"Shivaay, chhot aapko lagti hain likin dard mujhe hota hain."
"Dard mehsoos hone ke liye aapke seene dil hain bhi ya nahi?"
"Ladna toh hum chhod nahi sakte kyoonki wahi humare khidkitod rishte ki khaasiyat hain."
"Ladna tab chahiye jab bachane ke liye kuch ho. Aur mujhe nahi lagta is rishte mein bachane ke liye kuch bacha hain."
"Main aapko chhod ke kabhi nahi jaaoongi, aap mujhe chhodenge toh bhi nahi
"Goodbye Shivaay."
Shivaay's eyes jolted open but when he tried to get up, he felt some weight on his arm.
He looked at his side to find his 10 year old son sleeping holding his hand. Shivaay tried to free his hand but Ansh frowned and stirred a little.
"Shhhh..." Shivaay gently massage his son's scalp and watched him slip back into deep sleep, now clinging on to the hand he was previously holding.
Realising there was no way of getting up without waking up Ansh, Shivaay laid back down and began reflect on his life.
After picking the kids up from their mother's place, Shivaay dropped Shivani to Eden Hotel for her friend Sam's birthday party. Damn! Kids these days have fancy parties. Back in his days they would be lucky if the got to call friends over to play Musical Chairs, eat chips, Chhole Bhature and a cake from Monginis.
As promised, he went out with Ansh to the mall. They first went to the arcade. The duo (mainly Ansh) played for 2 hours and event beat Shivaay at Basketball. With thousands of tickets they won, Ansh got a Magnetic Dart Board, that he planned to challenge his siblings to. Afterwards they had a small snack of Garlic Bread and Lemonade and finished the day out by watching the new Avatar movie and eating a Happy Meal for dinner. When they got home, Ansh was so sleepy that he swayed while walking and his sentences were punctuated with yawns. Yet he insisted Shivaay and he have "more fun time together", which Shivaay couldn't refuse. He took him to his room to first feed him his medicines and get him changed. By the time Shivaay himself freshened up, Ansh had fallen asleep on his bed. Not wanting to disturb him by moving him to his room, Shivaay tucked him properly and slept next to him. Next day was Sunday so neither he nor Ansh needed to wake up early.
The custody arrangement of the kids was an alternating week one. They spent one week with him at Oberoi Mansion and one with their mother. Normally, they switched every Friday. Shivaay would drop them to school in the morning, their mother would pick them up in the evening and they'd stay the weekend and week with her. Vice versa the next week.
Since both he and their mother were at the highest positions in their companies, they had more freedom in scheduling their work commitments. As a norm, they scheduled business trips, long meetings, conferences and other time consuming activities on days their kids were with the other parent.
However, last week Shivaay had to urgently go to London for a week-long conference along with with a few buffer days. Hence the kids were with their mother from Thursday of previous week to Saturday of the present week. Of course it wasn't a problem with her. They were very flexible with schedule, switching days or extending stays as need be. They always informed the kids and ensured they were okay with any changes, which they almost always were.
But this didn't mean Shivaay would not compensate for time lost with his kids, especially Ansh.
Ansh. His little son. A complete replica of him. The same hair. The same eyes. The same smile. And according to Shivani, even the same frown and temper.
However, his nature was completely opposite.
He was spirited, happy-go-lucky, carefree and a little bit clumsy.
Most of all, he had the ability, better yet, the magic to make anyone and everyone smile.
But there was one thing about Ansh that made Shivaay curse himself.
Ansh also inherited his heart condition. He was diagnosed at two years of age and spent a whole year in and out of hospitals, being on various medications and medical devices, several surgeries, risky trials and pain. Days and nights of his little boy crying in pain.
So when Ansh's heart began to respond well to a medicine regime, Shivaay thanked God and all the other powers that were out there in the universe.
With proper diet, lifestyle and medications, Ansh's heart functioned almost as well as a normal heart did.
Speaking of him, Ansh turned to the other side and Shivaay's hand was finally free. He got up, freshened up and changed into his regular suit. He then went to the kitchen, brewed a cup of espresso and took out the ingredients to prepare breakfast.
"Big Papaaaa!!!"
"Rubina Singh Oberoi, FREEZE!"
Shivaay looked at the kitchen entrance to find his niece standing with her hands in the air while Bhavya jogged to her.
"Na brush kiya, na nahaya, na change kiye, bas uthte hi kitchen mein bhaag aayi." Bhavya rebuked her daughter.
"Mumma, Big Papa aur Ansh 10 days baad aaye hain. Mujhe milna tha unse." Rubina pouted.
"And that's why you need to at least brush. Big Papa breakfast bana rahe hain aur abhi yahaan rahogi phir banne ke baad brush karne jaogi toh thanda ho jaayega. Is liye abhi brush kar lo, phir poora din milti rehna." Bhavya explained and pushed Rubina towards her room.
Shivaay could only chuckle.
"Bacchi hi toh hain." He said while chopping vegetables.
"Jise iske Daddy Cool ne sar par chadha ke rakkha hain toh Mom has to play the Bad Cop." Bhavya sighed.
"You're kidding! The best cop I know has to play the bad cop?!" He playfully exclaimed, earning a smile from Bhavya.
"Aapki business trip kaisi rahi?" Bhavya asked.
"It was good. Press conferences, meetings, business dinners; the usual." Shivaay replied. "Rudra kahaan hain?"
"Unki early morning video conference thi toh woh office gaye hain attend karne. Raahil ka district tournament aaj hain toh Om bhaiya, Gauri bhabhi aur Rishi use cheer karne gaye hain, surprise visit." Bhavya informed him.
Cracking a couple eggs in the mixing bowl, Shivaay spoke, "Sabko breakfast... well, bruch ke liye bula lo."
"Humein zaroorat hi nahi padegi. Aapke khaane ki khushboo se bhagte hue aa jaayenge."
Shivaay passed her small smile. Bhavya left to check on her daughter.
In 10 minutes, TejVi, ShaNky, Bhavya, Rubina, Ansh and Shivaay were on the dining table, enjoying the food cooked by Shivaay.
"Big Papa, you make the BEST French Toast in the whole entire world." Rubina exclaimed while eating.
"Rubi, khaate hue baat nahi karte." Jhanvi reminded her granddaughter, who simply nodded.
"Chachi, breakfast ke baad badminton khelein?" Ansh asked.
"Of course Ansh." Bhavya replied and gave him a high-five.
"Mujhe bhi khelna hain!" Rubina chirped in, only to receive a glare from Bhavya.
"Homework kiya?" Bhavya asked, to which Rubina could only look down and tap her fingers.
"As expected. Ansh?"
"Kal hi saara finish kar liya." Ansh boasted.
"Oh my Mata! Mere heera grandsons kitna honhaar hain!" Pinky exclaimed.
"Rubi, how about I help you with homework and then we can doubles with Ansh and Mom?" Shivaay suggested, making Rubina beam with happiness.
"Bhaiya, aap sirf supervise karna. Let her do it herself."
Everyone turned towards the source of the voice to find Rudra take big strides towards the dining table and sink into a chair.
"Papa! I thought you are on my side." Rubina complained and crossed.
"Rubi, I am on your side and isi liye keh raha hoon. Bhaiya help karenge toh aadhe ghante ka homework 1.5 ghante mein khattam hoga." Rudra commented, earning a glare from Shivaay and a chuckle from Rubina.
After breakfast, RuVya, Shivaay, Rubina and Ansh went to the lawns. Shivaay and Rubina were sitting on the patio chairs as Rubina did her homework and Shivaay supervised her. A couple meters away, Ansh played knockouts with Bhavya. Rudra was also sitting with Shivaay and Rubina, but kept dozing off.
"Sunday ko itni subah kiske saath call tha?"
"South Koreans ke saath jo phone deal hain na, uske press release ko leke issue tha. And unke time ke hisaab se toh 10 baje call thi." Rudra informed.
"But on a Sunday?"
"Jab aap CEO the, toh was Sunday holiday?"
"Touche."
"DONE!" Rubina screamed, startling both ShivRu.
"That's great. Now let's go play." Shivaay and Rubina made their away towards Ansh and Bhavya.
"Papa, you and I versus Rubi and Chachi." Ansh declared.
"Prepare to lose, brother." Rubina challeged.
"Ansh Singh Oberoi never loses." Ansh boasted.
"Neither does Rubina Singh Oberoi."
"I'll keep scores." Rudra said and the match begin.
More than the match, RuVya and Shivaay were focused on the competition between the two KiddOs (a term Rudra came up with for the five kids).
Around an hour later, Khanna came there.
"Sir, ma'am, Omkara sir, Gauri ma'am, Raahil baba aur Rishi baba aa gaye hain."
Forgetting the match, Rubin and Ansh dropped the racquets and sprinted inside the house. Shivaay and Bhavya picked them and put them on the table before going inside with Rudra.
In the hall, Jhanvi was standing with an Aarti ki Thaal while Gauri removed the evil eye from Raahil using red chillies. She went to kitchen to burn the chillies with Jhanvi did Raahil's Aarti. He touched her feet and then Tej's, Shakti's and Pinky's.
"RAAHIL BHAIYA!" Rubina and Ansh screamed, ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Ansh!" Rishi exclaimed and joined the hug.
They broke away to admire the three gold medals on Raahil's chest.
"3 gold medals?!"
Raahil nodded. "200 meters, 400 meters and 800 meters relay."
Raahil made his way towards Shivaay and bent to touch his feet but Shivaay stopped him.
"Raahil-"
"Bade papa, jeet ke aaya hoon. Aaj toh haq banta hain."
Shivaay caressed his hair. "Jeet ke aaye ho na, sar utha ke ghoomo." Raahil hugged him and Shivaay patted him on the back.
"Bhaiya, please tell me aapki race ka video hain." Rubina asked eagerly.
"Hain na, mumma ne teeno races record ki hain." Rishi replied.
"TV pe dekhte hain!" Ansh suggested.
"Ek district tournament hain, Asian Games nahi." Raahil face-palmed.
"Asian Games mein bhi bhaag le loge. Abhi sabko tumri race dekhni hain toh hum harharike TV par laga dete hain." Gauri said while coming out of the kitchen.
"Okay but without any popcorn, chai and pakode." Raahil asserted and while the adults rolled their eyes, agreed.
Rudra mirrored Gauri's phone on the TV while the family sat on the sofas to watch it.
Ansh gawked at screen and exclaimed. "Bhaiya aap bhaagte ho ya udte ho?!"
"Jeetne ke liye udna padta hain Ansh. And jeetna toh padega hi because-"
"Oberois kabhi nahi haarte!"
Raahil's neck snapped in the direction of the voice and a wide smile formed on his lips. "Shivani!"
The two ran to each other and hugged tightly.
"I missed you! It feels like forever since we met." Raahil exclaimed.
"You had to go for a 5 day training camp, we were the ones missing you. But woh sab baad mein. Firstly, congratulations!" Shivani congratulated him.
"Shivani didi!" Rubina and Rishi ran and hugged her. "Humne bahot miss kiya aapko."
"Parso hi toh school mein mile the."
"Not the same thing. Aap log jabse senior block mein gaye ho, hume milte bhi nahi ho." Rubina complained.
"Koi na, ab toh main aa gayi hoon na."
"And hum dono aaj woh trending reel zaroor banayenge."
"Shivani, tum wapis kab aayi? Aur kaise aayi? Cab se aayi kya? Maine kaha tha main car bhijwa doonga." Shivaay told her
"Jab main khud aa sakti hoon toh aap car kyoon bhejoge? And main auto se aa gayi." Shivani added.
"Shivaay Singh Oberoi ki beti auto mein travel kar rahi thi?!" Shivaay bellowed.
"Shivaay Singh Oberoi ki beti is a 14 year old girl living in Mumbai! Meri age ke bacche akele local train mein travel karte hain while you insist that I be chauffeured around." Shivani argued.
"I do because I can and I will." Shivaay asserted.
"Tadibaaz." Shivani muttered.
Shivaay cocked an eyebrow "Kya bola?"
"Dinner mein kya hain?" Shivani dodged.
"Kya khaogi?" Shivaay asked
"Penne Alfredo." Shivani replied.
"That's why I love you."
"Really? And not because I'm you're daughter?"
"That too. But mostly because you're decisive."
"I hate you."
"You know you love me." Shivaay boasted, making Shivani roll her eyes.
"Shivani, beta jaake fresh ho jao aur araam kar lo. Tumhare liye cold coffee laayein?" Gauri asked.
"Masi you are the best. Likin no cold coffee, had a lot of cold drinks." Shivani declined.
"Toh chai? Adrak wali?" Gauri suggested.
"Sounds lovely!" Shivani beamed.
"Mom, mere liye bhi." Raahil requested.
"Haan bilkul."
"Raahil-Rishi, go and freshen up as well." Om told them and the two boys headed up to their rooms.
Rest of the evening passed by with KiddOs catching up with each other, elder two having tea, Rubina having pink lemonade and youngest two having chocolate milkshakes. They also played with the magnetic dart board Ansh got.
As RuRiAnsh argued over who one and Raahil tried to be the referee, Shivani went down to the kitchen. Shivaay was preparing ingredients to make Penne Alfredo.
"What's cooking chef?" Shivani asked, leaning against the counter.
"Penne Alfredo, Grilled Vegetables in Confit Garlic oil, Garlic bread and Tiramisu for dessert." Shivaay stated.
"Can I help?" Shivani offered.
Shivaay pointed towards the ingredients of the Tiramisu. "You can the dessert started. Remember to-"
"Whip the mascarpone and whipping cream separately and fold it in. I remember." Shivani affirmed before putting on an apron.
While cooking the sauce, Shivaay looked at Shivani carefully measuring out the cheese and cream and beginning to whisk it.
Shivani. His perfect little princess. No, he didn't mean perfect as in flawless. She was very much flawed. She was stubborn, fiery and straightforward to a fault.
She was also kind, cheerful, smart, tenacious, virtuous and had a heart filled with love for everyone. She fought with her siblings likes cats and dogs and was way too candid with the adults. This girl kept him on his toes.
Shivani is imperfect. Imperfectly perfect.
When Shivani was handed to him, squirming and crying from just being born, Shivaay heart cracked open. It was love at first sight.
Hair, nose, ears, lips, chin; she was every inch her mother's daughter, but had his eyes. Icy blue beautiful eyes.
On holding her for the first time, Shivaay felt as if he was holding the world in his arms. He didn't even know it was possible to love another human so much. Now he did. And it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.
It was then and there he made it his life mission to ensure to fill her life with happiness. To ensure there was always a smile on her face.
Of course, "always" wasn't possible. When the divorce happened, Shivani was old enough to know what was going on but young enough to be scared. On top of it, she was the elder one, wanting to protect her brother from something she herself was scared of the. Which is why both their mother and he tried to keep things are smooth and amicable so chaos in their children's life was minimal.
So far, it seemed to be going good.