OS - When Lateef Tells A Story...
"Lateef, tell us a story... Come on... Don't be such a meanie... You know, we can't sleep without stories..." Armaan and Aahaana begged.
"Arey baba, these kids... Every day they want a different story... I have no time at all for maintaining my hour glass figure, where will I find the time to search for stories for them?" Lateef sighed.
"Come on, Lateef... If you tell us an awesome, jhakaas story, we'll make sure you get two extra rasgullas every day for a week." The kids bribed their old time helper.
Lateef's tongue watered. Two rasgullas everyday... Lately, Begum Sahiba had taken to being a nutritionist for her and had banned all calorie filled items for poor "Chui Mui". She was starving... She was eating, cabbages and carrots like a rabbit.
"Fine, I'll tell you a story.. But, if you don't keep your promise, I'll let out all your dirty secrets to Aahil Baba and Sanam." Lateef agreed but warned them. These were notorious kids.
"No, way. You know you cannot do that. Dad's been wondering where all his perfume is getting over. We'll tell him its you. And we'll tell Mom, that you sneak in and eat all the apple pie she makes for Dad." The kids laughed evilly.
They were the kids of the Nawab and Begum of Bhopal. Royalty. They sure knew how to sway their measly subjects.
"Haan... Of course you will. And, I'll tell him, you don't do your homework and make me copy it from your friends from the pictures they send on Facebook." Lateef smirked.
The kids looked at each other for a moment and again laughed, "Dad doesn't know we have an FB account. And, we always get good grades. So its fine. Now, begin your story, Lateef. Or we'll cut your hair off again. Mom told us you cried and cried for weeks when that one-eyed monster came and cut of your long plait." They blackmailed poor Lateef, who looked ready to cry.
Tucking these kids to bed wasn't easy... It was a Herculean task every night. Sure, they didn't have their parents' adamant genes in them, but they acquired all their manners, behavior, habits, ideas from them.
Lateef thought, "Ek Aahil aur Sanam kaafi nahi the, now, we have two each."
"Ui Maa, don't. Please don't! Mere husn mere khubsoorat baalon ke bina adhoora hai.. Fine. Fine. I am going to tell you a story about... Haan... This stupid, irritating, know-it-all soldier. Like that girl, in Hari Puttar, that Snake says..." Lateef struggled with the name...
"Oh, God, Lateef. It is not Hari Puttar. it is Harry Potter. Hermoine is the know-it-all girl and it is not SNAKE for God's sake..." Armaan mocked.
"It is Snape. Severus Snape." Aahaana declared with swag.
"Ya. Ya. That only... Same thing... Anyways... You know what the name of this soldier was... It was Shendy..." Lateef went on...
"So, there was this really beautiful princess.. She got into trouble once for not following instructions, like you, Aahaana, do all the time. She got separated from her palace, her kingdom, the prince. Everybody.
This solder, that Shendy was, he saved her. The princess was very upset because she didn't know where she was, she didn't know what to do. She didn't even remember where she came from... She only remembered her prince was waiting for her..."
Aahaana and Armaan both looked disinterested, with this supposed fairy tale, but they were hooked. Lateef was finally telling some good story. Mr.Shendy. Funny name. Wonder where she came across that name.
"And this soldier, lied to her, that he was her prince. And the princess believed though she knew something was wrong.. Slowly, the prince came in search of her."
"And, then what? Did he find her? Did he slap Shendy on the face? He is supposed to be a soldier.. They don't lie.. " The kids were curious.
"One fine day, the prince found the princess and Shendy together. But, can you imagine the poor prince's plight? He had travelled across the seven seas, crossed mountains and boulders, to get to his princess, but she said, she didn't know him!" Lateef became all melodramatic.
"Stop crying, Lateef, and go on! Tell us more!" The kids were impatient, having no time for Lateef's rona dhona.
"So, the prince became friends with both of them. And one day, this Shendy had to go out for work. He asked the prince to take care of the princess, which he did. He took good care of her. Like, I take good care of you..." Lateef said proudly.
"No, you don't. You go sneaking around trying to steal food. But, we are sure the prince took good care. What happened next?" The kids countered, this Lateef had to be cut down to size.
"So, after sometime, when Shendy came back, he said heartlessly, thank you, you took care of my princess, now leave."
The kids were aghast. "Oh My God, Lateef! Did the prince kick him? Come on! Tell us the prince at least wacked his arm! Hit him with his shoes.." Aahana cried, livid!
When Armaan differed, "The prince's shoes would be imported. He wouldn't waste them on a silly idiot like Shendy. He should have taken the door mat and wrapped him in it." To which, both of them laughed, and Lateef sniggered too...
Suddenly, the kids stopped and looked at the door. Lateef turned around, and almost fainted when he saw Aahil and Sanam standing there.
"What kind of a story are you telling the kids, Lateef?" Aahil demanded.
"I know. Such a ridiculous story. The kids would want to listen to some action-packed story isn't it, kids?" Sanam added.
"No. No. Let Lateef stay here. It is a nice story. We want to know what happened in the end... Please!" The kids pleaded.
Aahil and Sanam flashed a knowing smile at each other and walked towards the kids as Lateef smiled and left the room.
They came and sat on the bed, and Aahil said, "It doesn't matter if the prince kicked the solider or not. That wasn't his objective. His motive was to take his princess back with him."
"And, he persevered. He tried repeatedly. He tried again and again to tell the princess that he was the prince." Sanam added, looking thoughtfully at Aahil.
"And did he succeed?" Aahaana asked.
"Of course he did! You see, the prince was as hot as me, so obviously, the princess got mesmerized by the prince, like your Mom is always eternally drooling at me..." He couldn't continue because Sanam was throwing pillows at him...
And the kids were having the time of their lives.
"No. That is not the story... The ending was that, the princess was too beautiful and so..."
Aahil cut in, "Ya. Obviously, the princess was beautiful. That's why the prince came there in the first place. She was beautiful not because she had beautiful clothes and jewellery but because she had a heart of gold." Aahil finished, and Sanam just laughed.
"And then what happened?"
"Oh... And they had two naughty kids, called..." Aahil began.
"Armaan and Aahaana..." Sanam laughed tickling the kids, "And they tickled them because they wouldn't sleep at night." She finished and the royal family were having the most joyous time in their lives.
A little while later, Sanam and Aahil tucked their kids in, and slowly came out. They had slept. "You know, these are gems in my life, that are irreplaceable." Sanam said.
"They are better than our own. You know, I always used to think, it is possible only to love kids that are born to you, and so used to think Tanveer was great because she could love me. Now, I know it is a lie. It doesn't matter. Kids are always kids. You give them love, they give you the same love back."
And Mr. and Mrs. Ibrahim went to bed.
A/N - To clear your confusion, the kids are adopted because being royalty and all, they didn't want to contribute to population pressure. And, they felt, it didn't matter if their blood didn't run in their kids' veins. If they had their love and affection, that would suffice. xD
Buddy my PM A/C for PMs - NajTheSociopath
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