What? How? When? Why can't he remember it?

He blinked his eyes several times to clear the image before him but it just won't go away. He felt a tug on his pants and found Ayaansh grinning up at him. Without waiting for another second, he picked him up and again looked at her.

"Is that real? But how?" He questioned Ayaansh in a quiet voice who just looked at his father and then his mother who was sleeping on the bed.

Sahil watched as Srishti slept on the bed, on her back but that is not what caught his attention. It was the slight bump which had him speechless. She wore one of his shirts and the blanket only so much covered her legs.

Her belly was slightly protruding and her face had frowns. She was not pregnant in the morning then how?

"Sahil?" Her strained voice reached his ears and his eyes snapped up. She was frowning as she stared at him and he absolutely looked clueless.

"What's wrong?" She asked before her face contorted in pain and she kept a hand on her belly.

"What's wrong with you? How are you pregnant again without me doing anything?" The words were out of his mouth even before he could think them through. Srishti's face went blank and she blinked her eyes few times before giving him a are-you-crazy-look.

He pointed at her belly and she followed his gaze and realised what he meant. Not two seconds later she was laughing loudly clutching her stomach but winced in the end. Sahil waited till she finished laughing and stood there with Ayaansh in his arms.

"Come here and touch your child." She mocked still snickering and he frowned walking towards her.

Squinting his eyes he carefully watched her belly and she hid her smile. He was being silly. Ayaansh wiggled to get down and he put him on the bed before getting back to his work.

"Sahil, really? You're so dumb." She laughed taking out the water bag from beneath her clothes and showing it to him. He looked blank but then her laugh distracted him and he couldn't help but smile at his own stupidity.

Ayaansh clapped his hands getting excited seeing his mother laughing and father smiling.

"Ah okay, please don't make me laugh more. It seriously hurts." She winced clutching her stomach and he could see she was in pain. He knew she was on her periods and it was a difficult time for her but never knew it was this painful.

Srishti groaned as another cramp hit her and she rolled onto her side to somehow bear it. Her periods were always the worst and she couldn't even get out of the bed or eat anything for the first three days atleast.

"Do you need anything?" Sahil asked seeing her biting her lips hard and the way she curled into a ball to stop the pain. She looked ready to cry and it was for the first time Sahil Malhotra saw Srishti Malhotra so weak and pale.

"Just ─please refill this bag with hot water." She ground out and he nodded taking the bag and moving out of the room.

Ayaansh crawled closer to her and caressed her face, staring at her while Srishti opened her eyes and smiled faintly at her baby.

He moved closer and rested his head on her face which caused her to let out a chuckle.

"Mumum...mum" Even though it was gibberish, it was still closer to 'mom' or 'mumma' and her heart soared in happiness.

"Ayaansh, baby say mumma." She prompted caressing his head and all he did was lay quietly on her. Just then Sahil walked in to the sight and shook his head.

"Bud, come here." He called out handing over the water bag to Srishti but Ayaansh still stayed unresponsive. His cheek rested on hers as he stared ahead at nothing particular.

Sighing, Sahil picked him up and he immediately started wailing. Ignoring his wailing he looked at Srishti.

"Take rest and I'll get something for you to eat." He said and walked out with a wailing Ayaansh in his arms. Srishti tried to stop him saying she didn't want to eat but he was already gone.

Ayaansh refused to look at his father as they settled on the couch. Sahil suppressed a smile and poked Ayaansh's cheek slightly trying to get his attention but failed as the frown became more prominent on his face.

"So, Ayaansh is angry with Dadda. What do we do now?" He pretended to think whereas Ayaansh only looked at the room where his mother was.

Sahil noticed it as well and with a sigh he set him down on the floor. Without another second his little feet took off in the direction of their room and this time he didn't stop their son.

He knew Ayaansh was more attached to Srishti but right now she was in pain and he didn't want her to be uncomfortable. Getting up he ordered food for them before moving towards their room.

Both of them were cocooned into each other and for a moment he felt like joining them too but quickly dismissed the thought.

When the food arrived, Srishti whined about not having anything but one look from Sahil and she had to have it with a grumpy look on her face. Now both the mother and the son, sported the same look towards him and he couldn't help but shake his head.

What was happening? Were they really becoming a family in true sense? But how, when he clearly didn't even want to acknowledge his relationship with his own wife? He had vowed himself to only concentrate on his son then why did he stray?

────────

Zevah had checking out some files when her phone buzzed and she picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Zevah, my daughter. How are you doing my child?" Zevah froze and later grimaced as she checked the name on the screen. It was her father.

"I'm doing fine, Abbu. How are you? And Ammi?" She asked with a fake smile because she was least interested in knowing about their lives.

"We're good. You need to come home. There's something we need to tell you." Her heart hammered in her chest at that and she dreaded the worst.

"What is it, Abbu? Please tell me now because I'm very busy these days with work. I can't come home." She said in a strained voice and prayed for it all to get over with. She heard him sigh on the other end and before he could speak, the phone was snatched from him by her mother.

"Zevah, you need to come home soon. We've selected a groom for you, so come fast so that your Nikkah can be done and dusted with." Her breath hitched at the information and she suddenly felt numb all over.

The voices coming from the phone, around her faded in the background until all she could hear was her own blood pounding in her ears, her irregular breathing and the tremble in her hands. She was having a panic attack.

"Zevah? Zevah!" Her name was called several times but she couldn't differentiate whether it was coming from the phone or beside her. It was until she felt someone's hands shaking her, she looked up only to find Aditya watching at her with a concerned look.

For Aditya, he had never seen her being so shaken that she forgot to breath. She was shaking and her eyes held the raw pain as she stared into his.

"Zevah, listen to me. Just breathe. Breathe okay?" He held her shoulders in a firm grip and it was only when he heard voices coming from her phone, he realised the call was still going on.

So without another thought he snatched her phone and ended the call before throwing it somewhere aside.

"Look at me, Zevah. Whoever it was, is gone okay? I won't let anything happen to you. I'm here, just breathe." He said sternly and she took a shuddering breath.

"Ad─Aditya," She licked her lips and her throat suddenly felt parched. Aditya handed her water and she drank it hurriedly. When she was finally calm after what felt like ages, she rested her head on the desk, suddenly drained out from all the happenings.

"Zevah," His voice reached her ears and she felt vulnerable to even look at him.

"I won't talk or ask anything but just please come with me." He said softly and she slowly raised her head to look at him. Gulping her tears, she stood up and followed him behind.

He brought her to the terrace and both of them stood there staring at nothing particular. Zevah felt her mind racing with all the thoughts and was relieved that Aditya didn't ask her any questions.

"I've never wanted anyone's attention and love in my life but my parents." She didn't know why she was sharing this with him but standing beside him in that moment, she felt it was the only right thing to do.

"From the very beginning, my parents weren't happy about having a girl child but now that I was already born, they couldn't throw me out because at the end I was still their child. So all they did was raise me as their responsibility." She swallowed trying hard not to cry but feeling his eyes on her, she just took a deep breath before continuing,

"I always fought for their attention, doing something or the other that would make them proud or even angry on me. It would make me happy you know, even if they would scold me because you only scold the ones close to you right? But they never did. They fulfilled all my needs, I'm not complaining. But those materialistic things were nothing for me because all I ever wanted was some of their time and love." Aditya clenched his hands for wanting to pull her close to himself and hide her in his arms.

"It wasn't until I turned sixteen, they fixed my marriage with a man twice my age and it terrified me. They were so eager to get rid off of me and it resorted to them basically selling off their daughter to some middle aged man." She scoffed remembering the time when she cried and begged them not to be so cruel with their own daughter. Aditya already wanted to punch something or maybe somebody but knowing there was more to come, he controlled himself.

"Luckily for me, the man already had four wives and it came into light on the very day of our marriage. I was saved and the marriage was called off. That incidence was an eye opening to me and I knew that the people I called my parents, cared less even if I died one day. So then I was eager for two years to get over so I could turn legally responsible for my own life and those two years, I prayed and prayed for my own safety." It felt as if she was living those years again as she recalled everything.

"As soon as I turned eighteen, I moved out of there and landed here. I was homeless with only so much money to even rent a place. So for two days I roamed around trying to find shelter and I didn't know how I ended up at 'Hope'." A smile played on her lips and he was glad for that little smile as well.

"Meeting Srishti, was the best thing that has ever happened to me and I vowed myself to never lose a friend like her. She is all I have and she will always remain the most important person in my life." She chuckled amidst her tears and finally turned to look at Aditya.

Aditya didn't hold himself back this time and did the only thing he wanted to for so long.

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