Disclaimer : All the characters written below are imaginary and a work of pure fiction. There is no resemblance to any incident or situation and is written as work of fiction.

Karan got up and looked at aru's sleeping face and chuckled softly. He kissed her forehead and caressed her cheeks before getting up and going outside to the lounge to see teja sitting on the swing in the balcony with her warm water. He went to the kitchen and made tea for themselves and went to the balcony to keep in on the small table in front of the swing and sipped his own tea.

"i have called a team of interior designers....they will come in half an hour....we will together decide the design of the playroom and then we can leave for the mall...."

"karan are you mad?what is the need of a team of interior designer?just get the room painted in pink and we will bring in a study table and wardrobe that will be enough...."

"no that is not enough...." he said immediately. "she is my daughter....she will get her customised play room....with swing and slides as i promised her and we will buy story books and games from the mall and dresses as well....what else do kids need?hair bands?oh yes baby soap shampoo and all those toiletries...." before he could complete she cut him off.

"she has dresses and shampoo and soap karan...." she rolled her eyes. "she has games and books as well...."

"we will get more....is there a problem?" he asked looking at her in irritation.

"nope....how about a sports car?" she asked sarcastically.

"not now....we can get that once she turns eighteen...." he didn't get that she was being sarcastic.

"karan you will spoil her...." she said exasperated.

"no i will not....we will make sure she learns values and ethics and respects everyone and stays disciplined.... but that doesn't mean she won't get toys and dresses and hairbands...." he said immediately.

Teja wanted to laugh at his childish behavior but knew that if she did he will get angry.

"okay...." she said biting her cheeks to stop her laughter.

"i don't think i said anything funny...." he knew her to well to know that she was holding back her laughter.

"absolutely not...." she said sarcastically and got up taking the cup of tea. "thanks for this...." and with that she walked out.

Both of them had freshened up and Aru was still sleeping , so they made minimum noise.

"karan there is a problem...." she muttered.

"what now?" he asked her while sipping his second cup of tea.

"there is picture of us with aru from the set all over the internet and articles are already published...." she said scanning through her phone.

"i knew this would happen....we should issue a joint statement on instagram....you decide what should we write...." he didn't want to force her to give any statement of his choice.

"we can say i took a break from work for aru and was staying with family to spend time with them....we had no intentions of hiding her just that we didn't want any attention on her?we can frame it in a nice way?" she asked him. He nodded a little. No intention of hiding her. You hid her from me tejasswi. No intention of hiding her. He thought.

"karan how will we go to the mall?we might get mobbed right....it will be really not cool with aru...." she said with concern.

"not that i didn't think about this....but that doesn't mean choco pie won't have a normal life right?we can ask the paps to be sensitive and i am sure they will be....and even the people will respect it i am sure....i cannot let her be at home and not have a normal lifestyle just because her parents are actors....she should not feel that she is different from other kids....that might mess with her mind...." he said with concern. "don't worry i will handle that....omi will handle that...."

Teja didn't know how to express her feelings at that point. He was so perfect with each of his thoughts. How can he do what he did? She quickly brushed her thoughts away as the bell rang.

"must be the team...." karan jumped up from the couch and opened the door and greeted them.

Everyone settled in the lounge and discussed everything in details.

"we can go stars and moons on the ceiling the phosphorus one?which glows in dark....and also the flooring can be a chess board design....i will teach her how to play in a fun way....and the base of the wall will be pink and on that we can put wallpapers of alphabets and digits on one of the walls....she will remember and revise those in a fun way....and the washroom should have grounded tiles not shiny ones....she might slip and add a small bathtub...." he said excitedly. Teja smiled softly and so did the team.

"make sure you add the study table and wardrobe just like teja said....and on the other 3 walls we will put her favorite cartoons....we will add a basketball net in case she gets interested in that...." he said without pausing. "teja you want to add something?"

"it's more than enough....i think we covered everything....just stick to the design of wardrobe and study table that i showed and also add a mirror and some shelves on the wall....we will need storage to keep her toys and books and stuffs...."

"please make sure it is done by today...." karan told them.

"sir today?" the lead of the team looked at him scared and then looked at Teja.

Teja closed her eyes gesturing the lead to relax and that she will handle karan.

"karan it is too much of work and it will get spoilt if they hurry....let's give them the time that they need...."

Karan thought for a while and nodded. He knew that she was right.

The lead looked at Teja and thanked her in gesture and teja chuckled softly.

After they left teja went to heat aru's milk and karan went to their room and sat near her head.

"choco pie...." he said softly and kissed her forehead.

"baby good morning baby...." he said while pinching her nose as she frowned in her sleep making him chuckle.

"choco pie get up baby girl....we have to go out...." he said kissing her nose and she opened her eyes.

"papa...." she held his hand immediately and he hugged her tightly and picked her up in his arms and patter her back.

"yes sweetie....good morning....my sunshine...." he said kissing her hair and she kissed his cheek and kept her head on his shoulder. He smiled widely. His choco pie kissed his cheeks for the first time.

"good morning papa...." she said in her baby voice.

"my baby....my bacchhaa...." he said patting her head as teja came into the room with her milk.

"good morning aru baby...." she said lovingly.

Aru stretched her arms at teja and said "good morning mumma...."

Teja came forward and kissed her forehead and didn't realise that aru was still in his arms. And teja was too close to him. She felt his breath on her neck and gulped immediately. Karan realised their proximity and moved his face away immediately.

"mumma godi...." aru said cutely. Teja quickly composed herself and kept the glass on the side table and picked her up and kissed her hair.

"aru it's milky time...." teja said lovingly and aru made a face again. She knew papa would make the milk tasty.

Karan took the glass from the side table and gestured teja to keep her on his lap. He knew he cannot possibly make her have chocolate syrup everyday that too twice a day. It was bad for health. He had to make her have the milk without chocolate syrup.

Teja kept aru on his lap and he removed her hair from her forehead.

"baby we will play a game....you will take a sip and i will take a sip...." he said softly.

Aru nodded excitedly.

He made her take a sip and kept the glass rim against his lips and tilted the glass and pretended to take a sip. Aru clapped. He smiled softly and made her finish the milk in no time.

Teja chuckled seeing them.

"baby....let's get ready?" she said lovingly.

"yes mumma...." she nodded happily.

Teja chuckled and picked her up again and went to get ready.

They drove to the mall and karan had made sure to take care of the paps and crowd in case they were approached. He has made his staff stay near them who would take care of everything.

They picked up toys and dresses and all the other things that Aru would need and also their kitchen stuffs. While karan was away to pick up a few things for himself , teja cuddled aru.

"baby....we have bought enough things right?" she asked softly and aru nodded.

"then when papa comes and asks you to take more toys say you don't want any more...." teja knew karan would end up buying the entire store if he was not stopped. And she also knew he would not listen to her until aru herself refuses.

"okay mumma...." she said obediently.

As soon as karan came back , he gestured at a pooh soft toy.

"papa i don't want any more...." she said cutely. Karan immediately looked at Teja and rolled his eyes and picked the pooh anyway and went to the billing counter.

They had spent the entire day outside. After the shopping they had pizza and then went to the children's park near their building and made aru play with other kids and then had dinner and ice cream outside.

They had come back home exhausted and aru was already asleep in karan's arms. Teja unlocked the door and they went straight to their room and kept aru on the bed and tucked her in the blanket.

Karan went to the lounge without saying a word to teja while teja sat beside aru and changed her clothes carefully. She changed herself and laid down on the bed and she didn't know when she had drifted off to sleep.

She didn't know after how long she had opened her eyes. She quickly checked the time. It was an hour past midnight and kara. was still not on bed. Where was he?She didn't want to go and check on him but somehow was feeling uneasy. She got up and went out to the lounge to see him sleeping on the couch in sitting position. She sighed in irritation. She didn't know whether she should call him. She wanted to. Because she knew his neck would be sprained if she didn't call him.

"karan...." she said in a low voice and as expected he didn't respond or wake up.

"karan...." she said loudly but still there was no response.

She breathed out heavily and went near him.

"karan...." she touched his arm to shake him slightly and was shocked beyond wits. He was burning with fever.