The afternoon of next day saw a lot of hustle-bustle in Raizada mansion, as everyone had something to do and was jumping from one task to next. Young girls of Kavish and Piya's age were invited and along with them some of the moms too were expected to join.
Khushi had gotten Kavish ready in his dazzling navy blue kurta-pajama and he looked like the most cute handsome 5 year old out there.
"kitna pyara lag raha hai humara bacha(my baby is looking so cute)" Khushi said putting a dot of kohl behind his ear
"mamma, is Rucha coming too" he asked making Khushi chuckle. Rucha was a daughter of Arnav's Harvard-friend, who had become their family friend over the years. Rucha and Kavish were almost of same age, born just few weeks apart and that had made Khushi bond with Nisha, Rucha's mother. Kavish and Rucha however had become best of friends, with Rucha often coming to shantivan for play dates, functions and what not.
"Haan baby, Rucha bhi aa rahi hai. Aap use uska gift khud dena hmm?(yes baby, rucha is coming too, you give her the gift yourself ok)?" Khushi asked brushing his hair one final time and he left from there almost jumping with joy, now that his best friend was coming
Arnav entered the room just then, carrying both his daughters carefully one in each arm, clearly he could get none of them ready yet. Khushi sighed looking at the picture the father-daughters made, all 3 in their pajamas and tshirts, messed up hair and eyes that said they could take a nap about now!
"bacche toh bacche, baap re baap" Khushi muttered more to herself than her husband but he heard nevertheless
"I heard that. And in my defense, you know how I feel about all these functions and dressing up. Seriously what will happen if we attend puja in pajamas?" Arnav asked the same question he had asked many times till now, irritating her
"the same thing if you attend your office meetings in pajamas and not suits. Think of this as a dress code for puja's ok? Now give me Aru and aap pari ko taiyyar kijiye and get ready yourself too" saying so she took Aru leaving a speechless arnav behind. It was difficult to defeat Khushi in arguments anyway.
Khushi made Aru ready and keeping her on their bed, quickly changed into her favorite red colored saree. Arnav had gifted this to her some 9 years ago and since then she had only used it very rarely, saving it for special occasions (quick a/n – sarees last for years if maintained properly, certainly the expensive ones :D)
(Pic: khushi's get up - image credit to uploader)
"wow mamma, so pretty" Aru said as Khushi turned from the mirror and walked to the bed. Khushi laughed hearing her daughter's compliment and took her hand to go downstairs.
--*--
Slowly the guests started coming in and Raizada mansion's hall was filled with cheerful laughers and giggles of the kids. Khushi and Payal were welcoming the kids and their moms or caretakers whoever accompanied them. One of the girls tugged on khushi's hand pulling her to her level and kissed her check. Khushi knew this girl, her mom was a busy socialite leaving the child to her nanny. Khushi's heart melted at the girl's antic and Khushi took her in her arms. But soon the girl was pushed away from her
"meri mamma" aru said pushing the other girl away, making the girl flush with embarrassment.
"Aru, ye kya tarika hai? Use lag jati toh?(what if she got hurt)?" aru's big hazel eyes immediately filled with tears, first with the shouting her mamma did in front of everyone and second for not taking her in her arms the way she did to 'others'
Kavish who was watching this scene understood his baby sister and came to her rescue
"Aru, come princess we'll go outside to play. You'll play with bhaiyya na?" Aru immediately took his hand and went, Khushi deliberately didn't stop them. Aru needed to learn that she cant get away being a 'laad governor'. Also, seeing the love between her two kids warmed her heart and she left to look for Arnav and pari who were not there yet.
--*--
Hariprakash came to deliver a packet to Arnav, apparently it was specifically to be given to him.
"Arnav bhaiyya, this came in mail today, aap ke liye hain" saying so HP left just as Khushi came there. She saw pari was already all dolled up and Arnav was almost ready
"ye kya hain?" she asked picking it up and looking it from both sides
"Don't know, dekh lo na. koi booklet ya magazine hoga, or those brochures we get flooded with. Maybe one of those." He said fixing his hair
However, her blood almost froze seeing the contents of the package. It had photographs and a note! Not any ordinary photos, but photos of her children, when they were playing in the courtyard this morning. Not able to form any words, or do anything, she stood there frozen
"Kya hai? Anything important?" Arnav asked when he didn't hear anything from her in over 5 minutes
But when he looked at frozen form, he panicked too and snatched the parcel away from her to look. He too was horrified, as looked at the photos and read the note which said
'If I can reach close enough to take their photos, how long do you think I will need to reach and snatch them away? Take care of your precious kids Mr. ASR!
p.s. try to control your anger, it is not good for your family!'
and for the first time in his life Arnav Singh Raizada was scared to death!
--*--
"This is what I was afraid of. I am telling you Arnav ji, hamare bachon ko kuch ho jaye ye humse bardasht nahi hoga. (I will not tolerate if something happened to our kids)" Khushi said shaking with fear and anger when she composed herself after a minute
"Khushi, you think I will let that happen? You and my kids are everything to me, I will not let anyone harm either of you. Trust me" he said while calling the police commissioner of Delhi
"Trust you? How? He already reached close enough to get their photos. How am I supposed to stay calm knowing there is a looming danger on my babies? And whoever it is, is clearly mad at you and your anger. Why cant you control it? actually aapki bhi galti nahi hain, hamari hain, pata nahi kyun humein bhi aap hi se milna tha (God knows why I even met you)!" she blurted in anger leaving with Pari to check on her other 2 kids
And just like that karma hit him! He knew those were words of anguish of a mother! He understood where that was coming from, for he himself was going through hell worrying sick for safety of his kids. But hearing those words, which he himself had said to her a decade ago, when he was worried for his di, he felt punched in the gut!
--*--
In the meanwhile, outside Raizada mansion, all kids were busy playing. Kavish was true to his nickname, a laddu-gopal, a name of Krishna. Like how lord Krishna would always be surrounded by gopikas, he was surrounded by those cute little girls. And much unlike his father, he had no problem with them. In fact, he easily charmed his little fans. His main attention was on Rucha though, his best friend.
Aru who was excited after seeing so many little kids around went after them forgetting her earlier spoiled mood, leaving Kavish's hand too. But soon she realized her Piya didi wasn't around and she started looking for her
Piya was seating at her favorite spot, under a huge tree in the yard, too engrossed in her poems book. She failed to notice someone had walked behind her until he grabbed her hand. And just then Aru came there on her little feet. She saw 'a bad uncle(Pavan)' trying to pull her Piya didi and her little brain registered danger. To try to protect her sister from the attacker, Aru did one thing her sharp mind suggested her, she picked a stone that she could lift from the ground and threw at Pavan. It hit him on his leg, though it wasn't heavy it made him lose his hold on Piya.
Piya quickly ran but before she could reach Aru, Pavan picked Aru in his arms "tu uss arrogant saab ka bacha hai na? accha hua tu mil gayi. Ab sabak sikhaunga tere baap ko (you are that arrogant man's child right? Now I will teach lesson to him)" saying so quickly held a chloroform-soaked handkerchief on aru's nose and the baby became unconscious
--*--
In the meantime, Pari had suddenly started crying making Khushi alarmed. She hardly cried like that. (They say, a twin can feel if the other twin is in distress)
Just then Piya came crying running inside, while Arnav too had descended down after talking to commissioner and deploying more security around their house
"Khushi maasi, aru.." she couldn't complete the sentence, being extremely scared and shocked
Akash immediately went near his daughter while dadi, nani, Payal and Arnav Khushi too gathered around. Khushi had already sensed something very wrong with her kids, held her breath
"Beta, kya hua hain? Thik se batao" Akash asked wiping her tear-stricken face
"He took Aru away..bad uncle" she said that and Arnav was at her side at once while Khushi ran in the courtyard as if she could stop them from taking her child away. with every passing second she was feeling difficulty breathing, until she could see her daughter safe
When they finally got the truth out from a very shaking and frightened Piya a couple minutes later, it was too late. Pavan had fled from the spot with Aru while Khushi was searching in the courtyard, as she hadn't heard entire truth of how her child was already taken away from the safety of their house. Arnav immediately dashed out with his car keys and for the rarest times in his lives prayed to God to keep his child safe, not punish her for his mistakes!
originally published: Oct 20,2021
--*--
A/N – Sorry for the cliffhanger but next part will be up soon. I anyway updated sooner than schedule. Part 2 of this chapter will probably be coming up this weekend (or sooner if you guys make me happy with huge response 😛).
Thanks to all the readers who read/vote/comment on the chapters from all over the world, I am amazed to see we have readers from almost all continents. Keep the love continued for this book 🤗