~ He was tired of life, for everytime he thought he could be happy, life played games. And then there was her, who made sure to partner him in the game, and make him win~

His tears kept on flowing and soon it became incoherent sobbing. For a moment Nandini was startled,she had never seen him this way, not even when she had foolishly rejected his unspoken proposal. She tried breaking the hug but he did not leave her. He held her close to him for she was the only one he could hold on to when his insides were on the verge of shattering. Nandini did not oppose and let him be the way he wanted to. After what seemed like an eternity, he loosened his grip and broke the hug. Nandini now sat by his side and took his hand in hers.

"Now tell me, what happened Manik?", Nandini asked clearly worried.

Manik looked at her and then gathering all his courage he could say just one thing- " Maa!"

*flashback*

Manik was too excited that morning as finally his Nandini would return to him. So he planned on surprising her and went out to bring a big bouquet of her favourite lavenders and orchids!

He quickly drove off to the flower shop and bought two big bouquets for his girl! As he came out of the shop, he noticed a building in front. It had a huge board outside, and something about it felt familiar. It was called 'MaNi's Paradise'.

With an unknown force driving him towards the building, he entered the orphanage and was mesmerised by a melodious voice singing various lullabies. He felt like he had heard the voice before but could not recall where and when. But the voice gave him immense satisfaction and peace. With a sudden urge to know the owner of the voice, he went in the direction of the song. As he reached the porche of that building, he saw various kids playing, some on the swing set, some playing hide and seek, some sitting with books while some were sitting surrounding an elderly lady who was singing. It was her voice that had drawn him here. In order to find a chance to look at her face, he passed the playing children and stood just in front of the lady. She had her eyes closed while singing and hence could not see the teary eyed man standing in front of her. Needless to mention, it was none other than Veebha Malhotra, Manik's mother.

Frozen at his spot for a few seconds, he somehow gathered his strength and dashed out of the building almost running to his car. He opened the gate and sat in the driving seat, breathing heavily and soon he drove back to mansion, as fast as he could!

* flashback ends!*

Nandini was speechless at the turn of events. It was a fact that no matter how much she tried but the place of his family could not be fulfilled. And now when he saw his mom, everything resurfaced again, and she had to deal with it. She was the one who had to be his strength to fight his emotions. So for that instant, she chose not to say anything to him. She let him speak whatsoever he wanted to and after that she silently made him sleep and covered him with a duvet.

After about an hour or so, Manik woke up and his first instinct was to see where Nandini was. Not finding her in the room, he thought she might had gone back to her place as she had came here directly from the airport. He felt bad for ruining the surprise he had for her. Dejected, he got out of the bed, washed his face with cold water and walked towards the kitchen to fix himself a mug of hot brewing coffee.

But on reaching the kitchen,his eyes bulged out of their sockets to see the whole kitchen in a mess. The entire floor had patches of flour and sugar while there were chocolate syrup lying on the kitchen slab. A mountain of containers were kept aside and baking soda, cheese etc were scattered on the slab. In midst of this entire tsunami, was standing the best sight to watch- his Nandini, standing with a confused face, flour on her forehead and chocolate syrup on her chubby cheeks. His lips instantly curved into a smile and he walked towards her only to cage her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder.

" Hmm, so what's going on?", he asked huskily.

"Nothing, I wanted to make cookies for you, but-" she answered with an almost crying face, pointing at the mess she created. Ironically the girl who was so good with cooking was horrible when it came to baking.

Manik somehow managed not to burst out laughing at the epitome of innocence in his arms. She was such a child at times, and a mom at other instances.

" I messed up the entire kitchen and even my face!", she mentioned sadly,  and Manik in a swift turn of movement turned her towards him.

" I can clean that, happily!", he smirked at her while Nandini immediately dilated her big doe eyes at him. He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead to clear all the flour patches. Nandini gasped in pleasure and felt weak in her knees but Manik held her tightly and then he again leaned towards her cheeks to lick off the chocolate syrup while she turned her face to the other side. Utilising the situation,he started giving her open mouth kisses throughout her jaw till the crook of her neck and left shoulder. Nandini was literally paralysed and could not react to the situation. Manik looked up at her face and quickly pecked her lips and loosened his grip on her. It gave her enough time to come back to her senses and a red hue swept across her cheeks and she could not match his gaze, suddenly very shy.

"That has been the best cookie I ever ate in my life...", He whispred while she not knowing what to say or what to do, turned her back towards him and started clearing the kitchen! Manik just laughed at her shyness and went away for some time or he knew she won't even come in front of him, feeling embarrassed.

Later that day, after that hot steaming romance session, the love birds had their dinner and Nandini made him sleep soon afterwards, not wanting him to stay awake and torture himself with his thoughts.

As Manik drifted into deep slumber in the warmth of his beloved, Nandini sneaked out of the room and called up  Kabir to tell him the whereabouts of veebha Malhotra. She was determined enough to know what had kept a mother away from her only son all these years and also she wanted to bring back his mother in Manik's life. Being a mother's daughter, she knew how much a mother is needed for a child, no matter the age. She wanted to bring back that love in his life which he had always craved for! Promising herself to do that soon, she came back to the room and drifted to her Disney Land, soon!

Next morning, she found him sitting on the swing, with his coffee, lost,  and taking careful steps, she settled beside him, not wanting to startle him.

"What's going on in your mind?", She asked softly to which he smiled seeing how easily she read his body language.

"Nothing, just-",  he said with a deep sigh and Nandini stared at him, waiting for him to open up.

Resting his head on her shoulder, and nuzzling in her hairs, Manik entwined his hand with hers.

" I was thinking about Maa", he admitted, and Nandini felt her throat go dry.

" Don't you think we should go meet her once, let her explain why she did what she did?", Nandini asked, and Manik could feel his eyes getting teary again. No matter what, he missed his mother very much.

" Maybe we should, but I am not sure I am courageous enough to hear it out from her!",  he confessed and she simply took him in her arms, silently promising him to protect him from all odds. They finished the remaining coffee in silence and later, she excused herself and told him she was going back to her apartment for some time.

Standing outside 'MaNi's Paradise', Nandini took a few deep breaths before walking in. On reaching there, she found many small children giggling and enjoying the day and instantly her lips curved into a smile. With a sweet smile, she went towards the reception like entrance and asked for the lady in charge there.

"We don't have an incharge here, but maybe you could talk to 'Maa'", the girl greeted her merrily, pointing her ta room and Nandini went towards the room, with baited breaths.The door was slightly ajar and someone was singing inside.

She found an elderly lady sitting in the balcony, gazing outside the window. It was hard to miss the starking similarities between the mother and the son. She seemed zoned out to her, but when she noticed keenly, she found silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

" Mrs Malhotra? ", she called her and the lady in front froze on her spot!