Rab Rakha

Chapter 11

"Awaz nahi di thi." He shook his head, taking her hand off his head. He wasn't able to sleep alone after being habituated to her presence, he had wished if she'd just understand the same and try sleeping in the same room as him but then he didn't want her to fall sick as well. He was just missing her.

"Toh mujhe kaise pata lagta?!" She chuckled and he glared her.

He was about to say something but a series of coughs didn't let him, his entire body shook as he coughed.

"Aram se." She was there for him, rubbing his back to ease him and then passing him a glass of water.

"Bahar ja, tu bhi bimar ho jayegi." He told her once he sobered up.

"Pehle kehte ho aayi nahi, abhi bahar bhej rahe ho? Seedhe seedhe bola karo, ke mere bina aapka mann nahi lagta." She mentioned, sitting at the edge of the bed, next to his feet. She gently pressed them over the quilt.

"Itna samajhti hai toh aa jati!" He scoffed, getting back to his phone.

"Shhhhh! Jawan beti hai ghar me. Sharam nahi aati aap dono ko khule aam aisi baatein karte!?" Shehnaaz barged in, picked up the breakfast tray and kept it on her father's lap.

"Chup kar!" Madhu scolded her daughter, trying not to smile at her antics while her father chuckled.

"Nashta karlo Papa. Aapka TV ka cable room me lagane ke liye bol diya, ek banda ayega shaam tak." She told her father.

"Teri packing ho gayi?" Jagjit asked her.

"Mujhe bhejne ki jaldi hai?" She asked him back.

"Putt, tune kaam rok rakha hai apna itne dino se. Tu ja, hai toh sahi ek nurse." He replied, gesturing towards his wife.

The ladies chuckled and made him have his breakfast before they began to actually pack Shehnaaz's bag.

"Papa shaadi me nahi aa payega na?" Shehnaaz was upset. Even if her father recovered, she wouldn't want him to visit Delhi in such terrible weather out there.

"Hm.. koi na. Tu photos bhejti rehna. Kuch acha sa gift dena, paise bhijwa denge tere Papa tujhe. Aur humari taraf se Anju aur sabse maafi mang lena. Inki tabiyat theek hoti toh hum zarur aate." Madhu replied, folding her daughter's clothes and putting them inside the suitcase.

"Ha baba, itna samajh jayenge wo log." Shehnaaz told her mother.

"Ab toh teri dost ki bhi shaadi ho rahi hai. Tune apna kuch socha hai ya nahi?" Madhu gently asked.

"Mummy.. nahi yaar. Mere se ye shaadi-vadi ki baatein na kiya karo." Shehnaaz shook her head.

"Kyu? Kyu nahi? Ab toh tere sare dost bhi settle ho rahe hai." Madhu mentioned. When she had initiated the topic of getting married, her daughter had denied because none of her friends were married yet and that she wanted to work more in her field and get a stable job.

"Aapko aur Papa ko itni problems hui, yeh sab dekhne ke baad mai kaise shaadi ka sochu Mummy!?!" Shehnaaz asked her. She was very young but she did remember her father arguing every other day with people for Madhu who would simply sit back and cry.

"Baccha! Hum-uss waqt ki baat alag thi! Log accept nahi karte the aise rishte! Aaj ki baat alag hai, tu aisa kyu sochti hai?!" Madhu cupped her face and pulled her into a hug.

"Mummy, mujhe kabhi nahi karni shaadi." Shehnaaz mumbled, snuggling into her mother's chest like a baby.

"Acha thik hai, pehle tere Papa thik ho jaye. Hum iss bare me baat karenge." Madhu dodged the topic today. She needed to talk to her husband about it before making her daughter understand.