Hit the star button and leave your comments please. 🌺 

--

Trilochan Roy Choudhary was wondering why Anirudh and Bondita were taking so long to return from the shower. It was rather unusual. At least one of them should have come back down by now! 

He had given up on them having a fresh and warm lunch by now, and instead went to the phone to call Kalindi Das. 

After a few rings, Kalindi answered and said, "Namoshkar Trilochan ji." 

Trilochan smiled and he said, "Namoshkar Kalindi ji."

"What made you think of me today?" Thakumaa asked on the other end. 

Kaka smiled and he said, "Your granddaughter is quite a brave girl. I thought to tell you about it."

"What did she do now?" 

"Oh, she claims she will handle a mouse on her own," Trilochan just said. 

"A mouse?" Thakumaa asked, gasping. "Why would she need to do that?" 

"I told her not to, but she doesn't exactly listen to me all the time anymore," Trilochan said with a sigh, "But I have decided to trust her! So I will not question her, unless it's something overly dangerous." 

"But if you saw a mouse there, why didn't you ask your servant to remove it?" Thakumaa questioned. 

"I heard a mouse," Trilochan informed. "Anirudh and Bahu were in the room, and it was locked. So I couldn't see." 

"You heard?" Kalindi asked, and all of a sudden the line went silent because Thakumaa had connected the dots. "Ohhh... I see..." 

"What?" Trilochan asked, frowning now. 

It was like Kalindi knew something that he didn't know! 

"Just like Roopa got bitten by a mosquito that day, today a mouse has entered the room," Kalindi said, sounding like she was on the verge of giggling. 

"What are you so happy about?" Trilochan asked. "And when did Roopa get bitten by a mosquito?" 

"You didn't see him with a mosquito bite on his neck?" Kalindi questioned. 

"Oh, right, there was one time Anirudh had a bite on his neck... a questionable one..." Kaka managed to say, and at that time he thought that Anirudh was having an affair with Roopa, not realizing that Roopa was Anirudh himself! "But alas, I guess that was an insect bite after all." 

Kalindi just laughed and she said, "Since when were you so naïve Zamindar Babu?"

"Naive? What are you talking about?" 

"Don't pretend. I know you aren't as innocent as you are acting!" Kalindi said. 

Trilochan's face went red and he just stammered, "K - Kalindi j - ji... I d - don't know what you're saying." 

Was she referring to that night all those years ago?

Thakumaa laughed again and said, "I have to go shortly. Tupur and Jamai Babu are coming home, so I will need to be present to welcome them. 

"Ahh, how is your other granddaughter, Tupur?" Kaka asked. 

"Very well. Of course, my mishti maye is a gem, and nobody can compare to him," Thakumaa began. 

Kaka smiled, upon hearing Thakumaa's compliment for Anirudh. 

"But Chandrachur Jamai Babu isn't bad too. In fact, he takes care of Tupur really well. He is someone who respects all of us," Thakumaa said with a smile. 

"Ah, I see..." Kaka said. 

"So Zamindar Babu, when will you come to visit?" Kalindi questioned. 

"Me?" Trilochan asked, his face turning red again. "W - why?" 

"Why won't you bring my granddaughter and Jamai Babu to me?" Kalindi huffed.  

"Oh, them," Trilochan said, and smiled. "They will definitely visit. Or you come here Kalindi ji with your family to meet them." 

Thakumaa said in a flustered tone, "I wasn't only talking about them. You are a part of the invitation too. Of course, I would like to see you too." 

"M - me?" Trilochan asked, sounding nervous all of a sudden. 

"I will go now Zamindar Babu, but we should meet soon," Thakumaa just said quickly, and Trilochan was met with a cut call. 

He just chuckled to himself and hung up the phone, feeling quite light-hearted and happy. 

-- 

Later that day, after lunch, Anirudh and Bondita were taking a nap together, when there was a knock on the door. 

Bondita snuggled into Anirudh's arms, and he opened his eyes. 

"I'll check," he murmured, and got out of bed. 

When he opened the door, he saw that it was Sampoorna Maa. 

"Sampoorna Maa," Anirudh said, looking at her. "Are you okay?"

She had a handkerchief in her palms, and her nose was red, seeming like she had blown it quite a bit. 

"I'm not doing well Anirudh. I think I got sick," she told him. 

"Oh no, you must have caught what I had," Anirudh told her. "You should take rest Sampoorna Maa." 

She nodded and said, "Yes, I will Anirudh. But... I came because of Sashwati. I don't want her to get sick. I was wondering if I could leave her with you and Bondita until I get better?" 

Anirudh nodded, "Of course Sampoorna Maa." 

"She's with Jethji right now, but you know how his schedule is. I don't want to trouble him too much. I don't want to trouble you either, but Bondita and Sashwati get along a lot, so I thought that she would be the best one to take care of her." 

"You don't need to explain yourself. We will take care of her," Anirudh said with a smile, "And Sashwati is my sister. It's not any trouble to take care of her."

Sampoorna smiled, and she said, "Thank you so much Anirudh." 

"I should be thanking you Sampoorna Maa. Because you took care of me that day, I recovered so quickly, and see you got sick because of me too," Anirudh said sadly. "I had been meaning to come and personally thank you actually, but with everything going on in the last few days, I got preoccupied." 

Sampoorna just smiled and said, "No need to thank me Anirudh. I did what I felt was right." 

"But... why?" Anirudh asked softly, "I didn't think you..." he gulped, not finishing what he was about to say. Cared.

"Anirudh, I don't know how to explain to you, how messed up I was before. Ever since his death --" Sampoorna murmured, and Anirudh knew she was referring to Saurabh. His own heart ached as soon as he was reminded of his late best friend. "Ever since that, my mind was messed up, and the things I had gone through... I had reached a breaking point Anirudh, and I fell in people's traps... but I was never happy... I realized that money isn't what brings happiness, but love does." 

Tears filled her eyes. 

"Sampoorna Maa," Anirudh just said softly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to explain --" 

"Don't stop me today Anirudh. Today, I have to explain it. Jethji, my parents, so many people in society, filled my head in different ways. I didn't know right from wrong. I was clouded. I wasn't in the right state of mind. I thought that if I have money, then everything will be solved. I had lived my whole life as a poor person, Anirudh. My whole life, people gave me problems because I didn't have money. Even after marriage, we weren't able to give dowry... and I was treated terribly because of that. Only because I lacked money. So I thought that if I had money... then that's it. I'll be happy. But it wasn't true... only after I had Sashwati, and after you two went to Krishnanagar, did I realize the truth. The truth that money can not buy happiness. That happiness is a state of mind, and materialistic things can surely temporarily give it to you, but never permanently. To attain happiness, one has to fix their mindset, not fix what's on the outside." 

Anirudh looked at Sampoorna with an ache in his chest. He didn't even know of half the things she went through. 

Sampoorna added on, "I know I did wrong with you and Bondita. I shouldn't have... hurt you two like that. I was the reason for many things that went wrong in your lives. And I know you'll never forgive me for that... and you don't have to accept this apology of mine. I won't hold it against you in any way. But, as a mother, even if it's late, I do care about you. I really do." 

Anirudh couldn't help but smile. 

He said, "The first day you came to this house as Baba's wife, I called you Sampoorna Maa. Some bonds take a long time to make, and some connections form right away. Sampoorna Maa, you took care of me when I was sick, you tried to heal me...you didn't have to do that. You've gone through a lot in your life at a young age, and it's not easy for a mind who has been pushed around by society's expectations to have clarity. But you did get your clarity. So why would I hold anything against you now? I have forgiven everything. I have nothing against you now." 

A genuine, soft smile appeared on her lips. 

"Thank you Anirudh," she said softly. 

"I'll take care of Sashwati. You rest and don't take any tension," he told her. "And if you need anything at all, then I'm right here, although I'm sure that once Bondita knows, she will beat me in the race to take care of you." Anirudh smiled, knowing that Bondita would take care of her Didi before everything else. 

"Bondita..." Sampoorna said with a smile, "Treat her well, Anirudh. Just because you're my son, doesn't mean that you'll treat my sister badly." 

Anirudh frowned now. 

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked. 

"That day... her ripped clothes..." she just said, remembering the time that she came from the study. "Don't hurt her Anirudh, and don't play with her heart." 

Anirudh sighed heavily. 

"Sampoorna Maa, I didn't hit her, nor did I hurt her, and I am definitely not playing with her heart!" 

It was like everyone in this haveli just wanted to misunderstand them! 

"Okay okay, good," Sampoorna just said, and nodded, "I'll take rest now. My head is hurting a lot." 

"I'll get you medicine. Wait a second," Anirudh just said, and went inside to get tablets for her to take. 

-- 

Later that evening, Bondita was making dinner. 

Trilochan still had Sashwati with him, but he agreed to give Sashwati to Anirudh when he had to run some errands or go to sleep. It seemed like Trilochan just didn't want to part with his niece though. 

He was busy playing with the baby, while Anirudh was sitting in the living room with him, reading the newspaper. Bondita's article would come in the paper of the following day. 

"This should have been yours and Bahu's child," Trilochan just said, as he gave Sashwati a teddy bear. 

She was lying on a blanket on the floor, feeling the teddy bear with her tiny hands. 

"Kaka please," Anirudh just said firmly. 

"Is it Binoy's age to have a child?" Trilochan just asked, shaking his head.

Anirudh flipped the page loudly and continued to read. 

"We don't even know if Bondita Bahu is Sashwati's maasi or boudi. See what Binoy and Sampoorna Bahu did to this family tree?" Trilochan asked. 

"Kaka, who cares about names?" Anirudh asked. "Whatever Sashwati wants Bondita to be, she will call her that." 

Trilochan just huffed, and said, "I'm still saying Anirudh, it's not too late. Re-think your life choices. See what kind of joy and happiness having a child can bring." 

It was at that time, that Bondita came to the living room to inform them that dinner was ready. 

"I'll call Somnath Dada and Batuk for dinner too," she told them, and gave a cute smile to Sashwati before going. 

She had already fed Sampoorna Maa in her room, and Binoy was out for some business trip, so he was probably not going to return for a few days. 

Somnath was studying in his room as usual, and as soon as he heard the knock, he groaned, "What?" 

"Dinner's ready Somnath Dada!" Bondita called from outside. 

"Coming!" 

"It'll be cold if you don't come now!" Bondita just said, and then went to Batuk's room. 

She knew he had passed out on his bed ever since he got home from school, but he had been sleeping way too much now! If he slept like this, he would mess up his sleeping schedule! 

-- 

Batuk was having a dream. 

A very strange dream: 

Surabhi and Batuk were in an empty classroom at school. Nobody was there. No teachers, no students. Just him and her. 

Surabhi went towards the window, and Batuk watched her, his eyes landing on her figure, the exposed legs beneath her school dress. 

He suddenly felt warm in his uniform. 

"The weather's nice Batuk," Surabhi was saying, "Come and see." 

Batuk made his way towards Surabhi, and placed his hands on either side of her from behind, his palms flat against the window. He brought his face next to hers, and glanced out of the window, his heart racing. 

Surabhi turned to gaze at him, and she smiled. 

"You're smiling?" Batuk asked softly, turning to face her too. 

"I meant it when I said you were cute," she teased. 

She was close to him, very close. 

"That kiss..." Batuk started. 

"Which one?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"Both..." Batuk murmured, and glanced down at her lips. "I can't get them off my mind." 

"Then don't." 

All of a sudden, her lips were on his, and she was kissing him hard. Batuk wrapped his arms around her and responded to her hard kisses, pulling her body against his and reaching under her dress... 

The kisses were passionate, and he was getting hard... very hard... oh it was a wet dream.

That was when... 

"BATUK!" Bondita screamed, storming into his room, like she normally did. 

Little did he know, that she knocked on the door many times prior, but he didn't wake up. 

"Surabhi," Batuk just moaned in a slurred way, still in his sleep. 

Bondita didn't understand what he was mumbling in his sleep. She went right over to him and gripped his blanket. 

"Batuk, I've yelled your name so many times, and you aren't waking up! Get up now!" she ordered, and lifted the blanket right off his body. 

Batuk's eyes flung open and he was awoken to his Boudi's horrified face. Her eyes were wide like she had seen a ghost!

Batuk looked down and saw his huge boner which was covered by his pyjama pants. 

"BLOODY HELL BOUDI! WHAT THE HELL!" Batuk screamed, completely freaked out. 

--

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

Did you enjoy Trilindi's phone call? 

Anirudh/Sampoorna scene? I hope the layers of Sampoorna's character were conveyed well. 

Batuk's hot dream about Surabhi? 🤭

Bondita's shocking find? She had pulled off Batuk's blanket so many times throughout the story that it was only a matter of time before she found something shocking underneath. 🤣

What's going to happen now? How will Bondita and Batuk react? 

And do you think that taking care of Sashwati will really awaken Anirudh's desire for children? 

Do leave your comments, and remember to PRESS STAR for faster updates.

Love you all! ❤️