I was supposed to update this in 2024 but you guys made me write it sooner! Enjoy.
--*--
Gulaba, Himachal:
"How is her progress, doctor?" Siddharth asked as the lady doctor checked Aanandi, a girl of 4-5 years of age, who was born with muteness.
"She is improving but at slow rate. Her speech impairment needs advanced care." dr. Sharma replied. She knew Siddharth really cared for aanandi like other kids here, but she had to be honest to him without giving false hopes.
"And there is no one who can help us here?" he asked in earnest. He knew Dr. Sharma was doing her best but if not her, there had to be someone to help this little angel who was special to him.
"No, Siddharth. But there is one doctor in Delhi's Healing Touch hospital who can. If we can take her to Delhi somehow-"
"I will do it, Dr. Sharma. I will take her to Delhi tomorrow itself." Siddharth said with surety, caressing aanandi's soft hair.
And thus started his own journey to meet his past, unbeknownst to himself or the other 2 people.
--*--
Khushi was worried for Arnav. In an extremely cold night of December, he had gone out for a walk, insisting on letting be alone! It was all her fault. She shouldn't have broached that topic at night when he was obviously tired with a busy day at work. But she wanted to end the differences between him and his mother and in that excitement, she had told him,
"I think we should talk to maa about reconsidering Lalit uncle."
Arnav looked at her as if she had grown a horn at head and then continued checking emails on his phone.
Khushi, however, didn't lose patience, such was her determination that night, "Arnav, I know maa refused to marry Lalit uncle but that was 15 years back, she may not do so now."
He sighed and kept his phone aside, "And what makes you think so, Khushi? Maa had not only rejected Lalit uncle on the day of their engagement but also broken all our hearts. And she didn't even tell us any reason."
"What if that reason was you?"
He laughed sarcastically, "Me? What would I have to do with it?"
Khushi took a deep breath. This was the moment. "Please listen to me without overreacting Arnav. But the reason Maa refused to marry Lalit uncle at the last minute was because Dadi had asked her to choose between you and the re-marriage. Dadi was afraid she would be left alone if maa left home with you and thus, she put forward that condition. But maa chose you over her second chance at life. She has fought her entire life just for you. And twisted as it may, Dadi too has done it for this house, to keep you with her as a semblance of her family."
And after that, she told him how Dadi herself told her this and asked for repentance. And if she was afraid, he would get angry at Dadi or wouldn't trust Khushi, he only asked her to leave him alone for some time. As if he had suddenly put a wall around himself and didnt want anyone an entry. She gave him that space. But then he went out of the house for walk in the dead of the night and she could only watch.
Now, about an hour later, a worried Khushi was waiting in the hall along with Vasudha and sorrowful dadi. She couldn't resist keeping up with the tension and had gone to tell dadi, and soon vasudha too was informed.
Finally, after another stressful half hour, a distraught looking Arnav came back.
And he straight away went to his mother and fell on his knees in front of her. Vasudha was stunned as he touched her feet and wet it with his tears,
