Everyone is bustling in the house, after all it's time for the lord governor to leave for his office. "Di, have you checked his breakfast and lunch that I have kept on the table?" Kushi asked Anjali as she prepared his juice which he preferred with his breakfast.

"Yes Kushiji, I have checked everything and it's perfect you don't have to worry" Anjali replied with her ever-calming voice. This made Kushi relax a bit as she set his juice and his diabetic tablets on the table and started chatting with Anjali. After a few minutes their chat was interrupted by the sound of someone strolling through the hall into the dining space and alerted them to the arrival of THE lord governor who is clad in his business suit, his look emitting the perfect combo of power and control.

"Good morning Di" Arnav wished his sister giving a warm smile and turned to his wife and gave a look of love and adoration, which Kushi reciprocated with a wide smile.

"Good morning Chote" Anjali greeted him back with a smile. "Did Prakash uncle inform you when he is coming here; it's been a long time since we've seen him." Anjali asked him while Kushi arranged his breakfast.

"I think he will confirm his arrival by today Di, and once I get the information, I will let you know, don't worry." He replied while having his breakfast.

Their conversation was cut short by a commotion outside the hall followed by a giggle and a voice calling out "Iron Man, help me!" followed by another round of giggles. All looked at the source and there she came running in her cute frock following her was their mini version of lord governor. She came towards Arnav and jumped into his waiting arms.

"Hey shortcake, you're up so early, had a good sleep?" He asked her pulling her cheeks and she kissed his cheeks in return.

"Yes, Iron Man, I did have a good sleep" she chirped.

"Oh really, and may I ask why you and Aarav are running around the house like this, you know that still two of them are sleeping and you should not disturb them." he looked between both Aarav and his shortcake as he said that so they wouldn't cause havoc at least until the others wake up. They both nodded their heads at him.

He kissed her cheek and called out to Kushi "Take care of these both so they don't bother her and I'm going to check on my little one before leaving. Call me if you need anything, alright." he said to Kushi looking at her with the softest expression on his face which he reserved only to specified people in his life.

"I'll take care of her and these both, you can go ahead." Kushi assured him.

"Bye Di!" he said and kissed her cheek and rushed upstairs to check on his little one.

He opened the door slowly as he doesn't want to wake her from her sleep and peeped inside. The sight before him made his lips twitch into a warm smile. His Little one had her eyes closed a small smile on her lips and her hands resting protectively on her 5 months baby bump she looked every inch an angel as his shortcake used to call her.

She stirred in the bed and squinted her eyes open and gave a huge smile to Arnav "Good morning bhai!" she said and tried to get up and our lord governor rushed towards her to make her sit down properly.

"Careful little one, it's not just you anymore there's another life inside you" he reprimanded her softly.

"I'm good bhai, it seems you're about to leave for work, leaving me alone" she said with a cute pout and he just pulled her cheeks seeing her childish behaviour.

It took a lot of time to break through her shell but they succeeded in it, what with Kushi being more energetic than the whole house combined, his Di being kind and soft and others being supportive and patient with her, but it came as a shock when he was the one, she first opened up to and felt comfortable with. Not that it was an impossible feat but a quite difficult one, as he is not an easy person to crack neither is he approachable for anyone except for his family, but once you won over him it was easy to see his soft side and being on the receiving end of his affection. But despite all this fact he had instantly felt himself warming up to his little one, maybe because of the circumstance they found her or the way she struggled valiantly through all the things that life seemed to throw at her or the way she still braved all her pain alone in order not to cause them anymore trouble or she trusted them enough to let her walls down around them and let them take care of her the same way she cared for his family, or the way her heart decided to give them the privilege of pampering the childish side of her, as it seemed she had not had the childhood she deserved but he know her selflessness and the pure love she showed the child they found with her despite it not being hers and the child's attachment with her was what made everyone including him want to protect her.

"You know I'm going to come back soon as I do every day, don't need to get upset about that, I just came to check on you. Have your food and medicine properly little one, no cheating." he looked hard at her to get his point straight into her head and kissed her forehead after he felt that she will follow his command.

"Sure, lord governor." she smirked as she teased him with the nickname that Kushi gave him; he just shook his head and smiled at her antics. She is the most mature and at the same time the most childish person he had ever seen. He bid her a goodbye and left for his office.

After he left and she freshened up, she heard her door to her room open. "Avni, Chote said you are awake, do you need help with something?" Anjali asked as she entered the room with Kushi in tow with a breakfast tray in her hands.

"Di, Kushi, why you both are taking stress I'm all good and perfect Di, see." saying this she made a scene of slowly twirling around to prove her point.

"It's no wonder he calls you 'little one' as we can see you're obviously one Avniji" said Kushi with a chuckle.

"Oh, come on Kushi! I told you not call me 'ji' it makes me feel older than I am" she pouted "and of course I'm his 'little one' after all he's my Bhai right, and Di can we go out for a while please, I want get some fresh air. Bhai is always overprotective and obsessed with my safety. So could you please take me out?" she asked giving them her best puppy face.

"Okay Baba, but before that you have to finish your breakfast and medicine then we'll go to the nearby park for a walk, alright?" Anjali asked and handed over the breakfast to Avni "By the way, how is your morning sickness nowadays, Kushi said it has decreased." She inquired.

"Yes Di, it has decreased but I have started having these weird cravings for food in middle of the night." she informed frowning which made Anjali and Kushi to laugh.

"Don't worry dear, it's all normal during this time of pregnancy." Though Anjali tried to cover it both Khushi and Avni noticed the melancholy expression on her face, Avni hugged her while Khushi held her hand. They can see the pain she still carries around because of losing her child. "And why didn't you tell me this earlier Chote would have bought everything you asked for and if he came to know about this, he's going to flip both of us for not knowing this." Anjali said faking a feared expression upon her younger brother's antics trying to clear the gloom that surrounded them while Kushi and Avni laughed to lighten the mood.

"No Di, I don't want to disturb Bhai, he is already handling so much of stress and I don't want to add more." Avni confessed, though she considered them her family she did not have the heart to trouble them even more that she already did. "I just wish I could remember something Di, something at all, so I could at least know who the father of the life growing inside me is." She said as she cradled her baby bump protectively in her hands.

Kushi and Anjali just starred at her unable to say anything and remembering that fateful day and how they found Avni who now became the object of their love and a member of their family.

Seeing their expression Avni felt guilty, it's not like she's not happy here, she is happy but her mind is still struggling to remember her past. Who is she? All she knows was her name and that the small cutie pie was not her daughter and somehow connected to her past. She does not want to pressurise that kid as it was clear that she was traumatised by whatever happened before, and so she does not wish to remind that little girl anything for her own selfish reasons. It's not as if she would never regain her memory, it's just a mild concussion and a matter of months, so she decided to wait patiently. But that doesn't mean she does not want to know, she just wanted to know about herself and her family if she had any. She felt like she's missing something major in her life and also felt guilty and sad for keeping her child from its father though she did not do this intentionally she always felt that way. She sighed and looked at the two persons in front of her who she considered as her sisters. She was blessed to end up with them, they showed her the happiness and love that a family can give, and she wished that she too had a family like that who loved her for who she is, though the evidence like the bullet scar or the way she was found and the child's traumatic experience did not reassure her, still she cannot give-up on the hope that was there in her heart.

"Avni don't worry we'll be able to find out soon. He's just worried about your safety the way we found you; we couldn't even able to describe Avni..." Kushi trailed off holding Avni's hand and caressing her hair softly. Of course, they understood Avni's feelings but the situation is warranting her safety, it's too much of a risk to dig about her past and she knows it too that's the only reason she did not dig it herself, if someone was after her, she did not want to risk the safety of the family that looked after her like their own. She can never forgive herself if something or someone was to harm this family because of her. No, she would rather not remember anything at all.

"I'm sorry Kushi, I don't know what came over me, I just said all those things.... I'm so sorry, please don't think I'm not happy here, I'm more than happy with all the love you are showering me with and I always felt at home here." she said, her confession and smile warming their hearts "And where is Mishti and champ, I have not seen them since morning." She asked as she diverted the subject and they decided to drop the subject.

"They both are with Nani in Mandir(Temple)." replied Anjali "Now finish it up, we'll go out." Anjali said and made Avni finish her breakfast and medicine.

********

Arnav was issuing orders to his workers while his assistant excused herself inside. He signalled her to wait and let the others out, and then turned around "What is the matter, otherwise you wouldn't have barged in the middle like that?" He asked sensing something important as his assistant knows not to interrupt a meeting unless it is something important.

"Sir we got a call from the Khanna industries, their representative said that Mr. Prakash Khanna wouldn't be able to come and..." The ringing of Arnav's phone interrupted them. He asked her to hold and picked up the phone. His face broke into that crooked grin of his seeing the caller ID, which is so rare, thought his assistant.

"You can go, I'll sort this out." He said dismissing her. "What do I owe to get a call from you?" He asked his voice both sarcastic and annoyed as his long-lost best friend had finally decided to contact him.

"Hey drama queen! stop it okay, I know I have not called you for a long time and there is no need to be sarcastic about that." the voice on the mobile replied.

Arnav chuckled, "So tell me ACP, how is your hunt for the criminals?" he asked unaware of the knife being plunged in his best friends' heart because of those words. But he did hear a sharp intake of breath on the other side.

Neil decided to ignored his comment, but the damage has been done and he could not do anything about the impact it had on him and said "I'm coming to Delhi instead of dad, I just called you to inform that and I guess I will be in Delhi by tomorrow evening."

"Wow that's great, I will inform everyone about that and how is everyone there? Babe, mom and dad, we miss them all, why don't you bring everyone here, it has been long since we all met. Nani and Di will be happy to see them all." Arnav said, though it seemed a little odd for Neil to come, not that he was complaining. It has been a very long time since he has seen his friends face, maybe they could catch up on all those years, he thought.

Neil just kept mum unable to utter a word as he felt the knife twisting inside his heart and he struggled to compose himself then answered in a neutral tone. "You know... dad is busy with business and Babe is a bit weak due to some health issues and mom is taking care of her so, it's not possible now but maybe after sometime I'll bring them, alright." He said knowing full well that his family is not ready to meet anyone. His family really need more time as they are still mourning for their loss, though Arnav's family was close to them and they considered them as their extended family, it has been long time since they had any interaction due to various reasons, so he knows they cannot speak about those incidents to anyone without breaking down, especially Babe.

Arnav panicked hearing Babe is unwell, as he always admired that woman for her sharp mind, cool personality and unorthodox thinking unlike the others of her age, and she loved him no less than she did Neil. "Is Babe alright? maybe you could bring her here and we'll consult the doctors' here." he suggested.

"She's alright Arnav just the age factors nothing much" Neil assured him and before Arnav could say anything more, he added, "Okay, I'll have to finalise everything here before leaving so, see you tomorrow." to Arnav.

"Yeah, see you soon." saying this they disconnected the call. Though Neil assured him about Babe's well-being Arnav couldn't shake off the feeling that Neil seems to be assuring more to himself than to Arnav and the discreet sadness in his voice as he mentioned his family and last but not the least, why would Neil come to finalise the deal? He knows Neil is a busy police officer and a reputed one at that, if dad is busy, they could have sent some other but why Neil? These were the questions that kept running through his mind. Something looked aloof and he couldn't quite pinpoint what. After all, only a best friend can observe those minute changes in the voice of his best friend. He will make him spill everything when he comes here, he thought and proceeded with the work in hand that is to let his Di know about the arrival of Neil.

Here Neil just stood there staring at her picture that occupied the huge wall of his cabin his hazel eyes displaying the agony in his heart and he felt the mask he had worn around everyone slipping away. "I miss you baby." He whispered caressing her beautiful and flawless face. What he wouldn't give to look at her smiling face and to touch her soft skin once again, even if it's just for a fleeting second, he thought closing his eyes as he leaned on her picture and once again, he allowed himself to drown in her memories.

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You may have guessed still I thought to make it clear.
Avni and Mishti are in Arnav's house and she had lost her memory and how she ended up with them I'll tell you in the upcoming chapters.
Arnav doesn't know about Neil's marriage as I've mentioned they had not contacted eachother for a long time.

Bhai - represents elder brother
Di - represents elder sister
Ji - calling someone with respect

Give me your comments and suggestions.

Thank you.