Between The Lines: An OS/TS/SS Collection | AbhiMaan

8 ~ The Empty Cradle

A/N: This is a small series on everything that has happened, culminating in the current leap in YRKKH [The surrogacy track, Rohit and Shivani's death after the cylinder blast during Gangaur celebrations] with some changes on things that didn't make sense in the serial.

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Armaan's behaviour towards his family—isolating them from playing with Pookie, thinking that he only knows how to parent the child—upset Abhira. She understood why Armaan behaved like that—Krish wanted him to not interfere in his problems—be it Charu or his sudden shift to law from his dancing career.

But the issue was, Armaan was not letting her near Pookie too. So, she had snuck Pookie from Armaan's grasp, changed her diaper, put on a new dress, after making sure that the cloth was baby safe—no discomfort or irritations on the baby. 

The family surrounded her as she came back inside with Pookie. Their constant voices woke Pookie up, so Abhira gently silenced them and rocked the baby to sleep. Kaveri wanted to hold the child and she gave the baby to her, but Armaan came downstairs and snatched Pookie from her.

"Abhira! How many times I've told you not to bring Pookie to them?"

"Are you insane, Armaan? Yeh humara parivaar hai. Tum Pookie ko unse dur le jaake unhe hurt kar rahe ho. I know ki Daadisa didn't approve of surrogacy but unhone ab Pookie ko accept kar liye hai. Please—" The baby started to cry.

"Kaise kapde hai yeh? Pookie ko chub rahi hai yeh. Kisne pehnaya?"

"I did, Armaan. Kapde bacche ko nhi, tumhe chub raha hai isilye kyuki yeh tumara selected dress nhi hai." Abhira places the feeding bottle near Pookie's mouth, and she starts drinking the milk, going silent. "Dekha? Pookie is hungry. Sirf tumhare haath se nhi, balki mere haath se bhi pee rahi hai Pookie."

"Abhira, but—"

"Enough Armaan! I thought that tum aise behave isliye kar rahe ko BSP ko tumne bhi khoya hai. I'm sorry but yeh pyaar ya protectiveness nhi, pagalpan hai, Armaan. Tumne mujhe—iski maa ko usse apne godh mein lene tak nhi diya. Toh mai kaise prove karungi ki mai acchi Maa hun Pookie ke liye?" 

Armaan was silent, but he didn't realise that his behaviour was inching towards the 'toxic' and 'red flag' tags. Although Abhira's words had silenced him, he was like a viper that waits to strike the thing or person that triggered it. 

The next day, everything was going on well and around afternoon, Pookie's temperature spiked suddenly due to excessive heat. That's when Abhira realised that how Armaan had left her in the dark about Pookie and didn't let her be a mother to the baby.

Although their Paediatrician told her to not worry as it is normal, Abhira freaked out and that's when Armaan stormed into the Poddar Mansion living room. Taking Pookie into his arms, he berated Abhira for not being a 'good mother' and shockingly tells that he's taking the baby to Ruhi, stating that she has a connection to the baby because she carried and delivered the baby, and Abhira doesn't have it because she didn't give birth.

Abhira stumbles from the harshness of his words, but she becomes enraged. Although Kaveri slaps Armaan for speaking like that, she herself walks over to Armaan, and *SLAP* Armaan's face snaps to the side, a red, angry handprint already forming on his cheek.

"If I am not a good mother and do not have any connection with the child, it's because of you, Armaan! Tumne day 1 se leke aaj tak sab kuch khud se kiya hai, bina mujhse puchke aur mujhe involve hi nhi kiya. Aisa hi karte rahoge toh how will I bond with the baby? Tum khud Pookie ko mujhse dur kar rahe ho! Ek baat khaan kholke sunle Armaan. Pookie was born through surrogacy. So, it IS natural to take some time for the biological mother to form a bond with the child. And the husband, which is YOU, as the dutiful father, should allow his wife, which is ME, to hold the child, take care of her so that I won't be as "careless" as you paint me to be. Did I make myself clear?"

Kaveri, Manisha, Kajal, Krish, Manoj, Madhav, all nod in support for Abhira, giving death glares to Armaan for his toxic behaviour. Abhira takes Pookie from Armaan's arms and takes her to their shared room, leaving Armaan stunned, shocked and silenced for the first time. Over the next few days, Abhira starts to bond with Pookie and with her experience of taking care of Daksh, she eases into the mother role much easier, and the baby is actually happy and content being in her arms.

But Armaan wasn't satisfied. He kept watching her like a hawk, almost hoping for a moment where she couldn't handle stuff. He was slightly relaxed, that Abhira is able to manage Pookie by herself. But still, he was wary of Abhira slipping up. A few weeks in and Abhira learnt to juggle work and motherly duties like a pro. She decided to show how it felt to her when he excluded her from Pookie's life. Starting with the naming ceremony.

Abhira re-named Pookie as Navya at the naming ceremony. Armaan was livid. "Abhira!" Armaan started, "Humne decide kar liye the ki we'll name her as Shivaani, after my late mother! Why did you choose a different name when the Pandit asked for the name?!"

"Armaan, relax! 'NAVYA' means the idea of newness or youthfulness or freshness, and we're having a fresh start in our married life with her. I know, you want Shivaani Maa to be remembered, but the name is common." She waved her hand dismissively. From then, Abhira behaved the exact same way Armaan had behaved with her previously. And Armaan? Instead of correcting his ways by realising his wrong behaviour, he decided that Abhira was going overboard and that she'd instill bad values into the child and potentially pit her against him if there was a major disagreement between them.

Months flew by and although Armaan was a doting father, he was still skeptical of Abhira. All it took was Abhira being late with Navya to the doctor's appointment for a general check-up and the first vaccine dose as per the vaccination schedule. "You are late by forty-five minutes, Abhira!" Armaan yelled when Abhira, Ruhi showed up with baby Navya. At the hospital lobby.

"Armaan, I wasn't running late on purpose. A major accident took place and there was so much of traffic jam. People were relocating using various shortcuts, and most of the shortcuts were—" Armaan cut her off. "You are late, Abhira, that's it. You should've started earlier, but you didn't. . ." He was literally shouting, unaware that they were in the hospital.

Ruhi intervened. "Armaan, we both started at the said time only! You came here to the hospital FROM the Poddar Firm, which has a different route to the hospital. We had to start from the Mansion, and how would've any of us known that there would be an accident? God, you're so dense and impossible to deal with. Thank God I didn't get married to you, I don't know how Abhira is still putting up with you!"

Armaan was stunned into silence and disbelief that Abhira didn't immediately step into defend him. Instead, she just walked into the doctor's cabin with Ruhi following her. After a few moments, Armaan too walked in, stunned. 

Baby Navya got her first ever vaccine dose properly, and the trio left. Abhira gave the baby to Ruhi, not Armaan, since she wanted to drive the car. This pissed him off even more. Abhira felt bad, so she asked Ruhi to give the child to Armaan. Although his behaviour throughout the pregnancy, and especially when Daksh got injured hurt her really bad, she didn't want to inflict the same onto him.

As the car pulls into the Mansion's driveway, Armaan for the first time doesn't rush out of the car. All the three of them—Armaan with baby Navya, Abhira and Ruhi walk into the living area of the mansion. Kaveri, Manisha, Kajal and Sanjay look up as they enter, bewildered. Kaveri stood up and decided to announce something. She waited for the remaining members to join. Slowly, Vidya, Madhav, Krish, Kiara, Aryan and Manoj came to the living room. Then Kaveri made an announcement.

"Our Bittu—Navya's first birthday is in four months. I think it will be the best if we keep the celebration private—to ourselves," Those words seemed to relax Armaan's anxiety. "But," she started, "We should go to the Kul Devi temple and conduct a special pooja for the child and the family's benefit" Kaveri finished, waiting for everyone's opinion.

[Kaveri calls Navya fondly as "Bittu"]

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A/N: Hello everyone. Back with a new short series. This will have some changes from the original stuff shown on the show. And I'm really sorry, I was away for a long time, since I was focused on my semesters and exams. Now that I'm free, I'll try to update regularly. 

Update: Duolic—I have started to write, and I'll publish the series as a separate book. Stay tuned for more updates.

The next part of this series will be up in a day or two. Stay tuned.