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I absolutely loved the 'happy family' scene in the last episode where Shivaay hugged both Annika and Sahil near the car and was badly wishing for them to continue it, but since they had to rush a little to start with the mahasangam thingy, I thought I'd write something myself and share will you all. Hope you all like it :)
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"I'll go put him in his room," Annika said, climbing out of the bed. Sahil lay sprawled on the sheets, fast asleep. Shivaay looked at him and then at Annika. The day's events had taken a toll on her and he could still see the streaks of dried tears on her face. She yawned and straightened her dress. "I wanted to...Well he just...umm he couldn't sleep in his room so I brought him here and we started talking and I don't know when we both fell asleep. You get ready for bed, I'll just..." She trailed off as she bent down to pick up Sahil.
Shivaay moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to take him back, let him be," he said.
She shook her head. "No Shivaay it's okay, I'll carry him to his own bed. I used to do it all the time at our old home, it's not a big deal. You won't be able to sleep like this anyway, and you're tired and you need to sleep well-"
Shivaay put his finger on her lips. "Will you stop talking please?" He said smiling. "Gosh kitna bolti ho tum!" He shook his head in wonder. "And who says I can't sleep like this, before we were married Rudra and Om would often come to my room and we'd watch movies and fall asleep together. The bed hasn't gotten any smaller since then," he laughed, then his eyes grew serious. "I know you want to keep Sahil closer, especially after all that happened today." Her eyes turned moist. He shook his head and flicked away the lone drop of tear that had started to make it's way down her cheeks. "You know I don't-" he stopped midway as Annika nodded knowingly and a smile crept up both their faces.
"Shivaay are you sure -", she started talking but he cut her off.
"Bas. We are all sleeping here tonight. No more arguments. You get into bed, I'll just change and come," he said. Annika settled down on the bed, but saw he wasn't moving. He was looking at the both of them and there was something in his eyes, that was so intense, even in the dim light, that made her heart ache in a strange way.
In a swift gesture he bent over her and kissed her on the forehead, and pulled the sheets up to cover the both of them. "Go to sleep, Annika," he whispered softly. He sat there for a while till she was asleep and then changed and climbed into the bed with them.
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Early mornings had always been Shivaay's favorite part of the day. He loved the profound peace that the quiet solitude of early mornings provided him with and he loved how he could get all his work done before the whole family was up and about and the humdrum of daily life enveloped him and swept him away, the day passing by in a blur till he would find himself at his bed again at night. However things started getting even better after he was married to Annika and though he wouldn't admit it to himself, with each passing day he started taking a moment longer to pause and admire his beautiful, sleeping wife. It added up to the beauty of his mornings and though he'd often taunt her about waking up late, he secretly wished she'd never get around to actually obeying that.
But this morning was beautiful for a whole different reason. He opened his eyes and took in the scene before him. Sahil lay flat on the bed and Annika had her arms wrapped protectively around the body of her little brother, all traces of worry gone from her face. His left hand rested against her sister's chest, intertwined with her dupatta while the other lay over his own belly where it went up and down with his respiration. He listened to their quiet breathing and watched the soft morning light wash over the two peaceful faces that lay fast asleep beside him in their childlike innocence, and in that moment he felt something flutter in his heart. These were beautiful people and they belonged to him. They were his family. They were safe and sound and they were here. Before he could think about it, he reached out and caressed Sahil's hair.
His eyes shot open and Shivaay jumped. "Whoa!" He mumbled, sitting up - a bit apologetic thinking he had woken him up.
"Why were you looking at us that way, Mr. SSO?" Sahil spoke and both of them froze as Annika stirred in her sleep. After a moment, Sahil gingerly raised her hand off him. She sighed but did not wake up. He slipped out from under her embrace, and sat up.
"What look? I don't know what you're talking about." Shivaay whispered fierecely.
"The way you were looking at us, right before you touched my hair," Sahil whispered back.
"I...I...Hey I don't know what you're talking about," he stuttered, embarrassed. "Besides, you were asleep! Your eyes were closed anyway, so how do you know if I was looking at you?" he retorted.
Sahil narrowed his eyes at his tone and put up his index finger. "One, I was just pretending to sleep. And two, I could feel you looking at us." He spoke somberly and Shivaay rolled his eyes.
"You just can't act your age, can you?" He muttered under his breath. "And who pretends to sleep when they're awake anyway?"
"Kids?" was the little monster's prompt reply. Shivaay couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. "Touche," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. He saw Sahil stifle a yawn. "You don't have to get up now, you can go back to sleep! It's still quite early," he said, straightening out his pillow but Sahil shook his head.
"I've been awake for quite some time now and I'm not sleepy anymore. Annika didi always sleeps in, so I have the habit of waking up early and getting myself ready, or I'd be late for school everyday."
"Yeah, your Annika didi really does love her sleep!" He chuckled.
"Well, she'd be tired most nights, cuz she always had to work so much, you know." Sahil shrugged and made a face. "Also Bandari bua would make her do all the household chores too, so she'd be up till late." Shivaay looked at her sleeping face and contemplated that for a moment. It's true that Annika had been waking up quite early since the past few weeks - ever since she started living here and was relieved of her stressful life. How had he not noticed this before? He felt guilty for making fun of her habits now.
"What're you thinking?" Sahil asked, breaking into his thoughts.
"It's nothing." He shook his head but he could feel a familiar sense of despair tug at his heart - the way it had when he had learnt about a particularly fateful day of her childhood. He felt restless and there was only one thing he could do to make himself feel better.
He put on a smile and looked at Sahil. "Hey, what say we both make some breakfast for your Annika didi today and surprise her in bed?"
Sahil's face lit up at that but he didn't say anything. He chewed on his lips and seemed to give something a good thought. "But I don't know how to cook!" He said after sometime.
"Huh," Shivaay smirked. "That's not a problem at all kiddo. You're lucky because you have the master to teach you," he said, making a grand gesture at himself.
Sahil shrugged. "Yeah, you make decent food, so I guess you could teach me."
Shivaay opened his mouth to say something, then just shook his head. "Come on," he said, climbing out of the bed and bringing Sahil's crutches to him. "But first we must brush our teeth and get ourselves a good, clean bath," he said, starting towards the door.
"Mr. SSO?" Sahil called him from behind. "Can I ask you something?" He spoke with a solemn expression on his face.
Shivaay walked back and knelt down in front of him. "Yeah ofcourse! What's the matter buddy?"
"I was wondering...Well I wanted to ask you if I could...You know...If I could call you Shivaay Jeeju sometimes?" He said, fiddling with the button of his shirt.
Shivaay was taken aback at that and he had to clear his throat before he could speak again. "Ofcourse," he took a deep breath and ruffled his hair. "Ofcourse you can."
Sahil nodded. Shivaay paused for a moment and then looked into his eyes. "Sahil, will you promise me something?"
"What?" He asked.
"I want you to promise me that you will never leave your school campus again with anyone but your Annika didi or me. Even if someone comes and tells you we're in danger or something else, you will not listen to them until and unless you talk to us directly. Do you understand?" He pulled Sahil closer. I'll talk to Khanna and arrange for more security too. Whatever happened yesterday, it should never happen again. Do you understand?" he spoke with conviction.
"Yeah I do," he said, looking back into the depths of his clear, blue eyes.
"Promise me." He said, putting up his little finger. Sahil smiled and touched his own pinkie with his. "Pinky promise, Shivaay Jeeju," he said. Shivaay put his arms around him and patted his back.
"Let's go ahead with our cooking classes, shall we now?" Shivaay said, standing up and extending his hand to him. Sahil put his palm in his. "Annika di will be so surprised and happy," he said, looking up at him with a wide grin. "I bet she will be," Shivaay said, grinning back at his little friend.
As they left the room hand in hand, chatting animatedly about what they were going to cook, they failed to notice that their little exchange had left someone else smiling as well. Sahil, apparently, was not the only one who knew how to pretend to be asleep. Enjoying one of the best mornings of her life herself, Annika hugged a pillow close to her chest and closed her eyes tightly as she waited for the jeeju-saala duo to come back and make her already beautiful day even better.
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Thats it! I thought the "jeeju" thing was long due and Shivaay deserved that after what he did for Sahil yesterday and was wishing that they'd incorporate it somehow but since they didn't, this was my version of how it should have happened. I wrote it all in a hurry and I'm posting from a phone , so please ignore the typos or grammatical mistakes, if any. Do like and comment and leave your feedback!
- Archie :)
