Unkept Promises

All he could do

Abhiram's POV

"Dadda, when momma be back?", Aaru nuzzled his head in my neck and began bouncing in my arms.

I chuckled at my crazy little nugget.

"Baby, she has important work. And you are my sweet little boy, aren't you? She will be back soon.", I assured him and in a way, also assured myself.

"Hmm, she bring a new toy for Aaru.", he giggled.

"Naughty boy. You are waiting for your momma or for the new toy."

He looked straight into my eyes, "New toy dadda. Momma come home only."

He shook his head and went back to nuzzling my neck, occasionally hitting his head on my chin.

He was right. It was of course my guilt which had scared me into questioning if Avi would be back home, it was my guilt of all those months. But my little baby assured me in his own innocent way. Avi had said that she would be back for Aaru and Aaru knew that his momma would be back for him. I wanted her to feel to come back for me too.

I felt so happy for the parenting we have subjected Aaru to. My sweet child is extremely assured that both of his parents would always be with him, no matter what.

In a way, what mom told us about some amount of distance being helpful for us makes sense.

This will assure the much necessary breathing space for Avi. And as for me, I am planning on an entire scheme to gain my Avi back, to rebuild my family which I had almost destroyed thanks to my own doing.

But now, enough of these tears. I know this regret within me won't go away even if Avi forgives me some day, but I can repent, grovel for her, the way she deserves. Even if it's till the very last moment. She deserves that, Avi deserves a man who would own up to his mistakes and grovel for her, fight for her, the way she deserves. And I was going to do exactly the same, no matter what it takes. No matter how long it takes.

"Dadda, park?", Aaru's voice brought me out of my reverie.

"Hmm", I pretended to think.

"Please dadda.", that little boy knew how to coerce his parents into giving what he wanted.

"In the evening. And, only if you have bhindi nu shaak for lunch today."

(bhindi nu shaak - bhindi means okra, and bhindi nu shaak is a Gujarati recipe)

I knew it had to be this way. While Aaru patiently ate most of the vegetables and fruits, he had a particular dislike for bhindi which was in stark contrast to Avi and I's immense love for the vegetable.

Considering the obvious health benefits of bhindi, we had to think of some schemes to get him to eat it.

"Dadda", he started whining.

"Uh huh, bhindi or no park."

"Ok", he pouted and forced me to let him down.

While I was doing so, the little brat hit his head in my stomach and then ran away giggling when he noticed me holding my stomach and groaning.

"Crazy boy.", I shook my head and decided to work on a few things.

I had decided to work from home today and had mailed my assistant Hitesh in the morning itself, about the stuff he had to get done with.

The most pressing issue presently was a high profile client whose daughter had just returned from the US after four years of study. I had personally appointed Meenal, one of my best persons to attend to them. If this client would be satisfied, it would bring in more high profile clients and in turn more revenue for my firm. But the issue was, the girl had quite some changing preferences. One day, she would want a bohemian style, the other day maximalist style and the next day, a combo of these two or just something else. I had seen Meenal close to tears in all of the five meetings she had with her. Poor girl - she's extremely talented, I can assure that and finding a mid way had become tough for her.