It was 7 o'clock in the morning when Aarav felt his eyes flicker open, he rolled onto his stomach and snuggled into the pillow, thinking it was his papa.
"Papa," Aarav mumbled, confused. He glanced up, letting go of the pillow, as he sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes to fully awake himself.
He slid off the bed, stumbling over his footing, when a sudden wave of dizziness hit him, it reminded him of the medicine that he had been avoiding for the past few days.
"Aarav, are you up, sweetheart?" Veeransh asked, emerging from the bathroom, a towel securely wrapped around his waist.
Veeransh rushed to him, taking Aarav in his arms, "Why do you look pale, Aarav? Do you not feel well?"
Aarav shook his head, smiling, he had recovered from his iron deficiency symptoms that were acting up, "'m kay, papa!"
"Uppiessss!" Aarav whined, seeing that Veeransh was still examining him in worry.
"Okay, okay, calm down, I'm not going anywhere," Veeransh said, and hoisted him up easily, as if he weighed like paper. To him, his son barely weighed anything, but that sometimes worried him, though the doctor did say 'With the prescribed medicine, you'll start seeing changes in his body, it takes time.'
Aarav giggled, starting to play with Veeransh's hair, he adored them, they felt soft and silky in his hands, just the way he loved it. "Papa, I 'ove your hair."
"Thank you, sweetheart." Veeransh cooed, kissing the tip of Aarav's nose.
Aarav's giggles filled the room as his papa started to pamper him with kisses on his face, they tickled. "Papa,"
"Yes, baby?" Veeransh asked, planting a final kiss on his forehead.
"I wanna go toilet," Aarav mumbled.
Veeransh moved back into the bathroom with a nod of his head, and fully undressed Aarav, "Finish up in here, papa will be back quickly, ok?"
"Okie," Aarav said, rushing to the toilet and Veeransh quickly picked out a simple grey t-shirt with black pyjamas, shrugging them on as he wasn't going to work today.
"Papa's back, bab-Aarav!" Veeransh exclaimed, his son was sitting on the floor, tissue paper wrapped all around him.
Aarav giggled sheepishly, trying to untangle himself from the roll but he ended up covering himself with more tissue.
Veeransh sighed, crouching down in front of his son, "Stop! I'll fix it, don't move."
Aarav raised his arms, looking up at his papa but Veeransh shook his head and that earned him a pout from his son, "Hey there baby, no need to get all pouty with papa. I can't pick you up until I finish untangling you from this roll."
Aarav impatiently tried to rip off the paper that he'd somehow ended up tangling himself in, "Papa,"
Veeransh skillfully freed him and pulled him up into his arms before sitting Aarav on the counter and turning back around to rearrange the tissues. "What were you thinking when you unrolled this, Aarav?"
Aarav pouted, swaying his legs, "I wanna use it,"
Veeransh shook his head, wrapping the roll around on his hand, there was no way he'd be able to put it back on the roller, "Haven't I warned you to wait for me after you've done your wee?"
"But, papa-"
"No buts or ands, Aarav. I don't want there to be a next time, If you need help ask Papa, okay?" Veeransh asked, standing up and going back to the counter.

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𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐝 ~ 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬
Short StoryThe One-shots revolve around the journey of a devoted single father navigating the complexities of parenthood and his deepening bond with his sons. Each story highlights the unique challenges and heartwarming moments they share, capturing the essenc...