Chaahat

Prologue

5 years ago

"Nina, what do you mean?" The tall, blue-eyed man stares at his pregnant girlfriend. He realises that she is upset, but he can't pinpoint what it is exactly. She is nine months into her pregnancy and Xavier has taken time off to be there for her. Her water could break any second.

"I mean that we had broken up! We were going our separate ways until I found out I was pregnant with our child." Xavier's brown knit, unsure of what to say. It's true that they had broken up because he wasn't the loving partner Nina deserved. He didn't know how to dote on her, he didn't know how to reassure her, he didn't know how to be a partner. He didn't know what the perfect relationship looked like. And he honestly, never tried. He was at fault for their broken relationship, he knew that. But he didn't feel anything about it.

They were eighteen when they started dating, and it was Nina's idea. She was the one who had asked him out and done the chasing. When he finally said yes, he made it clear that she shouldn't hold any expectations. But her heart, her poor teenage heart was over the moon and knew he would change. However, now at twenty-five, having another heart beating inside her, she realises she was wrong.

Her heart knew he was a great man, her heart knew he would one day fall in love and have his happily ever after, and her heart knew he would be the perfect father to their child. But now, her heart also knew that she wasn't the girl he would change for. Her heart also knew that maybe at one point she was in love with him, but that wasn't the case anymore.

"Nina, sit down, please. And then we'll talk." Guiding her to the sofa of their shared apartment, he passes her a glass of water before waiting for her to calm down.

"Xavier, I loved you. But you were right. We're not meant to be together. I want our child, but I don't want them to grow up in a toxic family where mum and dad are always fighting and there's no love around."

Nina watches him nod, his hands holding hers. "I'll speak to a lawyer and we can sort out the custody situation. But we can't be together. Not anymore." Sighing at her words, Xavier nods. When he found out they were going to be having a child, he really tried to get it together and make it work. But Nina was right, it wasn't going to work.

"You're going to be a supermodel, opportunities are coming your way, they're waiting for you to recover after giving birth." Xavier reaches for his baby, protected by the swollen womb. "I'm not going to drop the responsibility of our baby on you like that."

He looks up, eyes twinkling with hope. "I can have custody and you can have visits. I promise I'll never stop you from seeing our baby. But please give me primary custody."

Nina ponders on the thought, that regardless of what he was like as a lover, he's already the perfect father. And she couldn't say the same about her. At least she knew she wouldn't be able to give her child the time they deserved.

"But, Xav. You're army? What'll happen?"

"I'll work it out. But-"

His words are left unsaid when Nina grabs a hold of his hand in panic, "My water!"

A total of 12 excruciating long hours later, Xavier found himself sitting beside a sleeping Nina. His daughter was in her cot just a few feet away. He had just helped the nurses bathe her and put her in some warm clothes. She was tiny, just fitting snugly in the palms of his hands. Now that the nurses had left and were giving them some time alone, Xavier was terrified of going close to her.

"Xav," a whisper snaps him out of his daze, "stop looking at the cot and go look at her."

He shakes his head, head dropping into his palms. "Go Xav, look at her, tell me what you think we should name her."

Taking in a deep breath, he walks over. Nina giggles as he places his hands behind his back and stands a few inches away from the cot. Xavier gazes down at his daughter. She has thick black hair, chubby rosy cheeks, and a tiny button nose. "Sofia."

Nina smiles at the man and whispers the name, "Sofia Xavier Alejandro."

Xavier's eyes snap in Nina's direction, she had been adamant that their child would get her surname and his name as their middle name, but she just gave their daughter his surname. She smiles, "I have people who would carry the family name in the future. And when I have more kids, they can carry it. But our Sofia deserves to be the one to carry on your legacy. She'll be the only one."

Xavier feels his eyes water as he gazes down at his daughter. His mother had passed away in childbirth, so Xavier never knew her, and his father had turned to alcohol soon after. Having no one except his father, who was constantly drunk, he had to grow up really quickly. And it wasn't easy when you were born into a poor immigrant family living in a rural area of Chicago. His father spent day and night drunk, and when he didn't have a bottle in his hand he had his belt. Either way, the only person who suffered was little Xavier. He was thirteen when he ran away from his home.

He left Chicago with a backpack and as much cash as he could find in his father's room. His backpack had two sets of clothes and the rest was filled with all his documents, his passport, and some snacks. Taking buses and trains he somehow managed to find himself in Cambridge. Getting off the bus at midnight, the thirteen-year-old Xavier had stood outside a hostel building. And that was where he met the eighteen-year-old Shourya.

"Xav!" His eyes snap away from his daughter and focus back on Nina, "What are you thinking?"

He was going to give his little one the world, "I'm leaving the army."

Nina looks at him, not knowing what to say. "But Xavier, the army is your life. Your everything." He looks at his daughter, sighing as he slowly reaches to caress her cheek. "Not anymore."

Later that night he found himself calling the one man who could help him out. He was going to quit the army, but he needed something. And the one man who had always been there for him since he was thirteen.

Stepping out of the room, he presses the phone to his ear and a few rings later he hears Shourya's voice. "Hello."
"I need work."
"What a lovely way to say hello. We can work something out for work, but can you tell me- Hold on a second."

He hears the phone being put down and Shourya's voice being shouted, "Baby Meesha, that's not for eating. Put it down, baby."

Xavier, on any other day, would have hung up. But today he kept the phone against his ear and listened to Shourya talk to his now two-year-old baby girl. This was going to be him with his Sofia and that did something to his heart. "Sorry, Meesha wanted to eat the T.V. remote."

"That's fine. So um- Nina just gave birth, and now I can't be in the army."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, he could tell Shourya was already filtering through options that would work. Xavier knew that Shourya would work it out for him like he always had.

"Don't worry about it. Take some time off with your daughter, and work things out with Nina. I'll have something sorted when you're ready."

"Thank you."

NOTE: I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF SO I'M GIVING YOU THE PROLOGUE! BUT THE REST OF THE STORY WON'T BE UPLOADED UNTIL DEEWANA IS ENDED. DEEWANA IS HALFWAY THERE, SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO WAIT MUCH LONGER! BUT NO ASKING FOR UPDATES UNTIL DEEWANA IS FINISHED