Choti Si Duniya - ArShi FF

93. Once upon a Father's day

Kavish's face turned serious. Well, as serious as a 7-year-olds could and ASR-Khushi's son could!

"What is it, Papa?"

Arnav asked him to come to him and Kavish obliged, getting up from his chair and going near Arnav. Arnav made him sit on his lap, adjusting him there carefully, and said with utmost honesty, "Beta, you remember what happens when you make mistakes? Or when you do wrong with someone?"

Kavish frowned and nodded, "yes, if we do something wrong, we have to say sorry and do not repeat that mistake."

Arnav felt proud of his son and caressing his cheek, he said, "Very good. So, my dad also made some mistakes. But he failed to apologize or make amends for them."

Kavish's eyes widened in shock, "That's a bad thing na, Papa? Mamma says we always have to rectify our mistakes."

"Exactly. But he could not do so. Thus, we do not like to talk about him much." Arnav said, concluding his story with as much sincerity and delicate handling it as he could.

And Kavish surely understood it the way it was intended, as he now had answers about who his grandfather was and why his dad never talked about with as much affection as his did about his grandmother.

So, he submitted his project with necessary details about his grandfather while he learnt a lesson that even elders can make mistakes and the rule applies to them too, to repent for them...

--*--

Khushi and Payal had helped Kavish and Piya make a special plan for this Father's Day for Arnav and Aakash. Of course, Aru and Pari were given important tasks too (like adding cake sprinkles on the muffins Khushi baked) and they had enthusiastically taken part in these preparations! And finally, Palash, being a baby, was their cheerleader!

As it was a Sunday, they didn't have to worry about the office. But a group of Australian delegates was still supposed to meet Arnav for a meeting over lunch. So, Khushi convinced them to have that meeting at home.

The guests were, however, witness to a very different side of the business tycoon ASR whom they knew as a serious guy!

During the lunch, Arnav was feeding Arohi from his plate as she happened to share the same food choices as him! So, Arnav would eat one bite himself and feed the next two to his child! The guests were amused and impressed seeing that ASR was so effortlessly holding a conversation with them while at the same time doing his dad-duty!

Once they were well-fed, Khushi and Payal took the kids away for the afternoon nap while Arnav and Aakash were busy holding business talks with the group. But they had a surprise attendee in the meeting as ASR's other daughter Pari had decided to not leave her dad alone that afternoon. So, she refused to go with Khushi and stayed glued to Arnav who gestured to Khushi through his eyes that it was ok, and he could handle their baby as well as the meeting. The entire meeting, Pari, stayed quiet, which was quite surprising for the group of visitors who had never seen a toddler sit through some serious conversation like that without bothering the parents.

Eventually the serious talks were over, and the conversation steered towards general topics. That was when Pari gestured to Arnav that she was sleepy now and Arnav carefully adjusted her in his arms. She looped her small hands around his neck and kept her head on his shoulder, giving in to a peaceful slumber! His one hand was protectively holding and supporting Pari's head from behind while his other hand held her small body closer to himself.

When Khushi came to check on Pari sometime later and seeing her already asleep, took Pari from Arnav, one of the guests told her, "Mrs. Raizada, please tell that kiddo that she has a wonderful father! ASR seems to really love his kids."

Khushi nodded and smiled, politely taking the praise for her husband, "He does. And they love him too." She then looked at Arnav who didn't say anything, keeping his serious face intact, but he couldn't hide that smile in his eyes which had appeared hearing that compliment!

Arnav spent the rest of the day basking in love that Aru, Pari and Kavish showered on him, with their words- like Kavish had prepared a special speech for him, their gestures- like Aru fed him a muffin with her hand, and their small gifts- like Pari gave him a beautiful yellow rose! But what they had truly gifted him were these memories and their priceless, boundless affection, which he would cherish for his life!

--*--

A/N- A very belated happy father's day to dads in my reader base and to my readers' dads! Do let me know if you liked the chapter. I think Arnav sharing about his father and his bitter past with his son was a serious and equally delicate topic, thus I kept the focus on that part. But pls let me know if you wanted something else.