Aarohi's POV:

"Team Alpha, what is your position?" Karthik says, from his walkie talkie.

"The target is in position", a voice answers.

"And the distance?" Karthik asks.

"Well maintained", comes the reply.

I roll my eyes. For the record, I was against this. If she finds out, she will lose her mind.

I peer through my glasses at the papers I have to read and sign.

"Your highness", I look up from the papers to see Seema, one of the workers, looking at me, her front dripping in chocolate, one of her hands holding a squirt gun, and the other in Danyal's hand.

I sigh. My ten year old son is more trouble than my seventeen year old daughter.

Being a Queen and a mother is not easy.

"Karthik", I call my husband, and he holds up a finger as he says in the walkie talkie, "Has the target changed his position?"

"No sir", comes the reply. "The target hasn't moved at all."

"Good", he says and then looks at me.

I point my pen towards our son, who is looking at Karthik with mischievous eyes and a bit of a grin on his face.

"What did I tell you was gonna happen if you buy him a squirt gun?" I glare at Karthik pointedly.

He comes towards me, kisses me on the cheek, and I blush furiously.

He then walks towards Danyal.

"Not cool, buddy", he says, but I roll my eyes again, knowing that Karthik is dying to know how Danyal did it. "Apologise to Seema aunty."

"Sorry, Seema aunty", Danyal murmurs, his voice very innocent.

Seema rolls her eyes and looks at me. I tell her I'll take care of Danyal. She then bows and leaves.

"How did you do it?" Karthik asks Danyal who grins widely and says, "I just melted chocolate and put it in the gun, DC. See? No big deal."

Danyal calls Karthik DC: short for Daddy Cool. I agree, Karthik is a lot cooler than I am when it comes to these things.

But definitely not when it comes to his daughter.

"It is a big deal", I say sternly. "You are not supposed to squirt other people with chocolate, Danyal."

"Sir!" A voice comes from the walkie talkie. "Princess has discovered that she was being tracked. Our cover is blown."

Karthik curses loudly.

"Karthik!" I admonish him, and groan. I'm sure Danyal is going to pick up on that particular swear word pretty soon.

Even after so many years, Karthik still has no filter on his mouth.

It's like I have three kids at home.

"I told you that would happen", I say. "Zaara is not stupid. And she is going to be very furious."

"You know how paranoid I get when it comes to Zaara and boys", he reasons. "I will try to make her see my point."

"Well, you better prepare a good defence, because she will come through that door any minute", I say, as I pick up the pen to sign on one of the documents. The partnership seems pretty profitable.

I feel something pulling my sleeve. I look towards my left to see Danyal looking at me. I chuckle and pick him up in my arms. I put my papers aside and place him on the table.

"Who do you bet on this time?" I ask Danyal.

"PZee", he says, as if the answer is obvious.

Danyal has a habit of acronym-ing everybody's names.

He calls Zaara PZee: short for Princess Zaara.

However, he has no acronym for me. He simply calls me "mom".

"Are you going to bet on DC this time?" He asks me.

"I don't know", I reply, thoughtfully, as I see my husband pacing in the room, muttering to himself. "Karthik kinda has a point."

"But PZee is going to be a lawyer", Danyal says. "Nobody can take her down in a verbal war."

"A verbal war", I muse. "What have you been watching on TV?"

Danyal laughs. "Relax mom. It's nothing a ten year old won't watch."

"Your brain is that of a twenty year old, mister", I say, tickling him and he starts laughing. I kiss him on his cheek.

"I bet you ten bucks that this fight will go on for half an hour", Danyal says.

"No bet", I agree. "It definitely will. Atleast it won't be like the last one at family dinner. That went on for an hour."

"What you call family dinner, I call family circus", Danyal says. He is really smart and sharp for a ten year old.

I laugh. "And why is that?"

"Mom, have you seen our family? It is so huge, multiplying almost every two years, that it can make up the population density of a village", he reasons.

I start laughing really hard. God knows what books this kid reads.

The door of the room bursts open and I see Zaara standing at the threshold, cackling with electricity.

In simple words, she is very furious.

"Dad!" She calls and Karthik looks at her. "How could you? You send spies after me like I am some criminal?! And you think I wouldn't notice?! I was on a date, and you ruined it!"

"You are too young to be dating", Karthik says firmly.

"But mom gave me permission, and even you said I could go!" Zaara looks at me at the same time that Karthik does. I simply shrug and Danyal starts laughing.

Zaara rounds on him. "You think this is funny, Danny? Wait till you have surveillance on you twenty four seven and you will understand!"

Danyal looks at me with wide eyes and I simply shake my head, assuring him. There will be no surveillance on my son that he would know of.

Unlike Karthik, I know exactly how to not leave a trace of my actions. I have had years of practice for that.

"How could you, dad?" She asks. "I trusted you!"

"I don't trust him!" Karthik says, and Zaara crosses her arms.

"But I do", Zaara says. "Don't you trust me? My choices?"

Danyal then whispers in my ears, "Bad move by PZee. DC has a list of Zaara's bad choices."

I chuckle and whisper right back, "I know. Which is why I am with Karthik this time."

"You didn't trust PZee's date, did you?" Danyal asks me and I smirk.

"Definitely not. The boy has player scribbled all over him. But I know better ways to keep an eye on Zaara", I wink and Danyal high fives me.

I had sent the boy a message from a blocked number, telling him that if he makes any advances towards my daughter, I will send his instagram photos to his parents.

And believe me, he wouldn't want that.

Which is why I didn't bother keeping a watch on Zaara. I know the boy wouldn't make any single move. I have contacts everywhere.

"Let's talk about your choices", Karthik says. "How about the time you got a tattoo without informing us?"

"Only because if I would have informed you, you would never have allowed me!" Zaara says.

"Whoops", Danyal suddenly says and looks down.

He has spilled ink all over his pants.

I sigh, as I pick him up, while Karthik and Zaara heat up their argument.

This is going to be a long night.

I should have known my children would be Double Trouble. And my husband, their boss.

But I smile, because I know I wouldn't trade anything for this.

Because tomorrow morning, Karthik would be in Zaara's room, kissing her cheek and waking her up, and Zaara would smile in her sleep because she knows how much her daddy loves her, and then Zaara and Danyal would chase each other through the Palace, while I will be watching them, hiding in plain sight, with Karthik by my side, hand in hand, standing on the treehouse that my dad built.

And it would all be alright.

Always.
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Hey guys! So Double Trouble has finally come to an end. It has been a long journey and I really hope you have enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you so much for your unending support! I truly appreciate it. I will now update and complete my remaining books one by one.
I am really sorry for the delay in updating my chapters! So please bear with me.
And thank you once again :-)
For those who are wondering, there will be no sequel to this book, as I feel it is good the way it is.
Love you all!!