"Sir, please try to understand my situation, I can't leave her with anyone. I have been through a difficult situation ones already, which I have already narrated to you as well.", Said Sidharth.

"Look Sidharth, I'll tell you an unwritten corporate norm. We don't hire female employees for the job you do because we can't afford to let them go on maternity leaves for months and pay them unnecessarily. We don't have to invest in childcare facilities as well. To show the government that we are giving equal opportunity for all genders we do conduct interviews but hire females for lower level jobs only. If we don't give facilities to ladies, how can we consider giving you the facilities, you being a man?", Says his boss.

Sidharth was infuriated learning about the discrimination but right now he had a bigger problem in hand. How would he manage Aadhya and work simultaneously, he thought.

"Place her in a daycare while working, Sidharth. Lot of them do this. You aren't the only person with a baby in the world.", Suggests his boss after observing him lost in his thoughts.

"Hmmm..", nods Sidharth and walks out of the office with little Aadhya.

He googles for a day care centre nearest to his office and visits one. As he entered the centre, he saw a familiar lady sitting near the reception.

"Hi Sana", he greeted her.

"Hi", she greeted him back and looked at the little baby adoringly with a smile.

"What a pleasant surprise! I never thought we will get to meet again. Is your baby also enrolled here?", He asked.

The smile on her face fades.

"I have come here for an interview for a position of baby sitter.", She says looking elsewhere.

"Sorry. It just slipped out of my mind that there can be people with other purpose as well who visit this place.", He said feeling mortified. He observed her forehead which had a small bandaid. It had been 5 days for the incident now.

"How is the wound? I am sorry for that day.", He apologized again.

"I am fine. Please don't embarrass me by apologizing over and over for the same incident.", She said.

"Oh! I am sorry.", He said. She stared at him for apologizing again and he grinned with a sorry face.

Aadhya's cry saved him from further discomfit. He picked up the crying baby and tried comforting her but she was a crying mess. He tried pushing a feeding bottle into her mouth in vein. He placed a sheet on the couch and opened her diaper but it wasn't soiled.

"What's wrong baby? What happened? What do you need?", He asked her in distress.

Sana who was observing him, felt pity looking at his helpless face.

"Can I?", She asked forwarding her hand offering him to hold Aadhya. He looked at her. He was reluctant to hand over the baby to anyone and always denied them but then he remembers of how she risked her own life to save Aadhya few days back.

He nodded and passed the baby. Sana gave a warm hug and patted her back gently while humming softly. He was taken aback to find Aadhya immediately calm down in her embrace.

"Wow! I am super surprised.", He said

"She might have had a bad dream.", Said Sana

"Huh? She is a tiny baby. How can she dream?", He asked curiously.

"Babies do dream! Even the unborns dream in mother's womb. Probably it's just them missing their past life. After all we are all soul. So they just need some love and comfort to calm them when they cry all of a sudden in their sleep.", She said with a smile.

"Hmm.. You seem to know so much about babies.. If you don't mind, can I go to the reception and come back quickly while she is with you?", He asked. She nods and he goes to the reception.

Flashback:

"Maa, what do you mean by Keep?", little 6 year old Sana asks her mother, Sunaina (a.k.a Sakina)

"Huh? Where did you hear it Sana?", asks Sunaina who was shocked to hear it.

"Rina's maa doesn't allow me to play with Rina. She says that you are a keep hence she doesn't want me to play with Rina.", Little Sana explained.

Sunaina's eyes were filled with tears.

"I won't go out to play ever maa. Please don't cry.", Said Sana wiping her mother's tears. Sunaina hugged her daughter gently.

"Maa, I will play with my little brother. When will he come out?", Asks Sana while caressing Sunaina's baby bump.

"Soon baby. Very soon.", Said Sunaina with heavy emotional voice.

After losing her 4 daughters at the hand of her murderer husband, Asim, she had no place to go. Her parents didn't allow her to stay with them. Unable to look after a 2 year old baby along with a decent work, she took up to work as a day wage labourer at construction site while placing Sana in a cradle made with old saree hanging to a branch of a tree. She was exhausted of fleeing every place since two and half years as her male co-workers or contractors tried taking advantage of her state she being alone and a helpless mother. They would touch her inappropriately or grope her at a little opportunity.

One day, while crossing road, she along with Sana was about to be ran over by a car when it pulled a break just in time. The man behind the wheel came out yelling at her but soon froze to look at her. He was her higher secondary classmate, Dilip. Dilip was her one-sided lover who was heart broken when he heard his high school sweetheart eloped with her love interest, Asim and married him. After 10 years, she was standing in the middle of the road infront of him in tattered clothes with a 4 year old daughter in her arm.

"Sunaina? Are you... You alright?", He asked. She looked at him and recognized him immediately.

"Di.. Dilip... I am fine.", Her throat dried as she spoke those word putting her head down unable to hide her condition as she had once turned down his proposal in junior college citing that she loves someone else. Looking at him infront she thought that if she had chosen him over Asim, she would have been leading a different life today.

"Sunaina, sit inside the car.", He said and she without asking any question, nodded at him. She went and sat in the car. He drove in silence and parked his car.

"I'll be right back", he said and went out. He returned after few moments and asked her to follow him. They walked inside a small house with a hall, kitchen and a room.

"You can stay here Sunaina. You are safe here. I will be back shortly.", He said. She nodded her head.

He went out and came with all the necessary things she would need to set up a house along with clothes for her and Sana. Additionally, he gave her some money and left silently.

His love for her had never dimished even though he was a married man now. He would visit her every week and give her some money and play with Sana for sometime. Sunaina and Dilip never spoke much though. Sana had started to call him papa out of love and none objected. It had been a year since she started staying in the house. His selfless care towards her and her daughter, made Sunaina unknowingly fall in love with him.

One day, he knocked at the door at night highly intoxicated. She quietly opened the door and allowed him to walk in. He went straight inside the room and caressed the sleeping little Sana's head and planted a soft kiss on her temple. The next moment, he walked out to the hall and collapsed on the ground. Sunaina who quietly observed him, ran to his help. He looked at her and started weeping like a little child.

"Why did you reject me then Sunaina? I could never live my life happily after you went away. I was forced into marrying a girl of my parent's choice. Since she wasn't at fault, I silently took care of her and never made her realise rejected even if I couldn't love her with my whole heart. You had got 5 kids, I craved for one since 5 years but seems like I won't get anything I desire in life. Why is life so cruel?", He said.

Sunaina hugged him and allowed him to cry. She offered herself to him that night. In the morning when he woke up, he felt guilty of his act and stopped coming to her house. He would often send money with his employee. One day, he made courage to go himself as he missed and wanted to see Sana. That's when he realised that Sunaina was pregnant with his child. He begged for her forgiveness and continued to take care of her like usual. Sunaina knew that he was a married man hence she never disclosed her love for him.

One day when Sana returned from school, she saw her mother in labour and requested neighbours to help her to take her to the hospital but nobody came forward as they considered Sunaina as Dilip's keep. Sana ran on the street asking a passerby stranger to help her. The person called up an ambulance and Sunaina gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She came home with the child but there were no sign of Dilip until few months. Sana would often help her mother with a baby and learnt a lot about baby from her.

Flashback ends.

"I will sue you and your bloody daycare.", Screamed an angry lady bringing back Sana to her present.

She looked at Sidharth who was filling admission form at the reception desk earlier but now looked at the angry lady.

"Because of your old equipments, my child had a fall and is now in ICU. You charge so much money from us and this is the kind of facility you provide. Last time he fell sick due to your unhygienic food and somehow you lured me to believe that it was our fault. Now I have proof against you. You will pay heavily for this. I will see to it that your daycare is closed forever.", She yelled.

Sidharth crumpled the incomplete application and trashed the paper into the dustbin. He then approached to Sana.

"I guess I will have to leave Sana. I cannot risk my child's life", he said forwarding his hand towards her asking her to give Aadhya.

"Hmm.. even I don't want to work at such place.", She said placing Aadhya into the pram directly. She picked up her bag to leave while Sidharth looked at her.

"Bye", she said hanging her handbag on her shoulder and glancing at Aadhya. She walked towards the door and Sidharth followed her. As soon as they stepped out of the building, Sidharth called her.

"Sana.. if you don't mind, will you baby sit Aadhya for me as her nanny?", Asked Sidharth.

"Huh?", She looked at him in surprise.

"I had a bad experience earlier with a nanny which has created a fear in me for the safety of my child. But, I trust you and feel that she will be the safest with you.", He said.

"I need a job to pay my rent and bill, I am fine with it. But aren't you going to consult your family once? Also, I stay at a PG, I can't keep her there in your absence", she said.

"I am a single parent and if you don't mind than you can shift to my home as a live-in nanny. My work hours are not fixed hence I prefer it that way.", He said.

She looked at him doubtfully. She was in dilemma whether she should accept the offer or not. She knew how society looked upon a lady who stayed with a stranger. He looked at her and understood her concern.

"Sana, you may take your time." He grabbed a tissue paper from the car and scribbled his contact number and address.

"Here! You can call me to let me know your answer.", he said passing her the paper.

She took the paper and stared at it.

"I am hopeful that you would accept it. I am a helpless father who doesn't have any other option with me. I fear of anything wrong happening to her.", He said.

_________________________

To be continued.. ❤️❤️