Vasu somehow loves it when Madhav holds him in his arms. He looks at Madhav with those big brown eyes and throws a toothless smile. Madhu was leaning from her chair in the dining table towards Madhav, as she looks adoringly at her little cousin.
"He's so tiny, right?" Madhu whispers. "Was I also tiny?"
"Just the perfect size to fit you into Mumma's college bag." Madhav say winking.
"I was that small?" Madhu asks.
"Just pulling your leg, kanamma."
"What's this Madhav? You haven't eaten the idlis yet!" Yashoda smiles. The dining table in the RK Mansion was filled with all the delicious dishes that morning. From soft fluffy idlis to crispy spicy samosas to fragrant chicken biriyanis and all the exquisite sweet items graced the table. It was a feast indeed.
The family, along with Madhav's friends had gathered tohave breakfast at the dining table.
The kitchen was abuzz as the cooks prepared every dish they knew of for the lunch gala in the mansion.
"He hasn't even touched the biriyani I made for him, Yashoda!" Lakshmi says.
"I'm sorry but look at this little butterball!" Madhav exclaims blowing a kiss on Vasu's forehead.
"He's so tiny and innocent!" Shree adores. She turns to Devi teasingly. "How did something as innocent and cute as Vasu come out of you?"
"Because the baby took after the mother's most significant qualities." Madhav adds, out of honesty.
Devi's face glows up. "See even Bhaava agrees."
"Alright, why don't you give Vasu to me and you - start eating all these yummy food?" Devi says as she slowly and gently scoops Vasu from him. "You can play with him later."
"Seriously Madhav, eat!" Shree says pouring one more spoon of sambhar on his plate.
"Sir ji!" The security at the gate calls gently walking in. "The police is here to meet you."
* * * * *
"Since you were the only one from the crime scene who's alive, we need a clear account of what happened, Mr. Ramakrishna." The police inspector says.
Madhav nods and sits up on the sofa. "Everything was fine for a few minutes after we took off. Later, Shiv emerged from nowhere and -"
"You mean Shiv Sharma, was there?" The police officer asks.
"Wasn't he - wasn't he supposed to be in-" Shree says panicking.
"Apparently he escaped long ago. The prison authorities decided to keep quiet about it." Madhav says. "So Shiv Sharma emerged from nowhere and he was with Mahesh-"
"Our security head was working with him?" RK asks baffled.
Madhav nods. "There was a huge fight. Mahesh shot me in the arm. Shiv shot Bhagya - the new airhostess. She was shot on her neck. She fell on the floor and lay their in a pool of her blood. She was shot twice on the neck. Her blood was all over my clothes and the carpet. I took the champagne bottle and hit Shiv on the head. He fell unconscious and the next thing I knew, I was held at gunpoint. Mahesh had a gun pointed to my head."
Madhav took a deep breath.
Shree held his hand and massaged his hand soothingly.
"I thought that was the end of me. Until-"
"What happened, Mr. Ramakrishna?" The police officer asked.
"Bhagya." Madhav says wiping the tears that had formed on his eyes. "She killed Mahesh to save me. She put all of the bullets from Shiv's discarded pistol into Mahesh. I - I - I don't know what happened next. I fainted afterwards."
Madhav takes another deep breath. "She was becoming cold and her pulse was dropping. She was shot in the neck and her stomach. I realised that she was dying. I had to save her and myself - the jet's engine was damaged and the vessel was about crash into the ocean any time soon."
"I did every little thing I knew to revive her, you know. I wanted to save her. She was so young and she had a family to support. I did everything to save her but she kept on drifting away. She shook her head in defeat at one point. Crying - calling out to God. I promised her that I would save her. I strapped the parachute around me and just as I was about to harness her against me, she did the unthinkable."
"What did she do?" Shyaam asks.
"She smashed the button for the exit entrance and pushed me off the jet. As I fell to the ocean, I saw the jet's door close and she was looking at me with a wide smile."
"And she died." Shree finishes wiping her moist eyes with the corner of her palms.
"We found her corpse after the Navy hauled the sunken jet." Yashoda adds. "And your's."
"That wasn't me." Madhav adds. "It should have been Mahesh's."
"Forensics confirmed that the DNA of yours and the corpse matched." Shree explains. "Several other forensics teams around the world confirmed it."
"What that's not possible. How can Baava's DNA match so closely with a complete stranger's?" Devi adds. "Lol since when did DNA of two complete strangers start to match?"
"Because they aren't strangers." Uday confirms.
"What do you mean?" Madhav asks.
"Actually, we - as in Leila, myself, Sivaji, Anu along with Ahaana and Ashok were not happy with how the investigation of your 'murder' was concluded. So we decided to take things and investigate it by ourselves."
Leila nods. "We were confused since the DNA from Madhav's presumed corpse didn't match with Madhushree's while it matched with RK's DNA sample."
"Are you saying you'll used Madhu 's DNA without asking from me or anyone else?" Shree asks.
Uday nods.
"We plucked a few strands of hair from your baby's head." Leila says. "It was like plucking petals from a flower."
"Madhu's DNA mismatching was something we didn't expect." Sivaji adds firmly.
"We did more digging and we discovered that Mahesh is actually a Ramakrishna." Uday says.
"Are are you saying that Mahesh is R-R-Raghav?"
Uday nods.
"My own twin brother tried to kill me?" Madhav asks taken aback.
"I'm sure he wasn't aware of it, Madhav." Shree consoles him.
Madhav shakes his head as he stares at the ceiling.
"I need some time alone to process all this." Madhav says standing up. "I'll be in my room."
Yashoda slowly slips away and follows Madhav.
"I can feel that you are thinking about someone." She says walking into his room.
"It's the airhostess." Madhav says sitting on the barcalounger. "I promised her that I would save her. But I couldn't do anything to save her and now she's gone. Even with so much of blood lost, she saved me by putting herself as a shield for me. And I just let her die in that jet."
"Madhav, you tried everything you could to save the poor girl. Don't blame yourself for her death. You did all you can to save her didn't you?" Yashoda comforts him.
"Two women, Ma." Madhav says looking up at the ceiling. "I couldn't save two women from their unfortunate ending. First was my own sister and now Bhagya."
"You tried everything you could. Didn't you say you fought with Devakshi's boyfriend before he out threw you? And you were injured badly in the jet. I know you would have saved her somehow if you weren't shot." Yashoda holds Madhav's hand.
Madhav sighs. "I'm planning on transferring money to her parents every month."
Yashoda nods. "That's very noble of you. But I would suggest that you visit them once in two months or every month."
Madhav nods.
* * * * *
Madhav stirs in his bed, that night. He replays the scenes on the jet.
He remembers Bhagya gaining consciousness after being shot in the neck. She shoots Mahesh. Mahesh falls on the floor and dies. Madhav faints. He wakes up and finds Bhagya unconscious near the exit door that was wide open.
Madhav gets the parachute pack. Bhagya was bleeding from her stomach. He tries to escape with her she pushes him outside and gets the exit door shut.
Madhav blinks.
He replays the blurry memory again.
Mahesh dies. Madhav faints. He wakes up a little later and finds Bhagya unconscious near the exit door that was wide open.
Madhav gets the parachute pack. Bhagya was bleeding from her stomach. He tries to escape with her she pushes him outside and gets the exit door shut.
"What am I missing?" He wonders confused.
Madhav gets the parachute pack. Bhagya was bleeding from her stomach. He tries to escape with her she pushes him outside and gets the exit door shut.
Madhav shakes his head as he recollects Bhagya getting shot only on the neck. Who shot her?
And the exit door was closed before he lost consciousness. Who opened it - maybe Bhagya?
"Someone must have shot her and opened the door. But who?"
Madhav counts the people on the plane.
The pilot - shot in the cockpit.
Mahesh - dead after being shot by Bhagya.
Shiv - dead after having the champagne bottle smashed on his head.
Madhav shook his head.
"What if Shiv didn't die and was just knocked unconscious?" He asks himself.
Madhav sits up on the bed.
"Shiv didn't die." He breathes. "He was knocked unconscious and when he woke up he must have shot Bhagya and escaped."
"That fucker is still alive!" Madhav whispers. "If he escaped then he could come after me and Shree anytime!"
Madhav wipes the beads of sweat on his forehead. He turns to Shree and gently touches her arm.
He turns over in his bed, his arms reaching for his sleeping wife. She was sleeping next to him, her graceful features relaxed and a tender hand kept on her stomach. He found his pregnant wife more beautiful than ever. He traced his fingers over her rosy cheeks and Shree shivered slightly at his touch and groaned.
"Chellam, wake up!" He says gently waking her up. "Wake up, chellam!"
Shree groans and opens her eyes.
"What happened Madhav?" She asks adjusting the straps of her pink maternity night gown.
"We're leaving. To Munnar." Madhav says as he opens his cupboard, scooping a handful of his clothes. "Right now."
"It's 2 AM Madhav!" Shree groans. "And I can't travel in this condition."
"We'll go through the highway and I'll drive smooth." He says as he stuffs the clothes into a suitcase.
"What about my doctor's appointment tomorrow!" Shree says as she gets off the bed.
"I'll ask Appa to arrange a chopper for her." Madhav adds. "Now go change into something comfortable. I'm going to wake up Madhu."
"Madhav, what's wrong?" Shree asks holding his arm.
"Nothing." He shrugs.
"Tell me, Madhav." Shree says softly as she rests her head against his arm. He kisses her forehead gently, cooking up a better cover up in his mind.
"Chellam, I-I-I want to go there right now. So I-I-I can spend time with you and-and-and the babies in Munnar."
"But can't we spend enough time-"
"Please Chellam?"
"But-"
"Please?" He asks holding her face with both hands.
"Fine." Shree nods. "Let's go, I guess!"
Madhav quickly presses a kiss to her cheek and her lips.
"Go fresh up and wear something comfy. I'll wake up Madhu and make something for us to eat." He says as he runs out of the room. "I'll send someone to pack your things."
Shree sighs as she grabs her towel.
To be continued....
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