Reality Ever After

Part 41. A Long Day's Night

Hey people,

Thank you for the amazing response and comments on the previous chapters. I read each and every one of them and was very intrigued to know all your thoughts. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the time to respond to you guys individually and whatever time I did have, I thought I should invest in the next chapter. Let me know your thoughts on this one. Also, please note that even if I don't respond, I LOVE all your comments. Keep them coming!

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Navya had given birth at around 6:30 am and all of them had waited until they all met the baby and ensured Navya was okay. Cabir had called his mom early in the morning to tell her about the baby and she had come to the hospital to see Navya as soon as she could. She was surprised to see all of Cabir's friends including Manik's new girlfriend had been with Navya all night long. She had noticed one thing about all these kids over the years that no matter how much they fought amongst themselves, they were always there when they needed each other. Whether it was Mukti trying to commit suicide or when Cabir was beaten up or when Manik was in the hospital and so on. But the fact of the matter remained that they were always together whenever either of them were in a crisis. She knew from experience that people would always stand by you during good times but the people who stand by you during bad times are the ones that mattered. And now it seemed like Navya and Manik's girlfriend had also managed to penetrate into their gang and make some space for themselves.

Navya had spent some time with the baby in her arms. She had fed the baby and he had fallen asleep soon. She stared at this miracle of life in her arms for hours. This was her baby. Her flesh and blood. A tear escaped her eye when reality was finally sinking in. She was so glad she had taken the decision to not abort this baby but give it birth instead. She couldn't imagine taking his life. And although the circumstances were not ideal, she felt proud of herself by bringing this baby into the world. It was the single most bravest thing she had done in her life. In the last 9 months, she had cursed herself multiple times for being so naive and falling into Harshad's trap. She had felt so ashamed of what she had done that she couldn't bare to look at herself in the mirror for being so stupid. But looking at her baby at this moment, she was glad that she was stupid.

However, now that the baby was born, she knew she had to give the baby up for adoption. During the last few days, she had been in touch with an adoption agency and had been reading profiles of multiple parents who wanted a child. She had even met with a few parents but was unable to come to any conclusion. But with the little knowledge and life experience she had had, she knew that she wasn't looking for only well to-do parents. After spending enough time with FAB5 and Harshad, she knew that having all the money in the world didn't solve all problems. She had to find parents who'd not only take care of her child but give him the right values and the upbringing. It was okay if they weren't so rich but it was important that they were good people and even better parents.
However, for now, she was just going to love her baby for whatever time she had until she chose the right parents.

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Although Cabir went home to get some rest, he couldn't sleep a wink. He was just overwhelmed with so much emotion he never thought he was capable of feeling. Yes, he always knew there would be a baby coming soon but knowing and experiencing were two different things. He just couldn't get that moment out of his head when he held the little one in his arms. He was absolutely perfect. Knowing about his sexuality, he knew he'd never have his own baby. But he realised that whenever he had a life with someone, he'd definitely want to adopt. He knew he'd want to be a father one day. But apart from all the overwhelming feelings, Cabir was extremely worried. He didn't have enough money to ensure this baby would be taken care of. Fortunately, due to the Radio O2 job, Navya's medical expenses for the delivery would be taken care off as Radio O2 offered medical insurance for all its employees. But now that the baby was born, he'll need a bunch of things from clothes, medicines, toys, diapers and he didn't even know what else. Although he and Navya had been saving up some money, he wasn't sure if it would be enough as they also had to manage their rent and their own expenses on top of that. He was technically counting on an album working out by now but things have been rocky with FAB5 and he didn't know if Manik would agree to the album. Truth to be told, he really needed this album to work out. He was really low on funds and he didn't want to borrow from his mother or his friends. Not after he had just managed to get on his feet. Life was indeed ironic, there was a time when he didn't even bother checking how much money he had left in his bank account or credit card but now he kept checking every half an hour hoping that the mere amount of Rs. 8332 in his bank account would multiply on its own. It was just the first week of the month and he had just paid rent last week and he had no idea how he was going to make it to the end of the month. He just hoped Manik, Dhruv and Alya made up and they could somehow figure out a way to do this album.