Advanced Happy birthday Dipanwita1 di.❤ Have a wonderful year ahead!❤

*************************
The next morning,

Priya's sleep was disturbed by the knock on the door. She lazily got up glancing at the digital clock on the side table. Priya didn't realize she slept for so long.

Sunitha entered the room after she got a nod from Priya. "Ma'am, someone has come so I came to inform you." She informed Priya.

Priya had a confused glare at her.

"Okay. I will be downstairs in a minute." Priya splashed some water on her face and quickly changed into decent attire before going downstairs in a hurry.

"Good morning, ma'am." The lady greeted with a formal smile.

"I work as a nanny. I was called here to take care of your baby." Priya didn't say anything but just stood there in silence. Just then she recalled Ram was telling her about the nanny.

She opened her mouth to say something but just then Ram arrived.

"Yes, please come in. I was the one who called at your service center." Ram smiled at the lady.

"Sorry for the trouble but we don't need a nanny anymore." Priya said strongly.

"But Priya- " Ram tried to intervene.

Priya passed an angry glare at Ram "I am capable of handling Pari. She is my baby and I don't need a nanny for her."

"We might need some help, you know. Do you know how to give her a bath? Moreover, you also need some rest. It would be good for both of you." He reasoned out with a genuine face.

Sighing deeply, Priya turned back to the lady. "Sorry but we don't need your service".

This earned Priya a glare from the lady. She was definitely not so happy with Priya's decision.

She turned to Ram to say something but received a blank look from him.

"Don't worry. I am sure that he will definitely consult you after six months." Priya said, staring at Ram for a brief moment. Ram stood there in silence.

"Okay fine." The lady turned to leave but Ram stopped her and paid her hefty amount before leaving.

Without waiting for any further conversation with him, Priya ascended the stairs quickly to check on Pari who was sleeping in Ram's room.

Upon reaching the room, she saw Pari was wide awake and playing in the cradle making cute sounds.

She took Pari in her arms by the time Ram also entered."I am taking Pari to my room. Till then you can freshen up and I'll take care of her till then."

Without furthermore saying Priya left with Pari to her room.

Ram understood that Priya was not happy with him and his deal but she cannot stay away from Pari. He decided mentally that his countdown has started and he has to win her heart within this period of time no matter how difficult it is.

Ram smiled seeing the retreating figure of Priya.

Holding your bundle of joy in your arms seals you with the feeling of wonder and joy that leads you in your dreamland when you feel their happiness connect with your own. But this brings along numerous challenges to face as well and Ram realized it sooner.

Taking care of Pari was exceedingly demanding. That toughest thing was to pacify Pari when she cries in her highest pitch. Other challenging things were to put Pari to sleep and changing her nappy constantly. The little one also wanted to be in her parent's arms. Ram & Priya had to deal with this toll every single day.

Ram realized how difficult it is to be a parent. He looks after Pari most of the time. Things were not as easy as he planned, he initially thought he just needed to get a surrogacy donor and his job would be done after getting the baby in his hands. But it did not take him so long to grasp the reality.

It's not like Ram was the only one taking care of Pari. Priya was there too. She had to cope up with a lot of things and tried her hardest to take utmost care in nurturing the baby.

They take turns to handle the little angel of their life. Priya takes care of the baby while Ram attends his office work and they switch their turns when Priya takes some rest.

Initially it was a bit easy for them to handle Pari but later Pari was adamant to sleep during the night and doesn't let both of her parents sleep too. Their routine changed drastically as Pari would wake up several times during the night and drain out her parent's energy completely who tried hard to make her sleep.

Basically, Pari was staying wide awake like an owl during the night and wanting all the attention from her parents.

Pari was giving Ram & Priya a hard time.

At first Ram used to play with Pari during the night until she dozed off but it lacked him from his work with sleep deprivation.

So, he lets Pari play by herself while he sleeps beside her. It went on like that for a few days until Pari got dissatisfied. She cried out loud in order to grab Ram's attention.

With having no choice left he had to play with her in the odd hours too.

Apart from handling the hard nights, everything else seems to be going very well between Ram and Priya.

Ram unlike his past events didn't jump into conclusion and worsen the matters. He tried understanding Priya and slowly but surely grabbing Priya's trust and confidence in him.

The first ever thing Priya liked in Ram was his immense love towards his daughter. She knew how much Ram was compromising on himself and his work for his daughter. His arrogance and dominance seemed to have subsided drastically upon the arrival of the Angel.

Unlike previous days, they don't fight often. They help each other whenever needed.

Not that Priya doesn't hate him anymore but his new avatar had a positive effect on her opinion towards him.

It's been more than a month since Pari was born but Ram and Priya have not yet celebrated the name-giving ceremony. It's usually organized according to the child's horoscope by the family astrologer.

Ram was waiting to celebrate this with his family.

Today Ram finally decided to take Pari for an outing for the first time. Ram was excited and impatient to take Pari outside.

He had entered Priya's room without knocking and suddenly entered calling her name 'Priyaaaa'.

Soon he realized that he barged into the room at the wrong time. Priya was feeding Pari when he entered the room. He jerked back realizing the moment and turned his back to them.

Priya was frozen and her body stiffened for a moment with his sudden entry into her room.

"I am so sorry Priya, I didn't know that you were feeding Pari." apologized Ram immediately scratched his temple still facing his back to her.

Priya quickly adjusted herself before placing Pari in the cradle.

"I will come later." Ram said and sprinted out of the room not sparing another second over there.

Priya closed her eyes shut in sheer embarrassment.

The entire day, they stole glances from each other and did not come face to face for the rest of the day. That was a pretty awkward moment for both of them.

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

Ram made his efforts not letting Priya feel uncomfortable in any way.

At times, Priya wondered how someone could be so mysterious like him. It was very difficult for Priya to form an opinion on Ram.

Ram blackmailed her into this surrogacy process, said so many things to her still somewhere he had a tender side too which would eventually come out when spent some time with him.

Though he put so many conditions before the pregnancy and even made a deal with her after delivery, she could not mark him as a bad personality when she actually started living with him and spending most of her time with him under the same roof.

He had so many layers on him, she thought.

She even questioned herself why she had to think about him, how does it really matter to her? She doesn't want to think about this man but failed to do so.

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

Ram and Priya took Pari out for the first time. Both were taking good care of her. They were enjoying their time outside as they relished the beauty of the sunset. It was a pleasant environment.

Seeing them together, nobody can identify that they were not a couple.

Knowingly unknowingly Priya did not realize she was getting closer to Ram by each passing day.

He doesn't give any reasons for her to hate him anymore.

Sometimes, she even found it hard to differentiate his personality and behavior before and after delivery.

Priya was enjoying her motherhood. Her everyday life starts and ends with Pari. Every single minute with Pari was like an endearing moment she forever wanted to relish.

Being with Pari appeases her tensions and worries.

She was playing the most beautiful role of her life, a mother.

Ram was really tired from all the office work and wanted to have a good rest during the night but unfortunately Pari was in a mood.

Seeing her, Ram understood that Pari was not going to sleep any time soon.

"Rockstar, please sleep na darling. Papa is very tired today. It's already 3:00 in the morning and papa has work tomorrow as well. Please let Papa at least sleep till then."Pari showed no receptiveness to Ram's words and didn't look like she was going to sleep soon. She was enjoying herself in her own way making cooing sounds.

"Rockstar, please sleep. Papa has work tomorrow. If you don't sleep I will start crying." He whined.

He took Pari in arms and started walking back and forth in the room while rocking her in arms in order to make her sleep. When she was not ready to sleep, he tried switching off the lights for the tenth time but Pari would start crying out aloud and show tantrums.

"Let's see what your mumma is doing." He carried Pari in his arms to Priya's room.

He saw Priya sleeping very peacefully.

"See how peacefully your mumma is sleeping and you are not even letting me sleep. Your mumma said no to Nanny and see how difficult it is to handle you." Ram complained looking at Pari who was giggling seeing his expressions.

Ram wanted to ask Priya to take care of Pari for a while but he couldn't disturb Priya from her sleep.

Priya stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes slightly when she heard some mumbling sounds and Pari's soft giggles.

She raised a bit and asked."What happened? Is Pari hungry?"

Ram stammered. "No, I just came here to ask you if you could..." Ram stopped.

"Never mind. You take a rest. I will be taking care of Pari." Ram left without further saying.

Priya's brows furrowed but soon a small giggle escaped her mouth when she understood his struggle to make the little one sleep.

Priya got up from the bed and headed to Ram's room. She opened the door and saw a sleepy Ram trying hard to play with Pari. Ram was resting his head on his elbow resisting himself not to fall asleep as his heavy eyelids dropped in between.

Clearing her throat, Priya grabbed Ram's attention.

"Priya, you need something?" asked Ram while sitting.

"Pari doesn't look like she is going to sleep anytime soon. I can take care of her and you can get some rest." Priya said.

"It's okay. You took care of her the entire day. You must be tired too." Ram said hesitatingly.

"I am fine, I had some rest already. If you don't want me to take Pari to my room then it's fine." Priya said and turned to leave.

"No, it's not like that. You can take her with you anytime." Ram said, stopping her in her tracks.

Priya nodded and lifted Pari from the bed. She tended to leave but stopped near the door before turning towards Ram.

"If you ever need some rest during the night and Pari is awake, you can ask me. I will take care of her." Priya then left the room.

Ram quickly jumped in the bed enthusiastically. He was dead tired and needed a good sleep as he was starving for some sleep.

Ram and Priya are playing the role of parents very well.

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

Next morning,

Priya freshened up quickly and picked up Pari in her arms. She took Pari to give her a bath. After Pari's bath, she placed her on the bed. Pari began playing with her fingers, intertwining her hands with each other giggling away to glory.

Priya took her fingers and played with her for some time. Now her favorite part of the day was to dress up the little angel for the day. Taking out a cute yellow color dress from the closet, Priya made her wear it. She couldn't resist seeing the adorable bundle of joy in her arms; she hugged Pari dearly, placing a forehead kiss. Keeping a black dot on Pari, Priya took her out of the room to check on Ram.

"Pari come on, let's see what your papa is doing." said Priya to Pari.

When they stood at the entrance of Ram's room, Priya found him still sleeping with his mouth slightly open. A soft chuckle escaped from her mouth seeing him sleeping like a log.

"Looks like your papa is covering all his sleepless nights at one time." Saying this Priya tickled Pari slightly.

"Let's disturb his sleep and remind him that he has meetings to attend today." Priya said and walked inside the room.

"Raam, please wake up. You said you have some meetings today." Priya called him but he was in his deep sleep.

When she did not get any response after calling his name a couple of times more, she put Pari in the cradle and bent towards him.

"Raaam" Priya jerked his hand but he was sleeping like anything.

He stirred slightly in his sleep but slept again.

Priya jerked his hand again. "Raaaam." She said in a slightly loud voice.

Ram's lips curved into a sweet smile with his eyes still closed. Priya was wondering why he was smiling in his sleep.

"Raaam." Priya called him again.

This time, he grabbed her arm and tugged it towards him, making her lose her balance. She fell on his broad chest and soon his hands wrapped around her back making it difficult for her to move.

"You know what, I love my name when you utter I hear it from you." Ram said while smiling with his eyes shut.

Priya's eyes widened with shock. It was clear that Ram was not fully conscious of what he was doing. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her in a different way. While tucking the strands of hair behind ear, his fingertips touched her sensitive area around her ear. She closed her eyes with the sensation; shivers sent down on her spine.

She gulped a lump down her throat and words failed to come out of her mouth as he watched her intently.

The harsh ringtone on his mobile made them conscious about their condition. He quickly let go of her releasing his grip around her. She got up from him in a swift moment and she was clearly flushed with some unknown sensations in her body.

Ram sat on the bed and disconnected the call. He was scared as hell when Priya did not meet his gaze.

"I am sorry. I thought it was a dream!" He blurted out only to realize this statement could also bring him some problems.

Priya looked at him for a brief second and left taking Pari in her arms without saying anything.

"What does he mean? Does he dream about me?" Priya asked herself as soon as she stepped out of Ram's room.

"Why was I quiet after that? I should have bashed him for what just happened. How can he even dream about me?" Priya questioned herself.

Ram on the other side, "Shit, I don't know what she will think of me." He hit his forehead.

Soon another thought crept in his mind, "Whatever it may be, I like it. This is the best day." He chuckled at his own thoughts.