From the author's
desk: So here I am with the epilogue for this
story... It is quite long, I am sure that I won't hear any complaints what so
ever. I have one request to make though...
I would like every one of you who have
followed this story so far, to leave at least a simple comment in this
thread, letting me know that you read and enjoyed this story. I want even
the silent readers who havent commented at all so far, to leave an imprint here;
It will make me so happy
Happy Reading!
Epilogue
Five years down the line, a new morning dawned. The Raizada hall was as
busy that morning as any day. But the day was special too. One of the little
angels of that house was turning one that day and a grand party was in tow
later that evening. Even as the hall was being decorated for the occasion,
Payal singh Raizada was found to be convincing 5 year old Keya that she has to
attend school even if her little cousin was celebrating her happy birthday in
the evening.
"Payal, where did you place my files that I was looking at yesterday
evening?" Akaash shouted from the top floor.
"Look into your wardrobe's left cabinet Akaash" Payal replied back
"your father can't even find it even if the file dances in front of his eyes"
Payal muttered to herself as she made Keya's hair into a pony. This remark
greatly amused the 5 year old who giggled.
"Yeah got it got it" Akaash said as he rushed down and placed the
two files on the table, and sat down for breakfast
Mami and Nani were already at the breakfast table.
"Akaash bituwa, are you going to office today?" Mami asked him
"Yeah mom, We have a client visiting us today, I and Bhai need to go, we
will come back early" He told her
"Come back early, or Di would be very upset that Shethra's Mamas were not
there when she cut her cake..." NK told as he too joined them on the
table.
"Yeah we will be back... Don't worry, Bhai is more worried about Kushi's
waterworks these days, he wouldn't prolong the meeting- We will be here by 3 at
the latest" Akaash told as he started to have his breakfast.
"When is Anjali bitiya coming here?" Nani asked Payal who was now
filling Keya's plate on the table.
"She said Ashok ji will drop her and Shethra on the way to his hospital-
around 9 " she replied to Nani.
"Hmm... If only we were able to go to Sheesh Mahal for this birthday-
these men would have taken an off" Mami told them
"How can we travel to Lucknow when Kushi is like this Manorama.. You know
how much Chotey and Kushi wanted to have little shethra's party at Sheesh Mahal
as was the custom..."
"Yeah.. I know... But where are they? why havent they come down yet?"
Mami asked.
"There comes Nannav" NK said as they all turned to see Arnav still in
his casuals hurriedly carrying a uniform clad Arush on one hand and his school
bag on the other hand.
"Morning guys" Arnav muttered as he made Arush sit on the table and
grabbed a plate.
"Leave it Arnavji, I will serve him food" Payal said as she got
the plate from him
"What happened? You woke up late? Where is Kushi?" Mami asked
Arnav
"She is sleeping..." Arnav replied her "She couldnt sleep
yesterday night, she fell asleep only in the wee hours of the morning"
"Then Chotey, did you make him ready?" Nani asked her pota in
surprise
"Yeah Nani, he is ok isnt he... Have I missed anything?" he asked as
Nani smiled...
"Nannav- you have turned into a pakka dad" NK exclaimed as other
joined in the chuckle
"Bhai, did you sleep yesterday night? you look dead tired"
"Yeah, I slept" Arnav told as the last night flashed across his mind
~~~~~
He had been dozing
as he rested his head on Kushi's petite shoulders as they both sat by the pool
as late as 2 in the night.
"Arnavji, look that one is looking like a teady bear..." Kushi said
as she pointed to a group of stars up the sky... "and near that those
group of stars make a horse...see that next to our parents"
Kushi suddenly looked down at him and caught him sleeping
"Arnavji"
"yeah Kushi.. it looks like a house... " he muttered as he positioned
his head into the crook of her neck
"I said horse"
"oh yeah horse"he mumbled.
"If you don't
want to stay here, you don't have to- go and sleep" Kushi told him harshly
"I didn't say so" Arnav told as he sat up
"You have changed Arnavji..."she told him "you are not like
before... those days you would willingly sit by me and star gaze... nowadays you
do it for the sake of it-You don't love me anymore"
"What the..Kushi, Do you think I have been sitting here listening to your
musings about stars for the last four hours because I am so interested in those
stupid shapes that they make? I am here for your sake Dammit.. and you say I don't
love you because I fell asleep at 2 in the night"
"Yes, You don't love me anymore... You don't find me attractive enough.. I
remember those days when you used to stare at me for hours... now my speech itself is
enough to make you fall asleep"
"Now..Now Kushi.. stop crying... I love you, You are the most beautiful
woman I ever knew on this earth...Beautiful at heart, and a gorgeous woman
outside too"
"Really?" Kushi asked him excitedly as she pulled his shirt collar to
wipe her tears. He looked at her baffled as he realised that her mood has
changed again in a wink of an eye
"Yeah" he said as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head as she
came closer to wipe her tears "I am crazily in love with -all of you- you
are damn sexy even with your big baby bump"
She smacked him as he grinned at her
"What is my little angel doing inside?"
"The baby is awake too... I could sense movements inside me... the baby
does respond to your voice Arnavji.. see here here" she said as she pulled
his hand and placed his palm on her stomach. His face glowed as he sensed the
movement... He slid down and kneeled beside her as he rested his head by her
stomach for a few minutes. He placed a kiss by her stomach.
"I want to hold you baby, can't wait for you to come out" he
whispered against her stomach
"not long... Another 15 days to go..." Kushi told Arnav as she held
his head lovingly...
"Kushi, its really getting very cold outside, we should get in, I don't
want you to catch cold..."
"I don't feel sleepy Arnavji"
"Its ok Kushi, you can continue speaking to me until you feel sleepy, let's
get you to the warmth of the bed." he said sternly as he stood up and
pulled her to the bed.
He did'nt know
when they both fell asleep, as he could only remember all the things in the
world that Kushi kept blabbering and his non-committal ummm' following it, as
he hugged her to sleep.
~~~~~
"Hello" Everyone turned to look at Anjali and Ashok coming in
carrying their little daughter.
"Shethra baby" the kids shouted as they both got down and ran towards
their Bua.
"Happy birthday little angel'"
"Let me hold her Bua"
"I also want to hold her Bua"
As the mutual greetings were finally done, Anjali saw her brother's tired
state
"What happened to you chotey? Are you keeping well?"
"I am fine Di" Arnav said immediately as his sister's soft hands
brushed his forehead.
"Seems like Nannav spent a sleepless night again with Kushiji" NK
told her
"Oh" Anjali said sympathetically. Everyone at RM were aware of
Kushi's famous mood swings and sleepless nights.
"Nothing like that Di, I will be alright if I took bath and freshened up a
little" Arnav shrugged as he climbed up "Akaash, you carry on if you
want to, I will be at office in another 1 hour"
"Bhai, stay at home, if you want to, you can join the conference call at
afternoon- I will manage there" Akaash told him
"Yes Chotey, stay at home, you look very tired..." Anjali advised
him.
"I am perfectly alright" Arnav rolled his eyes.. What is with this
family, He can understand when they were concerned about Kushi, they treat him
the same like her... It was his wife who was 9 months pregnant.. and not him..
"I am so sorry, I overslept" Kushi's voice came from behind him.
Everyone turned to look at her as she bounced slowly down the stairs in her
pregnancy wear, in her final stages of her pregnancy.
"Oh my god, Arush is ready?" Kushi exclaimed as she saw her son
standing there with his school bag, ready to go to school "Payal Mausi
made you ready?"
"I did" Arnav told her as she looked surprised at him and then back
at her son. The family looked at them lovingly.
What followed next was quite predictable if you knew how Kushi's mood swings
were...
The family indulged in assuring Kushi that it was alright for her to over sleep
once in a while during her pregnancy, and she was still a good mother.. and it
was Ok to sleep while her husband made their son ready.
Finally Kushi got her happy mood back, as she wished the little Shethra for
her birthday.
"Akaash,you need to drop the kids at school" Payal told him
"Mohan is not there, he has gone to pick up Amma, bauji and Buaji from the
railway station"
"Oh ok"
Kushi knelt down to kiss her son goodbye as Arush kissed her back and
dutifully listened to her daily gyan about behaving good at school. He rolled
his eyes at this as father smirked at him and waved him a bye.
As the kids and Akaash finally went out, The family got back to the mood of
receiving their guests.
"When are Gayathri, Subadra and Dhruv expected?" Nani asked them
"Dhruv said they will be here by early afternoon nani. He is driving them
both here" Kushi told her.
Out of all things that surprised the family- one of them was Dhruv Kushi
bonding. Dhruv was very reserved with the family as such- may be due to the
things that transpired in the yester years or by nature itself, But with Kushi
alone, the young boy would joke around and banter. For Kushi, her other devars
were introduced as Jeejaji and friend before they became her devars- and Dhruv
was the only one who got introduced as devar itself and the two bonded quite
well.
"Sid and La will reach here by that time too" Arnav told them all
"Haa.. I can't wait to see them all...Little Sana will come too... I saw
her when she was only two years old" Kushi got back to her gleeful mood.
Ashok left for the hospital too, promising Anjali that he will surely be
back by afternoon.
Kushi's eyes followed Arnav up the stairs as he went up to get ready for
office.
"What happened Kushi... Aren't you getting sleep in the night?"
Anjali asked her
"leave me Di... I had the same issues when I was expecting Arush too...
Poor Arnavji...I made him sit with me the entire night Di... He must be tired
too...Now he wants to go to office"
"We told him to stay back at home- when does he listen to these
things?"
"I will speak to him" Kushi said as she climbed up the stairs.
Anjali smiled at her sister in law- She knew the outcome, her chotey would be
staying back at home today
***
"Arnavji, why don't you stay back- you didn't sleep well yesterday
night"
"No Kushi, there is an important deal that we need to seal today- I must
be there..." Arnav said as he pulled out a suitable tie for his shirt.
"Aren't you tired?"
"No, I am used to this Kushi..." he said absent mindedly, then he
jerked up and saw her as she kept rubbing her back
"What happened? Are you feeling any pain?" he looked tensed
"No No I am alright" she said slowly as she came near him. "Don't
worry about me... you are tensed right... about this nearing delivery and all
that"
"No... It's not that... Did it pain a lot- the first time?" He asked
her.
She smiled at him. He would have asked her the same question numerous times,
the fact that he was not around the first time when Arush was born, added to
that he was going to make her go through the same pain again, kept on lingering
on the back of his mind, and a small sign of discomfort from her was enough to push him
into panic mode, and his instincts to protect her only increased with attending
child birth classes together.
"It did pain..." She told him patiently for the hundredth time "but this time, I am sure it is not
going to pain that much... you would be with me" she smiled at him as he
leaned in to kiss her, they were hindered by the baby bump.
She giggled realizing what stopped him as he looked down at the bump. He
rolled his eyes at her as he adjusted their positions for a proper kiss.
"Kushi, Did you want me to stay back because you felt uncomfortable or
something?"
"NO Arnavji, I was only thinking about you... you didn't sleep well too
right?"
"Let me know if you feel any discomfort Kushi- on second thoughts, I think
I need to stay back- with everyone arriving this afternoon, I am sure you would
exhaust yourself if I am not there to control you"
She rolled her eyes at him
"This is too much" she told him as he smiled at her "People are
going to say how much I have you binded to my little finger" She teased
him
"Let them say, you know better" he told her "now give me a
proper morning kiss, then you can go ahead and proudly tell the family that you
made you patidev stay at home" he smirked at her leaning in, closing the
distance.
***
Later that evening, Arnav had just finished attending that important call
that he had to take, and as about to go down to attend to his guests- Sid, La
and their lovely 3 year old - Sana.
He had been there to receive Buaji and Kushi's parents. He was there when
Dhruv, Gayathri and Dadi arrived too... By the time Sid and La arrived, he was
already running late for the call.
They had arrived earlier in the evening but Arnav had to take this call and
had rushed up.
The call had prolonged for more than 2 hours, Kushi and Anjali had already
come up and gestured him to finish the call in time.
The guests will start arriving soon, and Akaash was still struck up at
office, He should start from there only after this call got over.
As he winded up, he saw an angry Kushi rushing into the room, huffing and
puffing and pulling a miffed Arush behind her.
"Arnav! Arnav" she started bellowing his name even before she
entered the room
"I am done Kushi. I am just coming down" Arnav started to tell
but then he noticed she had brought Arush with her...
"Arnavji... You know what this little tyke did just now?"
"What did you do little champ to make your momma so angry?" Arnav
asked taking Arush by his other hand and pulling him closer to him as he
kneeled down beside his 6 year old son.
Arush looked into his father's face in hope that may be he would understand
"Nothing Dad" he said exasperated
"Nothing? Don't Lie Arush..." Kushi shouted at her son then turning
back to Arnav she said "he kissed Sana"
Arnav rolled his eyes
"For heaven's sake Kushi... he is just a child... He kisses you, he kisses
me... and he kissed Sana... what is the big deal? It is a gesture of affection...
may be he likes the little angel"
"Yeah I like her a lot" Arush affirmed his Dad's statement
"No Arnav... you don't understand... He kissed her on her lips"
Arnav was surprised hearing this. He opened his mouth to say something and
then shut it...He looked side ways to look at his son again
"Dad...I asked her if she would be my girlfriend and she said
yes" Arush explained as a matter of fact
"OH! Should I congratulate you? "Arnav muttered bewildered as he didn't
know what else to say. This was totally unexpected!
"And it is alright to kiss one's girlfriend on her lips" Arush
explained further ignoring his father's comment
Arnav started nodding his head awkwardly
"What? Girl friend? what is he talking about?" Kushi screamed
"and what are you nodding you head at?"
"No I was figuring out what to tell him" Arnav told her honestly
"Look how he has ended up... More besharam than you... Oh god"
Kushi sat down exhausted by the end of the bed.
"Look Kushi... He doesn't really know what a girlfriend means... it's
just another friend who is a girl... isnt it Arush?" Arnav tried to
understand the situation
"Oh really? Then how did he know about kissing his girlfriend?"
Kushi questioned back
"Relax Kushi... you are tiring yourself"
"How can I relax Arnav ji? I wonder how many girlfriends like this he
has... he is worser than you...or were you also like this? Oh god ... I don't
know if the list will be long even before he enters his teen... DM! Please let
this one inside my tummy be a girl... I can't manage with another Raizada man...
two is already exhausting" Kushi prayed to her devimaiyya touching her
baby bump.
Arnav looked at Arush... He was looking back coolly at his mother.
"Haven't Dad kissed you at all when you both were girlfriend
Boyfriend?" Arush asked innocently
Kushi and Arnav were transported back to those days years back, when he
wooed her in Style...Kushi blushed thinking of their first kiss to each other-
though it started as a shart...
"Girlfriend boyfriend? we were never a girlfriend boyfriend"
Kushi told her son hotly, forgetting for an instant that he was only a 6 year
old, and she was talking about her relationship with Arnav to her son
"Really? Are you worried that we skipped that phase in life
Kushi?" Arnav asked her earnestly as she realized what she was doing
"No... I am not... I am happy that we skipped it... now will you
please discipline your son?" Kushi replied back.
"Look Kiddo..." Arnav started to say something to Arush when the
room door opened wide with force.
Arnav looked up to see Sid rushing in carrying his daughter
"Raizada! Is it in your blood to behave arrogantly towards
girls?" Sid shouted at Arnav, Lavanya who had come running behind Sid
caught up with her breath
"Sid... "She started but Sid silenced her with his hand.
"Excuse me?" Arnav got up with his famous attitude. Kushi got
worried with Arnav's tone as she too got up.
"Arnavji"
"Don't even dare to stop me Kushi..." Arnav gritted his teeth. Kushi
sat back on the bed with a sigh.
"Yeah Mokashi...What did you say right now?" Arnav asked Sid
again
"Your son just made my daughter cry" Sid told him angrily as he
put Sana down.
"Last time I checked, kissing someone was a gesture of affection and
not arrogance"
"Yes, but kissing on lips is categorized as Arrogance if the girl doesn't
permit"
"Sid, ASR... please... they are only kids..." Lavanya tried to induce
some sense into these fierce fathers, but they both did not even try to pay
heed to her words. She looked helplessly at Kushi as the men continued with
their fight.
Kushi sighed loudly shook her head at Lavanya as if to say "no use"
and gestured her to come and sit next to her.
"Calm down La... I have strong intuition, that one of these two only
would have demonstrated it to my innocent son. More probably my patidev... Sid
only landed today morning..." Kushi commented
"What the? You blame ONLY me now Kushi? Who would I be kissing if I
demonstrated him? Clay models at my office? Weren't you also a part of
it?"
"Don't divert the topic... Your son flirted with my daughter and
crossed limits... He made her cry" Sid screamed again
"And Arush in spite of being a Raizada, flirts... Which I think is not
a mannerism which is inherited...Raizadas don't flirt..."
"Excuse me? so do you mean to say we are lying" Sid asked pointing
to the ladies and himself
"I didn't mention anything like that... I only think he learnt it from
you Mokashi!"
"He learnt what from me?"
"To flirt... He spent his first year with you"
And as this was going on...
Arush had been looking at Sana who was put down by her father some 5
minutes ago.
Sana looked back at him with tears glistening on her pretty face. He
noticed that she had stopped crying long back.
He slowly went and stood next to her.
"Are you upset?" he asked her
She didn't answer but wiped her face off tears. Kushi noticed this and she
nudged Lavanya to take notice too...
Kushi kept tugging at Arnav's hand and finally he looked at her. He turned to
see what Lavanya and Kushi were looking at and this caught Sid's attention too.
"May be you can try making jelebis... My mom always does that if she
is upset"
"Jelebis? Yummy!"
"Yeah... I can help you if you want"
"You are so sweet" Sane reached Arush and pecked him on his
cheeks
"And you are cute too" Arush replied with a big smile "Do
you want to see my play room? I have got a lot of toys there"
"I would love too"
All the four watched the little ones holding hands walking out of the room.
"Not at all bad... he picks up girls quiet fast- pushes the right
buttons...If you credit me for this... I am proud of myself" Sid mumbled
to Arnav
"Yeah I know...and she is good enough too. Forgets and forgives quiet
fast..." Arnav mumbled back.
"What the?" Kushi got up "What kind of Dads are you
both?"
"Definitely not the ones found on this earth" Lavanya commented
All the four burst out laughing.
That's all folks...The end.
Edited by abavi - 11 years ago
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