"Ek Ajnabee Haseena se..."
"Don't you need to burp her?" Arnav asked after waiting for more than 5 minutes. The baby-mother, Khushi, had fed the baby with what looked like formula milk but continued to keep the baby in a horizontal position in her lap. And that had made Arnav restless. He was watching the duo for quite sometime now. and because of his experience with his nephew Soham, he knew the baby needs to burp after being fed and looked like the lady in front of him had either been careless about it or forgotten it.
Khushi looked at him with confused expressions and then she remembered, her papa had also told her this, burp the baby after she eats. "huh? Yeah, yeah of course. Burp her." Gosh. Khushi felt embarrassed for a moment and then started rubbing her hand on Sanika's tummy and then bouncing the baby in an attempt to make her burp. CLEARLY not winning any points there! Khushi was panicking already. She had never felt this nervous even when she was waiting for getting acceptance from Stanford or when her company's annual report came out. 'Come on baby, please don't test me like this' she pleaded to baby sanika while still bouncing her in an attempt to make her burp.
"STOP! She will vomit this way." Arnav said in a little higher pitch than was needed to be used with a travel-acquaintance, but he couldn't sit and watch that scene anymore. "Give her to me." he extended his arms and khushi being extremely scared already that she was messing something with Sanika again, gave her to Arnav.
Arnav held Sanika in his arms and she immediately snuggled closer to his neck. He had never seen any baby being so patient, especially with strangers. Arnav smiled, his annoyance slightly fading away with the baby's touch. He gently rubbed Sanika's back in an attempt to get a burp out of her and finally after 5 minutes, she did.
Khushi watched the scene with amused expressions. Wow! This guy was really good with this, this baby-stuff! She was impressed.
--*--
After another round of nap, food and burping, khushi looked at the time remaining for landing. Still 5 more hours. She looked at Sanika in her lap, who had suddenly started kicking her legs, indicating she was not comfortable. Khushi looked at arnav expectedly as if he would give her the answer of what did the baby need. Arnav sighed and asked her to give him the baby. It took him less than a minute to understand what the problem was,
"Umm khushi the baby needs a diaper change." He informed and khushi panicked again! She tried to remember what her papa had taught her but suddenly felt unsure of pulling it through!
"But i don't know how to." she replied honestly, but khushi's reply made Arnav more upset. What a careless mother was she!
He sighed and asked for diaper bag and marched towards the toilet with Khushi in tow.
Khushi watched him clean the baby, change her diaper, and then hold her securely in his arms. This guy was her hero! She couldn't help thinking, if she was ever to marry and have a baby, she will probably need a baby-dad like this man!
"don't mind me saying this Khushi, but you don't really seem to handle her well. How are you managing since her birth then?" he asked while playing with now-happy Sanika. He had seen Khushi struggle with the baby and couldn't help voice his thoughts.
"I didn't. her parents did." Khushi replied on an instant, not realizing it had made Arnav look at her with shocked expressions.
"What do you mean? She isn't your daughter?" was he wrongly judging her to be a lousy mom all this time?
Then she realized, he didn't know. Of course he didn't. Her and sanika's relation was only known to their families. For onlookers, she did look like Sanika's mother. If only she was able to pull off that role...'sorry sameera, sorry nikhil' she apologized to her friends and turned to answer Arnav,
"No. She is my late best-friend's child. I am just her caretaker until i give her to her grandparents." Khushi told and Arnav was more shocked if possible. He had never thought there could be such a compassionate person behind this woman whom he was mentally accusing to be a careless mother until now! The baby wasn't even hers and she was doing so much for her. But where was baby's dad then? She didnt mention him, did she?
"Where is her father?" Arnav asked while Khushi extended her arms to take Sanika back in her lap.
Khushi contemplated for a bit if she should tell this man who was practically a stranger about sanika's story. But then all these hours he had been nothing but a kind person to her and helped her with Sanika. She could trust him with this personal detail! And so she then went on to tell him about how Sanika's parents were Sameera and Nikhil, how they had mentioned Khushi as their child's legal guardian, how after their tragic deaths Khushi took care of Sanika and finally how Nikhil's parents insisted to have Sanika with them. So she was now taking her to her grandparents. By the time she was done with this story, it was Arnav who was mighty impressed and looked at her with admiration! This girl was unbelievable! Was she even real? If she was then she was his hero!
"WOW! You are an amazing woman Khushi! I have never seen or heard anyone doing what you are doing for this baby. Sanika is lucky to have you." He genuinely praised her.
"I am the luckier one to be her aunt, she keeps teaching me so much! I just wish I could take care of her better you know." Khushi said resting her chin on the baby's head.
"You love her khushi, that shows and trust me that's what matters." he said reassuring her, now looking her in an entirely different light!
And thus the two bonded further over their little travel companion Sanika, kids in general, then Arnav telling her about his di and nephew who lived in Delhi. Khushi wanted to mention she had a distant cousin brother who lived in Delhi too with his wife and kid but thought to not share that information. It was irreverent, besides she had hardly met her brother once or twice. Finally the topic moved to business. Arnav was surprised to know that the woman in front of him was a CEO of Gupta Inc. and in fact was a Stanford alumni, just like him, albeit an year junior to him. No wonder she seemed familiar to him. He must have seen her on campus during university days but his priorities were MBA to indulge in girls that time and looked like hers were similar too.
By the time they landed in Delhi, they had already become fond of each other, had developed an admiration for the other and both wished they could meet again. Khushi had told him she was staying in a hotel and Arnav didnt know how to ask her if he could meet her or talk again. He could probably look her up later, he knew her name already and her identity as Gupta Inc's CEO would also help to trace her. So he decided to keep these thoughts on a back burner and helped her get her bags. Sanika was comfortable in his arms as khushi took her bag. To any onlookers, the trio would look like a cute family of husband, wife and a baby!
As they exited the baggage area and moved towards airport exit, Anjali, Shyam and Soham were waiting for Arnav. It was Anjali to notice Arnav first,
"Woh raha Arnav." She happily squealed and then noticed Khushi and Sanika besides him, "Hey bhagwan, Shyam, look at that! Chote was not lying about his marriage. He has really got his wife and his child with him!"
--*--
A/N – That's it for now. Let me know how was it. In the original plot, I had planned to let them adopt the baby but here I am thinking about Khushi giving her to Nikhil's parents. preferences?
p.s. series extra/epilogue of SS#4 is up on the blog, use the link you already have to navigate to it, also no circulation without my permission pls, else i won't write more of it.
