𝟑 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

Nithya woke up on hearing the alarm. She checked the time and it displayed 7:30! Which means she had been snoozing it for the past one and a half hours. Sighing, her gaze turned towards her daughter who was hugging her dad and sleeping peacefully in his arms.

Mithra had got Nithya's curly wavy hair and Raghav's dimples. A perfect miniature of them!

As the clock was clicking fast, Nithya decided to wake her loved ones. Waking up Raghav was itself an easy task when compared to waking up their daughter.

"Raghav, wake up!" Nithya ordered him.

"Gimme five minutes, Nithya." He said and hugged Mithra.

"Today is her birthday, Raghav! We decided to wish together when we wake her up." Nithya reminded him as she hit his shoulder.

"Yeahh... " Raghav whispered and opened his eyes.

"She is turning three today!" Raghav said amazed on seeing little Mithra.

"Feels like a decade already." Nithya jokes.

"Haha! Thank you for bringing her to this world." Raghav said and kissed Nithya.

Mithra was slightly turning in sleep, and Nithya patted her to wake up.

"Mithra, wake up baby!" Nithya called out.

"Maaa... Noo." Mithra pulled the blanket over her head.

Raghav pulled it back and kissed Mithra's cheeks. He looked at Nithya and signed her to get ready.

"Happy Birthday Mithra!" They both wished her happily. Mithra opened her eyes in excitement.

Nithya lifted her in her arms and showered her face with kisses.

"Thank you!!!" Mithra shouted.

"Now come and get ready. You're a big girl now." Nithya told her with a smile.

"Yes baby! If you obey our words, you will get lots and lots of gifts today." Raghav said.

"Gifts!!! I want a new teddy!" Mithra pouted cutely.

"No more teddy. We bought you one last month. But, Mithra is getting a gift that you had been asking for so long."

"What's it?" She asked as she kept her finger on her chin.

"We will give you in the evening. Now go with Amma." Raghav said to her.

Mithra agrees to him and goes along with her mother. Raghav arranged the bed and took out his clothes for the day. He checked his mobile about the cake delivery for the party and got to know that it would be arriving on time.

After giving her a shower, Nithya brought Mithra to their room.

"Maa...new dress."

"Yes baby; as it is your third birthday, you are going to wear three dresses today. One gifted by Amma and appa , one from your thatha and paatis and another one selected by your athai." Nithya said and brought the dress from the cupboard.

"Ohh.  On my tenth birthday, will you get me ten dresses?" Mithra asked in excitement and Nithya didn't expect this.

"I'll even get you a thousand dresses, Mithra." Raghav replied as he entered the room.

"Amma, athai and mama are waiting for her.  Send her down soon." Raghav said and Nithya helped Mithra in getting ready faster.

Once she got ready, Raghav took out his phone to click a family selfie. Mithra ran downstairs to meet her grandparents, after the picture.

They gave her a lot of gifts, especially her favorite comic books and stationery kits. As both of her parents were interested in reading, they had instilled the habit to Mithra too.

Tharani and Sharadha cooked all her favorite dishes and fed her. Sometimes it is a tough task to choose who loved Mithra the most. Because she was the heart of their home. She brought life and colors to their family. Every single day, they created memories along with her. At times RagYa felt like Mithra's grandparents were her real parents more than them!

Raghav brought the bicycle which he had bought for Mithra. She had been pestering him to buy it for months now. So RagYa decided to give it on her birthday.

Mithra was on cloud nine on seeing her new cycle. She took her grandpa and ran out to the play area, so that she can ride her new cycle and show it off to her friends.

In the evening, they had arranged for a small party in their apartment garden.

Mithra was looking like a princess in her baby pink gown, while Nithya wore a navy blue silk saree, to twin with her husband.

Soon the guests started arriving at the party area. Mithra spotted her darling Yazhini athai, and started running towards her. As Yazhini was six months pregnant, she wasn't able to lift her up. Aravind took Mithra in his arms.

Sindhu and Shravan were blessed with twin boys who were two years old. Mithra was already looking after them like a big sister and never letting RagYa near them.

Anitha and Vicky were settled in the US as he got a project there.

As all the guests had arrived, Raghav took Mithra to the center stage to cut the cake. RagYa held her hand and they cut the cake, while others sang the birthday song.

Mithra was running and playing with her brothers, while Raghav was talking with Yazhini and Aravind.

Nithya spotted her aunt, who had come there to meet them after so long.

"Hello aunty! How are you?" Nithya greeted her cheerfully.

"I'm fine da. How's your life?" She asked her back.

"Happy and healthy!" Nithya smiled.

"Mithra is grown up now... So have you started planning for a boy?" Her aunt asked and Nithya's smile dropped.

"No aunty. We are not planning for another baby. We are happy with Mithra, she is enough for us." Nithya told her straight.

"Why are you saying like this Nithya? Your parents didn't try for another baby as your mother had a few complications. Why don't you try?"

"Aunty, it is our decision to have a baby or not. Please don't interfere in this."

"If you had a brother, your parents would have stayed with him, instead of staying at their daughter's house." She said in anger.

"What made you think so, aunty? If taking care of my husband's family is my responsibility, it is my husband's responsibility to take care of my parents too! When he doesn't have any hesitation in doing that, why is it troubling you?! Even you have a son, then why aren't you staying with him in London? Why are you and uncle suffering here alone?" Nithya accused her.

"The climate there doesn't suit us..  that's why we are living here." Her aunt replied and looked away.

"Don't try to lie, aunty. You son couldn't afford it because of the cost of living. That's why you both are staying here. I and Raghav may not earn much, but we are living with our parents happily. At the end of the day, only that matters. Please stop this discrimination and don't ask anyone like this again. Today is my daughter's birthday, please don't spoil my mood as well as yours. Sorry if I have been rude to you." Nithya said and walked away. Her aunt stayed there having no answer because whatever Nithya said was true.

After the party, Nithya went to the kitchen and helped her mother in law to clean up as they spoke about the party. Sharadha asked Nithya to call Mithra, to have her milk.

Nithya went to their room and found Raghav lying on his stomach and Mithra jumping on his back.

"Mithra, paati is calling you down. Go!" Nithya said and took her clothes for a shower. But Mithra didn't stop.

"Go baby, paati is waiting for you." Raghav said as he turned her towards him.

Mithra ran downstairs to have milk.

"Appa!!!" Mithra called Raghav.

"Yes baby!" Raghav replied as he stood near the stairs.

"I'm sleeping with paati today. She is going to tell me a new story!" Mithra happily informed him.

"Okay Mithra, but don't trouble her."

"I'm a good girl appa!!" She stomped her foot.

"Yes you are; good night baby." Raghav blew a flying kiss.

"Good night Appa" she gave a flying kiss.

Nithya came out of the washroom after changing her saree.

"Where is she?" She asked Raghav about Mithra.

"She is gonna sleep with Amma it seems." Raghav replied.

"Athai is already tired, she will definitely trouble her." Nithya frowned worriedly.

"Mithra was tired as she was running around at the party, so she would sleep soon. You don't worry."

"Hmm okay..."

"Wanna go for a walk?" Raghav asked Nithya.

"Been so long la... Let's go!" Nithya replied and they both locked the house and went to their usual meet up place, swimming pool!

"I am surprised that in these 4-5 years no other couple had found this beautiful place!" Raghav said when he looked around the pool.

"Are you ready to share this place with some other couple and invade our privacy?" Nithya asked curiously as she leaned on his shoulder.

"Definitely not" he winked and pulled her closer to him.

"When are you starting your next book?" She asked him after some time.

Raghav had successfully published three books other than "The Gun Point." And all the books were a big hit and the publication got famous because of his book. He was ruling the thriller genre like a king!

"Why are you asking me this? I thought you were happy that I'm on a break now and spending time with you both?" Raghav asked in surprise.

"Hahaha that's right. But your publisher called me two days ago." Nithya replied with a chuckle.

"What?"

"Yeah, they are receiving at least ten phone calls a day, enquiring about your next book it seems. And you're ignoring all their calls, that's why he called me."

"Hmmm... I thought of starting it by next week. Mithra will be joining her pre-school soon, so before that I want to take you and her on a trip. I've found a staycation nearby, we shall go there next week." Raghav replied and caressed her hair.

"That's awesome!! It will give rest to our parents. Mithra is keeping them on their toes."

"Yeah .. and I was talking to our association secretary last week." Raghav adds.

"Hmm?"Nithya looked at Raghav curiously.

"As there are so many kids in our apartment, they are planning to start a dance class. They are looking for a dance teacher. It seems, I said that I'll talk to you and confirm with him." Raghav told her.

"Confirm what? Are you planning to put Mithra in dance class?" Nithya asked him..

"Hey Medico! I'm talking about you."

"What am I going to do if I learn to dance now?"

"Ayooo!!! You are going to be the dance teacher!" Raghav hit her forehead.

"WHAT" Nithya shouted in shock.

"Yeah Nithya, after Mithra was born, you didn't get time to dance. So I thought it would be the perfect time to restart dancing."

"But .. How can I? I don't know that much dance or I haven't learnt any particular dance forms..." Nithya replied confused.

"Come on Nithya! You're a great dancer according to me! You are going to teach kids and so they won't need a very professional approach! If you are very particular about learning, there are a number of online dance schools where you can learn from home itself. These classes are going to happen only on weekends for just a couple of hours, so no need to worry!" Raghav explained her clearly.

"But .. Why me?"

"Just like how I got a turning point and decided to pursue writing, you should also do what you love right? At Least as a hobby?" Raghav asked her hopefully..

"I love you techie." Nithya told him those three words that she had been holding inside her heart for years.

Raghav didn't expect her sudden confession! He was looking at her in surprise.

"You said you won't tell me until I tell you?" He winked, and Nithya hugged him tight.

"I love you medico ." He said and placed his chin on the top of her head.

They both cherished their moment for sometime in silence. As it started raining, they both went back to their house happily in love!

The End.

Thank you so much everyone who read this story till this point! Your support means a lot to me.

Drop in your reviews about the story and share it with your friends if possible ☺️

When I ended GND, I felt like it wasn't a proper ending. It was a Raghav and Nithya story as two individuals and their love wasn't shown much in it. . That's why I started HEA for RagYa, as a couple story!

Special thanks to you Itivesh akka  ❤️

You were the one who had been asking for a sequel! This is for you 🥰