Apprehensions

Aranya's Boyfriend

It was Karan's turn to pick up Aranya from school. Jessica and Adaa were over at their place so that Teju could have a relaxing spa day with the girls and Karan offered to be on pickup duty today. 

Since Aranya was still in playschool she just had school for 3 hours while Veer had to be there for the full duration.

Aranya had no idea that Karan was going to pick her up and he was excited to see her reaction. His happy mood took a complete U turn when he reached near the gates and saw his baby daughter hugging another small boy. Excuse you, how dare he? 

He was fuming in anger and he had to remind himself that he cannot hit a child. Nobody gets to touch any of his girls. 

The minute she saw her father, she ran to him with her hands outstretched. Karan immediately picked her up in his arms and gave her a tight hug, all the while giving a stink eye to the poor little boy standing behind. 

"How's my chota anda? Daddy missed you so much." He kissed her chubby cheeks. 

"Daddy I missed you too, you know I had so much fun today, we did some finger painting and -" 

"Bye Aru I'll see you tomorrow?" That little devil as per Karan interrupted Aranya and he could feel the anger come up again. How dare he call her Aru. She was Aranya Kundrra for him. 

"Daddy, I want you to meet my boyfriend, his name is Kushal." Aru got down from his hold and held that boy's hands. Karan thought he was going to faint the minute he heard the word 'boyfriend' from her mouth. This couldn't be happening now, he thought he had a good 30+ years before he would have to start worrying about boyfriends. 

"I think you mean a friend, right baby." He smiled a little too sweetly to avoid the grimace from appearing on his face. 

"No, I mean boyfriend. He is my boyfriend. We share our snacks together everyday." 

The boy, Kushal's mother walked up to them. She had heard so much about Karan Kundrra. She didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk to a celebrity. 

"Oh, you must be cutie Aru's father. I'm Kushal's mother and also the PTA representative. It's so nice to meet you." 

"Aranya. Her name is Aranya. Only family gets to call her Aru." He gritted his teeth. What's with everyone calling her pet names? 

"Aru, I mean Aranya and Kushal have become such good friends, please do send Aranya over to our house some day for a play date I'm sure they will be so happy." The lady kept gushing over the two kids. 

"I'm sorry my daughter doesn't like going for play dates now if you'll excuse me." He tugged on Aranya's hand and almost pulled her away when she hugged Kushal once again. 

"Bye Kushal we will share our snacks tomorrow too. I'll ask mumma to add some extra for you." 

"Mumma is not going to be adding anything extra for anybody, especially not for that Kushal." He muttered under his breath and took her away.

_________________________________

"Jessica maasi, Adaa maasi." Aranya squealed as she caught sight of her two favorite maasis. They soon huddled together and listened to Aranya go on and on about her day at school. She definitely took after her mother with the way she spoke so animatedly, with the right tone and change in facial expressions. 

Tejasswi saw the sour look on Karan's face, "What's up with you?" She enquired.

"Do you know some guy named Kushal at her school?" 

"Oh, you mean Aru's boyfriend?" Jessica answered from behind them.

"You know him too?" He was shocked to say the least. 

"Ofcourse, who else will Aru go to with her boyfriend problems? I'm the cool maasi." 

"You are the one infiltrating my innocent baby's mind with this boyfriend nonsense." He gasped at Jessica. His own friend betraying him. 

"Oh hello Mr Love School Kundrra you should be the last person schooling anyone about having boyfriends and crushes. Did you forget your history?" Jessica rolled her eyes at him. He could hear Tejasswi try to bite in her laughter. He glared at her while she showed him her puppy dog eyes. 

"Aru does not have a boyfriend. That's final." 

"Oh c'mon sunny. Kushal is such a cutie. Isn't he Aru?" She cooed at her daughter who kept looking at the elders with curiosity. Why was her love life suddenly their topic of discussion. Huh!

"Mumma, he is so handsome." She giggled. 

"Aru! I thought I was handsome?" He gasped, feeling betrayed by his daughter. Tejasswi rolled her eyes. He can be such a drama queen at times. 

"Of Course you are, but you are my daddy, he is my boyfriend." 

"He is not-" He took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to Adaa who was silently watching this crazy family 

"Adaa, the only sane adult in this room right now apart from me, can you please take Aru and Jessica elsewhere while I have a word with my wife?" 

"Hey I'm not a kid." Jessica complained but happily accompanied Adaa when she mentioned something about chocolate chip cupcakes in the kitchen.

"Kya ho gaya mere sunny ko." Tejasswi hugged Karan as soon as everyone left and threw some air kisses at her sulking husband. 

"Aru cannot be having a boyfriend right now." He pouted.

"Babe, don't be like this. She is so young, she doesn't even know what having a boyfriend means. She thinks sharing toys or food means they are boyfriend. You will still be her most favorite." She spoke like she was speaking to Aru. Sometimes he was such a baby. Especially when he felt like his two favorite girls loved someone else more than him.

"She is growing up so fast. She is supposed to stay my baby forever." He whined.

"And she will be. She will always be your baby. And you will be her number 1 man always. You still have a good 2 decades before she thinks of kicking you out of her life for a guy." She teased him.

"Don't say that. She will never leave me." 

"Yeah sure, that's what my dad thought until you came into my life and snatched me away from him." She rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm not letting my little baby go anywhere. She is gonna be with us forever." He nodded firmly. There's no way his babies can leave him. Ever. 

They soon heard Aru's soft footsteps and giggles as she carried a cupcake over to her father. Karan immediately picked her up in his arms and kissed all over her round chubby face. Oh how happy he was that his daughter inherited her mother's cheeks. 

"Daddy, don't be sad. Aru loves you the most in the world. Even if I have a boyfriend." She then proceeded to show the cupcake as a peace offering. 

"Promise me you will always be my little girl. You can't grow up so quickly." He pouted.

"Hehe, silly dad, I am still so little. See." She showed him her little palms and giggled as if the thought of her being grown up was so funny and absurd. Daddy is so funny at times.

Feeling satisfied with her answer, he sat down on the sofa with Aru still on his lap while they shared the cupcake. 

"So daddy you weren't angry about my boyfriend because he has the same name as the boy who mumma had a crush on? Adaa maasi told me that's why you don't like Kushal." She asked innocently. 

Tejasswi's eyes widened and Karan's nostrils flared once again. He turned to glare at Adaa but they had already left the living room the minute Aru opened her mouth. 

"That's it, we are banning their entry from our house. Laddoo!" He whined again while Tejasswi tried to pacify a sulking Karan once again. 

XXX

A/N : I was just wasting my holidays so I decided to just write this prompt for ya'll. I can imagine Karan being possessive not only for Teju but also for his daughter 🥺🥺

Love,
Sadie 💖