a lot, so the good prince married choti princess ki mom. Then he became choti princess ka dad. -Priya
"Is that the end of the story?" -Dhiren
Oh no. Choti princess wasn't born yet. She was still inside choti princess ki mom. Choti princess ka dad had to do a lot to take care of them. Once, they went to vist choti princess ki mausi, and choti princess ka dad had to fight villains to save choti princess and choti princess ki mom. -Priya
"No, he didn't fight any villains." -Amit
"But he could fight villains. He can do anything!" -Dhiren
You two stop interrupting and listen to the story! Choti princess ka dad did fight villains. The villains were friends of choti princess ka badi mama. They were angry because choti princess ki mom told the truth about her family, and the police put choti princess ka badi mama in jail. Choti princess ka dad had to fight all the villains by himself, to save choti princess and choti princess ki mom from being killed. Choti princess ka dad was a hero. He fought 6 men with swords and beat them all. He also made sure that the bad prince got his punishment. The bad prince had to have a trial, because that's what you do with bad people, to figure out their punishment. The bad prince was really bad, and the punishment was to be in jail for ever. After all of this, finally choti princess was born and choti princess ki mom and choti princess ka dad was so happy. They loved their choti princess a lot. -Priya
"Is that the end of the story?" -Dhiren
No! Choti princess ki mom was really young, and choti princess ka dad knew that she was really sad to leave school. He also knew that she was really smart and was doing a lot of hard work in their business. Choti princess ka dad told choti princess ki mom that she should finish college and then do MBA. Choti princess ki mom really liked the idea, but she didn't want choti princess to have problems if she went to school. Choti princess was a baby, and babies really need their mom a lot. But choti princess ka dad was a really good dad, and he helped take care of choti princess so that her mom could do school. -Priya
"Okay, now that is very boring. School? That is not interesting at all. Is the story over yet?" -Dhiren
Well... -Priya
Edited by laxmi2010 - 13 years ago
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