Narain and Anuradha looked around in opposite directions for a moment, wondering how they could make Nila feel better without calling her parents to come back.

"Hey, look at that plane, Nila! See if you can see your Mommy and Daddy in that plane!" Anuradha pointed at the sky as soon as she spotted an aeroplane that was making its way up towards the clouds in the distance.

Nila looked up in surprise. "I can't see Daddy Mommy!"

"Don't worry, they are not in that plane. They are still on the way to the airport. After a few hours, they will get into a plane and go. That time, we can look up from the park and see them going, okay baby?" Narain picked up the conversation Anuradha had started to divert Nila's mind.

"Okay, Papa." Nila's face lit up at last. "But how will Mommy Daddy go in that tiny plane? Daddy Mommy are so big. No, not big; Mommy Daddy are so tall. Taller than me. But that plane is tinier than me."

"Planes are very big, baby. Haven't you seen a plane?" Anuradha grabbed a pebble from the ground and threw it up in the air. "Look at this pebble and see how small it becomes when it goes up in the sky."

"I can't see it, Mama."

Narain caught the pebble in his hand as it fell and showed it to her. "See now."

"Where did it go just now, Papa?"

"When it went up, it became small so you couldn't see it. When it came back down, you can see it again." Anuradha smiled. "Just like that, planes are also very big. Bigger than Daddy's car. But when it goes up, it looks very small. Understand, baby?"

Nila nodded, beaming. "I want to see plane."

"Come, baby, Papa will show you a picture of a plane." Narain led Nila back upstairs to their apartment with Anuradha.

Finding his mobile on the table, Narain opened the internet browser and searched for pictures of an aeroplane. "This is an aeroplane. Haven't you seen it before, baby? I think you have seen it in one of your picture charts, right?"

"Yup. But how will Mommy and Daddy go in plane? Daddy Mommy will sit on top of plane?"

"No, baby. Plane has seats inside just like a car," clarified Anuradha. She quickly grabbed the chairs from the dining table and started arranging two chairs in a row and formed two rows.

"This is how it looks inside." Narain showed Nila a picture of the inside of an aeroplane, filled with people in the seats.

"Wow, so many people inside plane. Plane very big, Papa?"

"Yes baby, it's very big. So much bigger than cars or lorries."

"Wow, Mama making plane in our house?"

Anuradha grinned before pointing to the two rows of chairs. "Everyone must sit properly in their seats when they go into the plane. And they have to put on seat belt also before it is time for the plane to go up."

Nila quickly seated herself in one chair in the second row. "Let's go in plane. Mama Papa sit where?"

"Mama will sit here, okay baby?" Anuradha occupied the seat next to her.

"Okay, Mama! But only two seat together? Cannot three?"

"It is normally three in a plane, baby." Narain smiled.

"Then, Papa can sit next to me too! Come, Papa, come!"

Beaming, Narain pulled a chair from the front row and seated himself next to Nila.

"Yay! Where we going now?"

"Hmm. Switzerland?" suggested Anuradha. "See on the two sides, baby, there will be small windows in the aeroplane."

"Windows? What will we see outside?"

"When the plane is down, you will see just like you see from the window in this house." Anuradha carried Nila towards a window in the living room so she could see the roads, trees and houses nearby through the window. "When the plane starts going up, you will see far places like the beach and the sea and all. When it goes fully up to the sky, you will see the clouds and the sky outside the window, baby."

"Wow, I wanna go in real plane!"

"We can go very soon, okay? First let Mommy and Daddy see Switzerland and come. Then they will definitely take you with them if they go again, okay baby?"

"Okay, Papa!"

"Baby, don't you want to go play in the playground outside?" inquired Anuradha.

"Playground? Can go to parky please?"

"You haven't changed from your school uniform yet. If you get ready soon, we can go to the park. Otherwise, we'll just go to the playground outside."

"I get ready very very fast!" Nila dashed into the bedroom.

Narain and Anuradha shared an awkward silence for a moment before they glanced at each other.

"Thanks," started Anuradha.

"No need to thank me. I should thank you actually. Thanks for helping Nila feel better."

"It's fine, even you helped to divert her mind from the thought of her parents. I think she'll be okay now. You can go."

"Go? Go where? I'm not going anywhere. She'll be fine with me. You can go."

"A child needs a mother more than a father. So I will look after her like her mother."

"No one said a child won't be happy with just her father. I will look after her like her father. If you want, you can ask her to be sure whether I look after her well."

"Look here, I don't care about you. She's my baby. I will look after her."

"She's my baby too. So I will look after her."

"For God's sake, what is your problem? Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Why can't you leave me and my baby alone? You are the one who has a problem."

"I don't trust guys. She is a girl so I can't leave her with you for a month. I have no guarantee what kind of a guy you are. And I won't be able to have a peace of mind if she's with you."

"There are some guys you shouldn't trust out there. But that doesn't mean all guys are like that. I will look after her like a priceless gem. Don't just talk about guys. Even girls are no less. So I can't leave her with you and have a peace of mind too."

"Papa Mama, shush!" Nila appeared at the bedroom door with a frown, dressed in a casual top and pants to go to the park.

Anuradha and Narain fell silent and glanced at her.

"Baby, Mama will look after you well, right? Tell him to go."

"She won't tell that to me because she knows I will look after her well. Right, baby?"

Narain and Anuradha waited for Nila to state her choice.

As Nila remained silent, Anuradha finally turned to Narain. He won't leave. I also can't leave her with him. What to do now? Maybe we can take turns looking after her. Shiva and Shalini will be away for a month. So one week with me, next week with him and so on. Nah, I can't leave her with him for a whole week. I know he cares for her genuinely but still I can't take the risk of trusting him and leaving my baby with him for that long. Better alternate days.

"Let's do one thing. I'll look after her one day, then you can look after her the next day and so on," voiced Narain.

"Fine, agreed."

"Okay, you can go. I'll look after her today."

"I'll look after her today. You go and come tomorrow. At this time. Sharp. If you are late, too bad; I won't let you in."

"Fine and I will certainly be on time for my baby."

Narain turned to Nila and gave her a light hug. "Papa will come tomorrow at this time. If you need anything or have any problem, call and tell Papa anytime, okay baby? Papa will come quickly then."

Anuradha rolled her eyes. Like as if I'm not here to look after her. What does he think I am? Some child torturing monster or some idiot who doesn't know how to look after kids? She is my baby. I will look after her better and keep her happier than he ever can. I'm sure one day with him tomorrow will make my Nila choose me to look after her for the rest of the month.

Nila nodded in silence to Narain's words. Mama and Papa are always smarter than me. I will keep quiet for now until I can think of another plan.

To be continued...

A/N: Hey peeps, hope you liked the chapter.
Shiva and Shalini have left the story for a while since they are not the main characters. What do you think Nila might plan for Narain and Anuradha next?
Please vote and comment. :)