Hey again! There isn't much to say this time, except HAPPY DUSSHERA! <3

I hope you all are having a great, long vacation! I thought this would be a good time to update, sorry if you had other commitments and this is a distraction :P For me, I have my finals next week, and I've been typing this all week so really, healthy distraction for me I guess :P Also this is super long, and I'm trying to work on my descriptive skills so let me know if you can 'feel' the scene, hehe :3

Apart from that, this is a mandatory appreciation comment that I'm loving the increased number of responses to my recent parts! I'm back into the old Illusions groove again, even if I'm not really regular at updating, my sincere apologies for that :(

Here's your treat for being such wonderful readers, and touching my heart. Warm wishes for any exams or major life changes this month, from my end :3 

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Manik

It was 4 AM when my eyes swiftly fluttered open. I'd forgotten to wake up to feed Naina and it was almost 7 hours since she'd last eaten. I couldn't get up though. My arm that was holding our baby was numb and I felt some significant weight on me. It felt like I was being held down, and the guilt of not being responsible enough with my baby bothered me. Naina was sleeping on my shoulder, peacefully without moving a muscle and Nandini was sprawled on my lap comfortably. For a moment, I felt like a father to both of them and a bubbly feeling of love began to fizz from my insides.

To distract myself, I decided to tend to Naina's hunger. I carefully slipped Nandini's head onto a cushion on the couch. Cradling Naina in my arms, I made my way to her baby stroller and laid her securely there. It was a handy device I used around the house to keep her under my supervision, while I was busy with something else. I left water to boil in a kettle and walked down the dingy hallway, to my bedroom.

I brought her a new diaper from my room, and changed her carefully, but not before giving her a baby wipe-bath. My eyes shimmered as she squirmed in her sleep and gave in to my nagging 'daddy' habits. She was the most beautiful baby on the planet. Though she was a handful at times, she was filled with immense love and happiness, something I couldn't dream of replacing. As I stuck the diaper tabs in place, I combed her baby hair with my fingers and placed a warm kiss on her forehead.

Then, I headed to prepare her formula and fed her, while she sat in my arms quietly still asleep, sipping on her milk. Both Nandini and I always held onto our baby every time we fed her, and maybe that was another reason why she loved food so much. It was those times of the day she knew she'd be given the most attention, and she wouldn't miss it for the world. While she drank, I tried to clean the house on a minimalistic level by kicking unnecessary things out of the way. I had a helper come home twice a week to help with chores, but the house wasn't tidy enough and with a baby around, the house was bound to be always messy.

The fiddling around unfortunately woke Nandini up. I crouched in reflex instantaneously and gathered a few of Naina's baby clothes that were on the ground. She flicked the switch above the couch and a dim light glowed, seeming exceptionally bright in the accustomed darkness.

"Manik, kya kar rahe ho?" She approached me, rubbing her eyes. Good going with the noise, soon Naina will wake up and cry if you go on like this! It seemed like she had a peaceful nap until I woke her up.

"Kuch nahi, you go sleep."

"Nahi tumhare bina nee..." Her eyes widened at me as those words almost slipped off her tongue. I was curious to know what she intended to say, because I couldn't really catch onto anything she said in that sleepy tone. "Main madad karti hoon." She uttered, and pulled the baby shirts from my hand, to divert me and maybe herself too.

"Arre... nahi..." She didn't listen though. She went on picking our clothes and folding those that weren't dirty. Rakhi would be so happy to know her burden was lessened. I checked on Naina's bottle while she slowly fed to see if she was done. Nandini headed to do the laundry and I watched her, with serenity. It felt good to be a family. If only we really were. The couch seemed welcoming, so I lowered myself and adjusted my baby's posture to assist our respective needs.

She loaded the washer and came back to the living room, wiping her wet hands on her pajama pants. "Is she done yet?" She dropped onto the couch, beside me, placing the curves of her feet along the edge of the cushion she was sitting on; a smile embraced her face as she hugged her bent legs, placed her chin on her knees and watched our child in awe. She could never come to terms with the fact that the baby which lay in front of us was her creation, and ours to keep.

I was marveled at her innocence. She wasn't who she masked herself to be for the rest of the world and who knew that better than me. With me, Nandini was a child and that Nandini was my favorite Nandini. She sensed that I was staring for a prolonged period of time. Our eyes met, and I could feel her burning gaze create chaos in my bloodstream. Feelings with the right people don't change, and that was how I knew she was the one for me. "Aise kyoon dekh rahe ho, Manik?" A strangled whisper emanated from her throat.

Late nights were always the right time to have typical heart-felt conversations. Most people who engage in midnight conversations or stay up late at night know how vulnerable they are during those hours of the day. I was nothing different, and maybe that made me say to her what I said following that moment.

Searching her eyes to seek some validation, I murmured. "You resemble those typical wives when you do those chores." She took a moment to let the information sink in, and then chuckled softly and then threw her head back, allowing the couch fluff to swallow her head. Her hair that was spun in a bun, slowly unwound itself, and dropped to the sides of her face. That Nandini Murthy wasn't the one who wore professional coats and high heels and curled her medium length hair, but she looked beautiful nevertheless-in pajamas, without makeup, and with a sleepy face.

I couldn't stop looking. Then the biggest question of all time swam around in my mangled brain. What are we?

Her eyes drooped, and her eyelashes batted slowly, as though there was a delay in response timing. She looked exhausted to say the least. A small, unguarded part of me that felt pricked every time Nandini felt the slightest discomfort spoke then. "Tum so jao? In three hours, you've gotta be at work." She blinked. She wanted to say something but was holding herself back.

I heard a soft sniff, and then her face disappeared into the dark momentarily. "Manik..." Her hand reached out to my cheek, feeling my rough stubble. Her eyes searched for signs on my face that screamed something she wanted to hear, and then switched to my lips, before settling at my eyes. "Tum meri itni fikr mat karo."

"I can't... help it!" I could succumb myself to pain, but Nandini... at least the Manik who loved Nandini couldn't let any trouble come her way. He could never stand her in pain. She closed in against him tardily, and every second felt like a minute as she pressed her chest into the side of his. Closing her eyes, she fluttered a gentle, affectionate kiss on his cheek. The Manik who loved, could feel some love.

I shut all my senses down, living in the moment and tightening my grip around the baby's bottle to conceal how weak I was getting. In that moment, she wanted to convey everything her lips couldn't, and her heart feared. Nights like those were the nights we'd get intimate on an emotional level. Emotional intimacy is another dimension to love, our love at least. Letting go seemed like an impossible thing to do for both of us, but that seemed alright in instances like those.

***

Manik

As the clock struck ten to nine, I struggled to shove my laptop into my laptop bag with one hand, while I held onto Naina's rattle toys that I'd picked off the floor in the other. Nandini was playing with Naina, who was just done screeching for the toys I held so that her parents would play with her. Nandini found a smart tactic to distract her, and that was for the baby to lie on her tummy and lift herself with her arms, which made Naina giggle and have fun. She was old enough to roll over from her back onto her stomach, but she didn't know what to do after that. She watched her Mommy lay on the floor too, whose face was a few inches away from her.

The cute and silly faces comforted Naina and made her burst into baby chuckles. Ah! The sounds of a happy baby...

I couldn't explain in words how wonderful life was treating me lately. I was living the life of an average Indian man, who had a beautiful family, a decent paying job, and some money to spare after rent and other bills. That was all I needed from life, and everything was going just great for the last couple of days. For any ordinary person, it wouldn't seem like a big deal to have these things. For me, it was like a dream come true. It was so true that people never appreciate the things they have. They take that for granted what others desire.

The washing machine beeped as the dryer load was done, bringing me out of my cycle of unwanted thoughts. "Bhaiyya, kapde lelo!"

"Main karti hoon! Manik, Naina." She pointed, and I nodded, looking out for her. Naina saw her Mommy leaving, got petrified and began crying, dropping to the ground in defeat. To any parent, that would be the most heartbreaking thing to witness. Picking her in my arms, I kissed her a few times to console her. Her cries quieted as I cradled her and chattered away to her, to distract her. Nandini pulled the clothes out of the washer one by one, from the utility room.

"Didi, aapke saath yeh ghar ghar lagta hai," Rakhi confessed innocently. I saw Nandini beam a little smile and then glance at me stealthily. I quickly focused back at my baby, secretly sneaking in on Nandini in between. With a tint of pink on her cheeks, Nandini picked out all the clothes, including one of my white shirts that had become pinkish-purple. She gasped in horror at her ignorance. She didn't notice putting a white along with the colors, did she?

The helper gasped dramatically too, to add to her worries. "Didi, yeh kya kardia aapne!" Women always went overboard with drama, didn't they? At least, that was the plotline for every Indian TV series! The baby and I went running to witness the personal show put up for us.

Nandini was holding out my now-tinted gigantic white shirt in front of her frame. It wasn't touching her torso, but I could see the linen on her like an overlay. I pressed my growing smile, observing the zillion frown lines on her face.

"Yeh kaise hua, Manik?" It was remarkable how even after everything that happened between us, she'd always come to me expecting that I'd know the reason for every problem and have a solution for something every time.

I hid my smile and advanced to her. Man, she was hilarious sometimes, and without even realizing it. Her winsome personality was what drew me to her in the first place. The fluster on her face said she wasn't expecting such a result to emerge from her endeavors to help me with household chores.

"Nandini, did you know the whites don't go in the same wash load as the colors?" She passed a captious look to the clothes inside the washing machine when she found some of Naina's clothes stained to a pale purple shade. She dreaded the outcome, and the indiscernible expressions on her face reflected her repentance for the same.

"Par kyoon? Washing toh washing hota hai, colors hai ya whites, fark nahi padhna chahiye!" She threw the shirt back into the tub and crossed her arms in frustration. I almost giggled at her, and it was hard to control it, mainly when she was so silly. Sure, one of my only work-shirts was ruined, but it wasn't a big deal. Without a second though, I put an unoccupied arm around her shoulder in support.

"Whites are to be separated, baba." She wasn't convinced at all. There was a sharp bang against something, and before I realized, she was huffing because she'd kicked the machine and her foot was sore as hell. Her short height made everything happen so swiftly!

"These clothes are made of cheap dyes. I don't like them." Naina sniggered after that remark, shoving her fist into her mouth while smiling cheekily at her Mommy who had lost all sanity. That woman was so spoilt and was not made for 'ghar ka kaam'!

"Ab Bhaiyya kya pehenenge kaam ke liye?" I scrunched my nose at Rakhi, disapproving her statement. Nandini was already the angriest she could be, and her sore foot was now adding to my worries. She wanted to run back into my room and do something to fix it, but she couldn't move, so she leaned into me, placing her head over my shoulder, hugging me from the side, while adjusting some strands of hair that fell over her face.

"Manik, I'm sorry. I've... never washed clothes before." That initiative of hers needed appreciation. At least she tried to help. I hugged her with one arm, and morally gave her a boost for impressing me, while Rakhi smiled seeing our bond.

***

Nandini

My luck sucks.

All I wanted to do was to help Manik, assist him with work and maybe repay for the idiotic mistakes I'd committed in the past, but hahaha, NO! I did just the opposite of that. He was always in trouble because of me. I never knew how I created so much chaos for him, even when I never wanted to.

While I was thinking of ways to repay, I hit into someone unintentionally. She turned around, studied me for a moment, and then was about to reprimand when she thought against it, and then retreated. "Navya..." I called out, following her to meet her pace.

"Nandini, I know I am nobody to say this but everyone at work is talking about you. They think there's something on between you and Manik, and people are coming up with their own versions of it, involving Naina too. It might not be a big deal for you, but Manik is just a team leader. His reputation matters to him, and I'm worried about him. If things get messy..."

She went on and on, but the second she mentioned Naina, my brain stopped processing her information. The blood in my veins boomed at a rapid rate. I clenched my fists tight, and my feet restlessly began tapping the tiles on the ground. It bothered me so much that my baby was unnecessarily being targeted all the time, for no fault of her own but for my brain to cook some ideas, I needed her just to stop speaking for one second.

"I know, Navya."

There was a moment of silence, as her head jerked a step away from me. I noted the changes in her expressions as they changed from being concerned to being offended by my remark. "I'm just trying to help; you don't have to be so rude." She adjusted her dupatta casually and then left the room, avoiding eye contact and any communication.

***

Nandini

It was an hour past lunchtime, and I wanted to get the hell out of my claustrophobic cabin. I was sick of everything around me, including the air I breathed. Fridays were usually great days for me, with everyone working on his or her status reports, I had nothing to proof-read or validate. I could relax in my cabin or take a nice happy stroll around the park downstairs, but that Friday was just different. I was everything but relaxed. I had skipped lunch because I couldn't feel like my body could digest anything. It was that anxious feeling of wanting to puke-where the insides of your mouth and throat warm up, and your body blazes in a weird way and your palette goes dry-but not being able to puke that was bubbling inside me.

I needed to get out.

I marched to the door, and just as I flung it open, I spotted my baby crying on her Daddy's shoulder and one hell of an angry monster with flaring nostrils, and a bright red face. It was very rare to see Manik that mad, in fact, the last time I saw him like that was when I asked him to get out of my life, and that ended in a broken dining table, so... just to put it out there.

"Jaanwar jaisi hai tumhari behan!" He roared at me, shoving me out of the way and pushing through as if I was to be blamed for my baby's injury.

"Tumhare saath thi na Naina, toh phir?" He pressed his lips arrogantly, with so much detest that he refused even to make eye contact.

Apparently, Sonali had walked in when Manik was getting the week's progress files set up for Monday's presentation. She wanted to take Naina and Manik on a walk around the campus, but before he could protest, she carried my baby and 'accidentally' bumped her head into one of his cabin walls.

"Exactly. This is why I keep telling you to stay away from her! Par tum, tum toh meri baat kabhi sunte hi nahi ho!" I crossed my arms, seething fire. He conveniently ignored my banter, and kissed our wailing baby on her wound, rocking her gently to soothe her. He was brushing her baby hair softly, doing everything he possibly could to shush her and help her heal.

I couldn't stand my baby in pain. Agitated, I took two quick steps and stood right in front of his face. "Give her to me!"

I tried to grab her from him without causing harm to her, but the way she held onto his shirt so tightly gave me a reality check. Naina had so much faith in Manik. My eyes fixated at her little fist, the part of his shirt she was pulling on, and then with much effort, they met his, that looked so grieved. He hated it when she cried; it just broke him. The two of them could put each other at peace always; they never needed me, but somehow, they still made their way back to me.

I waited for a second, and then Naina released her hold on him. My eyes were wet after I scooped her off and seated myself on the couch. I lay her flat on my fully clad chest, with her knees bent into my stomach, while her head rested on my breasts. One of my arms supported her butt while the other pat her gently. Baby, I love you, I rubbed her baby head softly and whispered to her. Her wails transitioned to whines and then soft breaths, attracting Manik towards us as if he was spellbound. I was so busy tending to my little one, that I didn't notice when he sat beside me.

Our baby slowly began closing her eyes for more extended periods of time. In a matter of moments, she fell asleep, after which I managed to look at Manik's smile, which indicated how impressed he was at my effortless approaches.

"Babies humesha apne Mommies ki baat sunte hai," I smirked, blowing the words not to disturb our little one.

Frankly, I was something he missed. My presence in his life meant more than he could convey. He just relaxed next to me, peering into my eyes like they held treasure. Instant chemistry struck between us, and I bet he could feel it just as intensely as I could. Could he see the shimmer, the longing in my eyes? Before he made a statement, I heard a knock on my door.

Our eyes met in a jiffy. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, as I instinctively scooted away from him. That sick feeling from earlier took over me. I distanced myself from the couch and sat on my office chair, with my baby still clinging to me. I knew what was coming my way, but Manik was confused. Another knock was heard, and then the doorknob turned slowly, creaking.

Manik, I'm sorry.

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Let's take a wild guess, what do you think is going to happen? 

This story is quite flawed in many ways, and as a third person reading this story, it's very easy for us to find loopholes in the ways they think. But if you imagine what's happening in their POVs, I think you can really understand where they are coming from. :P Let's just say these characters are humans like us who make stupid decisions and have an audience who judges them :P

Drop down what you thought you could relate to, or even just an open pointer about how you felt after reading this chapter? Happy? Silly? Sad? Confused? Let's discuss. Let me know what's happening in your lives too, that's making you distant from where you feel you belong. Ha! I just summarised this chapter for you! :P Cheers!

Happy weekend, lovelies!