Choti Si Duniya - ArShi FF

128. When Khushi goes missing -2

It was true that Khushi Kumari Gupta from Lucknow was hardly scared of anything. Her babuji had raised her to be fearless. Which is why she could easily and confidently roam around on the streets of Lucknow, walk out at late night to buy buaji's medicines, or fight literal goons to save Arnav when he was kidnapped. As her amma would say, dar shabd ka matlab usse pata hi nahi tha (she didn't know the meaning of the word 'fear').

Until she became a mother.

Now there was one thing that was capable of terrifying the erstwhile fearless Khushi Singh Raizada, and it was separation from her kids! The thought itself would suck the air out of her lungs, could stop her heartbeat.

And now, as she navigated her way through narrow lanes and heavy crowds in that busy marketplace of Chandni chowk, searching for her husband, her kids and her niece, she was extremely frightened.

It had been more than an hour since she last saw them. Where must they be? Arnav didn't even know this place well enough. And her kids, well they were too young to do something. Were they searching for her too? Will Arnav ensure that at least they all stayed together? He usually couldn't even handle one of their 3 kids alone, calling out to her every few minutes if he was given the responsibility of chiku or aru-pari even for some time. And here he was to take care of 4 kids, alone. What if he leaves one of their hands- NO! She had to find them before something bad happened. She increased her pace, as she turned around the corner and moved to a different lane.

.

.

The genius, self-proclaimed destiny writer Arnav Singh Raizada had known he was signing up for adventure when he surrendered to love, to Khushi. But nothing quite prepared him for this moment when he would be standing alone with their kids, and she was lost.

The last he had nearly lost her was during their -well- "courtship" period, during Payal-Akash's wedding. That time she had gone with that buffoon NK to bring ghee for the havan. And then went MIA! Her phone wasn't available, and she had been away from his eyesight for too long for him to survive!

That was the first and last time it happened. Never again he let her pull the 'missing' card on him again.

Until today.

Her phone was also not with her, as Arohi had taken it to play games on it and now there was no way to contact her in this crazy place and crazy crowd!

It's all his mistake, he should have stayed adamant and refused to shop here!

His son seemed to agree with him as Chiku said, "Papa! Mamma abhi tak kyun nahi aa rahi hai (Why isn't mamma back yet)? Why did you let her go alone?"

Arnav looked helplessly at his son, not knowing how exactly to pacify him when he himself felt the same.

It was Piya who was relatively calm and played 'adult' there, "Don't worry, chiku. Maasi will be back soon. She knows we are waiting for her here, right?"

Chiku frowned, not entirely convinced but nodded.

However, the twins, Pari and Arohi were the ones who had lost their patience. They had been trying to be 'good girl's like their mamma taught them, holding one hand each of their Dada, eyes constantly looking out for their mamma. But the conversation between their bhaiyya and their Dada was enough to tell them what was wrong. They had realized that their mother had gone missing and that was equal to catastrophic event in their baby-world! Soon, a pair of hazel eyes and another of intense-brown eyes filled with fat tears, corners of their perfectly pouty lips turned downwards and khushi's princesses started crying.

.

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It is said that when a person is stressed, their brain stops functioning! The same was happening here with Khushi. She did remember that her phone was left with Aru and Arnav's was discharged, but the thought that she could someone else's phone to call her own to locate where her family was didn't strike her sooner.