Kairav woke up suddenly from his sleep. He needed to pee very badly. He was about to get up when he noticed his hand was being held by his father. He slowly and gently removed his hand without waking Kartik up. He slowly got out of the bed without disturbing his parents sleep. For a moment he thought of waking Naira up to go with him to bathroom, but then decided against it. He was a big boy now and was very brave, he could go to washroom on his own.
Kartik was still for a moment before his hand subconsciously started searching for Kairav. For five years, Kartik never had a restful sleep. He would wake many times in night, plagued by nightmares of that cursed day. When Naksh had advised him to sleep while holding Kairav's hand, he had done that and slowly, Kartik's body had started relaxing, his nightmares had lessened considerably. Day by day sleep was coming easier to him. Kartik understood what it meant. His son had become his anchor.
As his hand searched for Kairav, his body subconsciously started tensing at not finding him there. Kartik's mind and body started becoming more and more restless, his search becoming more and more frantic. Although he was sleeping, he was going to wake up soon, if his mind mind didn't relax.
Suddenly his wandering hand found a familiar hand to hold on to. His mind and body immediately recognised the soft familiar touch and relaxed immediately. But it wasn't Kairav.
It was Naira.
Even though they had been apart for a long time, Kartik's mind and body still remembered everything about her, but more than anything, it remembered that she was Kartik's home, his safe place to be. Goenka villa never mattered to Kartik, what made that house special to Kartik was the simple fact that, that was the place where Naira was going to be. Their room was heaven for Kartik, it contained their love, their memories, their everything, but as soon as she had left that place, the same heaven had become hell. There was a reason why Kartik hadn't slept in that room for five years.
Kartik's hand tightened his hold on her hand, as if afraid that it might slip away. His heart, his body, his subconscious knew what Naira meant to Kartik. Already the night before, when she had put cream on his back, her touch had wrecked havoc on his body. All the memories had resurfaced. Just a simple touch wasn't enough now. He needed more. Slowly, subconsciously, Kartik's body started shifting in Naira's direction and reached her. His hand which was holding her hand reached for her waist.
Naira's body recognised the familiar, loving touch and subconsciously responded, changing her position to accommodate him. No matter how much she kept denying it, even she longed for his touch. And before they knew, Naira's head was on Kartik's chest, one hand on her side while the other hugging him tightly. Kartik's one hand was on her waist and one hand was on her shoulder.
Kartik and Naira's hearts soared with delight, their minds were at peace, their bodies basking in the closeness. Even though both of them were asleep, their bodies, hearts, minds knew that they both were finally with each other. Both inhaled each other's scent and unknowingly tightened their hold on each other.
Kairav came back from the washroom and was about to climb on the bed when he noticed that his father had taken his place on the bed.
Kairav's thoughts:- arey, papa toh meri jagah so gaye, Mumma ko uthao, nahi, main bada ho gaya hoon, agar papa meri jagah so gaye toh main papa ki jagah so jaaonga.
Kairav laid on the side and before he knew it, he was asleep.
Naira slowly came into the land of consciousness. She woke up but didn't actually open her eyes. She didn't want to. For some reason, she felt very happy, very warm from inside. She just wanted to relax and stay in her current position, but knew it wasn't possible. She knew it was morning as she could hear the chirping of birds outside.
