HIS STAMMERING PEACE | 18+

CHAPTER-45: you know about her

VIKRAM POV

" HUM BATATE HAI!"

All three of us turned around to look at the source of the voice. I was expecting something different but not even once I thought that dadaji would be the one related to my traumatic past.

" Dada hukum, aaiye. Aap wahan kyun khade hai" Amogh said as he stepped ahead to help dadaji to his king's Chair.
( Dada hukum, please come in. Why are you standing there?)

" Da...dadaji, aaa....aapko pta hai hum....humari maasi maa ke bare mein? Kya aap jante hai ki woh kaha hai?" I said as I started moving towards him. He first looked at me with a frown but then his expressions turned dazed.
( Dadaji, you know about my maasi maa? Where is she right now?)

" Hmmm....hume pta tha ki ye din zaroor aayega aur jo sach hum duniya se chupate aaye hai woh ek din samne aa kar rahega." He sighed and leaned on his fist placed on the table while the other hand was resting on his walking stick embossed with gold and a Ruby.
( Hmmmm......I knew that this day will come that the truth that I've been hiding for so long will reveal itself in front of everyone)

*******

" It all started around 30 years ago. I was sitting inside my throne room when one of my guards came rushing inside panting harshly. He was bloodied and bruised very badly. I didn't even let him utter a single word and rushed out of my throne room towards the entrance of the Rathore palace.

A man dressed in formal attire stood along with a fragile girl. She looked very timid and scared at the moment, she appeared young......younger than that man. One look at her and I knew that she belonged to a good family but her appearance was bothering. Even though she was engulfed in a huge shawl but anyone could guess that she was small and malnourished.

Her body was shaking and after a few seconds, she was about to fall on the ground due to weakness. The man standing beside her held her on time and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

" Hum vineeti karte hai Hukum, humari madad kar dijiye" he said and tried to kneel in front of me. I felt my legs gave out on me but I held myself steady and strong.

" Jaan khatre mein hai inki, Hukum. Agar aapne ab humari sahayta nhi ki toh phir hum dono ek dusare ko kho denge." The man said with weary eyes while joining his hands.

I was about to turn around and walk inside the palace when.....I heard a small cooing.

I couldn't help myself and a few drops of tears rolled down from my eyes. I quickly walked towards the couple, when my gaze stopped on a small baby wrapped in a black suit jacket. The baby had his eyes closed but his tiny hands were moving as he made those cooing sounds

" Ye.....ye baccha...." I tried forming words but failed due to the rush of emotions that I was feeling.

" Humara hai Hukum......hum jante hai ki jo bhi humne kiya woh galat hai aur hum iss zimmedari ke liye taiyaar hai. Hume apne pyaar aur uss pyaar ki nishani ko bachana hai. hum har tarah ke dand ke liye taiyaar hai. Bas humari madad kar dijiye.....aage aap jo bhi saza denge woh hume manzoor hai" I didn't speak a word and took that newborn baby in my arms. I started walking towards the palace dispensary.

" Call the medical staff and ask them to prepare for a medical room for MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AND MY GRANDSON"

*******

"I saw the shocked expressions on everyone's face but no one dared to question me" he said with a chuckle.

" But dada hukum....." Amogh interjected but stopped by dadaji

" How is that incident connnect to our current situation? Who was that baby? How do i know all this?- these are few questions bothering you three right now, right?" He said as we nodded our heads.

" That baby was you Amogh. You were born even before your parents were even married." He chuckled once more

Why is he chuckling so much?

I heard Aarman coughing at the back to hide his amusement. I could feel my ears turning red thinking about my parents behaving like lovesick teenagers.

" Your father was leading a project in Punjab at his late 20s and then he fell in love with a Punjabi girl. I don't know how they end up here in rajasthan but things looked serious and chaotic at that time. Your maa sa suffered a lot in the earlier phase of her motherhood.....both mentally and physically." He said and started looking of something in his coat pockets. He beamed when he found his possession and took out his wallet from his pocket.

" We didn't know about her family members but only knew that she had a best friend........ Who she missed a lot"

" One day your maa sa disappeared from the palace and that was a hard blow to your father. He tried his best to look for her everywhere but then he guessed that she might have gone to her best friend's place.....and he wa right"

He sighed and moved a little, turning towards Vikram with that same photograph in his hand.

" We reached Punjab shortly but what we saw left us in an emotional turbulence. We saw that your maa sa was hugging a woman who looked thin and mentally exhausted. They were crying in eachothers arms and then when they broke the hug I shocked to witness the broken woman standing in front of us. She was wearing an expensive Punjabi suit but her face was pale and her eyes looked dead." He said as he wiped a lone tears from his eye.

" After spending that day with her, we decided to bring the Hukum Rani sa with us as she was expecting for the second time. But we didn't expect that it would turn out to be the worst decision of our lives........" Dadaji rose from his seat and walked towards me.

" After a few weeks, we received a news that that woman has committed a suicide........leaving her 8-9 years old son with a non-availabile husband."

" That was the day, when the Hukum Rani sa of our state not even lost her second born after that news but she also lost HER ELDER SISTER, HER BEST FRIEND and the person she called her FAMILY"

I felt my legs giving out on me and I fell on the ground with a loud thud. My shoulders were moving with each sob that passed from my mouth. I raised my hands for dadaji, Amogh and Aarman to hold me......to help me as I was feeling as if I was drowning.

My maa sa.....my maa sa is....is my......is my MAASI MAA

She is alive

I am her SON

" Da...da..ji......dadaji, woh me....meri....meri maasi maa....." I couldn't even form sentence properly. He looked at me with a gentle smile as he wiped his tears and nodded his head happily.

" Yes beta, she is you maasi maa.....your maa sa is actually your maasi maa"

" But...mumma used to call her Ava......." Then I stopped mid sentence as I realised that Ava is actually a short form of ApoorVA.

I stood up on my feet and ran out of the study room as this isn't over. There are still so many questions which are to be answered and this time I know to whom I have to approach.

" MY MAA SA.......MY MAASI MAA"

_______________________

Hey gentle readers

I know that most of you might have guessed it but I still wanted it to come out as a surprise.

I hope that this was worth the wait and the story is keeping up with all your excitement.

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