Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-50: The Responsibility Of A Rajvansh.

5 days from Meenakshi's birthday...

"Dad." His daughter's tired voice alerts Abhir as he sits up in his bed, turning on the bedside lamp. The fact that Maya had called at such an ungodly hour meant something was wrong.

"Maya, are you okay? You don't sound good." Abhir's voice was filled with concern, and Maya could imagine the freckles forming on his head as he squinted his eyes in the darkness of his room. Maya misses him so badly and hearing his voice only intensifies her burning urge to book a flight back home. 

"I am just tired from all the work, Dad. No need to worry." Maya assures Abhir, but it still doesn't settle his heart. He knows better than anyone what a toll it takes on you to be a part of that family. No matter how much everyone in the family loves each other, their actions and emotions are all connected to and controlled by a single link which is Meenakshi Rajvansh. Everyone in that family dances to her rhythm, and it wouldn't have been a bad thing if she wasn't fruitless at being the head of the family. It would've done him good if he had realized how self-centred and destructive his mother was before he lost the love of his life to her power-play. The last thing he wants is for this catastrophic family dynamics to take a toll on his children too.

"Maya, do not hide anything from me. You know Daddy is the only one in this world who would understand anything you say. I am always ready to listen, Mridhu." Maya smiles at her real name being used. Since she lived in London all her life and people there found it very hard to pronounce her name, Mridhula, she had to add Maya as her preferred name in all of her enrollments so people rarely address her as anything but Maya. In fact, everyone in the family also calls her Maya, but her father calls her Mridhu as a term of endearment. The fact that he called her by her name shows how worried he is for her.

"Dad, I am really fine. You know I am not someone to easily be driven to concede defeat. I still have a lot of energy left to fight." Abhir knows that Maya is strong, but he also knows that everyone's strength has a limit.

"What about Adi? Is he okay too? He didn't call me at all since he left. Tell him that I'm not angry anymore." 

"He is fine and he knows, Dad. He is just afraid that if he hears your voice, he will run back to London." Abhir laughs on the other end, and the sound is like music to Maya's ears, filling her with utter comfort at the familiarity of it.

"Then he should call me. I miss you guys so much."

"We miss you too, Dad." Maya clears her throat as if preparing herself to say something important. "Okay, let's not get too emotional. Right now, I am calling you for a favour. I need a big favour. A very very big one." Maya says, crossing her fingers, hoping to get this at any cost.

"What do you want, Maya? Anything my daughter wants, she gets." Abhir always says this to Maya. Maybe it was because she was a girl and Abhir knows just how much harsh the world can be to girls, that he wants to be just as lenient to her. Anyone would know that he has a soft spot for his daughter. He would give the world to his children, and more to Maya because she had to endure way too much as a kid. Because of his past, Maya never had a proper childhood, and Abhir always felt responsible for it. Maya, at a very young age, decided to be a motherly figure for Adi, always setting him straight, disciplining him and pampering him. All the while it was her who needed more parental care, which is why Abhir was always more lenient with Maya than Adi. If this is seen as being partial between his kids, Abhir can't do anything about it. He only knows that he loves all of his children equally while Maya is the one he feels the most responsible for. All Mishti ever wanted was to fight the backlash women received for trying to stand on an equal pedestal as men. His wife's ideals made Abhir more responsible in shaping his daughter to be a strong individual, so she would fight through the hardships and at the end of it, he hoped to be the refuge where she could let go of that struggle and rest until the next fight. As it goes without saying, being a father to a daughter is very different from being a father to a son.