Originally posted by: Ashlesha09
hey
Am new reader😆, just came across this fic and read about 10-12 chapters and what brilliantly done, just loved all the bits of chapter, finally after ages got something to read on PH or say on Desh, after ages like actually something so nicely sketched and the way every character of the story is involved in some or the other part is certainly commendable job, while reading I was actually remembering my favourite fics which I read when I came to IF, its not like any similarity is there but its just one that this is done very nicely like they were, involving every single character, providing new story and actually making a room for reader to read and imagine the things going on in front.Lovely jobwill get back after reading couple of more and hopefully with a better and proper comment😆😆Ashleshaedit - Posting here and commenting on fics after like ages😆😆well nothing to do with you but felt like adding🤣
Chapter 75: Round and Round We Go
Kunal stood in front of apartment C12 and waited patiently for the door to open after having rung the doorbell. As the door swung inward he smiled and greeted, "Hey Ash thanks for letting me borrow these books. Oh, Meher...hey."
"Hi Kunal. Ash is on the phone," Meher replied answering his quizzical look. "Come on in."
Kunal nodded and entered the apartment. "So, where are the other two...the other half of your partner in crime foursome gang?"
Meher chuckled, "They are at the mall."
"What again? Didn't you guys go yesterday?" Kunal asked.
"They are returning something for Maya's father. He's been busy lately and hasn't had the time to go to the mall and return the items so Maya decided to go do that for him," Meher explained.
"Oh. Well, hopefully they don't come back with half the mall in their bags. Those girls can shop," Kunal said with an overwhelming sigh.
"They sure can," Meher laughed. "You want something to drink?"
"Sure, would like a glass of water," Kunal replied.
"So, what books did you borrow?" Meher inquired.
"Oh, just some medical textbooks."
"Medical textbooks? Aren't you in business?" Meher replied as she poured some water into a glass.
Kunal gave an appreciated grin as he took the glass from her. "I was looking some things up for Sanjana. Her little cousin in Australia is sick and he's been in the hospital for days."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about that," Meher sympathized. "You've talked to Ash about it?"
"Yeah, I did. I've been e-mailing Sanjana what Ash has told me and faxing these medical pages from the book to her too," Kunal said. "She's pretty worried about him."
"Well, I'll keep him in my prayers," Meher replied.
"Thanks...she'll appreciate that. I'll let her know."
"When is she coming back?" Meher asked.
"A few weeks before school starts up again," Kunal said.
They both turned their heads when they heard Ashlesha enter the kitchen. "Phew, just got off the phone and straightened everything out. I really can't believe people these days."
"What happened?" Kunal inquired.
"You'll never believe what this crazy girl did," Meher said. "I seriously think she's nuts. I would have never have done that."
"Like I even had a choice...I mean I called the police didn't I?" Ashlesha replied.
"What are you guys talking about? Stop speaking in riddles here," Kuanl said furrowing his eyebrows.
"Follow me." Kunal looked on curiously as he followed Ashlesha and Meher into the second bedroom that also worked as her study room. His eyes widen at seeing what was in front of him. He looked at Ashlesha and Meher hoping to get a full explanation.
"We were on our way home...I mean Ash was taking me back home but she had to stop and meet a friend to exchange some notes. The friend said to meet her at the basketball courts cause her boyfriend was playing a game there...so I told Ash to drop me by the townhouse so I could just kind of checkup on the house. She exchanged notes with her friend and when she was walking back...walking a different route to where her car was parked...she found the baby stroller in the park just sitting there with a baby inside," Meher explained.
"So, I took her to my car and took her to the townhouse and informed Meher what I had found. And since I knew you were coming over soon and I needed to call the police we just went back to the apartment with her," Ashlesha added.
"You took the baby?! You stole someone's kid? You realize you can go to jail for something like that," Kunal sputtered.
"Lower your voice. You are going to scare her," Ashlesha sternly replied. "I called the police to inform them of what happened. I didn't want to go to the police precinct and have her stay there with a bunch of criminals so I decided to bring her home. And besides social services probably would have taken forever to come over...I'd much rather have her here in a comfortable and peaceful environment waiting to get picked up."
"Wow, you are crazy...I would have never have done that. What if the parents think you stole the baby and press charges? I mean you just rolled her out of the park...someone might have seen you," Kunal gasped.
"That's why I called the police immediately and explained the situation. They are coming over and with someone from social services so things will be able to be efficiently taken care of," Ashlesha said.
Preet nodded thanking an elderly couple for taking the time to answer his questions. He sighed as he walked away not knowing what to do next. He saw his brother walking over from the far side of the park and ran up to him, "So? Did you find her?"
"No, nobody saw anything. I mean how can you not notice a stroller?" Harman replied in a panic.
"Things like this happen all the time. People don't pay attention...and if Scotch wasn't crying or the person or persons who took her acted all normal then there wouldn't be a cause for alarm," Preet explained.
"We need to call Prem Bhaiya," Harman said. "We need to figure out something. I mean what if the Mom comes back and demands to take Scotch back? We can't say well, we lost her...cause that would make the situation even more serious. Bauji and Ma would know and then we'd have to get the police involved and not to mention it could destroy relationships...I mean if its Jiju how is this going to affect Kulraj Di? If it's you...what about Meher? If it's me...what about Maya? And if it is Prem Bhaiya...what about Heer Bhabhi?"
"I know," Preet said with extreme concern on his face. "We have to seriously figure something out." He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket and placed a call to Prem.
Thirty minutes later Prem was there at the park meeting his two brothers with a serious expression on his face. "So? Any luck while I was coming over here?" he inquired.
"No," Harman replied. "I'm so sorry."
Prem placed his hand on his shoulder in a sympathetic gesture. "First thing is to find a solution to this problem. We can't take the risk of having some random stranger come knocking on our door asking for her baby back and naming one of us the father," Prem said.
"That was what Harman was saying," Preet replied.
"We need some help from a third-party that knows all those involved but won't go telling anyone anything if we confide in that person."
The three brothers all looked at each other and said, "Ash"
"She'll be able to help us out," Preet smiled in agreement. "She is the cousin to Meher and Heer Bhabhi and she's friends with Maya. I'm sure she'll get mad at first but then help us sort things out so we don't get the wrath from our girls."
"We should probably tell Veera," Harman suggested. "I mean she could help us out as well if and when we get the baby back." The brothers nodded their heads in agreement.
"Let's go to Ash's place," Preet said.
"Is she even back yet?" Harman asked. "I mean the girls spent the night at Maya's place."
"Ash always leaves early because she has to study and do things for Med school...I'm sure she's back home right now," Preet answered.
"Let's take one car and go. No use in driving separately," Prem said.
"PB what did you tell Bhabhi?" Preet inquired.
"Oh, she dropped me off...she went to go run some errands," Prem replied. "She thinks I'm playing basketball with you guys."
The three Juneja brothers walked quickly from the parking lot of the Lake Valley apartment complex to apartment C12. "She's home right?" Harman inquired.
"Yes, for the fifth time you've asked me...she is home," Preet replied. "I called and asked her are you home? She said yes."
"Did you ask her if anyone was with her?" Prem inquired suddenly thinking what if Maya or Meher was with her as he knocked on the apartment door.
"No," Preet answered and then paused as he realized what his brother was thinking. "Oh crap!"
"See, that was why I was asking," Harman said.
"Well, why didn't you say so? And why didn't you tell me this when I was calling her?" Preet angrily replied.
"I was busy driving!" Harman shouted.
"Hi guys! Why are you yelling?" The brothers turned their heads at the open door surprised to see Kunal standing in the door way. "You guys want to come in right?" The three brothers hesitantly nodded and walked into the apartment. "You'll never guess what crazy thing Ash did today."
Preet's eyes widen and he gasped, "Scotch!" He walked over to the red stroller sitting by one of the couches and started inspecting it.
Kunal looked on perplexed as Harman and Prem did the same thing. He was confused as to why the Juneja brothers were hovering over the stroller and talking to the baby like they knew who she was. Just then Ashlesha came walking out of the kitchen with a warmed bottle of baby formula. She looked questioningly as she saw Preet holding Scotch in his arms hugging her and apologizing for losing her. "What is going on here? You guys know her?" Ashlesha inquired.
"Um, sssomething like that," Harman sputtered.
"Harman lost her in the park," Preet replied not really focusing on what he was saying as he was too busy cuddling with Scotch.
"You took the baby from them?" Kunal muttered softly.
"You're the one that stole her?!" the three brothers exclaimed.
"What stealing? I didn't steal...she was just left sitting there all by herself in a stroller. You don't walk away from a baby...I think any one of you would have enough common sense to know that," Ashlesha defended. "But you still haven't answered the question...how do you know this baby and why was she in your care?"
"The baby was dropped off at our doorstep yesterday morning with a note saying...She's yours take care of her..." Prem divulged. "We didn't know what do to...I'm married to Heer...Preet is with Meher...Harman has Maya...and Kiran Jiju has two kids with Kulraj. We took her in but didn't tell anyone because we knew things would get complicated with all these relationships involved."
"And Bauji isn't too fond of me seeing Meher in the first place...this would just be really bad...not to mention Balraaj Uncle is still living with us...and then Harman with his whole situation...well, it would just complicate matters with him," Preet added.
"Oh My God!" Ashlesha gasped. "So, one of you fathered an illegitimate child? And she's that kid?"
"What the?" Kunal exclaimed. "You guys seriously took some note stuck with the baby and believed everything it said? I think you would know if you did or didn't do something."
"I would tend to think the same thing." Everyone turned their heads to see Heer and Meher emerging from the hallway.
"Oh sh*t," Preet and Prem both mumbled.
Meher had her hands on her hips while Heer had her arms crossed over her chest. "So that's why your shirt smelled like baby powder this morning?" Heer continued. Prem gave a helpless nervous half grin as his wife walked closer and closer to him.
"Eh, um, what are you doing here?" Prem stupidly replied.
"Meher called me to come pick her up because Ash couldn't leave because she was waiting for the police to come pick up the baby. And don't go changing the subject," Heer said sternly.
"Honey, I know you're mad...you have every right to be...but I was doing it for us," Prem pleaded. "Forgive me?"
"Doing this for us? What part of lying to my face is doing it for us? And because of your so called thinking you guys nearly lost the baby...you're lucky Ash found her when she did," Heer answered.
Preet chuckled, "Honey...PB calls Bhabhi...Honey...hehe..."
"And what is so funny?" Meher asked eyeing her boyfriend with a firm glare. "You lied to me about playing basketball. I can't believe you. And don't go using the same excuse Jiju used."
"I'm sorry," Preet replied holding his ears. "Please, Meher I was only helping Harman out."
"Hey, don't use me as the scapegoat. I'm not responsible for taking in Scotch. You guys made me feel guilty about it and kept saying it was my baby," Harman defended.
The room soon interrupted into loud bickering as the Juneja brothers tried defending themselves while the Maan sisters and cousin argued with them for being irresponsible and brainless for not telling anyone about the baby. Kunal turned his head back and forth like he was watching a tennis match as the arguing continued. He found it completely amusing at one point when Preet while still talking to a heated Meher was busily cradling the baby in his arms and feeding her. Little Scotch seemed to be unaffected by the noise and was more curiously happy because all the commotion that was going on was over her. Kunal turned his head when he heard a heavy knock on the door. The entire room suddenly turned silent as they heard the doorbell ring. "It's a police officer with the social worker," Kunal informed as he looked through the peephole.
"Oh no, what are we going to do?" Harman asked.
"We have to let them in of course," Ashlesha replied.
"Are we really going to let the social worker take Scotch away?" Preet sadly inquired.
"Differences aside...if Scotch goes...what happens if the mother comes back looking for her? What are we going to tell her? Sorry, the baby is in social services?" Prem questioned. "The baby deserves to be with family...to be with her blood...at least we know she will be properly taken care of."
"Do you realize what you are saying?" Ashlesha probed. "You are willing to admit that the baby could be a Juneja?"
"Or a Gupta..." Harman piped in.
"What other choice do we really have? Prem replied.
"I'm with PB on this one," Preet said.
"I can't believe this," Meher sighed.
"You're willing to put your sister through pain if it turns out that she is Kiran's child?" Ashlesha questioned.
"The baby is innocent in all of this. Why should she be punished for a mistake that happened between adults?" Prem replied.
"And what if it wasn't a mistake? What if he knew and has been trying to hide his child? What if he has been having an affair?"
Prem and his brothers remained silent not knowing what to say to Ashlesha's questions. The seriousness of the situation was surmounting with each passing second. Heer quietly stood there contemplating the issue in her head while Meher gave dirty looks to Preet. "Um, guys you probably need to decide what you are going to do...cause we got to let them in," Kunal said as another loud knock on the door was heard.
Ashlesha swiftly walked to the door and greeted their visitors, "I'm so sorry officer," she apologized. "I'm Ashlesha Maan...I'm the one who called and reported about the baby I found in the park...please come in."
"It's all right," the officer replied as he and the social worker walked into the apartment. "I see you have guests?" He could tell by the way everyone was standing around in the living room that some sort of argument or a serious discussion had occurred. "Hello, I'm Officer Jim Davis and this is Sara White from Child Protection Services." Everyone nodded their heads and mumbled a greeting of hello. "So this is the baby you reported about?" he asked as his eyes shifted to the red baby stroller. Scotch was inside happily playing with her stuff elephant Ellie.
"Yes," Ashlesha replied.
Sara walked to the red stroller and took a look at Scotch making sure she was all right. "Excuse me but there has been a huge misunderstanding and everything has been cleared up." Everyone turned and looked at Heer. The boys were surprised by her declaration while her sister and cousin looked at her wondering what she was doing. "My husband, Prem Juneja...and I were in the park with our little girl. I went back to the car to get her favorite toy...the stuff elephant...and while I was gone...my husband helped a little boy who was chasing his ball...he turned back around and the next thing he knew our daughter Chahat was gone. We looked everywhere for her but no one had seen anything. We live here in this same apartment complex as Ms. Maan. We were just driving back to our apartment to gather pictures and everything so we could have things prepared when we called the police to report her missing...that's when we saw her walking Chahat outside of her apartment. We immediately approached her and we've straighten things out. We appreciate the fact that Ms. Maan was concern and decided to call the police to report that someone had left their child at the park but I assure you we did no such thing." Heer gave a glare at Prem, "My husband's carelessness has caused this whole situation to happen."
Prem gave a nervous half grin at the officer and social worker. "It's my fault. I should have known better. It was like two seconds and I turned back around and she was gone. I'm really sorry." He then walked to the stroller and picked up Scotch who grinned brightly and leaned on his shoulder. "Da..." she squealed in delight.
The officer nodded with a smile at the father and daughter bond. "Well, I'm glad things have worked out. But next time Mr. Juneja you may not be so lucky."
"I know. I'm never letting her leave my sight again," Prem promised.
"Since everything has been cleared and charges are not going to be pressed..." Sara replied as she looked at Jim. "We should go and let the family enjoy their time together."
Officer Davis nodded his head at the people around him, "We'll be going then."
"Thank you for stopping by I'm sorry for making you two come down here," Ashlesha apologized.
"No need to apologize. It is better safe than sorry. We're happy that the family reunited without any incidents. Next time just remember both of you should be very careful...you shouldn't leave the scene of a child abduction. It makes things more complicated and precious time could be wasted having to return to the scene of the crime. Anyways, I'm glad things worked out. Hope you have a good rest of the afternoon," Jim said.
Ashlesha, Prem, and Heer saw them to the door and waved goodbye. When the door closed Prem looked at Heer. "Thank you."
"Didi are you insane?!" Meher yelled.
"Ssssh, you want them to hear?" Preet scolded.
She turned around and gave him a cross look, "Don't you dare hush me Preet."
"But he's right about the volume," Ashlesha warned. "We're lucky they didn't ask Prem and Heer to produce a birth certificate or some other poof proving the baby is theirs." She then looked at Heer. "Are you sure about this?"
"The brothers do have a point'if it does turn out that one of them is the father...having baby Scotch with the family would be better than having her stuck in foster care...especially if the mother decides to suddenly show back up at the doorstop and demand to have her baby back. We don't know why she decided to do what she did. We need to try and figure out if anyone saw who it was that dropped the baby off at the Juneja residence," Heer explained.
Prem smiled lovingly at his wife for understanding and taking a stand with them. "Thanks for understanding this Heer." He then looked at his brothers and said, "My wife is the best."
"Yup, Bhabhi is just plain awesome!" Preet replied and then quickly took Scotch out of Prem's arms. He looked at her and grinned, "Can you say Da for me?'
"Ba..." Scotch replied.
"Say Da..." Preet repeated.
"Ba..."
Preet frowned while Harman laughed at him. "I don't think she likes being told what to do."
"Da..." Scotch happily voiced at seeing Harman. She raised her arms up towards him indicating she wanted to be held by him. "Da..."
"That's not fair she's called you Da and I'm Ba," Preet whined. "And I can't believe she wants you to hold her especially since you are the one who lost her in the first place."
"Da!" Scotch suddenly shouted loudly looking at Preet.
"At a girl," Preet smiled proudly. "Say it again."
"Da...ummm, Da...Daaaa..." The brothers smiled fondly at Scotch for her talkative outburst.
"I think she's really getting use to us," Prem replied. "She never really talked to us before." Scotch continued to babble in baby speak making everyone in the room smile including the girls.
"Um, I don't know why you guys are so happy about this," Kunal interjected rather reluctantly knowing what he was about to say was probably going to break the happy mood. "But it sounds like she's trying to say Da-da...like Daddy...do you guys really want her calling you Daddy?"
Prem, Preet, and Harman looked at each other and then at baby Scotch. They all started shaking their heads. "No...don't say Da...how about Uncle? Can you say Uncle...just say un?" Prem suggested.
"Da!"
"Can I go back to being Ba?" Preet suggested.
"Da!"
"Just call me Harman...Haaa," Harman said.
"Da!"
"Oh great...this is just want we need," Prem grumbled.
"Serves you right...you did this all to yourselves," Heer replied.
"So, what are you going to do now? About baby Scotch? You guys are going to bring her home and tell the rest of the family?" Kunal inquired.
The brothers looked at Meher, Heer, and Ashlesha with wondering eyes as what they should do next. "I think its best we take her home and explain things to the family," Heer answered. "There is no way we can sneak the baby around the house. It's not going to be a pleasant conversation but it is one that has to be done...for the sake of everyone involved."
"You're brave...very brave," Kunal replied. "Well, I certainly hope for everyone's sake this turns out to be a huge misunderstanding of some sort. I hope I don't have to attend someone's funeral after just attending a wedding." Prem narrowed his eyes at his friend knowing that sly remark was intended for him.
"I hope we don't have to come to that as well," Heer dryly said causing Prem to swallow uncomfortably.
***************************************************************************Everyone sat quietly in the Juneja mansion processing everything that had been said about how Prem found the baby on their doorstep with the note alluding that a male in the household had fathered an illegitimate child. He then explained the reasons why the brothers never told anyone about the baby because they were afraid of what it might mean to certain established relationships in the house. Lalit stared at his three sons with a grave face. Prem and Preet lowered their heads and shifted their eyes around the room afraid to meet the gaze of Balraaj and Teji and see how they were taking this sudden news. Harman swallowed uncomfortably and briefly glanced over to see Maya's face which was slightly pale. Veera was standing by her side giving her support. Kiran was surprise to feel Kulraj's hand clasped his in a silent but firm declaration that she believed in him and knew he couldn't have done anything. He gave a tiny smile at her gesture.
Lalit cleared his throat and spoke, "I'm only going to ask this once. Have any of you at any point in time had relations with someone that could have produced a child?"
"No Bauji," Kiran, Prem, Harman, and Preet replied.
"Then why has someone placed this baby on our doorstep?" Lalit inquired.
"We don't know Bauji," Prem answered. He then forced himself to look at Heer's parents. "I love Heer very much. I would never do anything intentionally to hurt her. I know I have never put myself in a situation to allow something unacceptable to happen."
"I've never done anything either," Preet said lifting his eyes towards Balraaj and Teji.
"I have never done something like this," Harman stated looking at his parents.
"I would never do something like this...I have a wonderful wife...two beautiful children...I have a family...no never," Kiran replied.
"If that's the case and you are all sure then why were all of you so scared?" Lalit asked. "It seems to me someone has mistakenly placed this baby at our doorstep. I think everyone can relax. We need to find this girl that placed the baby here and find out why and if we can...maybe help her find the real father." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement to the suggestion. He then looked at his sons and shook his head. "You three...what is wrong with you? You would think three brains would be better than one here...but you went around hiding this baby...concealing her...when you knew you were innocent? The first thing you should have done was to tell us what happened. Running around secretly only causes more problems. I would think you've had learned that lesson the first time around."
The three brothers bowed their heads, "Sorry Bauji."
Gayatri looked at her husband and for the first time in awhile she was actually quite proud of how he handled everything. She then sighed inwardly to herself wondering why he couldn't use the same sort of judgment when it came to Harman's relationship with Maya. "Well, now that we have settled this. I've made some kheer. Shall we have some?"
"I'll come and help you Ma," Heer said as she got up from the couch. Maya, Meher, and Veera soon followed behind walking towards the kitchen to help in the distribution of the sweet milky treat.
Preet squirmed uncomfortably as he titled his head trying to scratch an itch he couldn't touch. His rotated his shoulders a little hoping it would help but it did nothing for him. "Keep your arms up!" Preet glanced up with pleading eyes at Meher who was standing in front of him. He was in her room on his knees with his hands up above his head in a punishment position. "Meher please...my back is itchy."
"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to lie to me about going to play basketball at the park with Harman...and for hiding Scotch from me," Meher replied. "And what kind of name is Scotch in the first place?"
"It's unique isn't it? Sounds cool. PB wanted to use Angel and Harman Bhaiya wanted to use Princess...but if we used either of those names you guys would have probably wonder who that girl was...so Scotch was a better code name to use to hide the baby from you guys," Preet explained proudly but then realized he had perhaps said to much.
"Hiding...everything is hiding with you," Meher said not very pleased by his answer. "Keep those arms up over your head."
"Yes ma'am," Preet obediently answered.
Meher grabbed a magazine from her desk and sat comfortably on her bed reading. Preet tried keeping his mind off the itch that was radiating so loudly on his skin. He wished he could just scratch it. He glanced at his girlfriend who seemed to be engrossed in an article she was reading. He decided to take the chance and slowly and cautiously lowered his right arm downwards.
"Keep them up," Meher sternly warned.
Preet quickly raised his hand again and had a look of utter agony on his face. "Um, Meher you think you could scratch my itch for me? Please?"
"Nope." She then looked at him. "Tell me honestly Preet...why were so afraid to tell me? Did you think something might have happened? I know you told your Dad that nothing ever did...and it's not that I don't trust you...I mean I just...I want you to be able to tell me things even if it's about uncomfortable subjects."
"I'm honestly telling you Meher that I've never done anything like that before. But you know...I have the reputation as the partier in the family...and there have been a couple of times...I've woken up the next morning and didn't know how I got there...it happened to me twice and I did not like the feeling of it at all...this is way I'm extremely careful...and this was before I met you of course...but never have I woken up in a situation with another girl. And I know usually it's more dangerous for girls because some guys purposely put stuff in their drinks and they have no clue the next morning what happened to them that night. And I know it's silly to think this...but in a party environment sometimes you lose track of your drink and you may drink someone else's drink sitting there on the table thinking it's yours and the next thing you know you're out. I guess...you can't help but doubt yourself when something like a baby shows up at your front doorstep with a letter telling you that you might be the father. I got scared because I didn't know how you were going to handle this news. I don't want to lose you."
"Preet," Meher simply stated as she got off the bed and kneeled down next to him. She placed her hand tenderly on his cheek, "You're not being silly with your thinking about laced drinks. I know you aren't the type of person to take advantage of people in that way. I wish you could have sat down and talked to me about baby Scotch before doing everything you did. If you know that you didn't do anything then I believe you. I have faith in you. And I'll always stand by you."
"Meher," Preet uttered as he lowered his arms down and hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you too," she replied scratching his back.
"Ahhh...there...lower...no to the right...yeah...right there...aaahhhh...feels good," Preet sighed happily.
Meher giggled and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "Okay, put those hands back up. I've scratched your itch."
"What?" Preet asked with surprise.
"You're still getting punished for lying to me," Meher answered. "Keep them up."
"When can I put them down?" he inquired as he raised his arms again.
"When I say so," Meher smiled and went back to her bed to finish reading her magazine. Preet whimpered a bit as he felt the strain returning back into his limbs. "Whining isn't going to help you. In fact it will probably make it even longer for you." Preet just sighed and looked dejectedly down on the floor.
awesomeeeeeeeee too good very nice part waitingggggg for next asap.
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