THE HALF OF IT

Part - 12

I was feeling so restless. It's been few days I and Karan met and now my fears were gripping me in their vice. All my childhood memories or say nightmares, were clogging my mind. Despite Karan telling me that he is not the bad guy and somewhere in my heart I do know, he is a good human being but I am not able to give my heart and mind assurance.

"What if he asked for custody of Valentine", I Said to Shruti who was sitting on the chair while I was pacing the kitchen.

"I don't think he will as far as you have told be but if he does, then that's his right. After all he is the father of Ruhi."

My stomach lurched, “Do you think it’s too late to move to another country with Ruhi?” I asked, half-joking.

Shruti caught my shoulders as I passed by again, forcing me to stop and looked me in the eyes. “You would never do that, and you know it. The fact that you told Karan about Ruhi when you could have kept her a secret tells me what a decent, honorable person you are.”

“What if that was a mistake?” I asked, praying that isn't the case.

“I don’t think it was, and deep in your heart, you don’t believe that, either. Give him a chance, Teju,” Shruti said, squeezing my arms reassuringly. “Until he does something to legitimately freak you out, give Karan this chance to get to know his daughter without thinking the worst or subconsciously sabotaging the relationship.”

I drew a calming breath, “Okay. You’re right."

“I am weady for the park, Mommy?” Valentine anoumced as she came into the kitchen. She looked at Shruti and asked, "Why can’t Tanya go, too?”

“Because she’s at home with her daddy today,” Shruti explained, since it was Sunday, which was her husband’s day off to spend time with his wife and daughter.

I went to Ruhi, setting her hairs and arranging her dress properly. Since I have been a single mother so I have always tried to make Ruhi as independent as possible. She chooses her own clothes, though mismatched but does a three year old cares about fashion or its disaster. She loves choosing her own outfits.

“I am taking you to the park to meet a friend of mine,” I told Ruhi so she isn't get taken by surprise completely when she come face-to-face with Karan.

“Oh.” her blue eyes brightened. “Is she my age?”

I held back a laugh. “No, my friend is a boy, and he’s my age.”

She wrinkled her cute little nose in disappointment. “That doesn’t sound like fun. Who is going to play with me on the swings?”

Oh, the concerns of a toddler,"We’ll figure that out whenwe get there, okay?”

“Okay. Let’s go?” and she ran to the door.

All three of us went out. Shruti went to her and house and me and Ruhi walked to the park. The park was private and safe as only residents with entry card were allowed inside.

Ruhi started walking towards the gate but I held her hand and asked to wait. I looked around and found the black range rover parked on the side. I recognized it as I saw him entering the vehicle after our lunch. Karan wasn't behind the wheel so I looked around and found him standing under a tree. He is wearing a jeans and t-shirt and he looks damn hot in casuals.

As we started walking towards him, I noticed how nervous he us for the meet. His hairs were tousled as he has been running hands in them. His smile too looked nervous.

"Valetine, that's my friend standing there, let's go" I told her.

She followed close beside me, suddenly very shy, as she normally is around strangers, and especially men. As we neared Karan, he lifted a hand to acknowledge us, but he didn’t start toward me or meet us halfway. Instead, he waited for us to come to him, which I appreciated otherwise Ruhi might have got startled.

When we reached him, Ruhi was clinging to my leg and staring way up at Karan with huge, uncertain eyes.
Karan swallowed hard as he lifted his gaze from Valentine to me. He smiled, but his expression was etched with awe that said, Holy shit, that’s my daughter.
“Hi,” he said, his voice a little rough around the edges with emotions.

“Hi,” I replied softly in returm before I gently touched my hand to the top of Ruhi's head, who still hugged my leg tightly. “Valentine, this is my friend, Karan,” I said in an encouraging tone, knowing it sometimes took a bit for her to warm up to newcomers. “Can you say hello to him?”

“No.” Val shook her head stubbornly, a fierce frown pulling at her tiny brows. “I don’t wanna.”

************

U

ghhh.... Will Ruhi accept Karan????

P.S. This update is especially for my sweetheart Sakeena because If she wouldn't have said to update today, I wouldn't have as it's the first time she asked me to do something so definitely have to do.

It's a hurry hurry update so plz ignore typos n mistakes.