Aksh went back to the room and sat on the bed with a thud. Ansh who was reading his third comic book of the day asked
Ansh "kya hua dada, itne gusse me kyun ho aap?"
Aksh shouted on ansh "can you mind your own business for once Rudraansh? Jab dekho tab bas bolta hi rehta hai, kabhi to chup raha kar. Aur ye kya subah se comic books padh raha hai, koi kaam ki cheez nahi padh sakta. School chhuta hai padhayi nahi. Kuch hi dino me naye school me jayega to wahan bhi kya comics hi padhega. I am warning you ansh agar marks kam aaye na to school change hone ka bahana nahi sununga main. Bohut pitayi karunga teri agar result achcha nahi aaya to"
This much was enough for ansh to start sobbing. His dada has always been strict but he has only been scolding him since they have came to Mumbai. Aksh felt bad looking at his brother crying. He has taken out his frustration on his little darling. He went near the bed where ansh was sitting and knelt in front of ansh and said "ab ro kyun raha hai anshu?"
Ansh "aap bohut bure ho dada, aapne ansh ko bohut jor se daanta." He said between sobs.
Aksh palmed his face, ansh was again talking in third person, a clear cut sign that he is scared right now. Ansh always talks in third person whenever he is scared. He should have controlled himself, how can he forget that the change is big for ansh as well. Maybe even bigger than what it is for him. it is the very first time when ansh is interacting with so many strangers in one go. Everything is new for his baby and rather than supporting him through the change aksh was just busy with his own frustrations. Aksh felt very guilty and cupped ansh's face and said
Aksh gently "sorry bachcha, i am really sorry. Pls ro mat. I promise ab nahi daantunga. Pls maan jaa, you know I hate seeing you cry."
Ansh was still sobbing badly. Aksh was hating every second of seeing him like that, the more ansh cry, more are the chances of him having nightmares. Aksh really needed to divert his attention so he asked ansh "achcha bata ice cream khayega?"
Ansh stopped crying and looked at aksh and said "par aaj sunday nahi hai dada"
Aksh smiled at him and said "koi baat nahi, bina sunday ke khaa le"
Ansh smiled a little and asked "pakka?"
Aksh nodded at him, wiped his tears and said "chal ready ho jaa, icecream khane chalte hai"
Ansh got ready within 2 minutes. It's very rare for his dada to relent on these matters and he is smart enough to not miss the opportunity when he is being presented with one.
Both went out but was stopped by the security at the main gate of the house.
Aksh "kyun rok rahe hai aap hume"
Dutta, the security Chief replied "sir rudra sir ke order hai ki aap bina unki permission aur security ke ghar se bahar nahi jayenge. Aap unse pooch lijiye, main aapke saath security team bhej dunga."
Aksh "dekhiye hume ye sab nahi chahiye, hum khud thodi der me wapas aa jayenge, pls hume jaane dijiye. "
Dutta "I am sorry sir par hume rudra sir ke clear instructions hai"
Aksh went inside the house with ansh. He was about to go and fight with rudra when he saw rudra descending the stairs with a smile on his face. As soon as rudra came down aksh started complaining.
Aksh "ye sab kya hai Mr. Khanna, aapki security.......... "
Just then rudra interrupted him by saying "six months two weeks. Good going akshu, aise to you are never ever getting rid of me."
Aksh groaned in frustration and said "dekhiye main bas ansh ko ice cream khilane le jaa raha tha and your security is not allowing us to step out of the house. Aap pls unse kahiye aisa na karne ko"
Rudra thought for some time then said "keh to main du, but i have a condition"
Aksh "ab kya condition hai?"
Rudra "main bhi tumhare saath chalunga, mujhe bhi icecream khani hai"
Both aksh and ansh spoke at the same time.
Ansh "hanji bhaiya chaliye na"
Aksh "no, you can't come with us"
Rudra smiled at him teasingly and said "akshu beta, thode thande dimag se soch. Ek to ansh bhi chahta hai ki main tumhare saath chalu aur dusra meri security team tumhe aise koi icecream party nahi karne degi jisme main shamil na ho. To bata what have you decided?"
Aksh wanted to pull his hair and run away from there but he has promised ansh so he said "chaliye aap bhi"
Rudra "hai to mera bachcha samajhdaar par thoda sa tubelight hai. Kaafi der me batti jalti hai teri"
Aksh just glared at rudra but didn't say anything. Whereas ansh started giggling. When aksh tried to glare at ansh, rudra pulled ansh behind him and said
Rudra "oye khabardar agar mere bachche ko daraya to, teri icecream cancel kar dunga."
Ansh "dada icecream nahi khaate bhaiya, unhe pasand nahi hai, dada ko to bas healthy cheeze achchi lagti hai including karela." He said making a face
Rudra turned to ansh and said "karela to isse achcha lagega hi na beta, ek hi species ke jo hai dono." With that both rudra and ansh started laughing whereas aksh closed his eyes to control his irritation.
All three sat in the car and went to a high end icecream parlour. As soon as they walked in ansh started sampling different flavours whereas aksh started checking his wallet to see if he can afford this place, rudra saw that and pulled his wallet from his hands.
Rudra "kya kar raha hai?"
Aksh "paise nikaal raha hu, ansh ko Icecream chahiye"
Rudra "haan to main hu na yahan"
Aksh "dekhiye mere bhai ke bills main khud bhar sakta hu"
Rudra went full melodramatic and said "matlab tu mera bill bharega, kisi ne sach kaha hai bachcho ko bade hone me time nahi lagta. Mera bachcha itna bada ho gaya ki meri jimmedaari uthane laga hai. Jug jug jiyo mere lal, bhagwan tumhe duniya ki sari khushiyaan de." He said wiping imaginary tears from his eyes.
Aksh glared at rudra and said "ho gaya aapka, main sirf ansh ke liye paise dunga, apne bill aap khud bhariye"
Rudra sternly "you remember I told you you have to follow all the rules of the house. So my dear akshu first rule is that i am here to foot all our bills. So next time we go out or you yourself want anything pls don't worry about the money, I am here to do that. Clear"
Aksh "chaliye fir wapas chalte hai, I anyhow can't afford this place and i wont accept your charity."
Rudra eyes darkened and his voice went cold "rudraaksh khanna you better not give me this attitude. If I want to spend on you guys, I will. If you have any need of money you will come to me without any hesitation and next time you call any action of mine towards you both charity my dear brother, be ready for severe consequences." With that rudra retuned his wallet and walked towards ansh.
Rudra and ansh were enjoying icecream together. Whereas aksh was feeling very uneasy. Rudra's reaction has left his stomach in knots. He doesn't want to be with rudra but he doesn't want to insult him either. He was trying to convince himself that he did nothing wrong then why is there a part of him which wants to apologize to rudra in that very moment and tell him that he was just used to doing somethings, he was not trying to insult him.
Once done all three came out and sat in the car. Ansh wanted to see the city a little more so he asked rudra about it.
Ansh "hum kahin ghumne jaa sakte hai kya bhaiya?"
Rudra "haan bachcha, bata kahan chalna hai?"
Ansh "kahin bhi, mujhe pata nahi hai kuch bhi yahan ke baare me"
Rudra "ok, we can to beach, mall, gaming zone or even a water park. You decide where you want to go."
Ansh thought for sometime and then said " Hum beach jaa sakte hai?"
Rudra "haan, bilkul jaa sakte hai"
They went to a beach. To say ansh was excited is a huge understatement. The moment they got out of the car, ansh squealed in pleasure and ran towards the sea without giving anyone a chance to think. He ran so quickly after getting down that it shocked both rudra and aksh. Both ran behind him, calling him out, but ansh was too excited to pay any attention to them. He was just running towards the water without a care in the world. Before they could catch him ansh was already playing in the water and having fun, forcing both rudra and aksh to get in and wet themselves. The moment they caught ansh, aksh again went full big brother on him.
Aksh twisted ansh's ear and said sternly "ye kya hai ansh, aa gaye the na beach par, yahan bhi aa jaate, ye bina bataye, bina dekhe aise bhaagne ki kya jarurat thi? Tu kho jaata to, gir jaata aur chot lag jati fir? Rudraansh khanna you are really........... "
Aksh trailed off as soon as rudra splashed him. He let go ansh's ear and said "ye kya kar rahe hai aap?"
Rudra "i am just cooling you off beta. Dekh i know Tu paida hi 40 saal ka hua tha aur ab teri sathiyane ki umr hai but can you for once be a little playful and understanding towards the child. He was excited and made a run towards water, it's no big deal."
Aksh annoyed "no big deal, agar wo gir jaata aur usse chot aa jati to"
Rudra "akshu, I assure you is beach par kahin bhi land mines nahi hai, aur agar gir bhi jata to maximum that could have happened is a scrapped knee or elbow and i think he already had plenty of those like kids his age always have. You can't keep him bubble wrapped dadi maa"
Aksh "kya kaha aapne mujhe? Main dadi maa hu?" He asked irritated.
Rudra chuckled and said "haan wo bhi khadus wali" Both rudra and ansh started laughing.
Aksh glared at both.
Rudra "dekh ansh dadi maa gussa ho gayi" Now both laughed even harder.
Aksh was irritated and in his irritation he splashed rudra heavily. He wanted to teach him a lesson but it only ended up the trio splashing each other and having a time of their life. It was good 20 minutes before they stopped and came out of the water.
As soon as they came out rudra tripped on something and fell on the beach face down, the moment he got up the younger two started laughing like loons. Thanks to his wet clothes, where ever he touched the ground, sand just stuck on him making him look hilarious. Aksh and ansh were laughing their asses off, pointing at rudra.
Rudra smiled at them and then pushed aksh making him also fall, and then rolled him in the sand making him suffer the same fate as him and said "ab has, has na, ab kya hua"
While both elders were having a roll in the sand match on the ground the little one was just enjoying and laughing on them. After some time when they realized that their little one is having fun at their expense both pulled him as well and rolled him on the sand. Now all three were wet, covered in sand and laughing. Aksh realized what was happening and again went back in his shell and became all serious. The fun came to a stop in an instant. A silence took over and without saying they understood that it's time to go and started walking towards the car.
When they got up, aksh and ansh started dusting their clothes, but rudra had something else in mind and stopped them.
Rudra "ruko kapde mat jhado"
Ansh "kyun bhaiya? Kitne gande ho gaye hai"
Rudra "haan koi baat nahi, ghar par change kar lenge, par abhi mat jhado"
Ansh "par aise to aapki car bohut gandi ho jayegi bhaiya"
Rudra smiled evilly and said "meri nahi sam ki, mujhe blackmail karke meri nayi gaadi leke gaya na, ab pata lagega usse, with that he waved to guards to come near him. The guards came at once.
Rudra " Ye gaadi kholo and fill it with sand" He said like it was the most natural thing to do.
Guards looked at him with confusion written on their faces.
Rudra "kya hua, do it"
Once he was satisfied with the amount of sand they have put on the floor of the car, the three sat in to the car and dusted their clothes making the seats dirty as well.
Rudra "ab maja aayega na sam ko gaadi wapas karne me" He said with a sly smile on his face.
Aksh "what are you, 10 years old"
Rudra "no, 4"
Aksh just rolled his eyes. Making rudra smile. They drove to khanna mansion. Once home rudra asked the driver to take the car to Rathod mansion and messaged sam "REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED WITH SAND".
Once home all three cleaned themselves and wore fresh clothes. After sometime the icecream and water adventure took it's toll and ansh came down with cold. His nose was running and he was sneezing badly. Aksh tried to find some medicine in the room but no luck. He decided to go and ask rudra for it and left for his room only to find rudra working on the laptop.
Aksh knocked on his door. Rudra looked up and was surprised to find aksh there. He smiled at him and said "wahan kyun khada hai akshu, andar aa." With that he sneezed thrice.
Aksh looked at him, shook his head and said "aapko bhi cold hai?"
Rudra "nahi,main bilkul theek hu" And he sneezed once again. "Kuch kaam tha" He asked aksh.
Aksh "haan wo ansh ko cold ho gaya hai to koi medicine aur cold rub chahiye tha."
Rudra "abhi deta hu" With that he got up fast making his head reel. Rudra closed his eyes and shook his head to get rid of the dizzyness. Aksh saw that and held him at once and made him sit on the bed. It was then that he realized that Rudra has also caught cold, and his condition was even worse. He was coughing and sneezing and also had a little fever.
Aksh scolded him "aur khaiye icecream aur kheliye paani me, ab kar li na tabiyat kharab."
Rudra pouted and said "daant mat, tabiyat kharab hai meri"
Aksh palmed his face and shook his head. Ansh always gives him the same line whenever he gets as much as a scratch on him. Now he has to take care of two kids instead of one.
He didn't realize that the walls he built around his heart were breaking, the ice that has enveloped his emotions towards his brother has started melting.
Hey readers
How are you all?
I hope you all are enjoying this book as much as you did the rathod brothers triology.
Pls share if you have some scene request.
Who is your favorite character?
Favorite scene of today's chapter.
Happy reading 😊