Choti Si Duniya - ArShi FF

18. Trouble in Paradise-pt2

"Bass kijiye Subhadra, sab jaante hai khushi bitiya aur chote kabhi laparvah nahi hai. Whatever happened was a bad incident but our Aru bitiya will be ok now" Nani admonished Subhadra dadi but truth be told, Arnav and Khushi were already beyond any bitter words, all their attention was seeing their child up and bouncing like she always was.

Khushi remembered how she shouted at Aru that evening when Arohi had felt jealous of another girl in her mom's arms. Why didn't Khushi take her in her arms then? if she did, Aru would not have gone out and wouldn't have gotten kidnapped and certainly not lying unconscious in the hospital bed like that. Tears were continuously flowing through her eyes. She would give up anything at that moment to see Aru hale and healthy.

Arnav on the other hand could not stop hating himself. Who the heck said he could control his destiny? If he did, how the heck was his child lying like that and how was she kidnapped in the first place? 'bloody loser you are' he admonished himself as he helplessly watched his daughter getting pricked again and looked at the doctors as they were done with setting the drip.

"We are lucky you got her here on time. It was too much amount of chloroform for her age. But she should be up in a while. Also, she might be in trauma for some time as kids involved in such a crimes are." Arnav had never felt more helpless and angrier at himself before.

--*--

Finally, after an hour-long wait Aru opened her eyes and gave a weak smile to her parents. Khushi immediately enclosed her in her warmth while she too snuggled close to her mamma. Khushi and Arnav finally felt like they could breathe again.

"Devi maiyya ka lakh lakh shukar hai. Aap aisa kyun karte ho Aru? Humein rula kar aapko accha lagta hai?(why do you do it Aru? Do you like making me cry)?" Khushi asked kissing her daughter's hair and shoulders as she had hugged her to her heart. But hearing that Aru raised her head from Khushi's chest and wiped her tears with her little hands. Khushi immediately kissed her little hands reassuring herself that Aru was really there

Arnav's eyes had watered as well, tears flowing continuously, though his heart much at peace now. He sat on the small bed from the other side and ran his shaking hand through Aru's hair making her turn to him. She gave him a bright toothy smile that revived his sinking heart

"dada! Bad uncle ran away" Aru boasted as Arnav pulled her from Khushi's arms. Aru wanted to tell him how she fought with Pavan before falling unconscious and Arnav couldn't help but feel overwhelmed

"You are a brave girl princess. But please don't ever go away from me again, ok? dada can't live without you" Arnav said as she rested her head on his broad shoulders, and he kept holding her as close as he could.

--*--

Finally all returned home late at night. Thankfully Payal and mami ji had taken care of the little girls that were guests at their home and made sure they were fed and returned home after the puja. However their entire attention was to the door, Payal eagerly waiting for her niece to return home safe. She along with Manorama mami and mamaji had stayed behind with Kavish, Piya and Pari for the sake of kids however it was difficult for Payal because all she wanted was to be there with her sister and her niece.

But when she saw everyone entering, she dashed to the door. Arnav was carrying Arohi who was sound asleep in her father's arm while Khushi's tear strained face looked like she could fall to ground any moment. Everyone sighed in relief seeing Aru relatively unharmed

"Mamma""maasi" Kavish and Piya's voices brought Khushi's attention to them

"Aru is ok beta but she needs to rest hmm? Tum log bhi so jao abhi, she will be playing with you tomorrow" Khushi's voice broke as she told them about Aru's health

"Khushi, kuch kha lo tum ab, you were fasting, and I am sure you and Arnavji haven't eaten anything till now" Payal almost commanded khushi. Nani and Dadi had had their dinner on everyone's insistence while search was going on but khushi had refused to touch the food until they heard about Aru and Arnav had already been out searching for her

"Nahi jiji, hum pehle isse thik se sula ke ate hai (I will first tuck her in properly). Pari so gayi?" food was last thing on her mind even now as she was worried for her kids

"Ji, so gayi. It was difficult to pacify her though" Payal informed

"Khushi bitiya, if you want to take care of your kids, you need to take care of yourself first. Payal bitya, ek kam karo, send their food to their room and tum dono khana kha lena hmm?" nani ordered Khushi as well Arnav who hadn't spoken but she knew he would have said the same

--*--

After an hour or so, Arnav and Khushi were sitting on their bed with Arohi sleeping in between, as if they were guarding her. They had eaten few morsels of food after a lot of insistence from everyone but truth be told until Pavan was caught, they couldn't rest.

"how did this happen Arnav ji? what if you hadn't reached there on time? What kind of a careless mother I am?" Khushi voiced the fear that was bothering her since earlier that evening

"Not you Khushi, its my fault. I couldn't protect my daughter dammit! Its my failure. She was taken away right under my nose while I was so near to her" Arnav confessed his guilt. And before Khushi could console him, his phone rang

"Sorry Mr. Raizada for calling so late but the suspected abductor-Pavan has been arrested and we'll take care of him now. Don't worry, your family is safe" The police commissioner personally called him to inform

But hearing those words had done little to calm Arnav or Khushi. A lot could have gone wrong today made them restless..

--*--

A/N – phew, this was long! But kept my promise of weekend update 😎. like I said in prev chapter, I had imagined this months ago but in a more serious way. Now of course I want to keep them together and unharmed (you might have guessed what I originally planned). I might add a brief paragraph in next chapter on what happened to Pavan, have thought of something.

Also, we currently have at least 300+ regular readers who read the chapters the same day I update them, I would love to see at least half of them leaving at least votes if not reviews 😊 would make me feel more acknowledged in an evident way

Thanks for all the love and stay tuned. NewRaizada member aka 'Mr. pet' is coming soon