Maya's pov:

"When I'm in your arms, I hope the time would stop by and be like this forever. " His words made me smile unknowingly.

We came back from the cemetery after spending some time there. Dan and Lucas went back to their mansion and we came here.

We were sitting on the couch in the living room of the mansion. He was laying on the couch in my lap looking upto me and playing with my hairs. He held my hand with his other and was refusing to leave it with the fear of not seeing me again.

No matter what type of relationship - be it friendship, familial, or romantic—vulnerability is key to fostering a closer, deeper, and more authentic bond with another person. It keeps us honest with each other and ourselves, breaks down walls, eliminates the potential for miscommunication and misunderstandings, and allows us to be wholly ourselves.

They say that vulnerability is when a person willingly takes the risk to reveal their emotions and weaknesses. This emotional openness is essential in all healthy relationships, as it paves the way for deeper understanding and evokes the empathy necessary for healthy long-term relationships.

The same thing was happening with us. He was so vulnerable at this moment that it seemed as if he would get lost without me. Just as a child, he reflected innocence. Long gone was the ruthless, evil and arrogant Xavier. The Xavier Adams that the world feared.

"Maya." My name seemed so beautiful from his mouth, as if he is the first person ever taking my name.

"Hmm."

"What happens next?" He asked.

"Meaning?" I asked being confused.

"You returned, met me, took me to my mom and dad and we returned back. What happens next?" He asked.

"I don't know. Maybe sleep!" I replied.

"No! I don't want to go to my room. I'm gonna sleep here. Like this. In your lap." He said, turning his head to my stomach and his hands tightly clutching me. As if I'm gonna run away as soon as his grip loosens.

"Relax Xavier. I'm not going anywhere. You can go to sleep here. I'm here itself." I said, comforting him. But, he put his head more into my stomach and dozed off in a few minutes.

I swear, if it would have been any other situation, I would have died of the blush and shyness due to our proximity. But, this emotional state of him is something else. It's making me pull him closer to me, if that's even more possible.

Ting. It was my message tone. Hearing a voice he stirred a little bit , but went back to his dreamland again. I carefully took out the phone from my jeans' pocket and looked at the sender. It was Dan.

Hey. Is he okay? Should we come? It's going to be 12 soon. - Dan

Yeah. He is okay. Just slept.

Ohh. No worries then. Let him sleep. That poor boy hasn't slept properly ever since you left. Finally, he is going to get a good sleep today. - Dan

I know. That's why I was also thinking to let him sleep and not wish him at 12.

Yeah. Let him sleep. We'll see you tomorrow. You also take rest now. You are going to have a long day tomorrow. You need energy for that. - Dan

You're right. Just hope that everything goes well.

It will. Goodnight. Sleep well. And, I'm proud of you. Love ya! - Dan

Thanks Dan. Love you too. Goodnight.

.......

For the first part of our lives, we are intensely concerned with being alone and not caring for it.

When we find someone to love and wake up with that person a lot, we forget about our previous loneliness. It just evaporates. We gain a sense of fullness and purpose. Everything comes together and many wild things seem possible. It was happening to me. I have spent years dreaming this scene - to wake up around someone whom I can call mine, only mine.

But, I felt my back a stiff. Of course it was going to pain. Sitting continuously on a couch for 6 hours with a heavy man sleeping on your lap was surely gonna give a stiff back. Also, not to forget, a stiff neck too. Because of the position I was sleeping in.

I looked at my watch. It was almost 5.30 in the morning. Even though I've hardly slept some 5 hours yesterday but, they were the best hours and the best sleep I've ever had. But, I have get up now to ensure that everything's ready for today. Today's is his birthday and I want everything to be perfect. For that I need to get up but this koala bear, clutching me tightly is refusing to let me go because of his tight grip. Also, I can't wake him up as it'll spoil the surprise.

When I was thinking of ways to detach myself from him, I heard the voice of code being entered the door. Who could have come at his hour?

The door opened revealing cheerful and laughing couple.

"Shhh." They turned silent as soon as they saw me, signalling them to not make noise. They came near me and smirked.

"What's going on here?" Lucas asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Keep your dirty brain aside and help me get up. Just don't wake him up. Otherwise my surprise is no longer gonna be surprise." I wisphered enough for them to hear.

After many, many and many efforts, we managed to make Dan sit at my place without distrubing his sleep. Trust me, he is one hell of a koala bear.

I quickly went to my earlier room and took a quick shower. I got ready in a simple t-shirt and jeans and went downstairs to see that Xavier was still asleep.

"Maya, I've made breakfast and coffee. Have it and then go." Came Lucas' voice from the dining table.

"You made breakfast for me." I was touched by this gesture of his.

"Come on! What did you expect? That I'll let my sister leave home empty stomach." He smiled.

I went forward and hugged him.

"Thank you so much Lucas. This means a lot."

"It's completely fine Maya. But, just hurry up because if Xavier gets up then you know, your whole plan can be spoilt."

Nodding my head, I quickly went to the table and had my breakfast. I was going to leave, when I remembered something.

"Did you forget something?" Dan asked me, whispering.

"Yeah."

"What?" She asked.

"This." I replied and went towards Xavier. I slowly bent down and kissed is forehead. Very slowly, I whispered in his ears, "Happy birthday Xavier. Be ready for the biggest surprise you will ever get."

I said bye to Dan and Lucas and left the mansion.

Xavier's pov:

I woke up to feel someone stroking my forehead lovingly. Within a second all memories of yesterday replayed in my mind. A smile made its way on my face remembering that it was Maya. I turned my head to see her but my face fell . Maya was not there. I was sleeping on Dan's lap and she was the one who was caressing me.

"Good morning sleepy head." She wished.

I was still shocked to see her there but, managed to reply her back, not wanting to sound rude.

"What happened? You seem a bit off." She she asked looking at my upset face.

"No nothing. I was just searching for Maya."

"Why are you searching for Maya? Is she going to come? Have you talked to her?" Her words made my eyes pop up with shock.

"What do you mean by have you talked to her? You also met her yesterday. At the cemetery, remember?" I told her.

"What nonsense are you talking Xav? I'm here from yesterday. I am pretty sure that you must be dreaming."

I was shocked listening to the words. But, more than shocked, I was upset that it was all a dream and not a reality. Sadly, nodding my head I got up and began to make my way towards my room, when Lucas' voice came.

"Good morning Xav."

"Hmm. Good morning." I said and went to my room.

When I came down after taking a shower, I saw that Dan and Lucas were fighting over something. Not sure if fighting but yeah, they were arguing.

"Okay fine! I'll tell him. No need to be mad." She said sulking, as if she lost the argument.

"What happened guys? What were you talking about?" I asked them going closer.

"Nothing much. Just putting some sense in your sister's head." Lucas replied looking annoyingly at Dan.

"Breakfast ready." Mimi shouted from the dining room.

I quietly went towards the dining table and I am pretty sure that everyone must have seen the sadness on my face.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Xavier. Happy Birthday to you." I looked towards the source of the sound to see it was Dan and Mimi and Lucas sitting in front of me, too joined them. I was shocked because I had nothing in mind about my birthday. Thinking about Maya's dream and all, I completely forgot that today was my birthday. Also, the day when I lost my parents.

"Happy birthday Xavier." Mimi came forward and lovingly hugged me.

"Thank you so much Mimi. But you know, I don't like celebrating my Birthday. It was really not needed."

"I know child. But , till when will you not celebrate your happiness? There has to be some point where you have to move on at some point where you have to move on." I just smiled at her words.

Dan and Lucas too came forward and wished me. I could see that Lucas was continuously nudging Dan with his elbow as if he wanted her to say something.

"What happened guys? Everything Okay? I asked.

"Yeah everything is fine. But, Dan wants to say something to you." Lucas said.

"What happened Dan?"

"Uh..? Sorry." She said. I could see the fear in her tone.

"For what?"

"Sorry, I was just kidding with you. It was not all your dream. Maya is there but she has just gone out for some work." She said.

I want point about extremely happy that what I assumed to be my dream wasn't one. But at the other point, I was so angry with Dan.

"How could you do this Dan? Couldn't you see under what conditions I was since last 40 days? You have seen me battling with everything. How could you make fun of my state like this?"

I was angry but more than that I was hurt seeing my sister making fun of my pain like this.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened. But, when you were looking around for Maya, I thought to just do some mischief with you. I'm really sorry. I promise I won't ever do it again."

By now, her face fell completely and her eyes prickled with tears.

"Even though I am still upset but, I don't want to spoil mine as well as your mood. So, it's Okay. You are forgiven. But, I promise Dan, if this happens again I won't forgive you because it's never okay to play with someone's feelings." I said.

Knowing that Maya was really here was something I was extremely happy about. My happiness knew no bounds and I don't want to spoil this happiness just because of my sister's prank. So, I forgave her. I wouldn't say that I was angry but, it was her mistake of course. But, it was her nature. Her childish antiques and her pranks keep us alive. Even though this one went too far, I don't want to see her upset when I was on cloud 9th.

When everything was fine, I cut the cake and we had a very small celebration at the mansion. I terribly missed Maya in all these but Lucas assured me that she had something really important that's why she couldn't be here.

And Dan being Dan, completely gave me a cake facial. My whole face was covered with cake now and everyone including this stupid Lucas was laughing at me. Seeing a good opportunity, I launched the remaining cake at him and now he was looking the same as I was.

I looked at Dan with the remaining piece in my hand and sensing the trouble, she started running and I was running behind her.

"Dan stop it. Don't run. Be careful." Lucas yelled. Everyone of us looked at him shocked by seeing his tone.

"Guys don't see me like this. She wasn't feeling good since yesterday. That's why I asked to be careful." Lucas said.

"What happened Dan? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Are you fine child? Because you didn't seem well to me since morning." Mimi said.

"Yeah yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit of headache."

"Ohh."

After chatting for a while, everyone of us went to our respective rooms to get cleaned up. In all these, I saw a different side of Lucas today. No doubt, he has always loved Dan to death and was extremely careful for her every time. But today, I and Mimi, we both saw something different. His excess care and concern towards Dan and her every movement was something that caught our eyes. I talked to Mimi and she said that she'll talk to Dan about it afterwards.

Before I could enter the washroom, I took out mobile from my pockets upon hearing the message tone. It was a audio message from Maya. My lips automatically turned upwards making me smile on seeing her message.

Wishing you many many happy returns of the day Xavier. Hope it turns out to be the happiest birthday you've ever had. Sending lots of wishes to you and I'm really sorry for not wishing you at 12:00 or not being there at the mansion for the celebration. Something really important came up and I had to leave in the morning. But, I promise that you are going to see me very soon and I am sorry for one more thing. I kind of went through your stuff and took out a suit for you to wear today. Do wear it and I'll text Lucas the address where you will see me. He will bring you there. Once again happy birthday.

I felt really blessed to get her wishes on my birthday. Only her one wish to me and it made my day. I've never been this excited for my birthday. But, today I want to celebrate my day and most importantly I want to celebrate Maya's arrival. I don't know what the future might hold for us. Still, I want to be there in present with her and my complete family.

I quickly went to my closet searching for the clothes that Maya chose. My eyes fell on a three piece Armani black suit with the matching tie and shoes already taken out with them. It had a white tag on it. I went towards it and read the tag.

I wanted to buy you something for your birthday. But, I seriously didn't get any time. So, I just choose something from your wardrobe. Hope you like it - Maya.

If I remember right, my designer brought this suit for me. But, I still didn't get any chance to wear it. Today was the best occasion. I happily took out the suit and kept it on the table aside. I quickly to a shower and got ready.

I had once seen Lucas getting very happy regarding the way Dan still chooses his outfits for the day. He also does it sometimes for her. But, the happiness on his face when he gets to wear what his wife chose for him is something I never understood. But, today when I got to experienced it, I understood what he meant by small gestures from your wife really mean a lot. Even if on papers, I have no relation to her. But, my heart still considers her my wife. And, this feeling is gonna be like this forever. Because I know that I can never ever in my life love someone, the way I love her and I don't even want to take a chance of loving someone else. She will always be my first and last love even if she wants to move on after this.

Not wanting to spoil my mood any further because of the assumption of her going away, I decided to distract myself from the topic and ran towards Lucas' room to ask him if Maya has told him the address yet.

Before I could reach his room, I saw him in the hallway.

"Hey Lucas! I got Maya's message. She said that she is gonna text you the address and you are going to take me to her. Has she sent the message yet?"

My excitement knew no limits today. I was jumping and bouncing on a place as a 3 year old who's going to get his favourite candy.

"This smile on your face is something everyone in the family has missed in the last few days. It's nice to have it back. And as of Maya, she has sent me the address and assigned me the duty of being your chauffeur for today."

He told me.

"Well she has given a nice duty to you. But, I can drive well on my own. So tell me the address. I will go myself." I excitedly said to him.

"Also, Maya has told me that if you didn't listen to me, then we will have to cancel all the plans for today."

My face fell as soon as those words left Lucas' mouth.

"Fine I won't ask anything. Just don't blackmail me any further. Now, let's go fast." and I hurriedly descended the stairs and looked back to see that Lucas was still standing there looking smilingly at me.

"I know you have a crush on me Lucas and I promise that I will give you a complete hour to stare at me. But, now let's just go fast please. I am running out of patience."

"Keep your mouth shut the whole drive or else I won't drop you." Lucas said.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, I quickly put a finger on my mouth and that's when he came down. We both went and sat in his car.

"Without making any sound, let me tie this around your eyes. Maya has instructed you to come there blind foded and if you say even a word more, I will go back to the mansion."

I kept my mouth shut. But, in my mind I was cursing Lucas so badly for blackmailing me for every single possible thing. He tied the blindfold on my eyes and I felt the car speed up.