Author Pov
Agnihotri's entered in the living room.
"Ghani Khamma hukum, Ghani Khamma sa!" They all greeted each other.
Ridhima Agnihotri handed bouquet to Meera while greeting.
"Thank you." Meera said.
"How are you all? We are meeting after long time." Adhiraj said shaking hands with Pratap Agnihotri. (Jaiveer's dadasa)
"Aap bataye Rathore Saab, kaise dikh rahe hai hum?" He counter backed playfully, making Adhiraj laugh.
"Lag toh bade achhe rahe hai aap Agnihotri Saab. Aaiye baithte hai." He said making all of them sitting on couch. Younger Rathore Clan and Ruhanika were standing by the couch.
(You guess, how do I look?
You look definitely great to me. Come, let's have a seat.)
"Finally, deal is signed. You all were really busy due to this project." Meera said.
"Yeah, the efforts are finally worth it." Ridhima said making all the men nod.
They all were talking randomly that's when Ridhima's gaze fall on Ruhanika who was standing with younger clan.
"Yeh pyaari bacchi kon hai, bhabhi?" She asked politely, grabbing all of their attention and turning it to Ruhanika.
(Who is this young lady here?)
"Ohh she is Ruhanika, Abheer's.... friend." Niharika introduced her making Ruhanika smile.
"Ghani Khamma." She greeted them with joined hands.
"Khamma Ghani beta. What do you do?" Priya Agnihotri asked.
But before she could respond, a voice called for her.
"MAAMMMM!! FINALLY I GOT TO MEET YOU!" Jaiveer who happens to be attending a call entered grabbing their attention and straight went towards Ruhanika taking her in a bear hug. The hug was so sudden that she was about to loose her balance.
Abheer's hands clenched seeing him hugging Ruhanika but then his eyes widen when she was about to fall. He frantically got up from his seat, but Reyan held her before she could fall as he was standing beside her.
She smiled and patted his back making him pulled out of the hug, but kept holding her hand, which was burning someone.
"Excited monkey, you could have made her fall!" Aishu smacked his head saying.
"Youu! Don't hit me!" He warned her pointing his finger to which she rolled her eyes.
"Leave her. You tell me, how are you mam? You didn't even come to our last university function." He said faking sadness.
"I'm all great. And I could not manage to come. Abhaya was keeping me occupied." She replied smiling.
"Ohh, right. But now that I'm here, I want to meet her, please." He requested with glinting eyes, excited to meet his favourite professor's baby.
But again Ruhanika got cut off by one of the members.
"Jai why don't you first introduce her to your family? You basically interrupted our introduction session." Aishu said with over sweet smile.
Jaiveer then looked at others, to see all of their eyes on him, while men in his family were raising thier eyebrows too suspiciously. Abheer sat down again.
"Is that so? Okay, so let me introduce you to my family." He told Ruhanika.
"So here come the head of Agnihotri family, Pratap Agnihotri, my dadasa and his gorgeous wife, my dadisa, Priya Agnihotri.
Then comes my baba Daksh Agnihotri and my pretty maa Ridhima Agnihotri.
This is my dashing bhaisa Kiaan Agnihotri and the gorgeous lady beside him, my bhabhisa Diva Agnihotri. And then there is me, your all time favourite student, Jaiveer Agnihotri." He said last line eyeing Aishu.
"You know that even whole university knows that who is Ruhanika Thakur's favourite student. Don't make false claims." She said rolling her eyes, making Ruhanika giggle.
Jaiveer cleared his throat at her comment and said,
"Folks this is my University professor Ruhanika Thakur, the one I always told you about!" He said to his family, keeping hands on Ruhanika's shoulders, unknown to the fact that someone was murdering him in his thoughts.
"So this is your favourite teacher you always talks about! Hello dear, you look quite famous in the University. It's really nice meeting you." Ridhima said smiling, which make Ruhanika turn red a little with all the compliments.
Abheer eyed Aishu who is standing beside Jaiveer and she gets the signal.
"Jai, jindagi se man bhar gaya hai kya? Itne jaldi marne ki chahat kyu rakh rahe ho?" She whispered in his ears. Jaiveer frowned at her words making her turn his head towards Abheer, whose face looked like he would be murdering someone the next moment.
He gulped and immediately pulled his hands off of Ruhanika's shoulder and made a little space, making Aishu and Aditi snicker at him.
(Jai, are you done living your life? Or do you have any death wish?)
"Come na, sit with us. Why are you standing there?" Diva said patting space beside her.
She was about to reply but her voice got cut off by Abhaya's crying upstairs.
"Umm I would really love to. But that's my baby upstairs crying. I'll be going to her now. It was really nice meeting you. Congratulations on your successful partnership. Enjoy your lunch." She said moving upstairs hurriedly.
Abheer sat there feeling down a little, concerned for his princess.
"Rakhi!" He called for the maid.
"Ji hukum."
"Go and take a bowl with cold water in Ruhanika's room. She forgot to take it. And check if she needs anything." He said making her obey.
"What was that?" Ridhima asked.
"Actually, Ruhi's baby is sick. She got fever today morning. Or else they both would be here too." Meera explained making them nod.
"I want to meet her." Jai whispered to Aishu and Aditi.
"We will go later. If bhaisa permits though." Aditi replied.
"Okay, let's head to dining room. Badi bhook lagi hai." Adhiraj said getting up.
"Abhibhi khane keliye sabse pehle jaane ki aadat gayi nahi tumhari!" Pratap teased him.
"Ha toh. Maa Annapurna ka apman thodi karna chahiye!" He comment made everyone laugh, while Gayatri shook her head at her husband.
(Let's head to the dining room. I'm starving.
The habit of you present first while eating still isn't changed, right.
Yep. We cannot disrespect food, can we?)
Their lunch went by lots of talks and laughter. Men were at one table, ladies were on the other, as men always have to talk about business which sometimes irritates ladies. But Jaiveer chose to sit with ladies as he doesn't want to be part of 'boring things'. And as expected the most chaotic table would be of ladies' coz of Aishu and Jaiveer's banter, which made others laugh a lot. Men were quietly enjoying their lunch with some talks about national affairs, weather, sports, some current events happened in India.
Abheer made sure Ruhanika's lunch was sent and then only he started eating his.
After lunch, men decided to move in the garden, ladies occupied the living room.
"Chaliye Jaiveer Saab. Ab toh chaliye humare saath. Aaiye thodi business ki bate kar le hum. Hum ne suna, aap bhi apne bhaisa ko join karne ka soch rahe hai. Chaliye jara vistar se bataiye hume." Abhiraj dragged Jaiveer from ladies after their lunch, who was sulking to go, to keep her away from his baby sister, making others laugh.
(Mr. Jaiveer, at least come with us now. We should discuss some business. I heard you too decided to join with your brother. Come, let's talk elaborately.)
The ladies were having sweet, basundi which was made by Ruhanika.

"Wow kakisa, this is most delicious basundi I've ever had. Did you make it?" Diva asked curiously.
"No beta. Ruhanika made it."
"Really. She is a great cook then. Perfect sugar and thickness! I should ask her the recipe, Kiaan loves basundi." She said happily eating it.
"Ohooo!!" Aditi and Aishu teased her making her realise what she said in front of others. She turned totally red making others laugh.
"Don't tease my daughter. One day you will also do these things for you husband." Niharika said side-hugging Diva, making her cutely smile.
"By the way can we go meet her? I'm excited to befriend her and to see her baby too." She asked.
"Diva bete, baad mein milna usse. Baby ko bukhar hai, rest karne dete hai usse." Priya said making her nod.
(Diva dear, meet her later. Baby is sick na, so let them rest.)
At the same time Ruhanika was coming downstairs taking her empty plate. No one heard her coming.
"By the way, Meera beti, what did you think of Abheer's marriage? He is of age now. And Rajasthan is eagerly waiting for their Ranisa!" Priya asked making Meera smile.
"We were thinking about that. Ek ladki hai nazar main humare! Badi pyari bacchi hai! Bas agar woh ha karde, toh kal hi Abheer ko main ghode pe chadha du!!" She said excitedly making others laugh.
(We know this one girl. Lovely child she is! If she agrees, I will marry them both tomorrow itself.)
But when Ruhanika heard these words, making her froze on her place, the tray in her hands slipped making a thud noise. Thankfully she was on the last stair, so nothing happened to her. The colour of her face completely pale.
Others immediately rose up from their seats coming towards her.
"What happened, Ruhi? Are you okay?" Meera asked.
"Umm ye...yes maasa. I'm okay. It...it's just the pla....plate slipped from my hand. I will cl...clean it." She said kneeling to pick up the dishes.
"No no, don't do that. Maids will do it." Niharika said and went to call the maids.
"Come Ruhi beta. Sit with us sometime. You must be tired taking care of Abhaya. Look how pale you look!" Gayatri Devi said guiding her to the couch.
She silently went and sat beside her.
"So, when are you showing your to-be daughter-in-law to us?" Ridhima asked.
"Don't be so impatient, bhabhisa. When everything is set, you will be the first person to know that, alright?" Meera said.
Ruhanika was sitting there silently listening to them. Her heart was aching for the reason unknown to her. She was feeling too restless out of sudden, due to the earlier topic, Abheer's marriage!
"How is Abhaya now? Did her fever get down?" Aishu asked shifting their attention to her.
"Yeah. She is sleeping, better than before." She said trying to compose her voice, making her nod.
"So beta? How old is your child?" Ridhima asked.
"She will be 3 months in 2 weeks." Ruhanika replied with small smile.
"Aww she must be so cute! If you permit, I would love to meet her." Diva said making Ruhanika nod in agreement.
"What do your husband do? Is he friends with Abheer too?" Priya ask making Ruhanika numb at her place. Rathore ladies got tensed seeing the look on Ruhanika's face. She looked at her fingers controlling her tears that were ready to flow.
"Umm..he w.....was an Army Major! Major Abhay Thakur! But, last year ek ca...mp att...ack mein woh... sha...shaheed ho gaye!!" She said, her voice breaking, face red trying to control her need to break down.
(But last year, he martyred in a camp attack!)
Agnihotri ladies widen their eyes listening to her and knew Priya messed up.
"I'm so sorry beta. I didn't know. I'm so sorry for saying that and for your loss." Priya immediately apologized, concern filling her voice.
Ruhanika tried to smile and said,
"It's okay dadisa. You didn't know.
If you exc...excuse me, Abhaya is alone in the room." Ruhanika immediately got up and ran upstairs without waiting for any response.
"I'm so sorry Gayatri. I didn't know about her husband. He Maa, bichare bacchi ko rula diya mene!" Priya said feeling guilty.
(My god, I made the poor child cry!)
"It's okay. As she said, you didn't know. Just, the topic is still a little sensitive for her. He died even before she could tell him she was pregnant." Gayatri Devi said making Agnihotri's gasp.
"Bechari bacchi!!" Their eyes turned teary hearing that.
(Poor child!)
At the same time, Abheer entered and started going upstairs.
"Abheer where are you going?"
"I'm going to check on Ruhanika and Abhaya once." He said turning to go.
"Ek baat sun lo..."
"Not now maasa. We will talk after I come." He said going.
"Shit!!" Aishu muttered.
"No. It's actually wow! It's really amusing how every time bhaisa gets to know, if didisa is in problem or not!" Aditi whispered making both of them giggle.
"What are you giggling at?" Diva asked them slowly.
They both looked at each other and said smiling," Nothing!", making her pout.
Ruhanika enter the room, tears continuously rolling down her eyes.
She sat on the couch and started crying hysterically. She tried to be as quiet as possible as Abhaya was really tired of crying and sleeping in the room. But she wasn't able to breath in some moments due to crying.
At the same time Abheer came inside from the door, which was slightly open.
"Ruh.." His words came to halt when he saw her crying so much on the couch.
When Ruhanika saw him in the room, doesn't know what got into her, she immediately got up and ran towards Abheer hugging him, burying her face in his neck. Abheer was shocked for some time, but immediately composed himself, when he felt her shaking so much and crying.
"Shhh shhh. Ruhi, tell me what happened. Don't cry so much. Please, Ruhi." He tightly hugged her, one hand caressing her back and other her hairs.
But when after some moments, he felt she was struggling to breath, he too started panicking.
"R..ruhi, Ruhi. Calm down, baccha. Calm dowm meri jaan. You are not breathing. Try to calm down." He said making her look at his face.
"Come on, follow me. Take a deep breath, follow me." He took a deep breath making her follow.
"Now exhale." She did it.
"Once again inhale..... exhale.
Inhale..... exhale.
Inhale...... exhale." He made her do couple times more, after which she started to calm down.
But her tears still didn't stop. Abheer's heart ached at her red puffy eyes, tears continuously flowing. He hugged her again making ber burry her face in crook of his neck. She was silent now, but not the tears. He made her sit on the couch still hugging.
"Shh. It's enough now. Tell me what happened. Did anybody say something? Why are you crying?" He asked wiping her face with his shirt sleeve. She took a deep breath one last time before looking at him.
"Nothing." She said, her voice hoarse after so much crying.
"Listen to your voice first, then say nothing." He scolded and got up to fetch her water.
"Here, drink it." She took some sips before pushing the glass Abheer was holding.
"Now tell me honestly what happened." He asked once again.
"Can we please not talk about it?" She said lowly and leaned on him. Abheer wrapped his arms around her making her bury her face in his chest. He kissed her hairs making her sigh feeling safe and relaxed.
"So... how is my princess now?" He asked changing the topic. She pulled out looking at him with a small smile.
"Well she is fine now. Much better than before. Her fever in down too. She is sleeping soundly now." She said looking at Abhaya on the bed secured in blankets.
"She has to be. After all her maasa was continuously looking after her." He said smiling at them both. He got up from the couch coming towards Abhaya. He lightly touched her forehead to check her temperature, which was a little bit warm, but much better that before.
"She recovered fast. Such a great fighter my princess is!" He said kissing her forehead.
Ruhanika chuckled at him and went towards him, sitting on other side of Abhaya.
"Yeah. After all, she has blood of a soldier running in her veins!!" Ruhanika said kissing Abhaya's fist, eyes watery again.
"What?" Abheer frowned not knowing where this is coming from. She just shook his head, and wiping her eyes looking at other side, which definitely was seen by Abheer.
"Nothing. You didn't tell why you came." She asked.
"I just came to check on you both." Abheer said.
Her heart warmed hearing him.
"Okay. If you're done checking up on us, you should go now. We have guests in the house."
He sighed and nodded.
"Yeah. You too take some rest now. If possible, I will call you for cake cutting downstairs. But don't worry that is not until next 2 hours, so you can take nap till then." Ruhanika nodded and he went away. Ruhanika sighed and sat beside Abhaya resting her head on the headrest.
Abheer came downstairs and went towards the ladies.
"Excuse me. Did something happen here before I came? Why Ruhanika was upset?" He asked calmly, not saying exactly what happened.
"Woh, actually, Ruhanika was here before you came. Aur bato bato mein unke ke pati ke baare mein baat chhid gayi. Shayad uski wajah se." Niharika told.
(Ruhanika's husband's topic came up suddenly, that's why.)
Abheer closed his eyes for a second, but he understands it was not anyone's fault.
"Okay. I should go now." He said.
"What happened, was she crying? I'm sorry I made her upset." Priya asked concerned.
Abheer gave her a small smile saying,
"No dadisa, it's okay. She was just upset, and didn't tell me the reason that's why I asked. You don't need to be sorry. Some situations are just not to be felt sorry for. It's alright. She is not upset anymore, don't worry." He assured her making her nod.
"You guys continue, I'll be outside." He left the living room.
"Meera, is the girl, the one I'm thinking about, you chose for Abheer?" Ridhima asked giving her a knowing look.
"Yes, I have the same question now." Priya asked.
"And which one are you talking about?" Meera asked playfully.
"The one that made Abheer all softy!" Ridhima replied smiling.
"Yeah, the one that made Abheer softy." Meera smiled.
"Wow, toh fir shehnai bajne mein jyada wakt nahi bacha hai!" Priya said making them all laugh, but one sat there confused.
(Then there is not much time in hearing wedding bells!)
"About whom are you talking about? Tell me too." Diva asked curious.
"Are bhabhisa, I will tell you." Aditi said.
"They meant that the girl badi maasa chose for Abheer bhaisa is RUHANIKA DIDISA!!" Diva's eyes widened at realisation.
"Wow, really?!" Others laugh at her expression.
Following hours went smoothly. Men were all done again checking things and moved inside to the living room. They saw all the ladies laughing at something.
"You guys really do enjoy a lot without us, don't you!" Kiaan commented gaining their attention. The 3 girls rose from their seats to let others sit.
"Of course, we do. You guys only think about business and business. We ladies do really interesting stuffs unlike you guys." Ridhima commented.
"And what is that? Gossiping about what happened in last kitty party you went?" Daksh said making the ladies gasp and men laugh.
"Daksh beta, we are women that does not mean, all we do is gossip about others." Gayatri said making others nod.
"And if you are that interested, bhai saab, you should definitely join us sometime. I assure you, you will want to join us again and again." Niharika said.
Daksh raised his hands saying,
"Thanks for the offer. But this is definitely not my cup of tea."
"Okay now, leave all that. We are finally signing the deal. Let's bring the cake." Kiaan said making them all get up and instructing maids to bring the cake.
"Rakhi, go and ask Ruhanika if she could come for sometime." Abheer said.
So boys and girls, how was the chp.....
Hope you guys like it...
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