~Thumping it does, but have I ever told you the rate it thumps when it's close to you. It, my heart~

-Affu-

In India

Lifecare Hospital

"But why are we here, Navya? We shouldn't let Lilliput know about what we're planning for her birthday." Manik frowned, while looking around, hoping not to spot Nandini anywhere near their group.

"Bhai! Don't worry. Bhabi won't find out anything about our plans for her birthday." Navya smiled at Manik, before looking at the entrance of the hospital cafeteria. "We're here to meet Aadit Bhai." she added, and Manik's gaze was shifted towards Navya.

"Yeah, apparently he wanted to be a part of this planning." Cabir shrugged, and Navya smiled widely. "Yeah, Bhai likes Nandini Bhabi." Navya said shrugging, and eight pairs of widened eyes snapped towards her.

"What?" she questioned, frowning, before widening her eyes. "Oh! I meant, like how a friend likes his friend." she almost cired out, before smiling apologetically at Manik. "Sorry Bhai. That came out wrong." Manik managed to smile at her, yet, he couldn't forget the scenes in his head where he did catch Aadit staring at Nandini, quite in a different way than how he looked at any of his friends.

"Hey! Sorry, I had a surgery." Aadit took a seat beside Navya, who scrunched up her nose at him. "You did wash your hands, right?" Navya asked, and Aadit rolled his eyes at her, before messing up with her hair. "Hey!" Navya swatted at Aadit's hands, while Cabir did his job of messing with her hair this time, which only made Aadit smile widely.

"So, anything pre-planned, Aadit?" Manik questioned, faking a smile on his face. "Oh yes!" Aadit faked a smile too, who's still not over with his crush. "I got to know from Mishti Ma that Nandini loves the superhero Mr. Increible. She said that it reminds her of her Appa. Maybe, we could do something with that theme." Aadit smiled, hoping to impress Nandini with his plans. 

"Mr. Incredible!" Manik faked yet another smile and he did not miss the way Aadit addressed Nandini's mother with almost-son-like love, while others seemed impressed with the idea. "Wow! Bhabi likes animations too. That's something new." Mukti chimed in, and Aadit frowned at the endearment for Nandini, which was again noticed by Manik.

"I guess it will be a nice plan to have her home decorated with this theme. What say, guys?" Alya questioned, and everyone nodded, except for Manik. "I don't think so." Manik said, and Aadit stared at Manik.

"Why not?" Aadit questioned, quite defensively and Manik just shrugged. "She likes everything simple. Yeah, she may like that superhero, but she surely isn't a fan of getting those done for her as any themes. She likes stuffs to be realistic, and creating such themes and all would only seem too mushy for her. Keep it simple for her. She'll love it. She expects people around to just be with her without faking anything." Manik explained, truthfully and the girls stared at him, with adoring smiles on their faces.

"Awe, Manik Bhai! You know Bhabi well." Navya gushed, and Aadit clenched his fists hard, while Manik smiled at the girls, before looking back at Aadit. "I mean, yeah. She's my girl, after all." Manik muttered out loudly, staring at Aadit, to which, Aadit pressed his lips together, and nodded.

"Yeah. True." Aadit faked a smile, and then looked at Manik, challengingly. "So you have any plans, Manik?" he asked, and Manik smirked. "Yeah, I do." he said, and Aadit stared on, curiously. "Oh, that's just...um, from me, and from me only." Manik fumbled with words, when he looked at his friends to see them smiling at him mischievously.

"Well then, we'll make our own plans." Mukti grinned, before throwing her arms around Manik. "And you can make your own plans for your girlfriend." Mukti winked at Manik, who looked flushed, before he ruffled his little sister's hairs playfully.

He looked at Aadit, to see him quite uncomfortable, and Manik knew there was something more to it. His gaze went up to his friends to see them squinting their eyes at him, and he looked around.

"You guys decide about it. I need to use washroom." Manik stood up, and left the table, leaving the girls to chuckle, as they knew where he's escaping to.

***

"Hey, little one!" Nandini bent to the baby in her hand, while holding his little finger. The baby's eyes were fluttering open, as he was about to slip into a slumber, which was broken by Nandini. "There, there. You shouldn't sleep when Nandini Murthy is here. I mean, just look at me. How could you miss such a beauty just to sleep?" Nandini remarked casually, before checking the baby's heartbeat. 

She was on rounds, checking on a few mothers and their newborn.

"Did the pediatrician give you a visit?" she cooed in the baby's ears, before looking up at the parents; the mother was laying on the bed, and the father was by her side, sitting on a chair. "Yes, and he said chote is fine." the mother smiled widely at Nandini. "Thank you, Doctor. You helped me so much while I was in the operation theatre." she added, and Nandini nodded.

"You're welcome. Although it was my duty to motivate you to be calm, I did hear a few curse words from you and I was all cool with it. So that makes this thanks and welcome worth happening." Nandini replied, and the couple chuckled at it.

"Now, let me look into those beautiful eyes. Yeah, they're fine. Man, you have such beautiful eyes. How many hearts are you gonna break?" Nandini checked the baby's eyes, while speaking to him, whose sole attention was on her. "I know you're bored. Especially because you've been here for the past 7 days, and all you wanna do is go home and take some rest. But that doesn't mean you get to break hearts. At least not mine." she poked at his nose, before handling the baby to his mother.

"You and your Mamma can go home tomorrow. Happy now?" she smiled at him, while playing with his fingers. "I'm just gonna miss you, though. You'll miss me?" she smiled again, and tried to take her little finger from his hold, which only tightened around it. "Okay, I get it. You're gonna miss me too. But it's okay, I'll come to meet you tomorrow too." she took her finger from his hold, and those little lips wobbled, about to cry out.

"He likes you." the mother smiled down at her baby, before looking up at Nandini. "He'll get over it. You know boys?" Nandini wiggled her eyebrows, and the parents laughed out. "You'll make a wonderful mother, one day." the mother commented, and Nandini smiled at her. She's lost the times she heard this comment.

"Take care!" she smiled at the mother, and waved at the baby, before walking away with her personal nurse on her toes. "Naina. I'm taking a break now. I don't have any appointments right?" Nandini asked, while massaging her neck. "No, doctor. Your next appointment is after an hour." the nurse replied, and Nandini breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I'm so damn happy that I'm gonna lit candles for Jesus." Nandini muttered and got smacked with a hard body. "Yeah, I know you missed me." She looked up to see the owner of the arms which enclosed her in his warmth. "Yeah, coffee wala!" she muttered, yet there was a smile on her lips, on seeing him.

Manik smiled down at her, before pulling her along with him. "So come on. I just heard you have an hour break. I'm taking you out, and no, I'm not gonna hear a No. If I'm gonna hear any No, then I'm gonna throw you over my shoulders and take you away. You want that?" he asked, and Nandini just waved at her nurse, before holding onto Manik's arm.

"Nope. You're lucky because Mruno is busy." Nandini replied, and Manik groaned. "Of course, your best friend should be present." he nodded, and she nodded along.

"Damn right, you are. For once, finally." she said, and he glared at her. Nevertheless, they got out of the hospital, hand in hand.

***

"You're not planning anything, right?" Nandini asked, while munching on her food, and Manik looked up at her. "For my birthday." she explained, and Manik looked elsewhere.

"Grumpy coffee!" her tone was filled with warning, and he shrugged. "I don't think you need to know that. It's a surprise from my side. Well, I don't know about our friends though." he said, staring at her, and taking a sip from his water.

"I must know about it. Because I won't celebrate my birthdays without Appa and Ma." she clarified, and he frowned. "But they're coming for your birthday." he pointed out, and she sighed. "What I meant is, I don't celebrate it outside, with friends. My friends from London, you know school and university friends, they come to my home on my birthday. I'll be having Mruno and her family over there all day. Pops and his son too. I don't celebrate anything just with my friends." Nandini explained, and Manik kept his elbows on the table to lean forward.

"So you're a family person in every way." Manik smiled at her, and she stared at him. "Just like how Grumpy coffee Malhotra doesn't like celebrating birthdays at all." she too pointed out, and he looked surprised. "How did you know that?" he asked, frowning. "Cabir Bhai and Shravan are too much in love with me." she shrugged, and he groaned out loud.

"So tell me about it. I need reasons." she said, and he shrugged. "Apparently your Cabir Bhai and Shravan love you the most. Why don't you ask them?" he commented sarcastically, and she jabbed her fork in his knuckles making him cry out in pain. "Fine! Don't be so wild. Should call you Wild Lilliput, hereafter." and for which, he got another jab on his knuckles.

"Less words, more action." she commented smugly, and he grabbed onto her wrists. "I know you're a doctor, and you love drawing blood from people. But trust me when I say it, I'm not pregnant." Manik said, in a serious tone, and Nandini stared at him. "Oh! But I thought you had a baby in it, when I saw that little bump there." she poked at his abs closer to his stomach.

"That's where my abs are, sweetheart. You wanna peek and confirm?" he questioned, smirking, and she waved her hands in air. "No, I'm happy with baby bumps." she replied, and the duo laughed out together.

"Acha, the thing is, I don't like celebrating birthdays because I don't like attention. You know, the birthday person will always have more attention from people, and that makes me uncomfortable, hence, I just cut a cake made by my mothers and feed them. That's it." he explained, playing with Nandini's wrist band, as he was still holding onto her left hand.

"Why don't you say in one sentence that you're shy, Grumpy coffee?" she asked, grinning mischievously, and he glared up at her. "That's similar to what I said. I feel uncomfortable." he said, and she shrugged. "No, it's not. Uncomfortable means could be anything. Because of something negative happened in the past, and that makes you uncomfortable. You can feel scared, anxious, nervous anything with that feeling. But shy means, your cheeks would look like flaming potatoes." she elaborated, and he looked away, sulking.

"Awe! Coffee wala is shy again." she poked at his cheeks, and he swatted her hands away, grumpily. "It's better not to explain anything to you." he muttered out loud, and she chuckled, before grabbing onto his palms. "Okay! So let's make a rule." she said, grabbing his attention, but he still didn't look in her way.

"I don't like celebrating my birthday without my parents. You don't like to celebrate birthdays at all. My birthday is on September 7th, and your birthday is on September 20th. So why don't we make a celebration on one day after our real birthdays? Just you and me. In that way, you won't feel shy because of people's attention, and I am not celebrating a birthday without my parents, because I've already celebrated it on my real birth day." Nandini suggested, and Manik thought about it.

"Well, that seems like one good idea. Not bad. You have a business brain too. You know how to negotiate." Manik gave her an appreciated smile, and she flipped her hairs backwards. "Business runs in my blood. Duh!" she pretended to blow air on her nails, and Manik chuckled at it.

"Fine, drama queen. Let's continue with our lunch." Manik said, and he got another jab in his knuckles, before she started to eat. And this time, he just ignored the jab. 

But what they didn't notice was one of their hand was on the table, touching each other's, and spreading warmth, while they ate.

***

"Okay, so where are you?" Rudr asked, on phone, while his brothers were around him looking at all the corners for any of their fathers to pass by and catch them speaking to their sister. "Up on the Mountain? Or down in the valley between two blocks?" Rudr continued, and his brothers looked at him confusedly, except for Karan.

"He meant, if Cutie is in her balcony or down, in the passage between two houses in our neighborhood." Karan explained to them, and Rithvik's left eyebrow twitched upwards, before he started to glare at his little brothers. "Why don't you speak like a normal person for now?" Rithvik suggested, calmly, and Sidharth nodded. "Yes! In that way, we could avoid a murder that could happen if DJ or our fathers catch us. Oh! Don't include Chote Papa in that list, though." Sidharth commented, and others just sighed out loud.

"Whaaaat? You kidding me?" Rudr cried out, before rushing towards the railing of the terrace, and Asad pulled him back. "What the hell, Rudy? You could fall off the terrace in that speed." Asad barked out, but Rudr only nodded before looking down. "Yeah Bhai. But I'll wait a while before planning to make a jump. For now, just look at that." Rudr exclaimed, and Asad rolled his eyes before looking down.

"Princess? What is she doing here?" Asad stared on, widening his eyes, followed by six other pairs of eyes. "Hey Bhayyu!" Nandini grinned, before pressing on the calling bell, and it didn't take another second for the brothers to run down the stairs.

"She's going to make me have grey hairs, and I'm gonna be called Grandpa instead of Pa, by my kids." Karan exclaimed, while walking down the stairs and Viren smacked in his head, on the way downstairs. "If you don't shut up Karan, I'm not even going to let your kid call P of Pa." Om seethed, before making his way towards the entrance, only to suck in a sharp breath.

"Oh!" Viren gasped out loud, before halting in his tracks as if he was put on a sudden break, followed by his brothers, who got hit to his body like crashing into a wall. "The f*** is happening?!" Shivaay cried out at the scene.

And the scene was nothing but Nandini taking blessings from Yashjeet, who patted at her cheeks while smiling gently at her. There was a smile on her face, and they knew, this time she wasn't faking smiles around their DJ, but she was genuinely happy to be around DJ.

"Oye Khote da puttar! Ithe aa! (Son of donkey! Come here!)" Yashjeet called out to the boys, when his gaze fell on the Murthy brothers, who looked at each other a little surprised because their grandfather used their Daadi's Punjabi after a long time. 

"Ji, DJ." The boys moved towards the duo, where Nandini stealthily winked at her brothers, to which Asad showed her eyes, and she pouted before keeping a finger on her lips and bobbed her head.

"I'm going out with Nandini bete." Yashjeet announced, gaining their attention. "Tell your Dad that I will be visiting his office only in the afternoon and not now." he added, and the boys nodded. "Arey, why didn't you greet her?" Yashjeet frowned, and the boys immediately plastered a smile on their lips.

"Hello---Nandini!" they fumbled because they were about to use their own nicknames for her. "Hey!" Nandini grinned like a Cheshire cat, because she did catch the fumbling. "Huh?" Yashjeet raised his eyebrows, sternly. "Nandini?" he frowned, and they frowned along.

"Yeah. Oh!" Sidharth slapped himself, before looking at Nandini, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You changed your name, Londoner? No worries. What must be the new name?" he wiggled his eyebrows, and Nandini shrugged. The boys stared at Sidharth and Nandini in horror, because they are not a good duo when it comes to communication.

"I wasn't planning on changing my name, but if you want, I can always go by the name satyanash-y (destruction)." She grinned, and Sidharth nodded. "I like the name. I can shorten it to Nashy, and people can assume it to be nasha (tipsiness)." Sidharth chuckled to himself, and others palmed their faces, while Nandini bit onto her lips, and pointed her finger at Yashjeet, while looking at Sidharth, who gulped down.

"Guess, that was a bad joke?" he grinned, and Yashjeet smacked in his head. "Bhabi. She is your Bhabi. So call her that." Yashjeet barked out, and Sidharth let out a whine. "But she's younger to me." he cribbed, and Yashjeet sighed. "Doesn't matter. She's your brother's soon-to-be wife." Yashjeet replied, and the brothers shot daggers to the floor, on hearing about their little sister's name getting associated with a guy for a wedlock.

"So, shall we leave, Yash Daadu?" Nandini asked slyly, and the brothers looked up at her curiously. "Of course, bete." Yashjeet smiled at her, before looking at the boys. "Don't forget to tell your Dad." he said, and left the home, followed by Nandini, who started to wave at her brothers, quite enthusiastically.

"The grey hair is going to grow on my head too." Viren mumbled, and the boys agreed along.

***

"How's this place?" Yashjeet asked Nandini, while looking around and admiring the place. "Manji loved to be here. It's the first orphanage I built for her, in Mumbai. She loved kids." he added, proudly, when he took his wife's name.

"She must have been one wonderful woman." Nandini muttered out loud. Yashjeet smiled proudly at her. "Of course, she was. She also loved spending her time with the kids over here." Yashjeet started to babble and dragged Nandini along.

"This place is beautiful. I mean, look at them. How innocent they are." Nandini stared at the kids, and Yashjeet smiled at her. "They're God's angels." he replied, and Nandini stared at him, with her eyes squinted. Yashjeet was busy greeting the manager of the orphanage, and was talking about the kids and their needs.

"Angels, huh!" she muttered to herself. "You must haven't said the same about my Ma. Hypocrite much." she rolled her eyes at it, and started to walk towards the kids who were playing around.

"So, who missed me?" Nandini asked, and the kids beamed joyfully. "Shona Diiii." They ran towards Nandini and took her in a group hug, while holding onto her knees. Nandini laughed out, and ran her hands through the kids' hairs.

"Guess, I'm famous enough to be missed." she spoke, grinningly, and then sat on her knees, before opening her bag, and pulling out two large bags of chocolates. "So who like-y my chocolate-y?" Nandini asked, waving the bags at them, and they raised their hands in air, excitingly.

"Okay. But don't forget the rule. Nobody is gonna eat them alone." and the kids bobbed their heads, before grabbing one chocolate for each, and then forwarding their chocolate to the kid closest to them, and letting them take the first bite, before eating from it themselves.

Nandini smiled at it. It was something taught by her mother, because she used to do the same when she was once a kid like them. Lived in this very same orphanage.

"You've come here before?" Nandini stood up, on hearing Yashjeet's surprised voice. "Yeah." she smiled at him, and then waved at the kids, who went back to playing on seeing Yashjeet with Nandini.

"I like it in here. They like me, and I like them. They like to give all their attention to me, just like I do them. Not like I don't deserve their attention." Nandini shrugged, and Yashjeet smiled. Nandini bid them goodbye, before walking out of the orphanage.

"So that's why you agreed to come with me." Yashjeet smiled to himself. "Yeah. I mean, like you said, they're God's angels." Nandini smiled, while standing beside her car, in which both Yashjeet and she came.

Yashjeet smiled, agreeing to her statement.

"You know what, Daadu." Nandini began, before keeping her hand on the car's door. "They're all gonna grow up into beautiful people. They're getting a very good upbringing over here." she added, and Yashjeet nodded. "Quite true." he said, and Nandini looked him in his eyes, once they got settled inside her car.

"Yeah. I bet, they'll get married to wonderful people one day, and then make a beautiful family. Their kids would be lucky too, because these kids learnt from nothingness in their lives. They know the value of money and love, because they had it less in their life. Now, they'll teach the same morals to their kids, and they'll also understand what their parents learnt from here." Nandini elaborated, and Yashjeet stared at her with an impressive smile on his face.

"You're right, bete. I have never thought that deep. I wonder how you could think so deep about such a topic." Yashjeet commented prideful, and Nandini smiled at him, quite sweetly. "I would know." she said, before igniting the engine. "Because, I was born to someone who grew up the way they're growing up now." she added, and Yashjeet's smile vanished from his face.

She turned towards him, when he was silent. "Wh-What?" he asked, and she smiled. "My Ma was an orphan too. Just like them." she said, while pointing towards the orphanage. "And I'm so glad about it. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been the best daughter that I was always, to my parents." she smiled gleefully, and concentrated in her driving.

While all Yashjeet did was to stare at her, without blinking his eyes even for a second. That sounded nostalgic to him!

***

How was the chapter?

So Yashjeet is a hypocrite! Your views on his character?

With love,

Affu.