PreeRan Ff: Kashmakash

21~Own Child

In the midnight, Aneeta woke up weeping and Preeta also woke up. "Karan, Aneeta," she said shaking him as she couldn't get up without help. He woke up and picked Aneeta and cradled her, Preeta watched them and smiled. He kept her close to him giving her warmth and eventually Aneeta slept. He placed her near Preeta after sometime. "I will check Raunak," he said and she held his hand. "Karan, mom and dad looks after him if you forgot," she reminded. "But what may possibly go wrong if I check on him? I can't bother them too much," he said.

"Is a grandchild a burden on grandparents? No, right? They only chose to take care of Raunak as we were going to be parents ourselves," she said. "Preeta, but I am the one to take his custody," he said. "So that makes him connected to all of us equally because just like you are the son of this house, he is the first grandchild of the house, relax, they have experience of two kids already," she said. "Okay bubba, none can win an argument by you, sleep," he said and lied to sleep, they closed their eyes instantly and slept.

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Since it had been nine months since Dev had been found, he was already engaged to Nalini now, he and Alia had bonded well with Rohit and got fatherly love from him, even Ishwari became friends with him, but even after being asked thousand times of the strange childhood moments witnessed between him and Arjun, he always refused to talk about it. Though Alia never told Ishwari about it, but it worried her deeply. Alia woke up in the middle of the night and switched on the lamp to have water and just then she saw a shadow in the hallway.

She gulped water and rushed outside and saw Dev going to kitchen and climbing on the counter having water anxiously. She gasped and went to him and touched his arm, he startled. "Alia?" he said in surprise. "Bhai, why are you so anxious? What happen?" she asked. "Alia, nothing, really," he said panting heavily. "Do you still have nightmares about him? All the torture he did to you? All the pain caused by our dad?" she asked painfully. He looked on and climbed down the counter and hugged her, she hugged him back. "Bhai, hiding things won't do any good, why don't you understand?" she asked.

He released the hug. "Alia, how to tell? I don't know," he said. "Try," she said. He sighed and then looked around double checking to see no one i.e Ishwari was around. "Come," he said and took her by her hand to his room and closed the door. They sat on his bed. "Bhai, if you think you have been hiding something really important and that you should tell us but you can't tell it because you are not able to, so then tell it by some other way, okay? Truth matters," she said.

He nodded. She looked on as he didn't speak a thing. "Did he do some other wrong things as well?" she asked. "Like what?" he asked. "Inappropriate things, like bad touch," she said and he looked away. "Bad touch? No, not at all," he said. "Promise?" she asked and he nodded. "Did someone else do that?" she asked and he shook his head but then closed his eyes and lowered his head as tears rolled down his cheeks and she gasped as he sobbed continuously without stopping. She stood up and went to the bedside table and poured a glass of water for him.

She went to him and gave him water, he took it and gulped some of it but then took whole water in his mouth and choked on it and coughed. She took the glass from him and patted his back, after sometime he became fine. She stooped down near his legs and looked up at him. "Your tears are screaming that all of it did happen bhai," she said and his tears didn't seem to stop. "Bhai," she said painfully and stood up and hugged him. "I promise no one would do it again, it's okay because it wasn't your fault but that person's fault, you are safe, none would harm you now," she said and he nodded.

He lifted his head and wiped his tears, she released the hug. "Bhai, was this the thing which dad stopped you from telling mom?" she asked and he didn't react. "Alia, I need some more time to prepare myself to speak the truth, as this much time was also less for me," he said, she nodded and kissed his forehead. "Bhai, just one thing please, it wasn't dad who did it, so then...," her voice trailed off.