*Rabir FF: True Love...Note, Chap 55 @ pg 143, 145 (2/1) - Page 98

Originally posted by: RaBir

One question Nivi.

What happen to Mayank? Police take him after Gayatri die?

Hope he no come back out of jail this time.

Huge blizzard going on here so I figured I might as well write since I'm stuck inside anyways. Hope you like this update. Sorry for the length, I got a bit carried away. 😛

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Chapter 52:

"Prakash ji, why didn't you try to contact Kabir or Karan in all these years? I mean, you could have fought against your wife and gotten everything back."

"When Pathak had me shifted to the nursing home after I came out of the coma, I was still completely paralyzed from the neck down. I couldn't talk so there was no way for me to communicate with anyone aside from answering yes/no questions by blinking my eyes. It was entirely Pathak's decision at that point to keep my existence hidden from everyone for safety reasons. He kept me informed of everything that was occurring at home and in the office. Apparently Gayatri had announced that I was taking a long leave from the office, citing my ill health. Meanwhile, she had her lawyer inform Karan and Kabir that I had died in a car accident while traveling home from a business trip. Sure it made my blood boil to hear about her misdeeds and manipulations, but I was glad about one thing: that both of my sons were absolutely safe. At that particular point, it was out of my control to do anything because I couldn't voice my opinion or decision."

Sneha and Akash nodded, while Pihu sat next to them, quietly listening, and Pathak glanced absent-mindedly through a magazine.

"But why did you stay hidden when you had recovered Prakash ji?"

"I was beginning to get my mobility back when I found out that Kabir had had joined the office after completing his MBA and I was happy that at least my son was rightfully getting the things that he deserved. But I then heard the news of him resigning from his position due to pressure from the board of directors. Of course it wasn't hard for me to understand the truth behind that resignation; I knew that Gayatri must have had something to do with it, but then I didn't have any clue of where Kabir went after resigning. It was a few months later that I was surfing through the channels on TV and I by chance heard the news of KT Creations. The name immediately stuck out as something I had heard before; it was a name that Kabir had passingly mentioned during one of our weekend trips to a village, where we had seen authentic Benarasi silk sarees being manufactured. Kabir had been so intrigued by the weaving process that he had jokingly announced his aspirations to start his own textile company as a branch of Tripathi Inc. I still hadn't regained my speech at that point, so I penned down a letter to Pathak, asking him to give up his job at Tripathi Inc. and become Kabir's legal associate so I could keep an eye on my son. I wanted to see how Kabir was doing before I made any decisions to reveal myself."

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"Boys will be boys. All they need is some open space and a ball to keep themselves entertained." Shweta chuckled as stepped back from the railing of the balcony and walked to sit down on the swing next to Rachna.

Shouts calling out unfair plays and enthusiastic laughter drifted up from the lawn to the balcony, where Rachna and Shweta sat chatting and catching up. Rachna returned a soft smile as she rocked Shivani in her arms, the baby's eyes half-closed as she drifted off the sleep.

"She's never fallen asleep so quickly before. You're a natural Rachna."

Rachna shifted the blanket to cover Shivani's legs.

"What are they all up to down there?" she inquired, avoiding Shweta's comment.

"Well from what I could see, I think it was Karan, Murli, Kabir, and Chirag playing football with Shiv. I guess everybody else must have gone inside the house."

"Hmmm."

"What's the matter Rachna? You're not usually this quiet. I'm seeing you after more than 18 months; you should be chattering away no?"

Rachna shook her head to dismiss the concern, stroking Shivani's silky skin with her finger. The edge of Rachna's lips curved upwards slightly, when the baby seized the finger and stuck it into her mouth, suckling on it for comfort.

"I don't know the details of everything that happened Rachna, but seeing Shivansh deal with all the related legal proceedings, I know the gist of it. I've always seen you as my little sister. So can I give you some advice? As an older sister?"

Rachna looked towards Shweta and gave a small nod to indicate she was listening. Shweta placed her hand onto Rachna's shoulder.

"Shivansh and I have been married for 8 years now, and I have known Kabir for 6. I've seen with my own eyes how much Kabir changed for the better after you came into his life Rachna and I have heard Shivansh mention it to me multiple times over the years. You both had your own back stories, your own problems, your own dreams, and you were as different as night and day, but as soon as I saw you both together, I knew at that very moment that you two were truly meant for each other. In the short time that you have been with each other, you've gone through a lot. In fact, you may have faced more within the first 3 years of your togetherness than what most couples would ever go through in a lifetime. But the fact that you are together and closer to each other now than ever before speaks volumes about this relationship Rachna. It shows that there is someone up there rooting for you two."

Shweta pointed up the sky, and stroked Rachna's shoulder soothingly.

"I'm glad that you both decided to carry on with this wedding even with everything that has happened in the past few weeks; you both deserve the happiness and it only gets multiplied when you have such a loving family to share it with. But Rachna, I can see that something is bothering you. There's a hollowness in your smile that I noticed even at the dinner table earlier. What is it? Are you still not able to come to terms with your parents' death and how Mayank and Gayatri were involved with all this? But Rachna, don't let that distance you from Kabir; he had nothing to do with it. He himself is having to deal with such bitter truths about his own family."

Rachna shook her head firmly. "No Shweta. It's nothing like that. I don't hold Kabir responsible for any of it. And you're right, I think it was a bigger shock for him to find out all these truths. But, we both have decided to put all that behind us. It's going to take some time for us to move on, but the wedding celebrations should be the right distraction, which is why we both agreed to go through with it."

"Then what is it that's bothering you? The miscarriage?"

Rachna looked away sharply, pushing back the tears that immediately flooded her eyes upon hearing the word. Shweta sighed sensitively.

"I know how hard it is Rachna. I went through one before Shivendu was born. We talked about it the last time I saw you too. At that point, it seemed like you were okay and had moved on from it though. And now that you and Kabir are turning a fresh leaf, you two can try again once you both feel secure enough to do so."

"If only it were that easy." Rachna spoke distantly, leaving Shweta confused by the words. Shivani stirred in her sleep and let out a soft cry, taking Shweta's attention away from the conversation.

"She must need a diaper change. Come, let's go in Rachna. It's getting a bit chilly out here anyway. Where did you put her diaper bag by the way?"

Shweta took the sleeping baby into her arms and walked towards the door to the adjoining bedroom, while Rachna remained seated on the swing. "You go on Shweta; I'll come in a bit. And I think Pihu didi put it in the living room downstairs."

Shweta looked back understandingly and nodded, as she walked through the bedroom and made her way downstairs into the living room, where Prakash sat with Sneha, Akash, Pihu, and Pathak. Shweta stepped into the room to grab the diaper bag from the table where Pihu had placed it.

"Sorry to disrupt uncle ji. Please continue, I just needed Shivani's stuff."

Pathak followed his wife out to help her, while Prakash continued speaking.

"Of course it brought Pathak to his wits end to actually contact and convince Kabir to hire him, especially after he learned that Pathak was once employed with Tripathi Inc., but I considered it my luck that my plan had worked. At that point, Pathak just fed me information about how Kabir and Karan were doing. I became more and more comfortable living life backstage; I was able to keep up to date with everything that was going on in my sons' lives and I didn't necessarily want to disrupt the calm situation that would only get out of hand if I came out of hiding. It was perhaps selfish and wishful thinking on my part to overlook the fact that the composed circumstances I was seeing were actually the calm before the storm."

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"I don't necessarily know that he would want to return to Mumbai or to the family business sir. He seems pretty complacent with his life now and even Karan is doing well academically; he's in London studying law at Oxford. I think they both undoubtedly miss you in their lives, but they seemed to have completely disassociated themselves from Gayatri. And they of course have no inkling about Mayank."

Prakash nodded as he absorbed the information.

"What is Mayank up to anyways? Did Gayatri hand the business and property over to him?"

"No, surprisingly she hasn't done anything of the sort. She still holds the power of attorney for the business and the property is in her name as well. There is of course no one to enforce the fact that you have disowned Mayank from the property, but he appears to maintain his identity as Mayank Tiwari while continuing to exercise his rights over the family fortune. Ever since Kabir and Karan both left, Mayank and Gayatri have been living together in the Mumbai house, though Mayank spends quite a bit of his time traveling abroad and just lounging around."

Prakash snorted as he shook his head disapprovingly.

"I didn't expect any more from him. He dropped out of college after his first year to start his own band, which failed in a matter of days. Then he wanted a sports car for his 21^st birthday since he was into racing at that point. All the things that you have told me about him after that have followed this same streak of being content with having things handed off to you without having to work for them."

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"Seeing that Gayatri and Mayank were living on their own without interfering in Kabir's or Karan's lives, I convinced myself that it was better to just leave things as they were. Coming out into the open meant having to fight with Gayatri, reveal Mayank's truth to Kabir and Karan, and dealing with a whole slew of things that I just didn't want to have to deal with. I became more convinced that I was making the right decision when I learned about Kabir and Rachna. My son was progressing through life just fine without me, so who was I to disrupt all that by coming back into his life after 10 long years."

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"Kabir seems much happier nowadays. He's begun seeing someone I think, or at least developed a close friendship with her."

Prakash smiled as he spoke to the lawyer in a gruff whisper, his voice straining to return to its normal condition. "Really? Have you met her? What's her name?"

Pathak laughed at Prakash's eagerness. "Well firstly I must congratulate you on the progress sir. Your voice is definitely getting better. You'll soon be well enough to meet her yourself, but yes I have seen her and even met with her briefly. She seems like a sweet girl actually, very shy from what I noted in our brief interaction. She's one of the new design assistants that Kabir hired a few months ago. Rachna Garg is her name."

Ignoring the lawyer's slight jab at coming out from hiding, Prakash focused on the name of his son's potential girlfriend. "Rachna Garg? Dr. Dayal's daughter?"

"Is it? I don't know about that, but she's a great girl, very talented too. Her presence in Kabir's life has totally changed him for the better."

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"Pathak continued to give me updates about Rachna and Kabir and I happily received them; hearing that they were content and secure in their lives made my recovery even faster. But it all came to a shattering halt once Pathak informed me that Gayatri had contacted him. Things just went downhill from there, ending with the accident that took Dr. Dayal and Dr. Shail's life as well as the manipulations on Gayatri's part that caused Kabir and Rachna to separate. Somewhere in all this mess, I held myself responsible for what was going on and I just couldn't push away the guilt to come out in the open. I have used Pathak to try and solve the mess from the shadows over the past year, giving him excuses for why I couldn't reveal myself to my own sons, but things have a way of resolving themselves and that's exactly what happened here as well. Anyways, I think we should end the matter and just focus on Kabir and Rachna's happiness now. They deserve it after all that they have gone thorough. Pihu beta, why don't you call them both here? I have a little surprise announcement to make."

Pihu nodded in agreement with a faint smile, as she stepped outside onto the back patio.

"Kabir! Uncle ji is calling you inside and why don't the rest of you come in as well?"

"Okay Pihu di, we'll be there in a few minutes. Shiv, Chirag, and I just need one more goal to win."

Kabir gave a laugh, as he high-fived his two teammates; they all resumed playing. Pihu shook her head and chuckled, as she muttered to herself and caught sight of the green grass stains on Kabir's white shirt and the beads of sweat dripping down everyone's faces.

"Rachna's going to kill him for ruining his new shirt, but at least he's distracted for the time being. He looks so happy playing with the rest of them. I hope Shweta was able to put a smile back on Rachna's face too."

Pihu stepped into the kitchen, where Gunjan and Rhea were almost done making tea and coffee for everyone, before heading upstairs to Rachna's room. Coming out to the adjoining balcony, Pihu leaned against the door's frame, as she observed her younger sister from a distance.

Rachna stood with her elbows resting against the railing of the balcony, as she looked down at the lawn and observed her husband freely running and dribbling the soccer ball around, having been able to put the disturbing events of the last few weeks out of his mind for some time. She smiled as she saw Shiv scoring a goal and Kabir lifting the child up in the air with a celebratory cheer. She sighed as she thought aloud.

"I can help you move on from disturbing truths that we became aware of recently Kabir, but there's nothing I can do to return this smile to your face when I myself can't come to terms with the painful reality of the miscarriage even after all this time. I'm overjoyed that we're getting the chance to renew our vows in the presence of both of our families this time around, especially knowing that mummy and papa approved of this relationship. But a nagging fact tugs on the back of my mind every time I think of what our life will be after December 25^th. I want things to fall back into place just like they were last year before we separated, but they won't because too much has changed since then. There will always be some sort of emptiness."

Rachna sighed again loudly, grabbing the cold metal of the railing with her hand out of surprise as the picture in front of her eyes lost focus and became blurry. She straightened herself to a full standing position, keeping a strong grip on the railing, and closed her eyes. She blinked slowly a few times and took deep breaths, as her head spun faster. A set of arms grabbed her shoulders and steadied her just as she felt herself falling forward, over the edge of the balcony.

"Rachna!"

Pihu held tightly onto her sister and helped her sit on the ground, her back leaning against the balcony's railing. Rachna clutched her head tightly between her hands and rested it on her knees, as Pihu grabbed a glass of water from the adjoining bedroom and held it up to Rachna's lips. Taking a few sips of the cool water, Rachna lifted her head up and leaned it against the metal railing behind her, keeping her eyes closed. Pihu sat down beside her sister and stroked Rachna's forehead with one hand, while taking her pulse with the other.

"Come on Rachna. Lie down inside on the bed."

Pihu held her sister's hand for support and encouraged her to stand, but Rachna pulled back and rested her head on Pihu's shoulder.

"I'm fine Pihu didi. I just need a few minutes."

Pihu rubbed Rachna's hand vigorously. "Rachna, you're not okay. Your pulse is really low and your hands are freezing. How long have you been out here? Shweta came downstairs with Shivani a while ago so I figured that you had also come down with her and were in the kitchen with Gunjan and Rhea. Have you been standing here this entire time though?"

"I just needed the fresh air Pihu didi."

"Rachna stop stressing yourself out so much. You don't need to worry at all about the wedding preparations. Sneha mausi and Pallavi have it all under control. This is why we hired a wedding planner; so you don't have to be worried about all this."

"Nahi Pihu didi, I'm not stressed about that. I know you all will be able to handle everything with the wedding and I don't have to lift a finger."

"Then? What's the matter Rachna? Are you feeling sick?"

Rachna lifted her head from Pihu's shoulder and shook it gently, leaning it back against the railing again. "No. I'm fine. I guess I'm just a bit tired from everything that has been going on over the last few days."

Pihu nodded her head sympathetically and squeezed Rachna's hand. "I understand. It's a lot to take in so suddenly. But you just focus on yourself now; make sure you eat properly and stay well-rested. We don't need our bride fainting on the wedding day okay?"

Rachna gave a soft laugh as she opened her eyes slowly, thankful that her surroundings were no longer spinning. She stood up carefully with Pihu's help.

"If you're feeling okay, then let's head downstairs. Your father-in-law has some sort of surprise announcement for you and Kabir."

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❤️ Nivi

Great update nivi 😊
What's the surprise??
Thanks 4 pm
Update soon

Thanks for the quick update.

Originally posted by: nividances

Mayank is in jail as of now. Let's see what happens to him as the story moves forward...can't say anything about it right now. 😉😆

"In the short time that you have been with each other, you've gone through a lot. In fact, you may have faced more within the first 3 years of your togetherness than what most couples would ever go through in a lifetime. But the fact that you are together and closer to each other now than ever before speaks volumes about this relationship Rachna. It shows that there is someone up there rooting for you two."

Originally posted by: Princess.S786

Great update nivi 😊
What's the surprise??
Thanks 4 pm
Update soon

Originally posted by: sb1410

Thanks for the quick update.

Originally posted by: RaBir

So he return later?? No 😭

Originally posted by: RaBir

"In the short time that you have been with each other, you've gone through a lot. In fact, you may have faced more within the first 3 years of your togetherness than what most couples would ever go through in a lifetime. But the fact that you are together and closer to each other now than ever before speaks volumes about this relationship Rachna. It shows that there is someone up there rooting for you two."

This part write beautiful Nivi.

Thanks for long update and so quick too. We get two part on same day. 😊

I like how story move. All truth about Kabir dad out now.

I wonder what surprise he have. Maybe honeymoon trip?

Waiting for Rabir romance.

Update fast Nivi! Want more Rabir wedding. 😃