8 months before...

The Arora household's dinning table was all set up for a big afternoon feast. Dushyant and kavin seated on the opposite sides of the table, casually chatting and giggling, as sameer was completely disinterested to be here. Meanwhile, neelu arrived in her wheelchair, as ishita had just arrived with the casserole in her hand, full of chappatis, she bent down to touch neelu's feet. 

"arre kya kar rahi ho!" exclaimed neelu, immediately moving her wheelchair back, confusing ishita, as kavin, dushyant and sameer's glance moved over to them. 

"mummy ji main toh bas..." attempted ishita to respond, completely puzzled at this point. 

"rakho usse table pe!" commanded neelu, as ishita immediately kept the casserole on the dinning table, and even purvi arrived by this point. 

"abhi-abhi honeymoon se aayein hai dono, chouda pehne hue usse kaam karwana acha lagta hai!" scolded neelu, as purvi placed her hands on her hips and stared at ishita.

"maine bhi isko yahi bola! ab humne bulaya hai tumhe, baith jao aur khaalo shaanti se par nahi!" argued purvi, as now they both were glaring at ishita. 

"mummy ji main ghar pe toh kaam karti hi hoon, yeh bhi toh mera ghar hi hai.." responded ishita with a light chuckle, as neelu glared at dushyant. 

"shabash! tu bhi apne baap pe hi gaya hai! saara kaam biwi se karwata hai!" rebuked neelu, as dushyant scoffed. 

"mereko kuch mat bolo, yeh toh ek plate maggie bhi khilati hai, toh uske baad saare bartan mujhse dhulwati hai.." remarked dushyant, as ishita looked at him in disbelief. 

"aur maine tumse aisa kya ghar ka kaam karwaliya? khaana hi toh banana hota tha!" argued sameer, as kavin patted on his shoulder, and signaled him to just let it go and not argue with them. 

"isne toh meri maa ko bhi mere khilaaf kardiya hai, dono aurtein mere pe zulm karke kaam karwati hai ghar ka...yeh toh phir bhi uski hi maa, aap kyun panga le rahe ho?" advised kavin, as purvi looked at him in disbelief.

"yahan toh tumne bol diya, abhi dekhna beta hoga na mera, woh batayega tumhe jab mujhe aisa kuch bologe...." retorted purvi, as kavin just took a long, deep sigh. 

"mere bete ke paas toh tum log aana hi mat! batao mere dukh ke saathi ko bhi apni side mein karne mein lagi hui ho!" argued kavin, as dushyant raised his brow.

"ek second, abhi kahan se tum dono ka beta aa gaya?"  questioned dushyant, as purvi and kavin exchanged a shy smile, ishita looked at purvi as if asking if she was really pregnant, to which purvi nodded in agreement. 

"actually, hum sabne isliye hi aap logon ko aaj lunch pe bula liya, ki jaise hi dushyant aur ishita lautein honeymoon se, toh hum batayein aap sabko ek saath...uhh, main baap banne waala hoon..." stated kavin, as everyone was shocked and happy at the same time. 

"chal saale ab uth bhi ja, gale nahi lagna!" exclaimed dushyant getting up from his seat with a huge smile, as kavin reciprocated with a giant one too, while they hugged,and dushyant patted kavin's back in it. 

"congratulations! ab tujhe sach mein pata chalne waala hai ki purvi kitna bada sardard hai..." remarked dushyant, as purvi glared at him. 

"ishita, please puri duniya pe meherbaani karke inke saath bacha mat karna, bhagwaan bhi resign kardein inke jaisi ek aur galti ko dekh kar!" retorted purvi, as neelu rolled her eyes. 

"tum dono sharam karlo thodi, shaadiyan ho gayi hai, ek ke bacha ho raha hai, par abhi bhi 10 saal ke bachon ki tarah harkatein karte ho!" rebuked neelu. 

"toh tum maternity leave kabse logi?" questioned sameer, as dushyant just looked at kavin as if saying, why does he always spoil the mood. 

"uhh papa 9th month mein...." replied purvi, as he just nodded. 

"arre usmein toh time hai, yeh batao, naam socha hai koi?"  diverted neelu the topic, as purvi shook her head in no. 

"aisa naam joh sansoi ke saath acha lage, woh dhondne mein bahaut time lag jayega..but shukar manao mera surname nahi hai.." remarked ishita, as purvi couldn't help but chuckle and nod. 

"wahi toh main isse kal keh rahi thi!" exclaimed purvi, as neelu appeared shocked. 

"aur nahi toh kya, kother ke saath kya acha lagta hai!" commented dushyant. 

"bacha, uhh, sansoi lagayega naam ke aage?" questioned neelu, trying to hide her shock and disgust with a tiny chuckle. 

"haan...ofc...i mean, haan maine naam nahi change kiya tha apna, but, i mean in all senses, he should have kavin's name..." replied purvi, as neelu forced a smile and nodded along. The pot had just stirred up, for what was about to follow. 

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"dimaag kharab hai kya iss ladki ka! arre, mera naati bhi kya reservation pe palega puri zindagi! And they'll treat him just like they treated kavin! hamare yahan toh koi accept nahi karega usko! matlab ab churo-chamaron ka bacha reh jayega woh pure khandaan mein! maine bola tha kuch saal pehli hi, jab kavin ko job nahi mil raha tha apna CA clear karne ke baad...naam badalo, par nahi!  mujhe laga purvi ne apna naam hi badla hai, thodi samajh aa gayi hai ismein, par nahi! aur uski daadi, woh bhi mere naati ko chura banadegi bikul apne jaisa..woh bilkul humse alag hoga.."  vented out neelu, sitting next to sameer in bed,  who was just bemused by her concerns. 

"yeh joh puri ramayan tumne apne dimaag mein bana li hai, pehle mujhe yeh batao tumhe kaise pata ladka hi hoga?" questioned sameer, as neelu looked at him with astonishment. 

"natin ko main hi maar dungi! dalit aurat hone se acha marr hi jaana hai! tabhi maine purvi ko shaadi karne di, iss hi shart pe ki woh apna naam nahi badlegi...lekin yahan toh ab, alag hi siyappein padh gaye hain!" exclaimed neelu, as sameer had a piercing gaze on her, only to be broken by a phone call. 

"excuse me..." he took his leave to receive it, immediately upon seeing the caller id, as neelu couldn't help but be suspicious. 

she let him finish the call, waiting for him to fall asleep, before she grabbed hold of his phone, and found out the last number he dialed. she immediately forwarded the contact to herself, and as soon as the message came onto her phone, she deleted it from sameer's phone, before keeping it back, as he remained asleep. 

                                                                ***

Dushyant knocked on the door before entering his bedroom, wearing a set of white kurta-pyjama, his forehead completely covered by a band-aid wrapped around it, he entered the room, limping a little in his walk, as his knee was still badly injured.

Ishita, was sitting on the bed, with her chin resting on her lifted knees, as she hugged herself tightly, wearing what appeared to be a shabby, old white suit. Dushyant sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as ishita didn't respond. 

"ishita, kuch khaalo please...tumne subha se kuch nahi khaaya hai..." requested dushyant, concerned, as ishita brushed his hand off her. 

"mujhe pata tha tum aisi hi karogi, par agar tum bhi ziddi ho, toh main kaunsa bahaut asaani se hat jaata hoon...yeh, tumhare liye..." kept a dushyant a huge glass of a milkshake in front of her. 

"yaad hai jab mujhe throat infection hua tha aur mujhse khaya nahi jaa raha tha, toh main bhi kuch nahi khaa raha tha, phir mujhe fever chadd gaya, aur dawai lene ke liye kuch khaana tha, tab, tumne banaya tha meri liye...ab tumhare jitna acha toh nahi bana sakta, but, taste ki kharaabi mere pyaar se compensate ho jayegi..." recounted dushyant, as he passed the glass even more closer to ishita, she only glared at him in response. 

"oh right, tumne toh haath se pilaya tha...maine aise kaise tumhe bas peene ke liye de diya.." quipped dushyant, placing the glass in front of her mouth, as ishita didn't move it at all, he felt defeated at this moment, and just kept the glass back. 

"ishita, i know tumhare upar kya beet rahi hai abhi..." attempted dushyant to explain, but he was intervened. 

"nahi! tum bilkul nahi jaan sakte mere upar kya beet rahi hai dushyant! ladai unn logon ki kavin se thi, tum se thi, maine kya kiya sewaye tumse pyaar karne ke, tumse shaadi karne ke! aur badle mein mujhe kya mila! i have only lost everything i had....i don't have my mom, unka chehra bhi aakhri baar dhang se dekh paayi, aisi haalat kardi unki..." ishita teared up, as she buried her face onto her knee, as dushyant couldn't help but move closer to her and give her a hug. he pacified her by rubbing her back, giving her a little peck on her head. But ishita violently pushed him off. 

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!" yelled ishita, at a volume so high, it was never heard from her before. 

"don't you dare even try to be caring or sweet now! this is how you should have been when i needed you to! i needed you then dushyant! i was pregnant and i had no idea how aur even from whom...i...i thought i was raped! and tumne, not only did you accuse me of cheating on you, you tried to kill me! mujhe akele abortion karane jaana padha...koi idea hai kitna painful hota hai! and then you just...you were gone....i thought you were dead at one point...itni baar dil toot chuka tha mera tumhare kaaran...mujhe laga tumhe dhoond lungi, hum milke jod lenge, par ab, dil lagta hai raha hi nahi hai...na tumhare liye, na kisi aur ke liye.." ishita, had become a mess, with a river of tears she had flown, with that raw anger still present, she was too overwhelmed by her emotions. 

"you know, jab main wahan kaid tha...woh koi bhi tareeka dhondte the, humein torture karneka sewaye maut ke...ek baar woh ek machine si laya, meri ungliyan kaatne ke liye...maine nahi katne diya, kyunki maine iss ungli pe woh anguthi pehni thi joh tumne pehnayi thi...hamari shaadi ki anguthi hai..nishaani hai unn waadon ki joh maine tumhe kiye the woh saat phere lekar. Unmein se ek yeh bhi tha, ki zindagi bhar saath nibhana hai, chahe cheezein kitni bhi mushkil kyun na hojayein...aur tab uss waqt, usne mere har ungli ke naakhon ki andar sui maari, aur tab tak maari jab tak ek-ek nakhoon nahi nikal jaata...par maine tab bhi nahi choda, aur kabhi bhi tumhe chodkar nahi jaunga..." explained dushyant, a stern gaze that was fixed between him and ishita.

she didn't know what to even expect from their future, that is, if she even saw one. 

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