Pragya walked into the room for her eldest child, Abhigya, to check on her. She had developed a slight fever after spending so much time playing with her younger siblings in the pool. As she stepped in, she saw the twins, Aditya and Aradhya by the beside, seemingly trying to wake up their sister.

"Arey Adi, Adhu, what are you both doing here? Your Abhu(abhigya) Di is sleeping. Don't disturb her. She is not feeling well. Go to your room and finish your homework. I will check on you both in a while. If you don't complete your work, I won't permit you to watch cartoons." Pragya said to them

"Mumma, this is not fair ! First let me watch cartoons then I will do home work." said Adi(aditya)

Her son, Aditya, was really turning out to be stubborn...and he was only 5 years old!

"No way! Homework first, else no cartoons." Pragya said.

"Yes Mumma. I will do home work after eating ice cream." said Adhu(aaradya)

Pragya turned to her daughter.

"If you do not give me ice cream, I will complain to papa!" said Adhu(aaradya)

Pragya was shocked by the fact that they were ganging up on her.

"Both of you are ordering me? Your father has spoiled you two! Let your papa come I will see him." Pragya said.

"Mumma, every day you are seeing papa, na!" Adi(aditya) teased.

Then he burst into laughter and Pragya pulled both of them out of the room.

"Shhh....Don't laugh! Tell me what will you complain about me?" Pragya said.

"You gave chocolate to Abhu(abhigya) di and not us! We know that and we will tell this to papa." Adi(aditya) said

"Yes, we will tell papa on you." second Aadhu

"Ohh... then listen. I gave your Di chocolate because she had a fever and she was not eating anything else. She had to eat something because she took tablet. That's why I gave her chocolate and now you both blackmailing me? Ok, no problem, I will tell your papa that you three were in the swimming pool yesterday for three hours and now because of that your Di is sick."

The expressions on their faces changed immediately.

"No Mumma!" Aadu pleaded. "Plese don't tell him! If you do that then he won't take us to zoo next weekend!

"Please Mumma! Please don't tell him!" Adi joined in.

"Your drama won't work on me, my little devils. Even if your papa wants to take you, I won't allow it."

"No mumma, we will do our work. Please mumma, let us go na!" Adi continued to beg.

"No means no! Did you forget? You three have exams next week, so we will go nowhere. Now go and do your home work." Pragya said in strict manner.

"Mumma please maa...first cartoons then home work.."

"No ma first ice cream then home work"

"No , first cartoons Adi..." Aaradya

"No, first ice creams, Adhu" Aditya

"No cartoo..."

"Stop it, both of you! If you do not listen to me, then I will ground the both of you!" Pragya said in a stern voice. "No cartoons or ice-cream for the rest of your life!"

Just then Abhi came home and both kids ran to him.

"Hey Champs what the matter?" he asked. " Is Mumma scolding my babies again?"

"Yes Papa." said Aditya. "She was scolding us."

"This girl keeps scolding my champs. Tell me what she said to you and I will punish her." he told them and then turned to Pragya "Oye Ladki, why were you raising your voice on my kids?"

Pragya's face was now red with anger.

"What did you call me?" she asked irately.

Abhi realising his wife was mad, started to stammer.

"T-that...um, I said..that... whoever made my Fuggi angry will have to deal with me."

"Nice try Mister, but I already heard everything." She said to him.

"Oh" was all he said and before Pragya could say anything else he grabbed the kids and ran from there!

"He will never change." Pragya said to herself. "If the father is like this, how can I expect his kids to be any different?"

                                                                ********

"Maa!" Six year old Abhigya called out to Pragya.

Pragya went to her.

"Oh my baby, you are awake!" She said hugging her eldest daughter. "How are you feeling?"

"Is Papa home?" she asked. "I wanna see Papa."

"Yes, he's home." Pragya replied. "Come, lets go meet him."

She carries Abhigya to the kids room to meet Abhi.

In kids Room

"Now tell me, Champs, what is your complaint?" Abhi asked the twins.

He was sitting on the bed with the twins on his lap.

"Papa, you know, Mumma said she won't give me any ice cream!" Adhu said.

"Yes Papa, and she won't allow me to watch any cartoons too!" Adi said.

They both continued to complain to their father about how unfairly they were being treated by their mother, when Pragya walked into the room with Abhigya.

"Oh, so these devils have started complaining!" She said to Abhi.

"And you know Papa? Mumma cares only about Abhu Di... not us." Adi continued.

"Yes Papa!" Aadhu chimed in. "From yesterday, Mumma is taking care of Di only and didn't give me my favorite ice cream! She gave chocolate to Di also! She loves Abhu Di only!"

Hearing this, Pragya got emotional and hugged Abhigya a bit more tightly and pressed kiss to her cheek.

"Adi, Adhu, don't speak like that about your Mumma!" Abhi said in a serious tone. "She loves all three of you equally."

Hearing his stern tone, they both got a little scared and became silent.

"Papa!" Abhigya called to her father.

"Arey, my angel has woken up! Come here, Beta." He said to her.

Abhi settled both Aditya and Aaradya on the bed and took Abhigya into his arms.

Pragya sat on the bed next to him and Abhi puts his arm around her. He sees the expression in her face and realised she must have heard his talk with the twins.

"Fuggi, they're just kids. They don't understand what they are saying. Don't bother about their words." He comforted her and kissed the top of her head.

Pragya wiped her tears and turned to the twins. They were extremely quiet and wore sad expressions on their face.

She took both of them in her arms and hugged them.

"Hey Ladki, look what you did!" he said to Pragya in a teasing tone. "You made my champs upset!so ready for punishment "

"Because of me, my little devils are upset. Hmmm, ok then. Today only, I will agree to whatever punishment you want to give." She said kissing the top of their heads.

Hearing this, the twins forgot about their sadness and looked up at Pragya excitedly.

"You have to give ice cream to my champs, and then they will do their home work after their favorite cartoon finishes." Abhi said, winking at his kids.

Pragya's eyes widened at his demands.

"Abhishek, this is not fair..." She said to him.

"Oye Ladki , you can't deny your punishment!"

"This is not punishment!" she said to him. "You are just spoiling them! Soon they will become spoiled just like you!"

"That is your punishment! No changes!" he said to her. And what else did you say? I am spoiled? How dar..."

Before he could complete his words, Abhigya interrupted.

"Papa, I want chocolate!" she said to him. "And papa I was stuck in my room only. I am feeling bored."

"Abhiskek, take her to garden na." Pragya told him. "She will feel better."

"Ok I will take her while you take the twins to have their ice cream." Abhi said and then left with Abhigya.

Pragya gave the ice cream to them and then prepared coffee for Abhi, chocolate milk shake, without ice, for Abhigya and went to garden with the kids.

                                                              ********

Abhi sat on the garden swing, with Abhigya on his lap. He looked down at her and smiled, listening to her as she spoke to her doll. His mind went into flashback mode as he remembered the events that led to her being his daughter.

*Flashback 1*

"Doctor! How is her condition now?" Abhi asked. "Is she ok?"

"Sorry Mr. Abhi, we can't say anything as of now. The situation is complicated. There are many difficulties. Both mother and baby are at risk." The doctor explained sadly.

"Please doctor, do something please! I will do anything please save them." Abhi pleaded.

*Flashback 2*

"Abhishek, please take her away from me!" Pragya requested. "I hate her! Don't bring her near me!"

"Pragya please listen to me! She is our baby!" He said with tears in his eyes. "She is only one month old, how could you hate her this much?"

"I told you that I don't want her! It's because of her that I am suffering so much now!" She said with much anger in her voice.

"Pragya, please listen! Abhigya is our daughter!" Abhi tried to convince her. "Please accept her! If not for her, will you do it for me?"

"Because of her, I am in this situation!" Pragya said to him. "I don't want this baby!"

"Please Pragya! Listen me once! How could you change like this ?" he asked her. "This much hate for a small baby?"

Pragya was silent so he continued.

"Does she deserve all the hate you are showering on her, Pragya? Think once, please!" He pleaded.

Still, Pragya remalned quiet.

"Ok then, if not as a mother, at least think as a woman, Pragya. Please, I am begging you. If you love me, then please accept our baby."

"I love the Abhi who cared for me. The one who loved me unconditionally, who made me his first priority before anyone else in this world. The one who never cheated me... you are not that person anymore, Abhishek." She said to him. "And everytime I look at her, this baby is a reminder of the Abhi that I lost. I'm sorry, Abhishek, a much as I want to accept her, I can't."

Pragya then turned away from him and left.

*Flashback 3*

Pragya please hold Abhu na. She keeps fidgeting and I can't dress her properly. Her nanny will come in late today." He said to Pragya. "I already had a lot of struggles trying to give her a bath. She is too naughty! She didn't even want me to apply soap, she just wanted to splash in the water."

Abhi looked up and saw that she hadn't moved an inch.

"Arey Pragya, why are you still standing at the door? Come in, na. Please hold her and I will dre--."

Before Abhi completed his sentence, Pragya turned and left from there.

*End of flashback*

Abhi came back to his senses and saw Pragya standing before him holding out a cup of coffee, with Aditya and Aaradhya just behind her.

Pragya took Abhigya from Abhi and sat on the swing opposite to him, putting Abhigya in her lap.

Aditya and Aaradhya sat next to her enjoying their ice cream.

After they were finished, they restarted their complaints against their mother, saying that she isn't agreeing to their weekend plans because she only wants to stay home and take care of Abhigya.

"Started again?" She said looking at them. "The only reason she got sick is because of you two!"

Abhi was staring at them in shock. Pragya turned to him.

"Abhi, you know what? Abhu got fever because she was playing in water for hours!"

"What?" Abhi asked with a worried look on his face.

"Adi came and told me they will play out on the balcony. I said ok as it was safe for them. All corners were basically blocked. I went to the kitchen to do some chores. After a while, I realised I hadn't heard from them so I decided to check. Do you know what they did? They filled balcony with water and blocked the holes so the water can't go out! They were playing in the water for almost two hours, Abhi! That's why my angel got fever!"

"But Di was also with us na! She helped us!" Declared Adi.

Pragya was about to say something again, but Abhi interrupted. "Oh God! Why have you started again, Pragya? Why are you irritating my champs? They are fine, na? I told them to be careful while playing there."

Abhi bit his tongue as he realized he let the secret out.

"Wait! You knew what they were doing?!" She asked in shock. "Please don't tell me this was your idea! If it is, you are in big trouble, Mister!"

All three kids looked at Abhi fearing he would spill the entire secret.

"W-well, I...I mean it wasn't my idea, Fuggi. Actually they asked me a question. They wanted to know how to keep water in balcony. I just said block the hole below that is on the left end of the balcony."

"Because of you my angel and devils are like this! You are spoiling my kids!" She said to him. "How ---"

Before she completed her sentence, Abhi took Abhigya and signed the twins to run from there.

"I won't leave him!" Pragya said to herself. "He is the main reason they are like this!"

Abhi brought the kids to the playroom. He sat looking at them while they were playing and his lips curved into a smile thinking about the past.

*Flashback 4*

When Abhigya was 4 months old months old, Abhi had an important meeting to attend and needed someone to take care of her.

"Pragya, please take care of Abhu for some time. Her nanny won't be able to make it today. She is sick. I have an important meeting today and can't take her with me."

After much hesitation, Pragya finally gave in. Abhi thanked her and then left to get ready for his meeting.

Getting in his car, he remembered he had forgotten to take his mobile and went back to his room to get it.

He was about to enter the open doorway when he saw Pragya talking to Abhigya.

"Abhu, do you know how cute you are?" Pragya said to the baby. "You know something? No matter how hard I tried to neglect you, your father always brings you closer to me. How can I resist a cute baby like you." She said and kissed her cheek.

Seeing all this, Abhi got emotional. This was the first time Pragya talked to Abhigya like this. He left from there because he knew that if he entered the room Pragya will start behaving rudely with the baby.

After some time Abhi came back. As he walked into the house he could hear Abhigya's screams. He immediately ran to her. Abhigya was crying loudly in her crib and Pragya was nowhere to be seen. Abhi tried to calm her down, but she wasn't stopping. After two minutes Pragya came running into the room and was shocked to see him there.

"Abhi, actually I went to..."

Before she could complete her sentence, Abhi slapped her hard!

To be continue ...............

                                        ********************

Thank you all so much for your support so far! and if you like this story , just tap on star symbol ✴️ bellow 😉😉😉 ...    give your valuable comments ....

And

@the_naughty_princess (Trisha), who is assisting me with this story, Thank you so much Trisha....and

My lovely buddies @---anu--- @suba30 (AM), and maya from TU

....and all Abhigya writers and readers ...Love you Girls ............

With Love,

* Santhi...