An Aesthetic Love: A Collection Of Shivika Short Stories

28| unparalleled love.

I wrote this sometime ago to deal with writer's block. So, its not as good as it could have been.

Give it a read if you wish! :)

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"Shivaay aap kya kar rahe hain?!" 

"Annika ek toh tum apna yeh dialogue change karo. Shivika dekhegi toh kya sochegi, uski maa kitni shy hai," Annika blushes even more at that, 

"Aur waise bhi. Itne saal ho gaye, tumhe abhi tak pata nahi chala mai kya kar raha hoon," Shivaay says with a smirk.
"Shivaay!" Annika whisper-yells, pushing him away, "ch-chodiye mujhe! Kitne cheapde hain aap," she says, and is about to run away when Shivaay holds her by the wrist.

He goes closer to her, and whispers in his husky voice, "tumhe yaad hai na kal kya hai," he says, and she looks back at him, nodding slightly.
"Be ready for your surprise." He says, and winking at her, leaves, looking as if nothing happened.
Annika looks at his retreating figure, and says, "aap bhi," with a smile, before following him.

Annika is still in her thoughts while walking behind Shivaay, when someone holds her hand to stop her.
She bends down to face her.
"Kya hua baby?" Annika asks, holding the face of her six-year old daughter Shivika.
"Mumma," she says, kissing her cheek, "aap bahut acche ho." She says cutely, "mere pyaari mumma."

Annika smiles at her. "Kya chaiye aapko?"
Shivika smiles sheepishly. She knows Annika can guess she wants something with her cute buttering.
"Woh...." She extends, not knowing how to put it, "kal mera birthday hai na...." She says, and Annika looks at her.
"Haan, toh?" Annika asks her seriously. If Shivika wants something, she will make sure that she gets it. Shivaay and Annika have never asked anything from each other regarding Shivika. If there is one thing that they promised each other, it is that they are going to give her everything she wishes.

"Toh..." she looks down, not facing her, "iss baar mera gift aap choose karna." She tells her.
Annika smiles at her. Shivaay and Annika give only one gift to Shivika from their side on her birthday, and most of the time it is chosen by Shivaay.
This time, Shivika wants Annika to choose her gift.
"Okay. Par kyu?" Annika asks her. Not like she didn't want to gift her on her own, she just wanted to know why Shivika didn't want Shivaay's choice this time.
"Woh...aise hi." Shivika says, not telling her the reason. Annika lets it go, and smiling at her, leaves.

Shivika breathes a sigh of relief.
She can't tell Annika the reason behind wanting a gift of her choice. Not at all.
Yes, Annika was the strict mother who made sure that she was serious about everything, and was the perfect neutral to Shivaay's careless, 'cool daddy' behaviour. But still, even though Shivika was so close to Shivaay, there was one thing she didn't like about him.

She wasn't demanding at all, Shivika, and therefore she had never demanded something specific from either Shivaay or Annika. So, on occasions like her birthday, Shivaay would gift her stuff that he wanted she should own, but was actually of no use to her - books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.

What will a six-year old possibly do with such stuff? She knew Annika will get her something lighter, something that was actually of use to her, and so for the first time in her little life, she demanded something from her.

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In the living room, Annika is checking Shivika's school stuff, books and notebooks, when Rudra comes and sits beside her.