Adhura Alviida 2

sadke uss pyaar ke

Zoya smiled as she watched both Aditya flip the frittata onto the plate and place it in front of Aadhya who was sitting on a stool near the countertop. She had a bite of the meal before giving her dad a wide-toothed grin and an enthusiastic thumb- up, indicating how much she liked it. Reaching across, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek as he smiled at her. She walked into the kitchen as Aadhya jumped at her presence. She embraced her little one before looking up at Aditya while Aadhya settled back into her seat. He looked at her as if he was trying to force a smile. It was still unclear how she felt about their situation, especially since she hadn't said much last night. He wondered if he was too adamant with her about accepting him back, after all she had gone through her own fair share of troubles...that he was somewhat responsible for.

"Aditya..." He looked up at the mention of his name.

"Can you come with me for a second?" She said in a serious tone.

Aditya nodded before looking at Aadhya who was happily engaging herself in eating her own breakfast while her focus remained on the food.

Aditya and Zoya went outside in the living room where Aadhya would not be able to hear them.

"Zoya, kya hua? Is everything okay?" He asked worriedly. Before he could respond, she wrapped her arms around him and he felt his shirt moisten with her tears. He instinctively patted her back gently.

"Zoya...no...baby, why are you crying?"

Every tear he felt on his shirt was akin to being physically stabbed. He could bear anything in the world but he could not bear to see his Zoya in pain.

"Zoya...is everything okay—is Aadh..." His voice cracked. No. Nothing could happen to Aadhya, he would die before he let any harm befall her.

"Remember how you said that Aadhya needed both her parents? Aditya, you were wrong."

Aditya immediately held her gently by her shoulders, pulling her away from the embrace as he looked at her face to face. His eyes emoted a sadness she had never quite seen before.

"What do you mean? You can't...no...not when she's like this. You can't take her away from me." He said in a low yet convincing tone. He was almost on the verge of tears while she spoke to him.

"I'm saying that the doctor just called and my bone marrow didn't match hers, Aditya. But yours did.... she is her papa's girl after all." Zoya smiled weakly at him as his face lit up in shock.

Without thinking, Aditya immediately pulled her in his arms for a hug as he closed his eyes while she stood in his embrace. "Means...she's going to be okay. Our baby is going to be fine. Nothing will happen to her, I wouldn't let anything happen to my little girl."

Aditya smiled through his misty closed eyes as he thought of the irony of the situation, he was finally going to be able to do something right for his daughter. All this time he lived in the guilt of not being a good father because of his schizophrenia, he only knew how that guilt consumed him to his core. And when they found out Aadhya was diagnosed with leukemia, he felt like the most awful human in existence. She deserved so much love. She was such a wonderful child, Aditya only knew how precious she was to him. He was scared that he would lose the opportunity to prove his love for her again, but God worked in such miraculous ways. Everything was going to be okay. He would learn to deal with his schizophrenia by himself, he would never let the shadow of his demons ever harm a single hair on Zoya or Aadhya. Fighting his inner turmoil was a small price to pay if it meant he got to keep his two girls with him. For the first time, in a very long time, Aditya felt like everything would be alright. Maybe he too was finally worthy of a family and of love.