ArHi FF: Highway to hell-2, chapter 38, pg 141 - Page 40

Awesome part! I've totally loved reading this FF. My favorite parts were probably the ones with a cowering Aadit and a fuming Arnav 🤣 You write the funny parts so well!

HAWW!! vidhya!!! so unfair!!! u just revealed that it'd be an explosive dinner and then you just stop writing???

Amazing update!!!

hey
nice update..
arnav khushi 's scene was fun😃
oh...anjali is pregnant...aadit is so cute..over-protective😊
waitin for next update😊

Divya

I'm still grinning at how Arnav must have been kicking himself for letting go of such a golden opportunity😆. And to add injury Khushi is sleeping like a baby while he is...🤣. Serves him right!!!!

Vidhya! So sorrry for not commenting in such a long time, been very busy so haven't gotten a chance to come online in weeks. Just caught up with all the updates in this thread. Love how the story is progressing. You truly are a brilliant writer. Keep it up and continue soon!

let's go, let's go, let's go! i am ready for the explosive dinner!!!

Angsty. Very angsty. You have been warned. 😊

Chapter 30: Where Khushi breaks.

"There's the bell!" said Arnav. "I'll get it, it's probably Di and Aadit." He opened the door to a smiling Anjali and Aadit.

"Come on in. Freddy's already here," said Arnav, hugging his Di lightly.

Khushi and Nigel had whipped up a phenomenal dinner. Bruschetta and Mozzarella sticks to start with, followed by Spaghetti Bolognese, Eggplant Parmesan and Pumpkin Ravioli. Sheila and Nita were eating with them that night. Nita had gotten so much stronger lately, and she'd recovered much of her appetite too. Her hair was growing back in a light brown fuzz on her head. The pink was back in her cheeks and the impish look was returning in her eye. What was more she'd started speaking two or three word sentences. They mostly involved food. But she sometimes said "Momma up", and once she'd thrilled Arnav by saying "Arnoo here!"

Khushi was happy and pleased at the way her baby was progressing. Actually, Khushi's cup was overflowing. She'd never been this happy in her life. Her child was on the road to recovery. She was going to marry the man she loved. Life was quite perfect. They had hugged that secret to themselves for the last 2 weeks. Khushi had wanted to enjoy it for herself before she told anyone else, and Arnav was quite happy to go along with her. When Aadit and Anjali had called and invited themselves to dinner, they thought it would be the ideal opportunity to tell them and Freddy too.

After dinner, the children went to sleep on the sofa, Nita on Khushi's lap, and Sheila on Nigel's. They lingered over the Crme Brulee that Khushi had made for dessert. It was when she suggested coffee that Arnav said he'd put the kids in bed while she made it. He and Nigel took the girls upstairs and tucked them in. When they came back down, Khushi handed them steaming hot cups of coffee.

"Out with it, you two!" said Freddy, looking at Aadit and Anjali.

"What?" asked Aadit, looking surprised.

"Kids are in bed. Dinner is over. Spill it. You two have been dying to say something for the last 2 hours," he said. Arnav and Khushi gazed at them swiftly.

"Is it the wedding date? Has Mrs.Murthy finally decided on on a date?" asked Arnav, who'd been trying to work with the extremely tiresome woman to organize Aadit and Anjali's wedding.

"I bet it's the venue! Has she finally picked a hall?" asked Khushi, smilingly. She had met Mrs.Murthy on several occasions in the past and knew that she could be quite the battle-axe.

"Are you going to ask me to design the wedding saree? I am willing to do so, of course'provided you ask nicely," asked Freddy nonchalantly.

"No.No.None of that. There isn't going to be a wedding, in fact!" said Aadit excitedly.

"What! Why not?" asked Arnav sharply. "Is something the matter Di?" he asked, looking at his sister.

"Nothing is wrong Chotey. In fact, everything is as perfect as it can be. Actually, Aadit and I have excellent news. The reason Aadit and I are not having a big wedding is because, well, I'm pregnant!" she finished excitedly. There was a chorus of exclamations and congratulations at that. Everyone hugged Aadit and Anjali and shook their hand and said how happy and surprised they were. Everyone except Khushi, that is. She said nothing. Once all the hullballoo had died down, Aadit looked at her. She was sitting on the couch. Silently. Coffee cup still in her hands. She was looking unseeingly at the table in front of her.

"Aren't you going to congratulate us Minnie?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Yes, Khushi. Aren't you going to congratulate us? I'm going to be a Mommy!" said Anjali.

"Yes. Yes. Of course. Congratulations to you both. I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy that you're going to have a baby now. First you met and fell in love. That was a splendid thing. Then you ran away and got married. Everyone forgave you and your mother, Aadit, even wanted to throw a lavish wedding for you. And now, now you're expecting, Anjali. Anjali Jha Raizada Murthy. What a lucky lucky woman you are. Things just fall into place for you so perfectly. You know, when I didn't make a mistake 7 years ago, I was thrown out of your house. You! You run away a day after my daughter is diagnosed with a deathly illness, and everyone is falling over themselves to forgive you. You have a great sense of timing. That's for sure. You know when to time your announcements so that it hurts me the most. Your wedding, I didn't care. I was too busy with my sick child. In fact, I helped as much as I could. And today, when I was supposed to announce my engagement to Arnav, you announce that you're pregnant. Fantastic. I guess I can never get a piece of the pie as long as you're around, huh Anjali?" she asked, her eyes piercing daggers as she stared into Anjali's.

"Khushi, I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to steal your thunder. If I'd known, I'd have never said a word," said Anjali, apologetically.

"Khushi, what kind of childish behavior is this? How were Di and Aadit to know we were planning an announcement today too? Don't be stupid. I'm sorry Di. I don't know what came over Khushi!" Arnav interjected.

"Don't apologize for me Arnav! I meant everything I said and more. As far as your sister is concerned, her life and mine are just meant to meet like deadly pile-ups on the highway." Said Khushi, smiling sardonically. "And I'm not finished, by the way. There's more. Something I should have mentioned earlier to you Arnav. I've been meaning to for a while now, but there was never a right moment. I guess this is as good a time as any. Your Di being pregnant and all. I guess, it's a good time to tell you that if we do end up getting married, don't expect any children from me!" she finished.

"What do you mean? You don't want more kids? We never talked about it, but maybe we should have just one?" asked Arnav looking puzzled.

Khushi laughed hollowly. "No can do. I can't. It's not that I won't Arnav. I can't. I am not able to have any children. There. That's another way Anjali wins. Here she is, married and pregnant and glowing, after a life filled with errors of judgement and weakness of character. And here I am. A self-made woman. A mother of two beautiful children I didn't give birth to. Engaged to a man I adore. I am 26 years old. I want to have my own children. And yet, I can't. You want to know why, of course?"

"Khushi, lets discuss this later. I don't care if you can't have children. It's OK. Nita and Sheila are my daughters. I have children. That's enough for me." He held her hand in his as he spoke. She snatched it away quickly. Everyone else just looked on, shell-shocked.

"No. No. You must know. You deserve to know why. You too, Anjali. And Nigel and Aadit. You are such good friends. There are no secrets from you guys, of course. Freddy already knows. Freddy knows everything there is to know about me!" she finished hysterically. Freddy shook his head at her, "Minnie, talk to ASR alone, please!" he said.

"No, Freddy. I'm not very rational today. What you say makes sense, of course. You always make sense Freddy. But today, I can't be rational. Don't ask me to be," Said Khushi. "No. Let me do this. The reason I can't have children is because I had a botched abortion 7 years ago. A botched abortion in a slum-like dispensary in Dharavi. Where nothing was sterile. Nothing was aseptic. It was all I could afford. I had no money. I was pregnant, unmarried and had been cast-away by my family. The man I loved then, the man I love now, thought I was sleeping with his brother-in-law. His sister thought I was a she-devil trying to wreck her marriage. I had nowhere to go. No one to turn to. I went to the person my friend who I was living with at the time suggested. She called herself a midwife who knew how to take care of these things. She turned out to be a charlatan. I bled for a month after that. One month. It felt like my insides were raw and had been hacked with a carving knife. I was lucky I didn't get Tetanus and die. It was only when I'd been in the UK for a few years that I went and saw a gynecologist who told me the damage that had been done was irreversible. So, here I am. 26, and infertile. And here is Anjali. 39 and pregnant. Your life and mine, Anjali. Your life and mine." She finished. Khushi got up. "I'm going up now. Please excuse me," she said.

There was a stunned silence in the room for a minute after she left. Anjali was in tears. Aadit looked stunned. Nigel looked he wished the Earth would swallow him up. He hated being in the middle of uncomfortable situations. Arnav, well, Arnav just sat on the couch like a statue. He said nothing. Freddy alone retained some composure.

"Anjali, Minnie didn't mean all that. She IS happy for you. She's just been through a lot in the last 6 or 7 months. And like she said, you guys do have good timing! But she's not a bad-hearted girl. She wishes you very well. She just needs some time. OK?" he said. Anjali nodded through her tears. Aadit looked mutinous, as if wanted to argue the point, but Freddy just nodded very quietly at him, a warning look in his eyes. Aadit and Anjali left soon after. Arnav brought himself to wish them goodnight, but he couldn't say anything more.

"Well, we'll be going too ASR!" said Freddy, signaling to Nigel to get his coat. When Nigel left the room, Freddy put a hand on ASR's shoulder. "Go. Go be with her. She needs you now more than ever." ASR looked at Freddy, "How can I go to her? I'm the reason she can't have children. I did that to her. I can't undo all the damage I've done to her. I just can't," he said.

"No. No you can't. But you can help ease the pain. She does love you. In spite of all you did to her, she still loves you. I don't know why that is. But that's the way love works. She loves you. And believe me Arnav, tonight, she needs you," said Freddy.

Arnav walked up the stairs slowly. He heard the door shut behind him as Freddy and Nigel left. He walked into Khushi's bedroom. She sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. She looked at him as he came in to the room. She started speaking, and once she began the words just tumbled out one after the other and she wouldn't stop.

"That was unforgivable. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'll apologize to Anjali tomorrow. I don't know how to make it up to her. And Aadit. He probably hates me. Maybe I'll take her some flowers. Maybe I should bake a cake to say sorry. Aadit likes sweets. What else can I do? I should have never said those things. I didn't mean them. I don't know what came over me'it just all came spilling out. Freddy tried to stop me, I should've listened to him. I shouldn't have done that to her. It's not her fault. I hope she understands. And Aadit too. I couldn't stand to lose his friendship. He's been so wonderful to me all these years. I have to make it up to them. I'll.." before she could say anymore, Arnav knelt on the floor next to her and took her hand in his. "Shhh! No more. Don't say a word," he said.

"But I was mean and awful and I said hurtful things and.." , he didn't let her finish. "Khushi, I didn't know about the baby. I'm so sorry. I can't apologize enough for what I did to you. To our baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that alone. No one should have to do that alone. And you did. And I am so, so, so sorry," he burst into tears as he buried his head in her lap. She ran her hands through his hair slowly, soothingly, silently. Finally she bent down and put her head on top of his. Their tears flowed together. They wept for their baby that had never been born. They wept for past mistakes, and years of pointless separation. They wept for the babies they could never have together. And then, when the storm had passed, he took her into his arms gently.

"I don't deserve you, but I need you. I don't care if we can't make babies of our own. We'll just have to adopt a menagerie of children. That's all there is to it. And Khushi, no more secrets. Please. From now on, let me in."

"I promise," she said, as they lay in each other's arms quietly. Their only sanctuary from the madness and cruelty of the world. A place where a hard-nosed, arrogant businessman could weep in peace, and where a tough, intelligent and self-sufficient woman could accept she was a little broken. They fixed each other. Or at least, their love did.

Tell me what you think people. 😊 Also, I haven't replied to comments on the last chapter 'cos there's been way too much going on in the last few days.Sorry about that. I did have an excellent Christmas, yes. And I hope you all did too. Also, my like button is not cooperating today 😡, and so I can't like anything. Which sucks. Because I like a lot of things. All the comments included. Anyway, if you made it upto here, you are awesome and a big 🤗 to you!

Cheers!

Vidhya

Awrrhhh that was soo sad but I LOVED it thanks for the pm and please update soon xx