Thanks all for your votes and comments on the previous part. I read each and every comment and loved them all but I was little busy with my cousins marriage so couldn't reply to you. Sorry. I will try to reply later.
Hope you will like this part though I didn't like it. Hahahaha!
Please don't forget to vote and comment!
(UNEDITED)
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"Rishu, what was all that?" Radha asked angrily once Madhu had gone down.
"Mom, please, not now" Rishab groaned in frustration. He was mad at himself for what he said to his wife. He didn't mean to sound harsh and hurt her feelings but he knew he did. He saw the hurt in her beautiful eyes.
"No! You simply can't shut me this time like you did a moment ago. I want to know..."
"What you wanna know?" he asked irately.
"Why you behaved the way you behaved with Madhu? Why you made her cry?"
"I didn't intend to. I just got mad when she took my daughter from my hands"
"So? You will show your waspish tongue to her?"
"I'm sorry, Mom"
"Don't say sorry to me! Go say sorry to your wife"
"Yeah, I know. I will. Just give me sometime and I am sure even Madhu will need some space" he said rubbing both his hands over his face. Radha nodded.
"The warning you gave Madhu... I can't make heads or tails out of it..."
"Madhu has some fears..." Rishab started to vaguely tell his mother about Madhu's issues. Radha showed her hand asking him to stop and shook her head. "Don't give any explanation to me, Rishu. It's your personal affair and you husband and wife sort it out... I am not going to meddle in it but remember I will always be there for you two."
"I know, mom"
"All I want to say is, you gave her a warning before and now I am giving you a warning... never ever hurt my daughter in-law. If you do you will have to answer me." Rishab cocked his brow in surprise.
"You are my mother" he reminded her so that she won't go too hard on him.
"Not only yours, hers as well"
"Okay, mama bear. I will keep your precious daughter happy and I won't say a word that will hurt her." he clasped both his hands as if worshipping and bowed down his head in front of his mother.
"Are you mocking me?" Radha asked suspiciously.
"No! I mean it" he promised
"Alright then" Radha smiled victoriously. "Oh and one more thing"
"What now?" he snarled.
"Your this tone... it's so rude... you better change it and be little more polite and nice to others" Radha said patting Rishab's cheek gently.
Sameer bursts out laughing and that was when Radha and Rishab realized even he was there in the scene. Rishab gave him a deadly glare and his laughing fit ceases.
"This look of yours is so intimidating..."
"Mom!" he admonished her for treating him like a child. "For God's sake, I am a father of two kids so stop embarrassing me now by treating me like I'm five"
"I'm just telling you, Rishu... you think you can scare us with your powerful tone and steely glare but you are wrong. Just because this time we didn't retaliate when you showed your wrath to us..."
"Whoa! Whao! Hang on there. Madhu didn't retaliate. She nicely nodded her head without defying to my words and walked down quietlty but you didn't stay silent. You are cornering me and giving me your God damn lecture."
"Whatever! Next time neither Madhu nor I will go easy on you if you even raised your voice to an octave." Radha said sternly.
Rishab looked down at his mother for few good seconds before saying "I better keep my wife away from you. You probably will corrupt her innocent mind." Radha knew he was joking so just gave him a playful slap on his arm.
"One minute, Mom" Rishab said when his phone buzzed in his pants pocket. He fished it out and attended the call while Radha moved to Sameer to have a quick chat with him.
"You can make him pee in his pants, aunty" Sameer said with a chuckle.
"I know. If my son is scared of anyone then it's me" Radha laughed imperiously. "But I know he loves me so much as I do"
"My mom and my wife never get along well and I get railroaded by them in the end. I envy yours and Madhu's bond. Oh and I also envy Rishab. He is free from the saas-bahu soap opera." he said laughing and Radha joined him laughing too.
"Are you guys laughing at me?" Rishab asked after attending his work related call and joining them back.
"No" both Radha and Sameer shook their heads. "Now, go, talk to your wife and don't forget to apologize to her."
"I will, mom. Thank you. I love you" Rishab leaned down and kissed her cheek before sauntering to his room.
--0--
Madhu was sitting on the bed, her knees propped up to her chest and her hands wrapped around them as she watched her babies making incoherent communication to each other, lying on the bed.
Madhu heard soft knock at the door and she knew it wasn't her husband because he wouldn't knock to enter their bedroom.
"Come in" she expected her mother in law to walk in but to her surprise it was her father.
"Papa? You want something?" She asked standing up from the bed.
"I just came to see my grandbabies" he said with a hesitant smile.
"Sure" she said and moved aside letting him to sit beside her babies on the bed.
"They are so adorable. Your daughter reminds me of you when you were a baby but you were little more chubby and healthy" he reminisced the best day of his life, the day he held his daughter for the first time in his arms.
"She is healthy, papa..." Madhu said offensively "... Just little thin" she smiled weakly. Malik nodded his head.
Madhu fidgeted with her fingers as she patiently waited for him to say something.
"Madhu, I am sorry" he said in a meek tone finally breaking the silence but still having his head hung down and looking at his grandbabies.
"Papa?" Madhu asked in confusion. He never said sorry to her then why now? She wondered. When he lifted his head up a lone tear rolled down his cheek shocking Madhu.
"Papa" Madhu sat beside him and hugged him awkwardly. She couldn't remember when was the last time she hugged her father. It felt weird in a good way. "Papa, please don't cry. Whatever is the reason for your apology and tears... just forget it"
"No, Madhu... I can't forget what I did to you. I didn't protect you. I failed you, Madhu." He took Madhu's hand in both his hands and held it closer to his forehead. "Because of my mistake you are suffering all your life..."
"No, papa, I am happy now so let's not rehash the horrible past" She said evasively.
"I know you are happy now with your husband and kids but still you have this lingering fear in your mind, don't you?"
Madhu frowned wondering how he knew about it.
"I heard Rishab talk about you and your phobias with his friend" he said, a way of explanation to her unasked question.
"Oh Dr. Sameer. He is Rishab's close friend and my current psychotherapist. I have certain fears which you know already and I am trying... actually struggling to over come... but... but I... couldn't..." she started breathing hard as panic set in her.
"Oh God! What have I done to my daughter?" He cried remorsefully as he looked up at the ceiling. After all these years she is still stuck up with her past and worrying sick? He thought painfully.
"Papa, it's too late to think about what you have and what you haven't done." Madhu said curtly quickly regaining her composure. She didn't want to go weak in front of her father.
"I know. I lost my daughter because of the lack of trust I had on your mother"
"You made a mistake, I agree, papa, but you never made an effort to mend it. You weren't there for me when I needed you." She accused him as her tempered flared up. Malik looked at his daughter speechless. She took a deep breathe. "I am sorry. I am already disturbed, papa so lets not discuss this matter now. I wanna focus on my babies naming function." She said softly.
"Alright. Before I leave I wanna give you something and I hope you will graciously accept it"
"Of course I will, papa" Madhu gave him a genuine smile.
"Here" he passed her small velvet box.
She opened it and found a thin gold chain in it with a small fish pendant.
"I love it, papa" Madhu said smiling brightly and quickly put on the chain around her neck and hooked it. "But why you got me this gift, papa?" She asked curiously.
"Your mom and I were looking for some jewelry for our grandchildren and suddenly my eyes caught that fish pendant..." He said pointing to her neck. "... I know your obsession for fish and thought you would like it if I got it for you"
"Thanks, papa"
Malik smiled and turned to walk out when Madhu called him.
"Yes"
"Um... You and Mama... okay right? I mean you guys are not pretending as one happy couple in front of the world right?" Madhu always wanted to know whether things were alright between her parents but she was too caught up with her own issues to care about their personal affair. In a way she felt guilty for not caring about them and trying to mend things in her parents' lives. If her father failed to do his role then she felt she too failed as a daughter.
"If you are trying to ask whether your mom forgave me for what I did then the answer is no! She hasn't forgiven me and I don't want her to forgive me ever... I deserve this punishment." He said hanging his head low in shame. "But we are not pretending anything, Madhu. It isn't easy to fake the conjugal bond." He said with a chuckle. "If there is no love to share then no couple will stand each other for even a minute... but we are together for over 30 years now and we are still going strong... And that's because your mama & I love each other as much as we hate each other"
"You hate mama?" Madhu frowned. Why the hell he would hate her when he was at fault? She wondered.
"Yeah... kind of" he wasn't sure whether he still hated her or not.
"I didn't get you"
"I thought we both loved and trusted each other so much to share our darkest secrets... But I was wrong. She didn't tell me about her past love interest." He said angrily. "You don't know how precious you are to us, Madhu. We lost two babies before you... we almost lost hope and thought we were cursed... But then by God's blessing you were born healthy... I am sure now you would know the feel of having your own fresh and blood in your arms so I think I don't have to tell you how I felt at that moment..." He said, tears peeking out of his eyes. "You won't deny the fact that I was a doting father before your kidnapping incident took place right?" He asked and Madhu nodded her head without any hitch. She was her papa's princess.
"When you were kidnapped I thought my world came crashing down to the gutter. I went insane and to heighten my insanity I came to know the kidnapper... who was none other than your mother's Ex-lover." He shook his head still finding it hard to believe his wife kept that a secret. She kept loving a criminal before marriage a secret to him. "You don't know how crooked and evil men's brain can function in such situations, Madhu. I thought of all the worst possibilities at that time... I couldn't think rationally... I couldn't think about you... I was in total mess. All I felt was your mother's betrayal and violent anger. I thought your mother never loved me and was seeing him after her marriage with me and helping him with my money. When he told me he killed my two babies I lost my mind completely... I got suspicious why he spared you and that's when I got this horrible thought..." he paused. Madhu flinched already knowing what was his 'horrible' thought.
"You doubted whether I was your blood or his, right?" Madhu asked, failing to hide her disgust both in her face and in her tone. Madhu rubbed her temple feeling nagging headache.
"I am sorry, Madhu" he begged. Madhu turned her face away and looked at her babies. They brought a small smile in her face instantly.
"Your mother forced me to save you by giving the kidnappers the ransom amount they asked for... I thought they were all playing tricks with me. They were just using you to get money from me and once I pay them... I feared your mother would run away with her Ex-lover... taking you, my life with them so I denied. I didn't want to lose both of you to that fu.." he controlled his tongue. "Only when your mother sought help from police..."
"You trusted her" Madhu smirked mockingly.
"Yes. Then lots of drama happened which you know already. I didn't give her divorce when she asked for it because I loved her though I partly hated her for breaking my trust. If she hadn't broken my trust then I would have trusted her... Things would have been so beautiful in our lives... I wouldn't have lost my daughter's love... And you wouldn't be having nightmares night after night..."
"Papa, please stop... I can't handle this anymore. I am starting to get a headache" She slumped on the bed and held her head in her hands. "So please just leave me alone" she muttered without looking at him.
"Madhu, I didn't mean to justify what I did. There is no justification at all for my act. I should have protected you whether you were mine or not but I didn't..."
"Papa, leave. Please." She begged. She didn't want the old shit resurfing now. All she wanted now was her husband. She wanted to hug him tight and forget everything. Only he could bring solace to her.
"Sorry" he mumbled and taking one last look at his daughter and her kids, he stepped out of her room and closed the door. When he turned around he collided with Rishab.
"Sorry, uncle" Rishab apologized and took a step back to give him way. He didn't feel so connected with his in-laws to call them dad and mom.
"Thank you, Rishab for looking after my baby girl" Malik said joining his hands.
Rishab gave him a puzzled look.
What the fuck? Did he talk with Madhu about the past? Did they have any argument?
Oh God! She was already upset with me...
"You didn't hurt her, did you?" Rishab couldn't help but ask.
"I guess I did upset her" Malik said honestly.
Rishab fist his hand and clenched his jaw in anger.
"You go in, seeing you she will feel better" Malik said and moved aside to let Rishab walk into his room.
Rishab was about to open the door by placing his hand on the knob when Malik called him.
"What?" Rishab asked impatiently.
"You are one great father... caring so much for your babies"
"Thanks and I could say the same to you but it would be so inappropriate to you" with that stinging remark Rishab entered his room and shut the door behind him.
... To be continued!
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