Response to the previous chapter is too low. This makes me feel demotivated.

Happy Reading...

Anirudh and Shalini were having dinner with random talks about business and family.

Shalini: Ani?

Anirudh: Yes Dadi?

Shalini: Till when will you ignore Ruhi like this?

Anirudh (sighing): Dadi, I won't be able to accept Ruhi. Please don't force me.

Shalini: Ani, like you three, also didn't get her father's love. The reason is that her father wanted a boy. He never wanted a girl. If you will try-

Anirudh (cuts her sentence): Dadi, you want me to accept Ruhi out of sympathy? Because her father doesn't want a girl child?

Shalini: No Ani...

Anirudh (rubbing his forehead): Dadi, I don't trust that lady. How can I trust her? She was suffering from Cancer. What if she made up this whole story at that time? So, with Sympathy, can we accept her Daughter? If she was seriously regretting. As soon as her husband came up with real colours. She could have come here and apologised to us? Or maybe after his death or I can say when she came to know about her Cancer. To be honest, I don't trust her mother a bit. Maybe, she is alive. We never know facts.

Shalini was at a loss for words.

Anirudh (sighing): Dadi, I know we wouldn't have forgiven her. I don't even expect anything.

He sighed frustratedly, not getting how to explain his point.

Shalini: Whatever happened, we can't change it. We need to look for the now and the future. I don't want any of my grandchildren to pay for the mistakes of that man. Neither the three of you nor she. I just want you to live together.

Anirudh: Dadi, don't worry. We won't leave her alone. She has Saurav and Vidyut around her. Financially, I will make sure to meet her needs. But not more than this for me. I don't want to discuss further.

Shalini agrees, not willing to push things further.

Silently, they had their meal.

After completing dinner, Anirudh sat in the living area, watching TV and Shalini went into her room. She sat reading a book.

After some time, Shalini who was engrossed in her book, heard a knock on the door. She shifted her attention from her book. She saw Anirudh standing at the door.

Shalini: Bahar kyun ruka hai? Aa jaa... (Why are you standing at the door? Come inside)

Anirudh walked in.

Anirudh: Soye nahi? (Aren't you sleepy?)

Shalini shook her head. Anirudh nodded and helped her to shift on the bed. So, she can lie on the bed.

As Shalini sat on the bed, comfortably. Anirudh lay on the bed, resting his head on her lap. Shalini smiled, caressing his hair.

Anirudh (soft whisper): Dadi?

Shalini (caressing his hair lovingly): Haa? (Yes?)

Anirudh: Dadi, a woman doesn't need to look beautiful or always be ready every now and then. Neither are they some machine. We expect her to produce a boy after every pregnancy.

Shalini (confused): What do you want to say, Anirudh?

Anirudh (tears brimming in his eyes): Dadi, after giving birth to three of us and taking care of us. Mumma couldn't maintain her body like she used to in her early marriage.

As he was lying on her lap. Shalini couldn't see tears in his eyes.

Shalini: Ani, not only after pregnancy, even during pregnancy. Women go through a lot of changes in their bodies. That's okay to have a different body type than before.

Anirudh: Dadi, after he left. Many times, I heard Mumma speaking with Ankita Masi. She used to say that because of gaining weight or not maintaining her weight like before, he felt the need to look for someone perfect in it. She turned from a Young lady to a responsible lady. He turned from a Young man to a cheater. Is it fair? Your wife doesn't have time for herself. So, you are going to look out for someone? Not only he but she was also responsible for my mother's suffering. Knowing he is married. He is cheating on his wife. How can she expect him to be loyal? Dadi, how are we so sure that she is not more? What if she is playing another game? She knows you ain't gonna leave her daughter alone.

Shalini, by now, understood that he was crying. She pulled him in a tight hug, rubbing his back.

Shalini (trying to calm him): I know you are hurt because-

Anirudh (breaking the hug): Dadi, "It didn't hurt me. Not "hurt". Hurt is a four-letter word. It's short. This Destroyed our lives, Obliterated respect for father, desecrated the value of the word marriage, Annihilated our childhood successfully, Demolished our little hearts, Shattered, or Demoralised maybe... But no. It didn't hurt me. It didn't "hurt" me at all. I can't trust that lady and I won't be able to accept Ruhi. Looking at Ruhi, all I do is remember how my mother used to cry, feeling low. She felt cheated. Because she was lacking somewhere. He felt the need to look for someone else. Saurav and Vidyut were small kids. I performed the death rites. I know, how heavy my heart felt that time. Dadi, I tried my best to help you with everything I could. I can't this time. I can't.

He said as the sob escaped from his mouth.

Shalini was listening to him silently. Letting him pour out his pain. She was rubbing his back to calm him.

Anirudh, being the eldest child, saw his mother breaking down, feeling cheated. He was one the to perform her last rites. He helped his grandmother handle his younger brothers. He grew up before his time. He saw his brothers looking for their mother but she was nowhere in their lives. He saw how he and his brothers lost trust and hope in their father. The belief a child holds on to the word father. How the three hated the word father. He has seen everything. Understood, everyone's point.

With this, Shalini agreed to his point. She understood his pain.

Shalini can order him to accept Ruhi. She knew he would follow his order. She wanted Ruhi to be happy and safe. But just to make her happy. She can't be unfair to Anirudh. She wants him to be happy as well.

To be continued...