Choti Si Duniya - ArShi FF

93. Once upon a Father's day

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Khushi found him near the poolside that night, gazing at the stars. She knew she had been hard on him by refusing to help him avoid answering chiku's questions about arnav's dad, but she wanted him and chiku to have a strong bond which did not need her to stand in between!

But that did not mean she would leave him alone while he struggled his way to do it.

"Aap ki maa se baat kar rahe the (were you talking to your mother)?" Khushi asked, standing beside him.

He slowly turned to look at her and she saw a torment in his eyes. But he again shifted his gaze to the sky, "Nahi. Mere dad se (with my father)."

She was shocked hearing that but didn't ask him further.

And soon, he himself told her about his one-sided conversation with his late father.

"I was asking him why did he break our family? Why did he not find my mamma, Di, and me-" he turned to look at Khushi while saying this, "-worth it? Why was it easy for him to sabotage our family?"

Khushi's eyes reflected the same pain in his eyes and both pair of eyes turned misty.

"You know Khushi, he didn't spend much time with me. He was always busy with his work. But still, there are memories with him that are good too. He always attended my school functions, especially sports events. Golf and badminton were his passions! He was my hero once. I wanted to be like him. But he ruined it all! Why dammit? Why did he-"

Khushi could feel him share all these suppressed thoughts, complaints, memories with his father, finally with her. The questions that were long due and may not get answered by Mr. Arvind Malik- Arnav's father- were finally coming out.

He took a deep breath and once again turned to look at the stars, "So, I was telling him to do me one favor. To bless me that I will never be like him! To bless me that my kids would always look at me with love and pride not accusations like I do for my dad. I want him to at least do this duty for me as my dad. At least this much."

"Shh. Bass Arnavji." She said, leaning into his embrace, wrapping her hands around him. "I am not going to answer on his behalf. But I can answer this on our kids' behalf that they have the best father! They have a father who puts their happiness, their wellbeing before himself. They have a dad who works day and night to protect their present and future! They have a dad who is their world like they are his!" she said, while his heartbeat that had become erratic matched with hers, and both hearts slowly found a soothing harmonious pace. Arnav tightened his hold around her and buried his face in her shoulder and neck, letting her know he was shedding his fear, anger, and worries along with his tears.

A few minutes, he slowly disentangled himself from her and cupped her delicate face in his palms, "you are my savior, tum jaanti ho na(you know, right)?"

She just chuckled in response and pecked his lips, bringing a smile on them.

.

.

The next day a very enthusiastic kavish was sitting in front of Arnav, with his iPad and pen and eagerly waiting for his dad to tell him about his grandfather with curiosity written on his face.

Arnav's remaining fear and hesitance ran away after seeing his son's face and he began,

"His name was Arvind Malik. A very well-known businessman in Lucknow, and..." Arnav shared a few details about his father with his son and then concluded it by saying, "Kavish, there is something that I want to tell you, but I want you to decide whether to include that in your project or not."