Chapter 18

arshiforever123

@arshiforever123

Arnav lay next to his daughter letting his tears engulf him. He thought he was upset before...but this...this was just pure agony. At that time, he had only thought about Shyam and Khushi's potential relationship, but this time...this time...she had confirmed it from her own mouth. He ...he couldn't handle it. ...He didn't know when his eyelids finally dropped and he fell asleep.

The next morning he was awoken by the shrill cries of a child next to him. He opened his swollen, puffy eyes wearily and saw Shaila crying. He immediately sat up and pulled her to him, cradling her in his arms. Her cries quieted but she still did not stop. He picked her up and paced back and forth with her in his arms.

She continued crying. Arnav felt so helpless he could almost cry himself.  Shaila began crying louder but this time tiredly uttered, "maammaa" repeatedly. Arnav felt his already shattered heart break again. He took her down while shouting Leela's name,

"LEELAA!"

She rushed to him,

"Yes saab?" she asked worriedly,

"Get milk for Shaila."

She nodded and scurried off, coming back only a second later with milk in a bottle. Arnav went to the couch and lay the infant in his arms. He put the bottle to her mouth and fed her. She closed her eyes as she suckled on its tip.

After a while when she well fed she pushed the bottle away and sat up. She stood up in her fathers lap and wrapped her small arms around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder and soon was asleep again.

Arnav smiled inwardly as he caressed her back. Babies slept so much he thought. But this particular one was quite tired after her surgery so she slept more than usual. He carried her up to his bedroom which was unnaturally quiet due to Khushi's absence. Her wonderful aroma still lingered in the room. She had only been her for just two nights but the whole apartment felt so cold and lonely without her presence.

He lay Shaila on the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. He left the door open in case Shaila woke up. He came out in a casual polo and khaki shorts. He began to pack his bag. He went to the guest room to get Shaila's stuff and saw that Khushi had left all of her clothes in the closet. He held one kameez and inhaled the smell. It smelt of her. Just like strawberries and pineapple. Oh God...he missed her so much. He neatly folded all of Shaila's clothes and arranged them in the suitcase. He didn't know why but he also took Khushi's clothes and put them in as well.

He set the sleeping Shaila in the car seat and put everything in the trunk of the car. He got to the driver's seat and headed for RM. He entered through the familiar door with Shaila sleeping peacefully in his arms sucking her thumb. Everyone looked at him standing at the door from the dining table. Di was the first one to walk up to him and smile. Soon everyone joined behind her. Di smiled widely and hugged Arnav awkwardly with the child in his arms.  She tried to look behind him expectantly and before she could say anything Nani spoke,

"Im so glad you guys came. Khushi bitiya made the right decision."

"Khushi left" he said abruptly and bluntly

Everyone gaped at him with shocked faces, their mouths opened in shock.

"W- What?" Payal stuttered

Arnav looked at her first and then everyone else,

"She left me. End of story" he spoke candidly as he made his way to his bedroom.  Everyone looked around at eachother in shock and inability to understand. They all followed him to his room.

"Chote...tell us what happened?" his Nani spoke as he set Shaila on the bed.

He turned around to face the crowd at sighed deeply,

"She doesn't love me Nani. So she left. Simple. So will you all please stop asking me now?" he said tiredly

He heard a collective gasp. Just then Shaila woke up groggily and uttered,

"papa?" as rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up.

"yes baby...papas here" he said as he rushed to her side.

Just then Shaila noticed all the strangers in the room. She hid into her father. He looked at his family and spoke softly,

"please give me a moment with my daughter"

They all nodded and left. He kissed Shaila's forehead lovingly as he set her on his lap.

After a while she stood on his lap and spoke,

"papa...wheres mama?" she asked curiously

Arnav looked down unaware of what to say to the little, hopeful girl.

"She's...she's gone" he said

She looked at him confusedly,

"gone...?" she repeated.

When he nodded, she looked at him as she pondered, and after a moment, she continued, with a huge, hopeful smile on her face,

"its okay...mama will be back. " she said as she jumped off his lap and tried to get down from the bed. She almost reached the ground when her father helped her down. She ran around the vast room in amazement,

"woaaahh pappaaa this place is soo big!" she said in awe as she twirled.

He smiled looking at her. She then looked at him mischievously with a glint in her eyes. Her striking similarity to Khushi staggered him. And he knew right then his daughter was planning something naughty judging by the look in her eyes. And just as surely she ran around the huge room and giggled,

"ahaha try to catch me papa!!!"she squealed. He smiled at his daughters antics. She was so like Khushi he thought fondly.

He ran slowly in order to give her time but eventually caught her in his arms and lifted her in the air with her squealing happily; in the process her giggles fueling his own laughter. He tickled herand then blew on her tummy with his bouth making strange noises, causing her to laugh out even louder.

She had such a beautiful laugh he thought...just like Khushi's...

After some time he set her down and she sat down tiredly on the floor a minute later, leaning against the bed giggling.

"where is this place?" she asked curiously

He sat next to her on the floor

"its my house baby... your house" he said as soon as she jumped up and ran to the spotless French windows staring at the pool outside,

"WOOAAHH ppapa?!? IS that a swimming pool?" she asked cutely. He laughed and nodded

"yes baby it is" he said sitting against the bed.

She ran back to where was sitting and settled herself beside him under his arm.

"papa can we go for a swim pwease?"

"Yes...one day"

"me, you and mama!!" she said as she jumped up. He looked at her lovingly realizing what a little handful this child was

She looked up at him, and asked after a while

"papa...are  my cousins here?"

He nodded.

"Can I see them?" she asked as she stood up. He nodded and stood up. He was about to pick her up but realized that she had already ran up to the door trying to reach the handle to open it. He smiled looking at her concentrated face as if she was going to telepathically get the door handle to move. He turned the knob and shook his head lovingly as she shouted and skipped out gleefully. He stood staring after her smiling. But then suddenly, a blade of hurt and sorrow slashed through him as he thought about her reaction to her mother's abandonment of her. That she would never actually see her mother again. Arnavs heart hurt just at the mere thought. He caught up with Shaila who was inspecting everything around her.

He led her downstairs waiting for her to come down every step cautiously and slowly with much concentration. Once they finally reached the bottom, everyone was at the table where breakfast was just being set up.

"Hey Di...where are the children?" he asked as he neared the table.

"They are in the lounge being taken care of by Khalid kaka" she said as she spread butter on toast. Khalid Kaka was basically their nanny. The old man loved the children with all his heart and brought them up fondly. The children loved him just as reverently. He used to work as a mechanic until old age prevented him from doing so; so due to his love of children and his own lack of family he had taken to taking care of the Raizada children.

He came to the lounge to see them all playing. Shaila sat down by the children and soon they were immersed in their toys.

"Hey kaka...where were you yesterday morning when everyone came to my apartment?" Arnav asked recalling how HP had come to take care of the kids.

"Oh...I went to see my brother in law who had come to Delhi on some errand." The old man replied.

"Oh okay..I see" Arnav said as he smiled and looked at his daughter. Kaka looked at the little, pretty girl and looked at Arnav questioningly.

"Oh...uhh this is my daughter. Shaila" he said awkwardly. Kaka smiled genuinely and nodded.

Arnav went back to the table and sat down. He noticed Shyam wasn't there and a pang of hurt went through him at thought of Shyam being with Khushi...somewhere probably far from here by now. He looked at his sister who looked totally undisturbed by the fact that her husband had just left her for another woman. He had to ask her,

"Di...wheres Shya...I mean...jijaji?" he asked

Anjali looked at him smiling as she handed him a buttered toast.

"Oh Chotey he has another case and so hes away ...he'll be back after 3 months" she replied. Arnav felt blood boil in his veins. So that pathetic leach didn't even have enough shame to tell her the truth. He felt disgusted. Truly and utterly repelled. He had to tell her. Tell di.

"Di...he's gone" he said, clenching his fist as what he was about to do.

All heads turned to him.

"Mmhmm chotey..I just told you...hes gone but he'll be back soon" anjali replied

Why was his sister so nave Arnav thought? He closed his eyes and breathed in, in an attempt to control his anger.

"Di... Shyam left you" he said again. This time, Anjali stopped what she was doing halfway and stared down, still smiling. She looked up at Arnav and seeing the serious look on his face, her smile faltered slightly.

"What do you mean Chotey?" she asked with a slightly hysterical tinge to her voice. Arnav looked down for a moment and tried not to cry.

"Di...your beloved Shyam has left you for Khushi...they are together now somewhere far a-" before he could finish, he heard the sound of glass crash against the ground. He closed his eyes preparing for the onslaught of questions that was about to hit him.

But he was surprised when he heard nothing. Nothing but absolute, frightening silence. They all stared at him as if he had grown two horns. He looked at his Di, who now had an unreadable expression on her face. She stared at the ground, with eyes that looked wild while a sardonic smile adorned her face. She looked on the verge of insanity with that look.

Before anything else, Arnav went to his room. He locked the door shut and lay on the bed sighing. Before he knew it, he was crying. Crying uncontrollably. He shook with sobs.

He didn't hear the door creak open and his Di step inside.

She sat next to him on the bed and spoke,

"Chotey...Chotey...tell me your lying. Please Chotey...tell me it was just a misunderstanding." She said hysterically.

Arnav sat up in bed. Why wasn't she getting it he thought angrily? Why was his di being such a child? Why couldn't she come to the terms that her husband had left her?

"DI. HE LEFT YOU! DEAL WITH IT!" he said harshly.

Anjali shivered. She looked at Arnav and grabbed his shoulders and shook him and shouted,

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE LEFT?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?! I...HE...HE HAS A DAUGHTER! WHAT WILL SHE DO WITHOUT HER FATHER? HE CANT JUST LEAVE US AND GO!"

Arnav instantly felt bad for being so harsh to her, he gently peeled off her hands from his shoulder and held them. He spoke softly,

"Amana is going to do the same thing without a father that my daughter is going to do without a mother. They're both going to have to live without a parent in their life. Di...they're just gonna have to." he said sadly

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