Chapter 11

arshiforever123

@arshiforever123

[NOCOPY]

A Twist of Events Chapter 10

Khushi awoke and realized the sun still wasn't fully out. She opened her eyes and slightly and took in the beautiful scenery of the lush garden outside. Where was this place she thought? It was so beautiful . She then turned her face to the beautiful man beside her. Oh how she wanted to remain in this tight embrace forever, how she craved his love, his pure, unadulterated love. But it was never meant to be for her.

They were two souls, who were wretchedly cursed. Unable to achieve the one thing they both wanted from life. Happiness. They had everything, yet nothing .  Ultimately cursed. And nothing in this life nor the next would change that.

She softly stroked his chiseled face and traced the outline of his stubble with her finger. Then his eyes. Then his nose. Then his luscious, soft lips. Oh those lips...she thought. A wave of happiness surged through her heart at the thought of last night. And just as soon, a knife of pain and sorrow stabbed her at the thought of their utter despair and their inevitable doom.

Did she regret what happened last night? No...what happened was utterly the most beautiful, pleasurable thing she had ever felt. It felt so right. It's not that she regretted what happened between them, she was just afraid of how to handle the situation now. What would she do if he brought it up when he woke up. What would she do if he began physically getting closer to her because he thought this was some kind of permission for him to do what he wanted with her. Would she let him though? Would she let him touch her? Should she? What was she even thinking...they weren't even properly married. Yes there were registration papers, their only witness being the pandit. At least Arnav had some civility to marry her in front of the pandit with registration papers. But there were no pheres ...none of the rasams had been followed... and yet ...she had been physically intimate with him. The doubt began to eat at her. But as she thought about it some more she decided. Life was too short to be filled with regret. If what she did felt right than it was right. He was legally her husband and she was legally his wife. But morally she wasn't his wife. She knew she was his wife by paper but not by bond. But she couldn't change that. He wouldn't even give her a divorce. Hmm...why was that? And that time he called her his permanent wife at the house in Lucknow.

She shifted in his arms so that she was facing the ceiling. She tried to think. What would she do now? Where should she go? She didn't want to live with the Raizadas, yet she couldn't leave her daughter behind. And this laad governer would definitely not do without her. Her only choice...however difficult it may be was to leave her lovely daughter with him. It would be hard. Definitely she thought. No doubt. But she couldn't live in a house where she was despised. Unwanted. Disrespected. Accused. Abused. No. she had to do this. Her daughter had a better life with Arnav. He would be able to provide for her and succumb to her needs in ways that she couldn't. A single woman with a baby living in the house of her deceased friend in Lucknow. These last years were hard enough. Soon people would come tormenting her daughter for being fatherless and Khushi could never let that happen. No.

She sighed deeply, tired from the burden of all her responsibilities. She turned back and faced him. She gave him a soft, feathery kiss on his lips and looked at him for a while. Why? Why couldn't he love her? Why couldn't he just trust her? Was it so much to ask?

She snuggled back into his arms and rested her head against his chest, right on his heart. She inhaled his scent and let her eyes drop. Instinctively, his arms around her tightened. And once again, she was back in a deep sleep.

She woke up a few hours or so later and found the bed empty. She got up groggily and covered the sheet around her naked self and went to the bathroom to wash up. When she came back wrapped in a bathrobe, she found an anarkali suit waiting for her on the bed.

(picture of clothes on blog https://arshiforever123.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/96/ )

She looked at it for a while, slightly skeptical. She hadn't worn something so fancy or beautiful in a long while. Always sticking to the simple beauty of her mono colored kameezes.

After some time she decided to wear it as she had been in her clothes all day yesterday now. Her eyes widened when she found a clean pair of undergarments. He knew her size?! WHAT?

She looked around the room and her eyes rested on a plush chair in the corner, she turned a bright shade of red when she saw the contents piled up on it. It was her undergarments and her clothes that she wore last night.  OMG...did he do that?!

She quickly made the large bed going red as all the vivid memories came back. She changed hastily and brushed her hair. She looked at her reflection in the full length mirror and smiled. She looked pretty. Actually she looked gorgeous. She began twirling and her anarkali flew around her.

And that's how Arnav found Khushi when he came back into the room. He leaned against the door frame and watched her. Her twirling majestically in the suit accompanied by her sweet, beautiful giggles. Slowly, she came to a stop, a wide smile plastered onto her face. Soon it turned into an O shape when she found him in a brand new suit, staring and smirking at her. She straightened herself up and cleared her throat and looked at the ground. This widened his smirk even further.

"Lets go back Khushi...Shaila would be waking up soon...its 8 right now" he said sweetly to her.

She nodded and left the room forgetting all about her clothes piled on the chair. Arnav smiled and shook his head and went after her, shutting the door behind him.

They drove back to the apartment silently; Khushi was never more thankful for silence in her life. She just didn't need him to talk about what had just transpired between them. They arrived at the apartment and entered the nursery to find Shaila sleeping peacefully in the crib with her thumb in her mouth.

(picture of nursery on blog https://arshiforever123.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/96/ )

The maid lay on the couch beside her, her head resting against the couch, her mouth wide open as the fat lady snored loudly. Khushi went up to her and touched her shoulder slightly causing Leela to jump and mumble something incoherent and analyze her surroundings before finally coming into her senses. She apologized and immediately scurried off with the mention of something along the lines of breakfast.

Both Arnav and Khushi stood on either side of the crib and watched their beautiful daughter sleeping peacefully.

"Khushi...you're a terrible person" he said softly. She continued looking down, "you...you kept a father away from his daughter for almost 3 years"

She looked up at him to see he had tears forming in his eyes.

"Khushi...I missed the first two years of my own daughters life" he said vulnerably.

Khushi could say so much to him right now. She could yell and say it was his fault. She could bring up his prior harsh words. She could bring up his mistrust in her. She could do so much yet at that moment she couldn't move a muscle. She stayed quiet, the guilt slowly seeping into her as she thought about what he had just said. Had she really been wrong here? Taking away his right to fatherhood?

As she pondered over what he said, they heard the faint call of the doorbell. By the time Khushi realized, Arnav was already half way across the nursery. Khushi took the baby monitor with her and slowly made her way down; she smelt the wonderful scent of halwa poori from the kitchen. She was heading towards the kitchen when she stopped frozen in her tracks.

The Raizada clan had once again made an appearance. Payal spotted Khushi first and rushed to her.

"Khushi!" she said while engulfing her in a hug. Khushi didn't make any sort of movement. And just like the night before at the hospital, everyone gave her their respective hug either accompanied by tears or not.

Anjali moved closer to her,

"Khushi-" she began but was soon disturbed by cries on the baby monitor. Shaila. Arnav was about to head upstairs to get his daughter but Khushi looked at him

"Il get her" she said.

Arnav nodded.

Khushi walked upstairs thankful for her daughters perfect timing. She went into the nursery and closed the door behind her. She took her crying daughter out of the crib and cooed to her. She paced around the room bouncing with her. When Shaila continued crying, Khushi became concerned. And that's when she remembered...she hadn't fed her after her surgery!

Khushi hastily sat down on the couch and somehow adjusted her dress so that she could feed her. She lay her on her lap and began to feed her, slightly rocking back and forth gently.

She was too engrossed in staring at her daughter and was too lost in thoughts about leaving her that she never noticed the opening and closing of the door. Arnav came and stood in front of her, his heart warming at the sight of his wife tiredly breast feeding his daughter. It was such a private moment and he felt honored to be able to witness it. His own little family.

"Ahh" Khushi cried softly after being bitten by Shaila. She must have been really hungry!

Arnav rushed to Khushi and kneeled on the sofa in front of her. He held the back of Shaila's head and looked up to meet Khushi's gaze.

She was staring at his  eyes directly. The only sound that could be heard was the sucking noises of Shaila. Arnav transferred his gaze back to his daughter and the exposed, plump breast she was sucking on. He gently caressed is daughters hair.

After a few moments of initial shock Khushi spoke,

"What are you doing here?" she said icily

"Just looking at my wife and daughter" he replied soflty.

Before Khushi could say anything further, she let out another cry as her daughter had left another nasty bite. Arnav immediately moved his fingers to soothe the spot on her breast.

Khushi stared at him in surprise. What he was doing was so exceedingly intimate. Yet it felt so good. At that moment, Shaila moved her head away and stared at Arnav indicating she was well fed and done. Arnav reluctantly removed his fingers and stood up picking up Shaila with him while Khushi straightened her kameez. Arnav went to the bathroom to freshen her up. Shaila wasn't moving or talking much and it was evident that she was in pain after the surgery.

Arnav showered the little girl while Khushi took out her clothes. Arnav loved the simplicity and domesticity of taking care of their daughter together. He brought her out wrapped in a towel. His little bundle in his arms. He felt immense hurt at seeing her so weary and fatigued, it hurt seeing his daughter in pain and yet he could do nothing about it. He hugged her a little closer to his chest and dried her off and Khushi put on some clothes for her.

(picture of clothes on blog https://arshiforever123.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/96/ )

Once she was done, Khushi applied some baby powder to her and inhaled her daughter's lovely scent. She picked her up and kissed her lovingly on her cheek,

"My baby looks sooo beautiful today" Khushi cooed as she rubbed her nose against Shailas. Shaila wrinkled her nose cutely as she smiled. Arnavs world lit up at the cute little nose wrinkle. She looked so cute he could almost cry. Khushi did the exact same thing- wrinkle her nose when she laughed or was being funny or weird. He smiled to himself as he remembered the old days of the playful Khushi and the tricks she used to play on him.

He gave his daughter a kiss on the cheeks and saw Khushi smile. He then gave the woman who was holding his daughter a wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek.

Her eyes widened and she stood there in shock. He smirked in amusement.

"Khushi...lets go? The family must be waiting for us downstairs...we've taken quite a while" he said

Khushi suddenly remembered about the people and was abruptly pulled away from her little fantasy world of just her, her daughter, and her husband. She wiped off her wet cheek and headed downstairs. Arnav took the quiet Shaila from her arms and carried her himself occasionally giving her kisses on her cute nose.

All original work belongs to arshiforever123. Please do not copy.

Chapter 11: page 12 

[MEMBERSONLY]