Two weeks later

Gauri looked at her sleeping son who seemed excited to have more people in the house that he exhausted himself every day playing with them, her parents and Ishaan arrived last week awhile Arnav parents came two days ago. It helped to have them around to occupy her son because she wasn't herself as the day grew near she became distant from her son.

" He misses you " her mother said yesterday after she failed yet again tell bedtime story to her son ,being near her son was hard for her that she had built a wall around herself that even her son can't breach

She couldn't fathom losing him and she wanted to believe that everything will work out yet a part of her is so scared as the day approaches near , Arnav and her went to talk to the lawyer every single day until the man was fed up with them but too polite to say so on their face but she would have gone crazy if she didn't even do that much.

Awhile she pushed her son away in daylight ,at night she found herself often checking up on him at odd hours when he was sleeping , even now she glancing at her sleeping son and her heart felt like it could burst with the love she felt for him.

Gauri didn't hold back when she loved her son , her biological father lack of affection had made her feel that she should never make her kid doubt it ever and yet she was distancing herself from her son , not to protect her but him because if the court ruled in Vinoth favour than her son won't miss her too much.

Her mind knows that isn't how any relationship works and yet she can't help but want to protect her son from the pain she felt as a kid. She didn't know she had been crying until his hands wrapped around her and made her lean in to him .

Arnav had been her rock the last two weeks without him she would have broken down by now ,he understood her without words and unlike her parents or in laws he never asked her questions she didn't want to answer like "are you okay " , " it will be fine" , " don't worry ". Because he knew her better than anyone else .

" I am so scared Arnav " She whispered to him as she clutched on to him and cried her heart out silently not wanting any sound to wake her son. He held her close to him in a bid to comfort and she felt like she could lose her guard and be herself .

When she refused to budge from her son room ,he walked her to the couch and sat beside her all night. She didn't know when she finally fell asleep on his shoulders but she woke up when her son found his way to her lap as soon as he woke up .

" Good Morning mommy " his tiny hands moved to spell out the greeting and her heart rushed with worry that she won't survive losing him . She didn't care that she may have squeezed her son a little close but she did hug him like her life depended on it.

" Your are squeezing him " Arnav voice spoke up few minutes later that she reluctantly let go of her hold only for her son to jump to his lap the next second ,she would have missed it if she wasn't intent on looking at her son ,the hint of pain in Arnav face as her son jumped to his lap .

And yet he barely showed a sign of it till her son finished speaking with him , Gauri heart couldn't handle seeing Arnav and her son making plans for tomorrow when today remained an uncertainty that she walked away leaving her son confused by her behavior.

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Arnav knew he shouldn't have spend the entire night on the couch ,his legs hurt and cramped the moment he woke up but those hurt failed in comparison to the confusion in Rahul eyes as Gauri walked away from her son yet again.

He understood her reasons ,in a way she was trying to protect her son but doing it wrongly and all he hoped was that by the end of the day Rahul can get his mother back that he was taken back when she walked inside Rahul room five minutes later clearly realizing the error of ways as she scoped her son into her arms leaving him alone .

His legs needed a few minutes of rest that he kept messaging them absent mindedly until he got a call from his grand mother who seemed worried about today as well , considering she was the only other person from his family who knew about Gauri past .

The rest of his family weren't worried about today outcomes because they are kept in the dark because he knew the decision to enlighten them or not remained with Gauri.

Her past doesn't matter to him in the least except the possibility of it causing trouble in today hearing ,as far as Arun Lawyer had told them ,her brother in law remained clueless about it ,so it won't any trouble .

A knock to the door brought him out of his thoughts as Gauri mother walked in with a glass of milk probably for Rahul given she had taken over caring for him the last week . He told her about the fact Rahul was with Gauri that she looked relieved that her daughter wasn't avoiding her grandson today.

Arnav had known Gauri mother most of his life and remembered her warm welcome when he visited their house but they never talked beyond small talks that when she sat beside him ,he knew she was going to speak something important.

" What happens after today ?" Gauri mother asked him and he was taken back by the question and wonder what she was talking about until she clarified" With both of you" .

A question both of them were evading for the last two weeks as Rahul remained the priority , everyone in the family knew about the real state of marriage considering the separate rooms that stood between them . So he understood her mother's concern .

" Even after the judge gives the custody right to us , we had to remain married for little awhile longer just in case there doesn't rise any doubt about its validity " he spoke up because legally the marriage had to last at least for six months as they originally planned and he believed that by that time he would have convinced Gauri to give him a second chance .

" I don't care about the legalities much ,you do realize she will begin to push you away after today. This last two weeks she held on to you because she needed you Arnav and when we get Rahul back she would try to push you away ,the girl has gotten up in her head that she only need Rahul.

I know now is not the time to talk about it but she is my daughter and I failed as a mother long time ago when I put my ex husband over her happiness and awhile I worry about Rahul , I do believe the court won't separate them once they see those two together which leaves me worrying about her . My daughter needs you too Arnav ,and I want to know how you feel about her " Gauri mother spoke up leaving him surprised by how she understood her daughter mindset . Because he thought the same as well .

" I need her too aunty and I won't let her push me away not this time Trust me ,Rahul and Gauri are my family and I have no intention of losing either of them " he answered back earning a brief smile from his mother in law who seemed relieved to find that he wasn't going to let anything get between them .

*****************

Vinoth was in one of his happy mood today ,he could still imagine the look of shock on Gauri's face what would she actually do when everything went wrong for her. Would she beg him to give her son back, of course, he knew she would and how will he relish seeing her on her knees before him.

So when he saw her get down from the car, his first instinct was elation that she was finally here until he got down from the car, he didn't know what she sees in the man just like he never understood what she saw in his brother.

Then her son came into view with a teenager who he assumed to be Gauri's brother, followed by her family and two more people. He didn't care much about them except her, he had been gracious enough to offer to marry her once but she choose that cripple over her and she will pay the price today.

Then before he could walk inside and face them all, a taxi stopped near the court and she got down. Arnav ki sister, the girl he mistook to be his date. Now seeing her made him elated because probably he could ask her to marry him to take care of her nephew. Just like the old-fashioned movie.

And he hated that his brief glimpse of fantasy was disturbed when someone else got down from the car with her, a man probably her boyfriend. It put him in a sour mood as he walked inside the courtroom.

Since it was a family case there were no strangers allowed into the room except family, he remained alone on his side of the court while hers were filled with family members.It didn't matter because by the end of the day she will lose her son and he would be the one who wins in the end.

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Gauri remained frozen as the first ten minutes passed by without many new events as both sides of the lawyers began their opening statements, she didn't expect to see Kavya or Akash as their visit was a surprise and Arnav seemed to be unaware of it as well.

They didn't have much time to greet each other before the judge entered making her nervous all over again, the first few minutes went as she expected, and then Vinoth's side brought in her past assault cases as expected.

His hand gripped her when his lawyer made her sound like someone prone to violence, she knew they would try to portray her as unreliable when it comes to the safety of her son yet it was like kindling her insecurities all over again.

As promised, her lawyer dealt with it that showed her in a favorable light which came as a relief until Vinoth's lawyer spoke up again leaving her stunned.

" It came to my client's knowledge recently that his sister-in-law tricked her brother to marry him when she had been carrying someone else child. The DNA reports my client got from a reliable source reveal that my client and Rahul didn't match which leads us to assume that Arun wasn't Rahul's biological father.

In spite of that my client wants to take care of Rahul because his brother though was a fool to fall for his wife trickery loved his son. And my client wants to raise Rahul according to his brother's wishes because my client didn't want Rahul to grow up with his sister in law who failed not only his brother by lying to him but also her son all for the sake of his brother wealth . "

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

Love

Juanita Reid