It was later that night when Anirudh was putting Rudhi to sleep. He did it anyways, regardless Bondita being around or not. Rudhi always slept with both her parents but she loved listening to stories from her Baba. This was their daily ritual.

"Which story will Mishti listen today? About animals? Or about the king and his princess?" Anirudh asked, as he hugged Rudhi to himself on the bed.

"About the King and his Princess!" Rudhi replied.

"Okay, about the Princess and her King, then!" Anirudh smiled.
"But just one story and then you'll sleep like a good girl, okay?" He said.

"Okay Baba!" She replied.

"Hmm! So there was once a king who lived in a beautiful kingdom. He lived their with his wife and four children." Anirudh started narrating a new story, he had just knitted. He had never been interested in stories or fictions, but for his Mishti, he could do it all!

"Four children?" Rudhi's eyes widened in surprise.
"Baba why did the king have four children?" She asked, and Anirudh knew he would not be able escape her questions now.

"Rudhi... Um.. It's because, God blessed him with four kids, that's it!" Anirudh told, sighing in relief as she seemed convinced with the answer.

"But Babaaaa!" She stretched the word and he already knew it was gonna be another question now.
"Why don't you have four children then?" She asked innocently but Anirudh gulped looking at her with a nervous look, he was trying hard not to laugh at the same time.

What type of a question is that now? He thought to himself and cursed his own mind for not being able to think of an appropriate answer quickly!

"Because.... Because my Rudhi is enough for me to love and your Maa and I did not ask God for four children!" He replied, trying to sound true and genuine as Rudhi looked at him.

"Hmm! Okay Baba, continue the story!" She said and Anirudh let a sigh of relief, Rudhi was finally not asking further questions and seemed convinced.

"Yeah, so! The king had three sons and one daughter...." Anirudh continued the story, patting Rudhi's head lovingly.

......

"Hello? Bihari Babu?" Bondita asked as she heard the familiar voice from the telephone.

"Ji Choti Malkin, it's me! Chote Malik is putting Rudhi Baby to sleep, should I call him?" Bihari Babu asked.

"No, don't disturb them. If he's awake, just tell him to call me back on the number I'm giving you." She told softly.
"Write it somewhere, CA- 54367." She told him.

"Okay Choti Malkin,, I will just tell him. Did you reach safely though?" He asked.

"Yes Bhari Babu, I did!" She smiled into the phone.
"Now I'll hang up, you too sleep early and take care. Good night!" She added.

"Good night, Choti Malkin!" Bihari Babu smiled and hung up the phone.

......

"So that's how the King handed over the kingdom to his wise princess because she was the bravest and the most kind- hearted of all his children." Anirudh ended the story and turned to look at Rudhi, who was almost fast asleep.

As he saw her eyes closing, he patted her for a while until Rudhi started to snore lightly and snuggled more into her Baba's chest.

"Good Night, Princess!" He murmured, kissing the top of her head and hugging her lovingly to herself.

That was when there was a knock at the door. Anirudh coincidentally hadn't locked the door that day. He turned his head to look at the door.

"Yes? The door's open, come in!" He spoke in a low voice, not to wake Rudhi up.

Bihari Babu entered slowly, checking that he didn't wake up Rudhi either.

"Chote Malik, Choti Malkin had called. I told her that you were putting Rudhi baby to sleep, so she said to inform you after you're done. You can call her, here's the telephone number." Bihari Babu spoke, handing a small piece of paper to Anirudh.

"Oh! Okay, Thankyou so much Bihari! You may also go and sleep now, it's late. Good Night!" Anirudh smiled, slowly getting up and sitting straight on his bed.

"Okay, Good Night, Chote Malik!" He smiled and left.

"Choti Malkin! Come let's talk to you!" Anirudh muttered under his breath, with a soft smile.

He got up from the bed, tucking Rudhi comfortably in the bed covers and gently placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving.

Walking down, Anirudh went straight to the study and dialled the number. After a few rings, the phone was picked up.

"Hello? May I speak to Mrs. Bondita Roy Chowdhary?' He spoke into the phone.

"Yes sure, Mr. Roy Chowdhary!" Bondita giggled from the other side, making him smile too.

"Were you just sitting near the phone, Madame?" He asked.

"I was waiting for your call, Sir!" She replied coyly.

He let out a sigh and sat down on the chair he had dragged near the telephone.

"So how are you, Choti Malkin?" He asked with a teasing smile.

"I'm good. It's all quite comfortable here. But I don't know how am I going to survive without Puchki and you, I miss you already." She sighed, sitting down on the comfortable sofa seat beside the telephone table.

"It'll be okay soon! You need to focus on your work, Jaan!" He smiled into the phone with love.

"Did Rudhi sleep?" Bondita asked.

"Yes, I just narrated her a new story. She was also missing you this morning." He replied.
"You won't believe what she made me do today!" He told dramatically.

"What?" Bondita asked curiously.

"She made me draw a Cat in her english notebook!" He told as if it was some weird thing to do.
"And as if that wasn't enough, she made fun of my cat, called it a rat and then made me draw another!" He told huffing with a slight happiness as he could hear Bondita laughing and enjoying this whole story of his.

"So could you finally please my daughter with your drawing?" She asked, laughing into the phone.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT Madame!" He replied almost yelling like a little kid.
"She's your daughter afterall! It's not an easy task to please her. You want to listen what she did next? She called my Cat a MONKEY!!" He added, acting really offended by this comment on his artworks.

"A monkey?" Bondita couldn't control her laughter now, she thought she could fall down the sofa laughing.
"Was it that bad, Pati Babu?" She asked.

"You're laughing at your husband, Bondita?" He asked, trying to sound hurt but was smiling at the same time.
"It wasn't actually that bad. But she's choosy, you see! Then I sent her to Mallika and I guess she was done with that homework quickly." Anirudh replied with a soft smile.

"Oh god Pati Babu! You really need to work of your drawing skills, now that you have a daughter nd her school homeworks to complete!" She teased him.

"Forget it! That's not possible in this birth now!" He rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"You tell me, how's your health? Are you still feeling that weakness or anything?" He asked.

"It's pretty fine now, I slept for four hours straight after reaching the hotel. I feel quite better now." She replied simply.

"Four hours? Quite a lot for my wife, who doesn't like to sleep in the daytime." He wondered but let it go saying,
"But yeah, you must be tired after the long train journey."

Just like that, the two continued to talk for a while before Bondita looked at her wrist watch to find it was twelve at midnight already.

"Pati Babu, you should really go and sleep now!" She told him.

"Hmm... It's pretty late now, you must not be tired though...." He looked at the clock as well.

"I am, actually. I'll also head to bed." She told.

"Hmm, okay! Goodnight Sweetheart!" He smiled into the phone.

"Goodnight, Pati Babu!" She smiled as well.

"You can call me Boyfriend Babu when I'm away... Or... Maybe darling Babu would also work for me!" Anirudh teased her and she just shook her head with a slight blush.

"I'm good with Pati Babu!" She giggled.
"Come on, go to sleep now! Good Night!" She said and hung up the phone.

"My Drama Queen!" He chuckled, keeping down the receiver and heading to his room to sleep.
.........

Precap: A call from Rudhi's school!
What could've happened?

That's all for this part. Hope you like this. Do let me know in the comments!❤️

How did you like Anirudh's night time story?

How was the phone call with Bondita?

How do you think will Anirudh manage without Bondita? He seems to miss her already!

Let me your thoughts through the comments!!❤️

Love,
Author!❤️

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