#STILL IN THE PAST#

*Third Person Pov*

Priya wants to bring all her toys back with her but her Mom didn't want her to bring all the toys as there are a few already at home. So, she continued to stare at her toys and chose one after the other with her silent sister beside her.

However, when they heard her Mom's loud voice, her sister rushed to the door while Priya ignored it as she heard it many times already.

She sighed choosing a few she really likes to play with and then took the ones she found her sister glancing at even though all she held was the doll that their Mom held before.

"I want to bring these, Mom." Priya said choosing half of the toys and waited patiently thinking her Mom will ask her to remove a few more.

"Okay! Let's go him!" She smiled hearing those words from her Mom and walked towards her sister to hold her hand.

"Dad! Let's go home!" Priya said smiling at her father who smiled at her before leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"I will put your clothes and toys in the car." She nodded while he walked into her room where he found his wife packing the toys in a bag.

"Thank you!" he whispered reaching her side.

"I am not doing it for your sake but for my sake as I already mentioned. Also, you should have stopped her before me because no matter what Akhila is your daughter. Don't let her hate you in the future with this attitude of yours." She said before walking out of the room holding the toys bag while he took hold of the bags with Priya's clothes and stepped out of the room.

"Grandma! I will miss you." Priya said hugging the old woman who smiled to hug her bag and her smile slipped when she saw Akhila standing a few steps away from her.

"She is our grandmother, Akhila! She is really sweet and I know you didn't stay here before but let's come again later as I really want to go home. Okay?" Priya asked reaching Akhila's side.

"I will call you again, Mom." Saying that the old woman's daughter walked out of the house with her kids.

"I will never hurt her again, Mom." Her son-in-law said looking at her.

"You better not otherwise this time I will not keep silent until she leaves you." She warned him and at the same time regretting that she tried to make her daughter forgive him all this time.

If not for her and if she had supported her saying she will support her decision to leave him, then her daughter wouldn't have been in this situation.

She wished that her daughter realize the mistake of thinking to raise her husband's daughter as a result of cheating soon and come out of it.

She sighed closing the door after the car drove away and walked into the house feeling the place to be empty after her granddaughter left.

When the couple and the two kids finally reached their home, they found their daughter Priya already slept off while Akhila is staring at her Mom with wide eyes as if she would disappear anytime.

As they didn't buy any clothes for Akhila, they used the ones that were packed by the orphanage staff and made both of them stay in Priya's room.

From the next day, they both tried to work on the marriage as they thought to but somehow nothing seemed to be working.

She even resigned from her job to concentrate on her marriage and also because Akhila is small and needs special attention as she doesn't speak.

Even though she doesn't feel that comfortable be around Akhila, she helped her with bathing and also feeding her food along with trying to read a few books to her to get her familiar with words.

What surprised her is that she is too obedient for, and everything and such obedience is not something an elder person wishes to see in a kid.

So, the couple started talking about what to do with Akhila so that she behaves normally like a kid as they felt she seemed restless to everyone.

Every morning until she sees his wife, Akhila doesn't let go of her alertness. Even Priya started mentioning how stiff Akhila seems at night and calms down only when her Mom comes to wake them up.

They started discussing the same issue near the counselor and the counselor let them talk about Akhila as this is the first time they actually tried to talk properly during the session.

One day when she was busy cooking lunch as she needs to send it to Priya's school, she felt a familiar hold on her saree and turned to see Akhila blinking at her but continued to hold the saree.

"What do you want?" she asked looking at the girl.

Akhila calmly lifted her pinky finger of her free hand and she saw her Mom smiling at her. So, she decided to hold her Mom's saree from that day onwards thinking her Mom likes it.

The next day, when she saw her Mom plucking grass in the garden, she walked out of the house and immediately fell down before she could reach the garden.

Hearing a sound, her Mom turned to see Akhila lying down on the ground with a stunned expression.

"Why did you come out?" She asked rushing towards her and picked her up to check whether she got hurt.

After making sure she didn't get hurt, she was set down and her Mom moved back towards the grass and she again stood up to walk towards her.

"Akhila!" Her Mom called her name with a tired tone but stopped when she found Akhila trying to pluck the grass following her action.

She doesn't know what to say and didn't stop her as Akhila seems to be enjoying doing that.

In the evening, she talked to her husband about this and he looked amused saying, "You seem to have got a fan."

"Fan?" She asked frowning at him and he nodded while smiling at her confused expression.

"She just tries to be around you all the time. I even saw her yesterday morning when you were serving breakfast for me by spreading jam on the bread, she tried to do the same and ended up getting it spread on her hands as she couldn't hold the knife." He explained laughing.

"Every time I come home, all I see is her following you around while holding your saree. Even Priya never followed you like that." He added and immediately stopped thinking she may get upset hearing all this.

"Now I remember that when I was cooking and held a spatula from the washed dishes, she took a spoon and imitated me." She said and suddenly laughed remembering the incident.

"Oh my god! She is such a cute child." She added shaking her head and they both smiled looking at each other.

With that conversation, there seems to be some kind of closeness between them and they no longer try to walk on eggshells around each other.

Priya and Akhila actions became a topic for them to talk about and laughing became a frequent activity in the house.

"You seem to be happy." One day her Mom commented when she called over to check whether she is doing fine or not.

"One second, Mom! Akhila! Don't touch that dear! That is a carrot and telephone." The old woman can hear the words which seem to be complaining but there is humor showing in the tone.

"What happened?" She asked after her daughter started talking again.

"I was cutting vegetables when I got your call, Mom. Akhila wanted to imitate me and took the carrot from the table and reached towards me before holding it like a phone." Saying that she laughed and the old woman felt tears in her eyes finally hearing her daughter laughing after more than three years.

"Does she imitate you a lot?" She asked composing herself.

"You don't know how much she does, Mom. I am even scared to hold a knife or scissors before her thinking what if she imitates me by taking hold of them." She replied to her Mom's question.

"Akhila! Want to talk to your grandmother?" she added pulling her up into her lap and put the phone near her ear.

"Akhila! Are you happy with your Mom?" The old woman asked and she didn't expect a reply as she knows that the girl can't speak yet.

However, both of them suddenly heard her saying, "Maa..." and this made both of them freeze in shock.

"What... what did you say, Akhila?" She asked staring at the little girl in shock.

"Maa!" saying that she pointed her mother and repeated the word again.

"He... hello, Mom! I will talk to you again." Saying that she cut the call and continued to stare at Akhila.

She stared at Akhila still feeling shocked and at the same time thinking this is actually not real.

It's been a few months since she was adopted and they even took her to the doctor which checked and said everything is fine with her and asked us to give Akhila time to adjust saying the reason could be psychological.

The doctor even mentioned that she seems to be a bit scared of her surroundings and she needs to learn to trust her surroundings which could help her too.

What happened suddenly that made her talk? She thought frowning and finally realized that this is the first time she made Akhila sit on her lap as she wouldn't have any contact with Akhila unless there is any need to like bathing her dressing her or feeling her.

She told her Mom to not to blame Akhila for the cheating part and she didn't follow her own words.

While this little girl already thought of her as her Mom, she put such a distance which caused her to not feel safe.

"I am sorry!" she whispered hugging Akhila tightly and her little hands immediately circled her neck.

That day when he returned from work and picked up Priya from school along the way, he got stunned looking at this scene in the living room.

His wife is sitting on a chair in the living room and Akhila is sleeping in her lap by holding her.

"What happened? Is she sick?" he asked worriedly when he found tears in his wife's eyes.

"No!" she whispered and explained what happened.

"She... she talked? She called you Maa...?" he asked not believing it and she nodded smiling.

"It was my mistake to blame her even though I was saying I didn't blame her. I put her at a distance even though I am her Mom legally. It is my mistake." She whispered and her tears started rolling down.

He couldn't stop himself and hugged her while making sure Akhila will not get sandwiched and he got worried thinking he maybe pushed away but she moved her hand to hug him back.

After all these years, she finally let him hug her like this. Priya too joined the hug and from that day it felt like a new leaf in their lives.

Akhila slowly started talking more but to his regret, she called Priya using her voice after a few days and then called him but it's been months since she started talking.

Even his Mother-in-law came around and doted so much on Akhila that she became a jolly kid who is still obedient and keeps on following her Mom but still laughs with her family and talks without any pause.

She is like a gift to them and after a few months she found out that she is going to have more siblings which made her very attentive.

It could be said that more than her husband, her daughter took care of her by helping her with many things.

Her daughter! It feels like a blessing to think of Akhila as her daughter and she didn't care about anything now.

After the adoption, they decided to tell Akhila the truth when she is eighteen years old to let her decide whether she wants to continue to stay with them or not but now the couple decided to never let her know.

And the old woman who was against this adoption, in the beginning, joined their pact in not telling her any of these matters.

With the entrance of twins in their life, everything went smoothly and whoever meets the children says, Akhila took all the genes from her Mom.

No one knows that she is not blood-related to her mother but it was more special than a simple blood relation with a parent.

****

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am not cheating? I am just busy with the work." He shouted at his wife.

He thought of getting more clients to save money as they have to get their daughters to marry soon with Akhila also joining Priya as she will finish her studies within two years.

However, he didn't expect his wife to be this emotional suddenly and started accusing him out of nowhere.

Will he ever do the same mistake which nearly ruined his life and where he nearly lost his wife?

"I don't believe you completely. You did once and there is no doubt that you can do it again." She said and he closed his eyes feeling frustrated as he is already stressed with too much work.

"That was twenty years ago and you know I will not do it again. And we already decided that we will forget about it." He said banging the wall.

"Forget it? How can we ever forget it when the result for that mistake is with us at present?" She shouted and He froze hearing that.

"I was feeling adrenaline rush and anger when I got drunk because of our fight. She was there throwing herself and I did it. I told you this many times and still you are taunting me with it every time we fight." He said sighing.

"If you had not felt all those then she would have not got pregnant in the first place." She pointed out and He doesn't know why are we even having this discussion.

"I know it was a mistake but I can't do anything about it now can I? I didn't have an affair and it was just once and trust me I am not cheating." He said pleading with her.

"I don't want someone else to send some letter after a few years saying there is a child of yours in some orphan. We already got Akhila like that." She said shaking her head and he felt relieved that their kids are not home and they three went out.

"She should never know about all this." He said frowning at her.

"Of course Not! I will die before she gets to know this." She said holding her head and he sighed hearing that before walking closer to her.

Those words are enough to remove any kind of anger he felt with her accusations just now.

He calmly explained how he is taking more clients to save up good money so that they can conduct their children's marriage and also secure their lives.

"I am sorry! I don't know what came over me. I think I am having hormone fluctuations and I am being too emotional." She explained and he sighed hugging her.

"I understand! I will try to reduce my work and it is finishing soon within a few days. Then I will accompany you more." He said after which she hugged him back nodding.

What they didn't know is that the person from whom they want to hide this matter ended up listening to the whole situation.

To their surprise, as they were getting worried about sending their younger daughters to another city for studies, Akhila offered to go with them to keep them company and also to be able to take care of them.

Her parents didn't like the idea of her changing the college in the middle like this but got persuaded and got more surprised when she book tickets for both of them to travel and even chose many places which are Akhila's Mom's favorite places.

Seeing this, her Dad got jealous as she thought only about her Mom and teased her but she didn't talk to him or try to console him.

He shrugged it off thinking she must be busy with arranging all these things and also know there will be no change as he is used to her partiality towards her Mom from the time she was a little girl.

However, they didn't expect her to ignore them so much that they have to call their younger daughter to have a word with Akhila.

Even when they get to talk to her, it was so distant that it worried them that maybe she is having trouble after shifting to another college.

And they got their answer on the day of Priya's engagement day where they found her uttering the words they never wished her to know at all.

"Is it fine to disturb her at this time?" He asked his wife as they decided to talk with Akhila.

They both realized that their daughter doesn't seem to be in a good mood and realized something is going on and they need to have a word with her and so they reached her room only to pause hearing a boy's voice coming from inside her room.

"She has a boyfriend?" He asked frowning at his wife while she just smiled thinking maybe because of that she was not in this world during the function.

"Please don't cry! That will never happen again." They heard a familiar voice but frowned at his words.

She is crying? After hearing those words they didn't even move to leave thinking to protect her if she needs them to.

"No, no! We should never be together. You will get that rush and that anger again later and then you will cheat on me. Then.. then there will be another Akhila in this world. No, that can't happen. You should stay away from me." They both got even more shocked and even angry that he must have cheated on her.

"What are you saying?" That boy asked and her reply stunned them completely.

"Don't touch me! We shouldn't be together. You will cheat on me in the future feeling the same emotions and I don't have my Mom's heart to forgive you when you do that. We shouldn't be together. We shouldn't be..." We entered the room not able to stop ourselves and my wife asked Akhila in a shocked tone.

"You know?" hearing this she fell on her knees and started crying while we both rushed to her.

Akhila continued to cry holding herself and glanced up when she felt a hand on her head and found her Mom staring at her with tears in her eyes.

"Mom!" She said placing her head on her Mom's lap.

"Don't cry, Akhila! You should have never known about this." She said caressing Akhila's hair.

"I never wanted you guys to know." Akhila said sobbing more.

Her Mom chuckled with a sad voice and mumbled, "We should be the one to that say that line."

"When did you get to know?" Akhila's Dad asked her but didn't move closer to her feeling guilty to even face her properly.

When they realized when she found out, it pained her parents and they understood the reason behind the behavior that they felt awkward at that time.

"You both will always be the perfect couple for me and I don't want any problems to be there between you both just because of me." She said opening her eyes to look at her parents.

"Never think like that Akhila. We never fought because of you." Her dad said kneeling beside her but she didn't accept.

"How can you forgive Dad like that Mom?" Akhila asked staring at her Mom.

"Who said I forgave him? I still taunt him do you know that." Akhila chuckled hearing her Mom's reply to her question.

"And I want her to because I have two options one is to stay forever taunt free and the other is to stay without her. Which I can't so I chose the taunts." Her Dad said.

"I know what I did is nothing but a grave mistake. Trust me I wish I can go back and change it." He added and Akhila nodded at him understanding.

"But then you wouldn't have been here." Her mom said.

"I am a mistake Mom. She didn't want me right?" Akhila asked her Mom.

"You researched?" Her Mom asked in a shocked tone.

"Yes! I found the letter from your room and went to the orphan. As I was the one who got adopted they told me that I was left there when I was a few months baby and also about her." Akhila replied guiltily.

"You shouldn't have Akhila." Her Dad said and she shook her head saying, "Before dying she has sent a letter to you about me, and then you brought me with you. Otherwise, you would have never known about me right? And I would have always stayed orphan forever."

"And we thank god every day that we got the letter. Otherwise, we would have never known about a wonderful girl." Her Mom said.

"No Mom! You are lying. I am the reason you both still fight. If I am not in this world then you both would have been happy." Akhila said not accepting her words.

"Is that what you think? Let me tell you something Akhila." Her Mom said and stayed silent.

"Your Dad was not settled when we got married so he was always busy with his work. We used to have small fights and I have this insecurity that he is cheating because of a few friend's gossips. One day I drove him mad with the accusation and he just left the house at night. The next day he came home saying he cheated on me." She said and paused.

"It was not your mistake Mom. People have insecurities." Akhila said holding her hand.

"I know! But that day our marriage started falling apart little by little. He apologized to me every day but life just got lost in our marriage but we stayed together as Priya was just five. Then one day we got a letter about you after nearly three years. I thought that was the end." She said and Akhila closed her eyes tightly hearing that.

"We have already sent Priya to her grandparent's house thinking she shouldn't witness our fights. We went to the orphan because we can't leave you there, after knowing about you and then brought you home. Even Priya returned on the same day." She nodded hearing those words from her Dad

"I just went into this numb state Akhila. Like everything is over for me. If you want me to be honest then I would say his cheating entered my mind every time I looked at you." Her Mom mumbled.

"I can understand Mom. I thought that must have happened." Akhila said sighing.

"But then you just became a shadow behind me. Where ever I go you just stand beside me all the time. Take it whether it is in the kitchen, garden, anything. You used to hold the end of my Saree and just stand like that until I remove it from your hand. We were told that you never talked in the orphan and do you know what your first word was?" Akhila shook her head hearing that question.

"It was 'Ma...' and that just made me cry holding you." She said and Akhila hugged her.

"Then you started doing whatever I was doing. Like if I hold a big spatula, you used to hold a small spoon. I just got so close to you and kind of we both worked on our relationship. Then everything went well. We used to fight in between but our love just increased." Her Mom continued and Akhila smiled hearing those words.

"So if you had not entered our lives then we would have got separated and then Priya would have had to suffer. And there would have been no Ritika and Kritika in our world. And this all happened just because of you which just make you the miracle in this family. Never think anything other than this." Her Dad said placing a hand on her head.

"You are our daughter and that will never change no matter what others or you even think." She hugged them smiling hearing those words.

"Please forgive your Dad, dear." Her mom whispered.

"I was angry on him to hurt you like that but now I just want you both to be happy." They nodded hearing those words from Akhila.

"We need to tell them." He decided but Akhila asked them to not to knowing well they can't bear knowing this.

"We would have told them but we know they can never hide anything from you so we didn't." He said.

"You wanted to tell them! I never wanted to tell anyone about this." Mom said shaking her head.

"We need to!" Dad said looking at us pleading but Akhila didn't accept it even though she realized that he already decided to tell them.

After making sure she laid down on the bed, her parents walked out of her room and she closed her eyes feeling drained from the events that occurred.

****

"I think it is better to not tell them." My wife said tiredly after we gathered our children in a room to tell them.

"No! I have waited all these years just because of one reason. Now we don't have that reason so I can't hide it anymore." He said stressing.

"Don't hate him or something." She added understanding that I need to say these words.

"You both are scaring us. Please say what it is." Kritika said.

"I.. I cheated on your Mom." He slowly while his wife added that it is twenty-one years ago before they misunderstand that I cheated on her now.

As expected they all were shocked and they stared at their father with accusing eyes increasing his guilt ten folds.

Which father wishes to stand at this state before his daughters? However, he is glad to tell them the truth and not hide it anymore near them.

"Don't tell Akhila Di." Kritika said.

"Yes! Please don't tell her." Ritika added.

"She will not be able to bear it." Priya said and they got more shocked when we told them that she already knows.

"From when?" Ritika asked.

"One day we both were fighting and she heard everything. Ritika actually told me that Akhila is also going to a movie with them but looks like they didn't." They heard their Mom explaining and this surprised them even more.

"We just need some time to think about all this." Kritika said and he accepted that decision before everyone walked out of the room lost in their thoughts.

****

After the couple stepped into the room they are staying, he turned to hug her and let the tears out.

Even after all these years, he can't escape from the mistake and he ended up hurting so many people again.

"It is my fault that Akhila found out the matter. I failed as her mother. I should have protected her but I hurt her." His wife started saying and he immediately shook his head.

"You are an amazing mother and she knows that. It is my fault and no one else's fault is there." He said closing his eyes.

"I am scared for her." His wife whispered and he leaned back to stare at her.

"Don't worry! We will help her to overcome this and make sure this matter doesn't have any importance in her life." He said looking at her and she nodded by promising together to be there for their daughter.