A Love So True

Chapter 37

Ishan buried his face in his palm , his muffled whimper made Shubman's heart ache. He shifted himself closer to Ishan , took him in his arms.

" Shh... Don't cry...we have to be strong. How can we fight the battle if you fall apart like this ? "

Shubman's own voice trembled .
Ishan buried his head on Shubman's chest , he gripped on Shubman's tshirt tightly.

" Shub..man..she..she .. is gonna take Ivan from me . I'm very afraid. I don't want to lose my Baby."

He started whimpering.

Shubman's eyes were glistening with tears . He was feeling weak in his heart but he had to be strong in front of Ishan and his son . Ishan raised his eyes and looked at Shubman with desperate eyes. His face was full of tear.

" Shubman , Please do something. Ivan ...Ivan..
I don't want to lose him . My Baby...my little child."

He sobbed.

Shubman cupped his face .

" Calm down Ish . Ivan will be here in few minutes. Dad called me , they are on the way.
You know na , your son can't bear to see you in tears . Ishan...my love.. listen my words carefully , look at me."

Shubman wiped his tears and made Ishan to look at him .

" It's gonna be the most difficult period of his life . We need to give him mental support as much as possible. You know Ish , he loves you the most , even more than his father."

Shubman said in almost whisper like voice.

Ishan bit his lips , tried to suppress his sobbing. He pulled himself away from Shubman.

"Shubman, please do something. This is killing me . He's just a child; why does he have to go through this harsh legal battle? He's far too young to deal with this kind of stress."

Ishan stared at Shubman with pleading eyes.

Shubman looked away from him. His chest felt tight. His eyes stared blankly at the wall, mind racing with countless terrible possibilities . Ishan's heart trembled with fear . Shubman's uncanny silence made him more impatient.

He shook Shubman's shoulder and asked ,
" Shubman , why aren't you saying anything? Please say something. I'm very afraid. "

Shubman's hands clenched into fists , Ishan's pleading gaze was piercing his heart. He closed his eyes and said in a serious tone,

" Juvenile justice law don't explicitly permit same-sex couple to adopt or raise child. Ivan's case become complicated as his biological mother herself applied for custody. They would rather give Ivan's custody to his biological mother despite of her abusive nature towards Ivan , but they would never let us raise Ivan together. "

Ishan's felt his heart went numb. Shubman's words left them with two unbearable choices:

Give up their love to be with Ivan.

or

Give up Ivan to be with each other.

If he wants to be with Shubman , he'll never get to see Ivan again ; he'll lose him forever.
The thought of being torn from his child's life , of not be able to tuck him in at night , of not being able to wipe his tear , of not being able to take care of him whenever his child will fall ill , of not being able to hear Ivan calling him Mumma again , was suffocating.

He looked at Shubman who was sitting infront of him , his gaze was lost somewhere. Only the way to secure Ivan's future by Shubman having Ivan's custody was .... separate himself from his husband , his love , his Shubman.