Part 155
Soon Akshat was back from school and so they had to wind up
their koochi kooing session. He dashed right into their room and his first
question on seeing his dad there was "Dad aap itne jaldi aa gaye?"
A: Main tum logon ke saath time spend karna chahta tha,
isliye aa gaya.
Ak: wow! Ab kya karnewale hai hum sab?
R: Tum pehle change karke, fresh hokar aao. Nashta karlo,
doodh peelo, phir jo bhi karna hai, karo.
Ak: Mama please,
A: Good boys mama ki baat maante hai. Tum good boy ho na?
Ak: Theek hai main do minat mein aaya, aap tab tak decide
karlo ke humey kya karna hai.
He dashed off to his room and Riddhima followed him out, to
get him his milk and snacks. She cut an apple and added some chips to the plate
to lure him to eat the fruit. He always found some excuse not to eat fruits. As
she expected the first thing he said when he came to the table was "mama, mujhe
apple nahi khana. Kuch aur do na." "Chips bhi to diye hain," she replied. When
he still wasn't willing to eat the apple she said "theek hai main tumhare dad
ko keh deti hoon ke sirf Ani ke saath khele, tumhare saath nahi."
Ak: mama…. Ok main kha loonga.
He took a bite and scream out loudly "Aaaahhh" Riddhima
looked angrily at him asking "Ab kya hua?" He spat out the apple bit and along
with that his front tooth too. "Dekha, yeh apple itna khadak hai, mera daant hi
toot gaya," he grumbled. "Kuch bhi bolte ho, woh daant to pehle se hil raha tha
na? Go rinse your mouth and come," she said seeing it bleeding. "Aur isey gaad
deta hoon." He said getting up.
Just then she heard the little one scream "mama, mama". She
went in to pick him, but Armaan had already picked him up. Seeing her, he
jumped into her arms and gurgled when she kissed him. Armaan looked angrily at
him and asked "mere paas kante chub rahe the kya, aisey khood pada apne mama ke
paas. Main ab Akshat ko gumma le jaoonga, tujhe nahi. Tum apne mama ke saath
ghar par hi raho," He was about to move away when Riddhima picked Ani's hand
and placed it near his ear and mimicked his voice saying "sholly dad, mujhe
bhuku lag rahi hai na, isliye mama ke paas gaya. Main apple khakar jaldi se aap
ke paash aata hoon."
Hearing the word apple he started shouting "Ani apple, Ani
apple." Riddhima just shook her head saying, "Haan deti hoon baba. Ek bhai ko
apple pasand hi nahi aur doosra apple ke liye aisey toofam machatata hai."
Armaan left saying "Rukho main iskeliye apple le aata hoon."
Riddhima was sitting on the floor with the apple cut into
halves, and scooping out the pulp with a spoon and Ani was jumping on her lap
with his mouth open. "Ani have patience," she shouted at him. But he was
jumping to snatch it from her hand. Armaan and Akshat who were playing cricket
outside, came in with sad faces, as they had lost the ball. Armaan had lofted
the ball and it had got lost. Then they decided to play carromboard. "This
fellow won't let you play at all," warned Riddhima. "He'll take away all the
coins."
Akshat hung his face sadly saying "haan dad, yeh coins utha
kar phek dega. Us din to main queen doondthe doondthe pagal ho gaya tha."
A: Don't worry, aaj main hoon na, main usey haath bhi lagane
nahi doonga.
Initially the little one was too busy eating apple, so
didn't bother them. But when that was over, Riddhima washed his mouth and put
him on the floor when her phone started ringing. It was her maa calling and she
got engrossed in the talk as she described the beautiful place. Ani moved
swiftly and directly stepped on the board, displacing all the coins. He would
have fallen had Armaan not caught him. Akshat screamt "dad, apne to kaha tha
aap usey haath bhi lagane nahi denge." When Armaan said "Usney to pair lagaya
hai, haath nahi," he got even more angry and puffed up his face. But Armaan
knew his betu would cool off as quickly and he knew very well how to do it.
Armaan apologized to Akshat, "Sorry beta I should have been
more attentive. I didn't see him approaching. I thought he was with mama."
Akshat didn't like it when his father apologized for anything whatsoever. So he
immediately said "please dad aap kyon sorry keh rahe hain. Maine bhi to uske
taraf dhyan nahi diya."
Armaan picked up the little one and glared at him. He tried
wriggling out of his hands but Armaan held him firmly. When he raised his voice
a little and asked "aisey kyon kiya? Bhai ka game kyon bighada?" he burst out
crying. Armaan looked pleading at Akshat as if to say "Sorry beta I can't see
him cry," and hugging the little one said "Bus, bus, rona nahi, aagey se aisey
nahi karna, ok?" Akshat the unusual understanding son replied "Dad he's jealous
because we two were playing. Let's play some game with him. Woh bhi khush ho
jayega."
When Riddhima came back after talking to her maa, she saw
all the three males in a hug and the biggest of the three babies with tears in
his eyes. "Hey guys tum khel rahe the, ab itna senti kyon ho gaye ho? Rone kyon
lage ho?" she asked as she came and sat beside them, hugging them all. Akshat
told her what had happened.
Then they began playing hide-and-seek and had a fantastic
time because everytime Ani would come out of his hiding beforehand throwing
everyone into fits of laughter. After the exhausting game session the little
one had his meal without any fuss and slept. Riddhima didn't know how to tell
Akshat that she was going out with Armaan for dinner. But Armaan had no such
qualms. He frankly asked him "akshu main Riddhima ko aaj raat dinner par le
jaana chahta hoon. Do you mind?"
For a minute Akshat seemed to be taken aback. Then he saw
his parents looking expectantly at him. He understood what was expected of him.
So he said with an artificial smile on his face, "of course dad le jaayiye na.
Aap mujse kyon poonch rahe ho?" though in his heart of hearts he was longing to
ask "Main bhi chaloon aapke saath?" Riddhima was in two minds wondering what
she should do when Akshat himself came up with the solution, "aap log jao main
thodi der play station khelkar, so jaoonga."
He got kissed by both his parents for that. Armaan helped
Akshat get the play station connected, while Riddhima went to shower. When she
came out Armaan had laid out the sequined skirt which they had purchased during
their last shopping session, at Kochi. Seeing the skirt she said "Armaan mujhe
kitne din hue skirts pehne. I'll feel awkward wearing it."
"Riddhima, how do you know that? You haven't even tried it
still. You may feel concscious at first, but then you'll get used to it. Come
on be a sport and try it on. I'll have a shower by then." He said as he walked
into the washroom.
She put on the skirt and a light make up. She picked up the
lipstick but suddenly smiled to herself and put it down. She was twirling
around in front of the mirror, to make sure it wasn't looking indecent from any
angle, when he came out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his
waist. She had laid out the clothes for him on the bed. But instead of wearing
them, he kept staring at her. She turned around and asked "Aisey kya gurr rahe
ho? He walked upto her and pulling her close said "I knew this would look great
on you." Then bent down to kiss her passionately.
She was drugged by the smell of his soap and the feel of his
cool, moist skin. When they came out of the liplock, he teasingly said "at this
rate, I don't think we'll be going anywhere tonight." That brought her out of
her trance and she quickly pushed away from him. He chuckled seeing her state
and began getting dressed, while she went to the mirror to apply lipstick.
As they made their way out, Akshat was engrossed in his
playsation. They kissed him goodnight and he told them to have nice time. As
they drove, Armaan kept giving her glances till she finally said "Armaan you
are making me feel more conscious with these glances of yours." "I was
wondering if I should turn around the car and take you back home," was his
reply. "Kyon?" she asked surprised.
A: Come on Riddhima stop fishing for compliments now.
She hit him on his arm saying "nazar raaste par rakhkar
gaadi chalao aur apna 'candle light dinner' ka promise nibhao." He just laughed
and drove to their favourite haunt. The manager extended a warm welcome to them
and the waiters also respectfully bowed to them as they walked to the table
reserved for them, in the special room. The whole place was very tastefully
decorated with pretty and fragrant flowers. The food was as awesome as ever. They
had a wonderful time dancing to all their favourite songs and it was well past
midnight when they stepped back into their house.
The following Monday, Riddhima joined MSHC. She and
Armaan started together. She took the blessings of her maa, kaka and akka before leaving. She
kissed the kids and Akshat wished her Goodluck. Akka took Ani to the terrace lest
he should create a scene seeing her leave. Akshat stood on the doorstep waving
out to them.
Armaan slowed down as they reached the colony gate. She saw
Dia and Varun waiting for him as usual. Good morning maam, Good morning Armaan
, they chorused. "Hey, that's very unfair. You call Armaan by his name aur
mujhe maam keh rahe ho? I'm going to be your co-intern yaar. Call me Riddhima."
D: ok, ok, Riddhima it is.
V: Armaan kya Riddhima bhi aapko hospital mein 'sir'
bhulayegi.
A: I think so.
Then turning to Riddhima he clarified, "Dr. Mohan ke strict
orders hai ke interns senior doctors ko naam se nahi bhulayenge."
R: Oh! I better remember that.
In a few minutes they were at MSHC. Armaan directed her to
Dr. Mohan's cabin, as he proceeded to his own. He instructed the interns to
meet him at the nurse station after 10 minutes.
When he reached the nurse station, he was disappointed to
see that Riddhima wasn't there. After he had allotted duties to his interns, he
noticed Dr. Mohan take Riddhima along with him on his rounds. He was extremely
happy for her. If she was to work under Dr. Mohan, that was the best training
she could get.
As it was Monday, OPD was heavy. It was past 12 when he
finished with it.Then he went in search of Riddhima, to take her home for
lunch. He saw her in deep discussion with her senior doctor. He was about to move
away when Dr. Mohan spotted him and called out to him. "We can discuss this
later Riddhima, I think your husband is waiting for you for lunch." He purposely
said it aloud for Armaan to hear. Armaan came and shook hands with Dr. Mohan
and said very emotionally "Sir, I'm very
happy that you've taken her under your wing. It brings back memories of my
internship days." Then turning to Riddhima he said "I hope you realize how
lucky you are."
R: yes of course. I told sir also how honoured I'm to be
working under him.
M: Today's only your first day. Don't be too happy so soon.
Armaan will be able to tell you it's not going to be all that easy.
R: I'm sure it will be hard work. I didn't come here
expecting anything to be easy, sir.
A: But one thing I can tell you, the amount you'll learn,
will be well worth all the pains.
"Ok see you after lunch then Riddhima, bye Armaan," said Dr.
Mohan as he moved towards his cabin. The Mallik couple were chattering away as
they moved towards the exit to go home.
"I hope Ani didn't worry akka and kaka" Riddhima said as she
sat beside him in the car. "You know the whole morning uski mujhe zara bhi yaad
nahi aayi." She sounded very guilty so Armaan said "he is in good hands
Riddhima." And then changing the topic said, it must be great working with Dr.
Mohan na? I remember my first year at MSHC." As expected she got distracted and
started discussing the new case they were handling, a gentleman named Kartik.
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