The Intern

Part 24

This is a mature story. Only read if you are comfortable.

Abhimanyu Birla:

Abhi sat on the foot of his bed waiting for Akshu to get out of the bathroom so they can go downstairs for breakfast.  Usually she always got ready very quickly but this morning, she first got Aarav ready.  He looked to his side and saw Aarav sitting next to him. Akshu was right, he needed to get to know the kid. 
"So..." Abhi tried to start a conversation.  The kid looked at him. "What do you like to do on your free time?" What do 4 year olds like to do, he didn't know. The kid gave him a questioning look. "Do you like to read? Exercise? Watch TV? Sing?"
"I am super strong like Superman! Look at my muscles!" The kid showed off his skinny arm.
"What muscles?" Abhi laughed. The kid looked at him angrily. Damn, he looked just like Akshu when he was angry. "Sorry."
"Do you like legos?" The kid asked him.
"Legos? I used to when I was younger."
"Do you have any games?"
"Waste of time!" Abhi told the kid. "It's better if you spend your time reading. Do you like to read?"
"I know the whole alphabet!" The kid said proudly.
"Umm. Right."  How did Akshu find so many things to talk about with the kid? What was he supposed to talk about? They had nothing in common.

"Wow, Bua! You look so pretty!" The kid exclaimed as Akshu came out of the bathroom.  Abhi looked up and sighed. Akshu was wearing a pink sari and pretty she did look.
"Thank you my handsome baby!" Akshu smiled at Aarav and kissed his forehead.
"Wow Bua! You look so pretty!" Abhi told her. Akshu rolled her eyes. 
"Jealous again?" She kissed his forehead. "Thank you my big handsome baby. Happy?" Abhi pointed at his forehead and shook his head and then pointed at his lips, nodding. Akshu laughed and pointed at his lips and then looked at Aarav. "That's yucky, remember?"
"Baby, we really need to get him his own room! I can't even romance my wife now?" Abhi said grumpily.
"You are a bigger child than Aarav!  Come on, now. My baby is hungry. Right, Aarav?" She took the kid's hand and started to walk out but stopped and looked at Abhi. "Abhi, maybe Aarav and I can eat breakfast here?" Akshu hasn't left the room since the previous night when Aarav came home. Abhi knew she was scared of what his father or dadi might say.
"No, you will eat breakfast downstairs. You and Aarav have as much right on this house as the rest of us. Come." He took her hand and they walked downstairs.

________

They sat at the dinning table, Akshu between Aarav and Abhi.  Akshu sat silently feeding Abhi trying to not to look at anyone. Abhi noticed his father throwing dirty looks at them but he didn't want to create any drama in front of Akshu so he controlled his anger. Akshu was already anxious, she didn't need to be stressed out more.
"Akshara, call your brother today." Abhi's dad finally spoke up breaking the silence.
"Why?" Abhi asked. "Akshu is not calling anyone."
"I'm talking to Akshara, Abhimanyu."
"Why, Papa?" Akshu asked so softly, Abhi barely heard her.
"Tell your brother to come pick up his son."
Akshu looked at Abhi, her eyes filling up with tears.
"Harsh is right. We understand you love your nephew and he is welcome to come visit anytime but he can't live here." The dadi told Akshu. Akshu looked at Aarav.
"Hey buddy! Do you want to see my new video game?" Neil asked Aarav, before taking his hand.  Akshu whispered a thank you to Neil before Neil took Aarav away to his room.  Abhi will thank Neil later. He always like his little cousin and knew he was the only one along with his mom who always went out of their way to make Akshu comfortable.
"Kairav can come pick up the boy after lunch." Harsh said getting up.
"Aarav is not going anywhere."  Abhi answered him.
"This is not an adoption center, Abhimanyu nor is this a NGO.  This is my house." Harsh said looking at Akshu angrily.  Abhi wanted to...he almost forgot that man was his father. How dare he look at his Akshu like that? But he had to remain calm in front of Akshu.
"Is this my house too or not?"
"Of course it is, you are our son. Everything we have belongs to you only."  His dadi told him.
"By that logic, this is Aarav's house too then. Whatever is mine is his. He's my son." Abhi turned to Akshu. "Sweetheart, why don't you go check on Aarav?"
"Abhi..."
"I got this, baby. Go check on Aarav." He gave her a reassuring smile. He really didn't want to stress her out more.  He waited until Akshu left before turning to his family. "Like I said yesterday, if you want me to stay in this house and not move away again, you will not question why Aarav is in this house. He will live here, with me and Akshu."
"But beta, why? Aarav has his own parents. I understand Akshara is attached to him but you two just got married. Get to know each other first, spend some time together first. You can have your own kids..."
"Maa. Aarav is our kid.  As for his parents, I have filed a petition in court to have Akshu and I to have his legal custody.  Akshu is already very stressed, nobody needs to make her anymore stressed."
"Abhimanyu, have you lost your damn mind? You are fighting the boy's parents for his custody? What's going on?" Harsh screamed.
"Beta, please be honest. Why is Akshu so attached to Aarav?" Manjiri asked Abhi.
Abhi took a deep breath. "Because Akshu is Aarav's biological mom. She's the one who gave birth to him."
"What?!?" Abhi's dadi said stunned. "Manjiri, I told you I didn't like how attached your bahu was with that boy! Behind that innocent face turned out to be a cunning woman! The whole family is a fraud for not telling us!"
"Wah Abhimanyu! You brought back your wife's illegitimate child and want to raise him now? In our house? I will not allow that!" Harsh yelled.
"I think you didn't hear when I said Aarav is MY son. Akshu is his mother and I am his father."
"What are you saying, Abhi?" Manjiri sat down, putting her hand on her head. "Abhi. Please tell us exactly what's going on. How is Aarav your son? That makes no sense...you didn't know Akshu before? Did you?"
"I knew Akshu from when I was in Mumbai. She was an intern at the hospital. I met her there.  We were in a relationship for two years before she disappeared. She is the reason I moved to Udaipur because I was trying to find her. For 5 years I looked for her. That's why I agreed right away to marry her when I saw her picture, Maa. Aarav is my son."
"She told you he's your son? You believed her? Anything could happen in 5 years." Dadi cried. "Also what kind of a girl is your wife if she lived with you for two years? What are the chances she didn't sleep with..."
"What we won't do is point a finger at my wife. Akshu said Aarav is my son and that's enough proof for me. Also what kind of a girl is Akshu?  You didn't ask what kind of a guy I am? She lived with me so question me instead. I got her pregnant so I'm at fault more."
"You don't need proof but we do." Harsh told Abhi. "I'm not giving our name to your wife's illegitimate child."
"You are not going to call MY son that ever again!" Abhi yelled at him. "Do you hear me? Nor is anyone going to question at MY Akshu or her character!"

Abhi walked away toward Neil's room. As soon as the court case was over, he will take Akshu and Aarav and move back to Mumbai. He could never stand his father but he especially would not stand anyone talking about his Akshu like that.  He will go meet his lawyer tomorrow and expedite the case as much as he could. 

You guys are too fast.  I can't write fast enough. So 100 likes for next chapter 🙈