Keeping Khushi Thread 12 Part 121 (Last ) Page 126 - Page 71

Originally posted by: -Mrinalini-

Beautiful update!

Loved it to bits!

Continue soon! :)

Smita,😊

Here is my interpretation to Part 120.

In this update, all talks are basically centered on future! ...PROGENY...

Khushi walked into their room, dressed in a red nightgown.

Arnav was sitting on their bed, looking into the cradle that held Gouri. She was fast asleep, the fingers of her left hand curled around a toy lion made of cloth. Its proud ears and mane were now all floppy, unable to withstand the concerted efforts of their owner to chew them into a soggy mess.

"In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small, quiet companion" ~ Peter Gray

As Khushi watched, Arnav caressed the rosy, plump cheek of his daughter, his full focus on the miracle lying in the cosy confines of her swinging bed.

Khushi came to sit by him. Arnav looked at her and smiled.

"She looks like an angel when asleep, doesn't she?", asked Khushi.

"She is an angel even when she is awake.", declared her fond father.

"With moon beams in hand and stardust in eyes, you're a baby of heaven drifting down from the sky"

Khushi laughed. "I am sure NK Bhai didn't think so when she pulled his hair today evening."

Arnav smiled. He put his arm around Khushi's shoulders.

"Thank you." He was direct and his gratitude was heart-felt.

"Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind"

Khushi frowned. "For what? The apple pie?"

Arnav smiled, his eyes showering love on her.

"For Gouri."

Khushi laughed softly. "Half the credit goes to you, Mr. Raizada."

"A first child is your own best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world" ~ Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

Arnav looked at her laughing face, the love in her eyes, the lush fall of hair dancing in the breeze...

He scooped her up in his arms and placed her on his lap. He then closed her surprised mouth with his eager lips.

Gouri Raizada slept peacefully as her father showed her mother how much he loved and worshipped her.

"You are special 'coz

you share, you listen, you care...

you're quick to lend a hand, to ease a hurt, to understand . . .

you're a blending of cheer and love"

Payal felt dizzy while at the clinic. As the attendant offered her sweet tea, she felt like throwing up. Being a doctor and a very smart lady, she took a pregnancy test.

Akash looked at the stick with wide eyes. He was speechless with wonder and anxiety.

Payal giggled.

"Payal...", he finally managed.

"Ji?"

"Payal..."

"Ji?"

"Payal..."

That was the sum total of their conversation as Payal finally took matters into her own hands and hugged her shell-shocked husband.

"The decision to have a child is to accept that your heart will forever walk about outside your body" ~ Katherine Hadley

Payal's parents & Buaji came for dinner. It was a jolly affair.

"Badhai ho, Manoramaji! You are going to be a grandmother a second time, Nandkisore!", Buaji wished her.

Mami looked at her image in the mirror anxiously. Had any wrinkle dared to make its appearance?

"Don't worry, Nandkisore! You don't look a day older than 30.", Buaji comforted her, laughing.

"Grandmothers are just antique little girls"

NK toasted Akash with his orange juice.
"To Akash. Who is finally going to be a father!"

Akash blushed.

Khushi, Anjali, and Aarti hugged Payal.

"And to Payal Bhabi. She will make a wonderful mother!" NK was all smiles.

"(24/7) once you sign on to be a mother, that's the only shift they offer" ~ Jodi Picoult,

My Sister's Keeper

Buaji caught him by his ear.

"Hai Re Nandkisore! Sitting here and congratulating others on becoming parents, hein? When are you going to give my Aarti Bitiyaa a child?"

Aarti blushed.

"Amma, Amma...", whined NK. "Buaji is hurting me..."

Amma & the others laughed.

"Oh, come now, it's my job to liven things up a bit, too. I can't let you and your dimples have all the fun" ~ Melika Dannese Lux, City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier

"And you!", Buaji turned on Anand. "I don't have the time to search for your ear in that forest, Nandkisore! But don't think you can fool your Buaji. When are you going to give our Anjali Bitiyaa a child?"

"Long hair will make thee look dreafully to thine enemies, and manly to thy friends: it is, in peace, an ornament; in war, a strong helmet; it...

deadens the leaden thump of a bullet: in winter, it is a warm nightcap; in summer, a cooling fan of feathers" ~ Thomas Dekker, The Guls Horne Booke, 1609

Anand guffawed. "I am trying, Buaji. I am trying very hard..."

All laughed while Anjali blushed beet red.

"The blush is beautiful, but it is sometimes convenient" ~ Goldoni

This update begins with Arnav and Khushi admiring their daughter, Gowri Arnav Singh Raizada, a cherubic angel, who was sleeping. Arnav who was watching her with eyes filled with love and pride, saw that her left hand held her beloved toy, a cloth lion, which had wornout mane and ears, battered by the constant munching and the drool dripped on it!

"A toy teaches us that if the heart is true, it doesn't matter much if an ear drops off" ~ Helen Exley

Khushi approached Arnav while he was caressing the chubby cheeks with dimpled chin of his daughter, his very own dainty little Tinkerbell.

"Enjoy little things in life...

...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things" ~ Robert Brault

When he looked up and smiled, Khushi asked him doesn't Gouri looks like an angel when asleep?

"With moonbeams in hand and stardust in eyes, you're a baby of heaven drifting down from the sky"

But the father in him, disagreed and said, "She is an angel even when she is awake." making Khushi laugh and say, "I am sure NK Bhai didn't think so when she pulled his hair this evening."

Arnav's reciprocation with a "Thank you."took her by surprise making her ask what was that for, whether it was for the apple-pie that was served at dinner. His, "For Gouri" had her laughingly remark, "Half the credit goes to you, Mr. Raizada."

Her laughing face, framed by the hair dancing due to the gentle breeze blowing, had him hold his breath. He found her more beautiful than ever. Scooping her in his arms, he proceeded to show her what she meant to him.

"Everything I Do, I Do It For You"

"Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart, search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Look into your heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am, take my life
I would give it all, I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

There's no love like your love
And no other could give more love
There's nowhere unless you're there
All the time, all the way, yeah

Look into your heart, baby...

Your can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
Yeah, I would fight for you, I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you

You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you"

~ Bryan Adams

While her dad took her mom to their Personal Paradise, Gouri slept peacefully with a smile donning her lips.

"The smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps-does anybody know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born"

~ Rabindranath Tagore

One day while being busy in the clinic, Payal felt dizzy and felt nauseous while drinking tea. Being a doctor she took up the pregnancy test and found it to be positive. She was radiant while Akash was speechless with wonder and anxiety. Looking at his state, Payal giggled.

"Payal...", he finally managed.

"Ji?"

"Payal..."

"Ji?"

"Payal..."

That was all he could manage. Taking pity on him, Payal hugged him with happiness.

"A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart till the day you die"

That night the dinner was filled with gaiety. It was a time where another new entrant to the family was announced. Payal's family too had come over. Buaji in her own style wished Manorama, "Badhai ho, Manoramaji! You are going to be a grandmother a second time, Nandkisore" But Mami who liked to look and be told young looked into the mirror to check whether wrinkles had appeared as she was going to be a granny! "Don't worry, Nandkisore! You don't look a day older than 30" said Buaji comforting her with a laughter. When NK toasted to Akash for being a father, and Payal who'll be a good mother, Akash blushed and Payal received a warm congratulatory hugs from Khushi, Anjali and Aarti.

"Feeling fat lasts nine months...

But the joy of becoming a mother lasts a lifetime!"

But Buaji being Buaji, true to her nature caught NK by his ears and asked him,"Hai Re Nandkisore! Sitting here and congratulating others on becoming parents, hein? When are you going to give my Aarti Bitiyaa a child?" Hearing her admonition, Aarti blushed. NK called out to Kamala to rescue him from Buaji making all laugh at his antics.

Next in the list of Buaji was Anand. She did not spare him too! She who had expressed her opinion against his long hair and always had an itch to cut it said, "And you! I don't have the time to search for your ear in that forest, Nandkisore! But don't think you can fool your Buaji. When are you going to give our Anjali Bitiyaa a child?" But Anand was not NK. The sauve young architect, who loved Buaji and her straight talk was not offended. He laughed out heartily and said, "I am trying, Buaji. I am trying very hard..." Making all laugh out aloud while Anjali blushed!

"Blushing is the color of the virtue"

~ Diogenes Lauretius

In this update we see Arnav and Khushi discussing their feelings on their baby, Gouri Arnav Singh Raizada.

We see Payal confirming her pregnancy and the family greeting the news of conception of Baby Akash Singh Raizada.

We see Buaji questioning NK and Anand about when will the news about Baby Nand Kishore and Baby Anand Dwivedi be heard.

So it is the time of looking at a new generation. A generation that would be their pride and joy!

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others"

...PROGENY!...

That's it from me. Hope you enjoy it!