A week later

Lavanya Sanskar Maheshwari  couldnt believe it has been six days of her father avoiding her ,she never thought it could be possible  and the last place she wanted to be at was a party ,but kavya her cousin won't take no for an answer . So here she was dressed up for a party when all she wanted was to go back to the confines of her house . Looking around her , she already knew the house was filled with her family and though the Maheshwari's werent directly  related to the Khanna, they were here as well which meant the house was filled with her cousins every side she turned. 

She saw her little brother playing with Yash Laksh Maheshwari. She saw her mom talking with Lekha aunty , Kavya mom . Then she spotted Gauri parents talking with each other and  everywhere she looked around it was filled with her family . And yet she never felt more alone , her mom smiled at her weakly  when she saw her looking at them. Ever since her outburst last week  her mom was walking on egg shells around her that she smiled back hoping to alleviate her fears .

" Lavanya di , come and play with us " her little brother ran towards her when he saw her standing alone for quite sometime .

" You play Yuv , I am fine " she said and smiled at him as she ruffled his head who went back to play with Yash at her answer .

She remembered when Yuv was just born , she was scared and nervous to approach him as she worried he would start crying like the babies in the orphanage but the first time she found courage to get near him the hospital she was smitten by him if one could say that about her brother , she would simply stay in his room and play with her toys for hours like she did with the kids in the orphanage , but she wasn't tasked with looking after her brother as her parents were always around .

When he began to speak and walk he always trailed after her calling her Lavanya di.. At first she lent him her toys to play only for him to break it into pieces and her mom told her it was because he was too young . When he grew little older he was more interested in football and toys cars than her dolls . Yet she would always play with him even if the car didnt fascinate her as much as her dolls .

As they grew up , the sibling bond remained strong even when they don't share same interests . She often choose to play football with him on the backyard even if she was terrible at it just so she could spend some time with him . But at the age of ten ,Yash was more of an appropriate playmate than her . So his brother invite to play stemmed from concern after her outburst last week as well, the little one had been worried for her, it both warmed her heart and concerned her that she was letting her struggle affect those who are close to her.

Her next visitor was four year old Sanjana Agrawal the youngest in the Maheshwari clan. When her skirt were tugged she looked down to see the little girl gazing upto her with a smile ,that lavanya felt compelled to lift her up to hold the tiny one in the confines of her arm .

" Lavanya Di , You look pretty .." Sanjana spoke up first making her smile as she looked at her cousin who had been adorably dressed  as well. 

" Thank You Sanju and You look like a princess , and where is your papa " she asked as Sanjana pointed her towards her father. Her eyes met her father instead who was talking with her brother in law .

Her father , the word gave her a pause as she didn't know if she was still his daughter . After her outburst she waited all day hoping her father would come to talk with her , she hoped that she can somehow make it right but except her mom periodical visit to her room she was left alone the entire day . And she was sure her brother was confused about the family changed dynamics.

Sleep eluded her the entire night when she feared her actions might have caused irreparable damage in her relationship with her father . And amidst the tears she fell asleep that night . The next day she woke with her mind made up, she would apologize for her words , she would stop letting one moment get in the way of her life . She wouldnt let her fear that she may have been foisted on him affect their relationship any longer , her father loved her and that should be enough she decided  as she stepped out of her room the next day.

It was time to let go of the past she decided but her steps faltered when she saw her father in the dining room . And the words she planned weren't spoken instead she decided to stick with  a greeting.

" Good Morning Dad " she spoke up as she smiled up to him and leaned in to kiss his cheek as always. .

" Good morning beta " he answered back and Lavanya barely managed to not react to those words as she took her seat beside him .

And thus began a week of pretending it didn't hurt when he answered in one or two words , thus began a week where she ignored the hurt at his ignorance of her.

Lavanya knew she hurt him by her words , so she accepted his withdrawal as her punishment and tried her best to make him forgive her , she cooked his favorite food , made him tea just like he preferred , followed him around in the house and tried to bridge the gap between them.

Except He was always polite with his refusal to spend time with her  ,if she asked him to go on a drive he would politely decline , if she asked him to drop her at school he would politely decline . Even her mom who lavanya later learned had no idea why her husband was being distant, when she confronted Lavanya about the same all she told her mother was that it was her fault and she hurt her father . And then promised her mom she will fix it ,but so far she hadnt been able to speak to her father for more than few minutes.

 And after last night. She was very much worried about the same. She waited for him to come home as she cooked his favourite kheer a sweet he loved and knew it was the perfect day for reconciliation since her mom and brother was staying the night with her grandparents .But when he ate the food and walked away with out a word , she was crushed .

" How long will you remain angry dad " she asked him when he got upto leave the room because she didnt know how to make him talk to her .

" I am not angry beta . Why would I be " he answered back and she wanted to cry but she wasn't going to break down , not when she need to remain strong .

" Fine , not angry but hurt. Disappointed , upset .. Whatever it is how long will you ignore me like this " she asked as her eyes misted with tears in spite of her effort to keep it in control   . But when he walked away without an word . She feared she had her answer .

So as she starred at her father today , she wondered if he will ever forgive her . Because each passing day it feels like a year .Sanjana Agarwal was bored when she was lost in her thoughts , so she asked to be let down and thus bringing her attention back to the little girl who rushed back to her mother . She was about to join Kavya and Gauri when someone spoke up beside her .

" He is still being an idiot? " a voice spoke up beside her and she turned to see  Arjun uncle, Kavya dad standing beside her .

" I don't know how to make it right ? " She answered back, it was her fault she understood that but she didnt know how to make it right either.

" In all my years I have known your father ,this is the first time I will say he was wrong . He loves you Lavanya more than you can imagine and maybe it was why he is hurt . " Kavya dad spoke up . She knew that  it is why it hurt more to know she hurt him.

She decided she need to keep trying , and so the next day she knocked at his office door and entered with a smile on her face .

" Dad ,can we go to shopping for the kids today , I already made the list " she spoke up as she stood in front of her father desk .

          When she was first adopted she told her parents she never celebrated her birthday before thus began the idea from her father  to throw a birthday party for the kids in her orphanage at the end of January as the all turn a year older in the month of January in the orphanage .

          That was one of the reason she failed to trust her memories of her younger days . Her father was all that is kind and perfect . Every time he would visit the orphanage with her , she would see his kindness and how he deeply cared about each kid .

                 If there was any need that the orphanage couldn't cover from the donations , he would always sign an extra check before leaving the orphanage.

        
            It was why she couldn't trust her earlier memories with her dad because he was a good person  , he always was kind to her  but they didn't stay together not for over a month .He would visit often and she would cling to him and would cry when he left at the end of the day . 

         In all her memories , she felt loved and cared by her father but she began to wonder if she saw his actions the way she wanted too .  She once asked her mom why they didn't stay together back when she got adopted but her mom didn't answer her and changed the topic towards something else , and she wondered if the brief rift was caused by her .

                          She was tired of rethinking everything , all she wanted was to know was how her dad felt about her when he adopted her , did he want her back then as his daughter or agreed to adopt her for his wife . And instead of talking with him.  She hurt him by her words and now he was avoiding her .

           When she was young she only attended the party with her family  ,  The last three years she helped her parents with shopping for the new dress to every kids in the orphanage ,or buying presents for each one . Anything to make them feel happy . 
     

                 And she believed her father wouldnt refuse her request this but  instead of accompanying her , he took out his debit card and placed it on the table ..

" Why don't you go with mom this time beta " he told her and she was crushed but also somewhat angry at his continued ignorance .

She opted to go with Gauri instead as she wanted someone to vent her frustration .When they purchased everything she gave them his debit card and the sight of the card brought back his earlier dismissal

Tears clouded her eyes as she knocked into the accessories counter and everything she had in her hand fell down . In an desperate attempt to leave soon she gathered the clothes that fell down and got up to leave .

She was so lost in her thoughts , she froze when the security guards blocked her exit , she tried to ignore them and walk away but they held her back .

Little later she was seated in an police station as an shoplifter . In her carelessness she had gathered the accessories that fell down in to her bag which raised the alarm as she existed the shop .

Gauri tried reasoning with them that it was a mistake but Lavanya stood numb with shock that they constructed it as guilty .

" The young people now a days are spoiled , look at her .She paid over lakhs from her father card but stole items over less than 5000 Rupees.

The arrogance that she got famous lawyer as parents . Not only that she is an heiress in her own right after her grandfather stole every penny from us and provided her with it .

Mark my words now it shop lyfting , soon she will commit bigger crimes like her aunt , I arrested her aunt once  and let her go after her father begged me and later she went in to kill someone .. " the police inspector kept speaking and Lavanya couldn't keep herself from hearing those words as the police office relished in tormenting her with his words .

She was worried that her parents would have to bail her out , she was worried they would be disappointed in her .  From the day she got adopted. She tried to live upto their expectations , she never ventured and did something that would let them bow their head before others .

There was the one time she pushed Gauri down when she insisted her parents were gonna get separated and she still remember her mom apologizing in her place . And she decided that day she will never let her parents hurt that way ever again .

"  Instead of being grateful for the wealth she is behaving like a  spoiled princess , did you hear one word from her . All she did was stare at us .

It all her parents fault for raising her like this " the words hardly left him before Lavanya spoke up .

" Say anything about me but not about my parents . " Lavanya voice resonated in the station ,she won't let them share the blame for her even if she was innocent .

" See the same arrogance of her aunt , spoiled because they have Money " the inspector  began to speak up again when another voce resonated in the station

" Not one more word against my daughter " her father spoke up ,that made Lavanya turn around from the chair and look upto her father face filled with anger .

She had seen him this angry only once before and it brought a memory she had forgotten or suppressed due to its violent nature .

" Take your hands of my daughter " he had spoken back then on his second visit to the orphanage to take her home . She has forgotten about it ,because she had been too excited to go to her new home that day ,she didn't remember the stranger who fought with her mother that day nor did she remember her father rushing in to protect them .  

She held on to the first memory so long , she forgot the second memory when he declared her as his daughter. He could have adopted for his wife , he could have adopted because he felt guilty,  he could have treated her like a princess because of his kindness but the heart felt declaration that she was his daughter didn't Come because of those things , it was because she was his daughter . 

       Lavanya realized that her father never once thought of her as anything but his daughter and the chaos in her heart stopped , the doubts disappeared and it felt like a heavy burden left her . And she smiled at her father .

P.S : " That it for now .Let me know your feedback .Hit the votes if you liked it . "

Love

Nita