XII. Baby

Avni

Life is a beautiful journey. It is like a painting with many colours in it, the vibrant colours describe the happy moments in life. Those moments in life will be less but always needs to be treasured. The dark colours angry and dark feelings of a person. Light colours the sadness in life. Those are always part of a person's life. Many expressions like anger, dilemma that colours can explain. All the mixed feeling's together will be part of a person's life.

In my life, I think sadness and endless doubts were the only feelings I can have. As Mr. Goenka dismissed me for the day, I left for my house and mentally prepared a huge apology speech for Anu. I went inside and found Anu in the living room with a forlorn expression on her face and some documents in front of her on the desk. I went and stood behind the couch and placed both my hands over her neck and leaned down.

"Sorry Anu," I kissed her cheeks. "I had valid reasons to stay out and for what I did in the party. Don't be upset with m-", she cut me off and pulled me towards her. I sat beside her.

"No Avni, I am not upset because of you. I am upset with the decision your mother made", she pointed towards the papers and continued, "Your mother handed them to me, and I am supposed to give them to you on your 21st birthday. It is about your property and your parent's last wish, and you will get rights over the property after your marriage." She took a pause allowing my brain to register the words.

"W-why would they do that to me", I whispered brokenly, Anu rubbed my hand.

"Your parents did that because they wanted you to be safe, they were constant life threats for them and if something happens to them then your life will be at stake. So they asked Rudra to keep your identity hidden and to protect you until your marriage. Now your presence must be announced, according to your parents will your marriage must happen within 10 days after your public announcement", she took a deep breath, "If your parents were alive everything present there would have been nullified", she sobbed into her hands.

"Anu, we will find something to void the will", I tried to soothe her cries.

"No Avni you can't", she pushed my arms away and stood up. She looked angry that she could not control the situation. "Your life is threatened, you may not know this but I know the threats you are receiving and your father took a promise from Rudra on his death bed that both you and Abhi should be married at a suitable age."

My father's last wish was Abhi's marriage with me, "Anu I can't marry him, he detests my presence, we can't agree to it and I will talk to papa and try to convince him", I took my phone out of my clutch and was about to call papa when Anu took my phone from my grip. I looked at Anu and tried to plead with her.

"Why Anu, let me talk to him and convince him"

"No Avni you can't. He is already suffering a lot and Abhi already agreed to marry you"

"No, I don't want to marry him, I'll convince papa he will listen to me", I tried to coax her. She was having enough of me.

"Avni he has cancer", Anu shouted making me freeze in my spot.

"No, Anu you are joking right don't joke", I chuckled but when Anu did not laugh I fell to my knees and started wailing. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and lifted me, I looked up and saw papa there with a sad smile on his face. I hugged him and started sobbing in his chest.

"You have cancer and you didn't even tell me, why?" He patted my head and tried to calm me, I am anything but that. Now I am angry. I moved away from him and glowered at him and he put his hands above in submission.

"Explain"

"Ok, so I have cancer, lung cancer to be specific and it is stage-2. I want you to marry my son because I know that you are perfect for him. I wanted to discuss this yesterday, but I wanted to respect your wishes and give you six months. But today I got to know that my health is detonating and I need medical treatment. I always worry about your safety so please marry my son, so I don't have to worry about your safety." I felt bad that I made him feel stressed because of me. He is like a father figure to me. I will do anything to make him happy.

"Ok, I will marry him. But I want to meet him first", I state my demands. I will explain my situation to him. I hope that he will understand my situation. "And I want you to take care of your health, I don't want to lose another father", I murmur the last part and hug him. My future is decided.

I heard someone enter the house and looked up to see Vinay Goenka, in the doorway looking directly into my eyes. I looked away feeling intimidated by him, papa noticed my discomfort and looked at the entrance. He smiled seeing his brother and urged him to come in.

"Come on, Vinay. Meet my Avni." He introduced me with a proud smile on his face and presented me. I smiled timidly at him. Vinay Goenka came forward, placed his hand on my head and smiled fondly at me.

"Look, how much you have grown. You were a 5-year-old kid when I saw you last time, now look at the beautiful woman standing in front of me. Abhi is very lucky to have you as his wife." He patted my head and moved back.

"Sorry Avni, but we must organize a press meet tomorrow. So, we need to discuss some basic details. Come to our house, you will be introduced to all relatives present at the house", Vinay uncle explained.

"Ok, uncle. I will just fresh up in 5 minutes." I rush upstairs to get ready. I washed my face and came out of the bathroom only to find Akky sitting on my bed with some clothes out.

"Akky, what are you doing here?" At my voice, she looked up from her mobile.

"Babe, you are going to be my sister-in-law", she squealed and tackled me into a bear hug. I struggled to breathe as she hugged me tightly and was choking me.

"C-can't b-b-breathe." She loosened her hold on me and smiled sheepishly at me. I panted to get air into my lungs.

"Sorry, I am excited that my best friend is going to be my sister-in-law", she shrugged her shoulders grinning at me. I shook my head at her she was always excited.

"What are you doing here? Anu and I were coming to your house."

"Dressed like that", I looked down at my dress. I did not find anything wrong with my dress. I was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a tank top.

"Avni, you will be in the public eye. You should dress as Avni Arya Rajput, not as Avni Arya. You need to play the part by dressing up and also impress my brother a bit." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully. I threw a pillow at her and it hit her face. She rubbed her nose pouting at me.

"Bitch! Why did you do that?"

"Because you deserve it." I looked at my nails and retorted to her.

"You are infuriating", she stopped speaking for a second, her eyes enlarged as if remembering something important. "I forgot, you didn't explain how you got the job as my brother's assistant." She gave me an inquiring look.

"That, he offered me a job yesterday. I told him I want to enter the business field. Forget about it now. I have bigger problems like, how to face your brother?"

Akky's eyes widened comically, "That is the most important thing. How is he going to react after seeing you?"

We were lost in our thoughts thinking of the ways to diffuse Abhi's anger towards me when suddenly Akky spoke scaring the living crap out of me.

"Let's just go with the flow. First, you need to get ready and impress my family and get some good points." She looked content with what she spoke.

"I know your family from my childhood. Except for your brothers, your family knows about me being Arjun's daughter." I deadpanned.

"Oh, I forgot about it. Anyhow, let us get you ready. To impress my brother and do not try to argue with me. We are going to post some pictures online. So better suck it up." She said when I tried to argue. I agree with her, I need to look my best.

"Ok, you have two options. The first one is the saree and the next one is a dress." She clutched two dresses in her hands. She had a navy-colored dress and a dark red saree to choose from.

"I think saree will be a bit more and I am not comfortable in saree. Let us go with the dress." Akky nodded her head agreeing with me.

"Now go and change while I get the accessories for the dress". She shooed me to change the dress.

I changed my dress and came out to saw Akky was waiting for me with all things required. I wore a pair of earrings and some bangle to one hand and my lucky charm bracelet to the other hand. I straightened my hair and curled it at the edges. I applied some powder to my face, some eyeliner and kohl to my eyes. I applied lip-gloss on my lips and turned towards Akky who was sitting on my bed scrutinizing me.

"You are looking good, but you should have let me doll you up", she frowns disappointingly as I did not allow her to do my make-up.

"Akky, you know that I don't like getting dolled-up. And I am just meeting your family." We leave my room and I find Anu in the living room waiting for us. When she saw me, she stood and came towards me. She had tears in her eyes.

"I am sorry Avni, I couldn't help you." I shushed her.

"No, Anu. Everything is going to be okay. I will set everything right", I tried to cheer her up.

"Oh dadi, come on. She is coming into our family. We are not going to torture her. On the second thought I'll torture her a bit", Akky said trying to diffuse the tension in the room. It did and Anu smiled.

"Yes, please torture this lazy girl. You can play with her all you want", Anu said supporting Akky. I pouted at them. We enjoyed a small laugh and left for Abhi's house. The Goenka's have a mansion here and we are going there as all the family members were going to be there. We all bundle up in the car and leave for the mansion. I have never seen it before. It was beautiful. The mansion has huge gates and many guards were present. They allowed our car to pass after seeing Anu. We got down from the car and I observed the surroundings with fascination. Everything is beautiful. We go inside, as the door was open. The interiors of the house were awesome. Meera ma came to receive us and complimented me.

"I can't wait to have you as my daughter, I waited a long time for this moment", she gushed and took us into the living room. I saw all the family members inside sitting and smiled at me except Damini and a little girl enjoying her ice cream, who might that, be.

Abhi

A bombshell was dropped in my life. I asked my uncle and dad to go home after telling about my marriage. I waited for a bit in the office to clear my mind. Rohan came to my room with an ugly scowl on his face.

"Is it true?" He questioned me. So he had found about it. I nodded my head at his question.

"What are you going to do about it?" That question has crossed my mind a thousand times till now. I didn't find an answer to it.

"I have no answer to your question. I am still struggling to digest this proposal. But in the end, I am going to marry her". I sigh feeling frustrated. Then my mobile rang bringing me out of my thoughts. I saw the caller id and I smiled after observing the name all my thoughts going away instantly. I answered the call with a smile on my face.

"Hello baby, did you reach home?" After hearing the positive answer, I laughed a little.

"No, don't do that. Be a good girl. I am coming home now. Do you need anything?" I know what the answer will be.

"Strawberry ice cream" I chuckled and cut the call telling her goodbye. I looked at Rohan smiling at me. But scowled after a second.

"Are you going to tell Ms. Rajput about her?"

"I have to tell her about my daughter", I said with conviction. I just hope that Ms. Rajput will be a good mother for my girl.

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Hello guys,

Here is your update. How do you like it?

What secrets does Abhi have under his sleeves? A daughter now. Still what more are going to come.

How do you feel about it?

I need some suggestions for her name, do you have any suggestions? Comment here.

Please vote and comment it makes my day.

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