WedLock ~ Union of Two Souls

3. Step Mom Fear

Pari caught hold of Manik's hand tightly on seeing Nandini there.

"Pari baby, why are you so scared of me all of a sudden?"

Pari stayed quiet and looked down. Nandini bent to her level,  caressed her hairs and made Pari face her.

"Did I do something wrong with you?" She asked softly.

This time Pari nodded her head in negation.

"Then why are you scared of me baby?"

"Because step mothers are bad." She replied innocently.

"Who told you that?"

"My friends and classmates. Today when I told them that I'm getting a new mommy they told me that new mommies are bad. They hit and scold their step children. They don't allow their new children to play and don't give them food. Even Cinderella's step mom was bad. She made Cinderella work for long and treated her badly. Step mothers don't love their step children. And yesterday when I heard you shouting over the phone, I though you would shout at me too." Pari voiced out her feelings in her babyish tone blend in the mixture of innocence.

Everyone one understood the matter and relaxed a bit. They smiled at the innocence of the little girl.

"It is not true. Not all step moms are bad. A few step moms are good. They love their step children equally as their own children. They never shout or scold them without any fault. Moreover why would I be rude to a sweet girl like you?"

"Are you a good step mother or a bad one."

"What do you think?"

"Um, I think a good one." Pari said smiling a bit.

In return Nandini too smiled at her and embraced her. Everyone relaxed completely.

"Now that everything's solved, let's go and have lunch." Nayonika said.

"You people carry on, we'll take a leave now." Priti said

"No. You people will not leave without having lunch." Nayonika said.

On being persuaded by Nayonika, Nandini and Priti agreed to stay for lunch whilst Raj left as he had an urgent meeting to attend. While everyone was heeding back inside, Manik called out to Nandini from behind and indicated her stop.

Once everyone left he spoke "Nandini, I...err I'm sorry for the way I behaved. But I get hyper at the things related to Pari. I've always pampered her and today when I saw her smile disappeared, I got worried. And I vent out all my frustration on you and also blamed you though you weren't at fault. I'm genuinely sorry."

"Well, I can't say I understand as I've never had a child before. All I can say is it's alright."

"Thanks." He replied back to which Nandini smiled.

They proceeded back towards the dinning area. While walking, Nandini accidentally tripped over a stone. In order to save her, Manik pulled her towards him but in return both of them fell on the ground with Nandini atop Manik.

She had shut her eyes and gripped his shirt tightly. Her hairs fell on her face. His hand were securely placed on her back. For the first time he observed her face so closely, those big eyes which were tightly shut, her hair which were falling over her face, he pinned her hairs behind her ear. As his hand touched her, she opened her eyes. Both of them were uncomfortable in that position. They wanted to part away but unfortunately couldn't because her hair got stuck in his shirt's button.

On seeing her struggle at untangling it, he indicated her to stop. Somehow he untangled it and both of them got up. An awkward silence prevailed between them. Without saying a word, they proceeded back in.

While having lunch, Priti spoke "Let's call the pandit ji today evening and fix the dates for the wedding."

"Good idea. The more quick the wedding would take place, it would be easy for Nandini to adjust over here and get to know all of us." Nayonika said.

"Pari are you happy with your new mommy?" Nayonika asked.

"Yes. I'm very happy." The girl replied catching Nandini and Manik's arms tightly as she was sitting in between them.

*

Preparations for the engagement were going on with full swing and energy in the Murthy mansion. Nandini sat on the bed in her room with Karan's photo.

"Karan, I miss you so much. I don't want to get engaged to anyone else. I want you back."

She walked up to her cupboard and took out a photo albumn. Flipping through its pages she reached their engagement picture. How happy they were. He had pulled her closer to him with his hands resting on her waist while she stood there smiling and blushing. What a bliss it was to be in his arms. A tear drop fell on the picture exactly on Karan's face. She wiped the tear drop away and kissed his photo.

When she was browsing through the rest of its contents, Priti entered her room. In a jiffy she tried to hide that albumn under the pillow but her attempt became futile as Priti already noticed it.

"What are you hiding?" She asked approaching her.

"Nothing maa."

As she took a closer look at the albumn Priti spoke "Not again Nandini. Today is your engagement and instead of being happy you are going through this albumn."

"Mom my happiness lies in reliving all the moments. My happiness lies in Karan."

"For the umpteenth time I'm telling you Karan is your past and Manik is your present. You need to get over your past and live in your present."

"Then let me tell you I'm happy living with my past."

"God please give this girl some brain. It's waste arguing with you. Here's your dress, get ready." Saying this Priti left leaving behind Nandini alone with her memories.

On the other hand Manik was getting dressed up for this so called engagement. Anyone, on seeing his face can clearly state that there wasn't a pinch of happiness on his face. He wasn't happy.

"Hayee, someone's looking dashing." He heard Nidhi saying.

"Stop staring at me. It makes me want to kiss you." He replied.

"Then your most welcome to do so."

He proceeded to kiss her but before he could grab her she vanished. "Not again Manik." He sat down with an upset expression.

Nayonika who was observing all this entered inside and sat beside him. "It's been four years son, you need to overcome her. From today Nandini should be your priority along with Pari." She said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll try mom." He said knowing that it was useless having a discussion regarding this with his mother.

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Okay, so everyone guessed that Pari was scared of Nandini because of her aggressive behavior. But Pari has a child's heart and she had her insecurities regarding the step mother thing. I hope you guys liked it.
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Other thing I planned to update this SS, after every 2-3 days, or will continue updating once a week!
Depends on your response!
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I know the story pace is a bit slow, i assure it will be on track after 2 chapters! Keep supporting!
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