Unedited.
Dhruv's POV:
"Let me go! Now is not the time to go into the details." Seething out, she wiped her tears and glared at me when I still didn't release my hold on her.
"No. I won't let you go alone at this time, not at least when you are not in your right state of mind." I said still maintaining my calmness.
"Stop behaving like you care. I already told you before and now I am telling you again, I hate to live with false assumptions. Now if you leave my hand, I really have some important matter to attend than to dillydally with you."
She angrily shrugged off her hand and I stood there losing all my composure as this was the first time she was behaving out of her character.
"Believe it or not, it doesn't change the fact that I care for you, though I was a jerk to you. Now, wait for me here!" Saying this, I was about to go inside to get my phone.
"Heck I will obey you," gritting her teeth, she was about to ignite the engine but before she could do so, I swiftly took the keys off the bike.
"Dare you to take a step ahead. Stay here." I ordered her sternly and ignoring the glares she was throwing at my side, I ran inside to go into our room to grab my phone and after thinking of something, I grabbed my car keys too.
Taking them along with my wallet, I hurriedly jogged outside and saw that she was still standing there with her hands crossed over her front while huffing angrily.
"Come with me," And when I saw her still standing there stubbornly, I sighed and reminded her," I asked you to come. Okay. Fine. Two can play the game. I thought it's really an emergency but it seems like it's not the case anymore. Great. I will also stand here along with you. Mind you it's really hard to find cabs or auto rickshaws here at this time."
When she heard my words, all her previous worry again got apparent on her face and she turned her face to me while thinning her lips.
"Now will you come?" I asked her and when I saw her nodding at me slowly, I made my way to the garage to get the car out.
Once she got into the car, I immediately started driving, following the directions she was instructing blankly. When I saw the surroundings of the outskirts, I was instantly reminded of our second meet here where she offered me a lift.
I smiled fondly at that memory which was forever etched in my mind and heart.
When she stared at me blankly after noticing my smile, I instantly put a facade and concentrated on the road with a straight face before clearing my throat.
As we reached that place, she hurriedly alighted the car and rushed inside as I took my time to park the car and getting off it. When I stepped out of the car, I was stunned when I noticed the name of this place as it was an orphanage.
"Why did she come here at this time?" I frowned in confusion but at the sudden thought of something, I rushed inside and greeted with complete silence as most of the people here were sleeping since it was so late in the night.
As no one was outside to stop me or ask my details, I went inside slowly looking around for Aaru and stopped when I heard her anxious voice coming from a room.
Turning back on my feet, I slowly walked up to that room and stood at the entrance. Then I saw her talking to an elderly woman with tears in her eyes.
"Why didn't you inform me about it till now?" She asked that old lady while fisting her hands.
"Aaru, listen to me. The day before yesterday, it was the time for him to get his monthly vaccination. So I thought it was normal fever as it was quite common after getting vaccinated but I didn't expect it to not go down till now. So I got worried and informed Daksha and she sent a doctor here to check on him." That lady explained in a calm tone while patting her shoulder.
"Lakshmi ma, I am asking you why didn't you inform me about this till now?" She again asked the same sentence.
"Daksha informed me to not do so, saying that you have already so much on your plate to deal with, and informing about chinnu at this time would only increase your worries. Now don't worry, the doctor said that it's just a viral fever and he will be fine by tomorrow. Okay! Stop crying now."
When I heard the name of 'Chinnu', I instantly glanced down at the crib that was placed in the room and I attempted to catch the glimpse of the little fella, somewhat excitedly but to my disappointment, I couldn't see him.
"Lakshmi ma, I have decided on something." She announced while wiping her tears hastily.
"What is it?"
"Put..put his name for the adoption," she said with so much difficulty as her face showed how reluctant and helpless she was feeling to utter those words. Hearing her words, I froze on my spot and fixed my gaze on Aaru.
"What? Aaru, are you serious? Don't do this to him and yourself. You have already planned everything but suddenly why are you saying all this now?" That Lakshmi aunty asked her in astonishment as Aaru shook her head continuously.
"No, Lakshmi ma. I am serious. I can't see him suffer like this. With everything that has been going on in my life, I am sure that I can't provide him with a good family. Though the thought itself is killing me, I decided to let him go." Saying this, she bit down her lips to control her tears as Aunty stepped forward to take her into the hug.
"Aaru, you aren't in your right senses now. We will talk about this topic tomorrow. So don't say anything in haste."
"No, ma-"
"I said no more discussion about it. Accompany him. I will go and check on the other children once." As she started walking to the door, I silently left from there and came outside.
Sitting on the bench in the small garden, I looked at the sky and slowly took out my phone to call Arjun. When he didn't attend it when I tried for the first time, I again called him and he attended at this time.
"What about the thing I asked you to look into, a month ago?" I asked him almost immediately after he attended the call, without bothering about the formalities.
"Dhruv, you jerk! Are you itching for the beating or what? Why did you disturb my sleep if you have an option of calling me tomorrow and ask about it?" I could hear him seething from the other end but I cared less now.
"Just answer my question."
"Are you asking about the adoption procedure of Chinnu? Then it's not easy to get the approval-"
" I want an honest answer," I demanded.
"Hmph. Why are you guys roasting me like this for that little guy? You know, Daksha threw a tantrum when she got to know about his adoption as she really wanted to adopt that guy. He really has a huge fanbase at this little age only. Don't tell me that I didn't warn you, that guy is surely gonna be your tough rival if you adopt him."
"Tell your wife to stop vying for my son and answer my earlier question."
"Your son? Hehehe.. I see! Coming to the main point, I will be honest with you. It's not at all an easy task to adopt someone in our country and we have to do a lot of paper works and spend a lot of effort for the approval but-" just when I was about to sigh in disappointment he continued.
"But being lucky enough to be associated with a competent person like me, you don't have to go through all the hassle of long waiting lists and legal wrangles. I already submitted your details there immediately when you asked me about it. So all you have to do is sign the petition and with your family background and professions of you and Aarna, it's not much difficult to get the approval. Even if there is a problem, I will manage it but for all this to happen, you should at least have to wait for a month." Ignoring his self-praising, I concentrated on the details and frowned when I thought one month was too long.
"One month? Can't it be done before that?"
"Dude, we are talking about the judicial system and its functioning." I heard his snickering as I sighed.
"Okay. Listen to me. Why do you have to wait for the approval to just take him home? You can do it without the legal procedure too."
"What? How is it possible?"
"Bro, when do you become this dumb? You can just take him home along with you and slowly wait for the approval. Who is going to stop you? You are not abducting anyone's child..right?. He is the guy of your..our wives' orphanage. So who will question you if you take him with you and what difference would it make if he stayed there or at your house?" He said as if he was teaching a kid and I immediately stood up before smacking my head at my lame brain.
"That's correct..right! Then send someone tomorrow to sign the necessary documents and I will take him home tomorrow itself. Now bye, I have to tell this news to that idiot before she could think of doing some other stupidity. Good night, Ajju."
Grinning, I ended the call, without giving him a chance to whine for calling his nickname. With the same excited smile on my face, I rushed inside, and when I was about to tell the news to her to lessen her worries, the smile on my face got faltered when I heard the words that came out of her mouth.
"I shouldn't have married him in the first place. I was a fool to agree to this marriage, chinnu. I was a fool." She was talking to that little guy who was sleeping so peacefully while holding his little hand.
Hearing her uttering those words and unable to control the heartache after knowing that she was regretting our marriage, I stepped back painfully and the words that I was so excited to blurt out were stuck somewhere in my throat.
Unable to bear the throbbing pain and hurt, I slowly took some steps back to leave silently but I accidentally bumped into the door on my way, causing it to make a screeching sound.
When she turned around at that sound and noticing me there, she looked at me in shock and her eyes got widened in alarm.
"Dhruv-"
"Yeah. Sorry to disturb your time with him. I will be outside. Call me if you need my help with anything." Masking the hurt, I tried to appear as casual as possible and turned around to go outside. Once I was out of her sight, I lost my composure and almost strumbled on my way.
Aarna's POV:
"I am sorry for not standing up on my words. I think it's time for us to go on our different paths. I am sorry that I can't take care of you when I vowed to do it at the first glance itself but I am helpless, Chinnu. Please forgive me."
"If only I hadn't agreed to this marriage, I would have taken you along with me by now!" I muttered as I planted a kiss on his small fist while holding it.
"It's true..right?"
"I shouldn't have married him in the first place. I was a fool to agree to this marriage, chinnu. I was a fool." I voiced my frustration without thinking too much but got stumped immediately when I noticed his presence behind me with the expression of hurt on his face.
'What the hell, Aaru? How could you even say such a cruel thing? Do you really regret marrying him?' my conscience chided me while watching his lonely disappearing figure and by this, I was sure he heard my words.
Regret? That was the last thing I would feel in this marriage. Why would I regret it when I got a family to call my own and the love of my life in return but the reason I uttered those words was, I was actually frustrated at how I, no longer, couldn't even decide on my own without thinking of his perspective.
I never felt in this way before but after seeing the plight of Chinnu, I truly felt so incompetent that I couldn't even be there to take care of him when he needed someone. So if I wasn't married, I didn't have to have inhibitions before doing anything. So I uttered those words in that sense but I guess they did really hurt him.
Heck! Every one in his place would feel the same if they heard their spouse expressing their regret in the marriage. Dhruv was even better as he didn't show his outburst on me instead left from there silently.
'Damn! Why is everything becoming so messed up?' My eyes teared up at the remembrance of his hurtful look. I blinked back my tears and puffed out some air before standing up to follow him but before I could so, Chinnu who was sleeping till now started getting cranky while whimpering.
Seeing his state and his flushed face, I bent down and took him in my arms. Settling on the floor, I slowly lulled him, and when he stopped crying, I made him stand on my lap as he kept on fascinatingly looking at me with his big doe eyes. I placed my other hand on his chest and after feeling the temperature, I sighed in relief.
"Hey handsome, how are you?" I cooed him and he passed me his adorable lopsided grin in return which brought a smile on my face too but that smile soon slipped off my face at the remembrance of what happened earlier.
"Chinnu, I think I hurt him. I hurt him pretty badly. When will we stop hurting each other like this? Why can't we just be a normal happy couple?" I asked him in a tone that laced with guilt and he just looked at me innocently while fisting his hands in an attempt to place them in his mouth.
I leaned back on the wall before hugging him and started patting his back slowly as my mind was still filled with so many thoughts. Following my actions, he also started patting me back with his little hands while making some incoherent sounds.
Even in this distress, I managed to smile at his antics. With a small smile, I rested my head back and closed my eyes with my one hand caressing his head slowly and the other hand still holding him securely.
I woke up when I felt that someone was nudging me. Squinting, I opened my eyes and looked around the surroundings before glancing down to see that Chinnu was nowhere. Getting panicked, I rushed to stand up.
"Relax! I placed him in the crib when I saw you carrying him uncomfortably. " Lakshmi ma answered and hearing her reply, I sighed in relief but frowned when I saw some bags that were lying on the floor.
"Oh. They are Chinnu's belongings. I know you don't need them at all as you are capable of arranging new things for him but the things in that bag are from his parents. Daksha handed them to me when you brought him here. So take that bag along with you." I nodded at her though I was so confused about why she was asking me to take it with me.
"But why do I have to take it?" I asked her with a frown.
"Didn't Dhruv tell you anything?"
Oh, now that was new. When did they become so close to addressing each other on a name basis?
"Dhruv?"
"Yeah. Looks like you don't know anything at all. This morning he asked me to pack Chinnu's things as he informed me that you both are planning to take him home. I thought you already knew about it." She informed me with a sigh while poking Chinnu's cheek, who was throwing his hands and legs excitedly while gurgling with a smile.
"He must be feeling well as he seemed to so active from the morning itself or he must have understood that you are taking him along with you." Lakshmi smiled at me as I managed her to pass a small smile.
"Lakshmi ma, where is he?"
"You mean Dhruv? I don't know. He left this morning saying that he would send a driver to fetch you both." Just when she finished saying, we heard the horn sound.
"I think the driver is here. Just go and wash up quickly. Meanwhile, I will take Chinnu to other kids to bid their farewell to him."
I couldn't wrap up my head around what was happening here at all as I was so confused about his uncalled decision. Still frowning, I left to wash up and after I was done, I went outside to see that kids were throwing longing looks towards chinnu, and seeing their crestfallen faces, I sighed.
"Hey, kids. Stop being like this. He is going with me and it doesn't mean you can't see him anymore..right. I will bring him here often and if you want to see him, just inform Lakshmi ma so that you can visit him anytime. Okay? Now smile." As they smiled together, I grinned at them and took Chinnu from Lakshmi ma before bidding everyone our goodbyes.
I made my way to the car as the driver opened the door for me and placed the luggage in the car after taking it from Lakshmi ma.
"Lakshmi ma, bye. Take care."
"Take care of this little one. I don't know how to get used to not hearing his loud bawlings from now on." She sighed sadly as I bit down my lips, not knowing what to say.
"Anyways, I am happy for him. Bye, Aaru." I nodded at her slowly and the driver took his seat.
As Lakshmi ma went inside, he turned around to hand me a letter. Frowning, I took it from him and gave him a questioning look.
"Mam, sir asked me to give that letter to you before leaving for his flight." He informed me.
"Flight? Where is he planning to go?" I asked him hurriedly.
"I don't know, Mam. He asked me to give this to you when I dropped him at the airport. Ohh. He also asked me to inform you that Arjun sir would send someone for your signatures on some documents."
I didn't pay any heed to his further words as my heart dropped into the pit at the thought of him leaving me as I tightened my hold on chinnu who was sitting in my lap.
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