For a woman, her relationship with her child is much more stronger and deeper than with her spouse, which might be because the child is born from her and holds a place in her heart that no one else can occupy.

Indifference

It is 10 in night and Kabir has just returned from hospital after a tiring day. He locks his car and moves towards the building he owns an apartment in. With his office bag in one hand and blazer in another, he boards the elevator and presses the 8th floor button as his apartment is on 8th floor of the multi storey building.

The elevator reaches 8th floor and the door opens. Kabir walks out and fishes out the house keys from his trouser pocket. He inserts the key in the keyhole and enters his apartment.

The lights of house are off, unsurprising Kabir. He doesn't bother either to switch on the lights and makes his way to his bedroom. He's completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. And all he needs now is a good, sound sleep.

But it won't be possible for him, not after seeing his wife sleeping with a photograph held close to her heart. Why can't she just move on? He wonders.

Sighing, he keeps his office bag and blazer on the couch and leaves for the bathroom to freshen up. He comes out after few minutes, a little disturb.

He goes and sits beside his sleeping wife, who hasn't woken up even with all the noises his baby son Ayaan was making, now up from his nap. But when has she actually paid attention to him and her surroundings before?

Carefully, he takes out the photograph from his wife's hand and caresses it with his thumb. It is a picture of his wife, Anaisha, him and their newborn son Arman. He is their firstborn, fifteen minutes older to Ayaan. But, fate didn't let him stay with them for long.

"Dada," little Ayaan calls Kabir, tapping his shoulder.

Kabir keeps the photo frame back in Anaisha's hands and moves to his side of bed. He picks Ayaan up and walks to the kitchen. Turning the lights on, he walks inside and sees the untouched plate of food, which he guesses is of Anaisha's. She didn't have her dinner today. But then again, when she doesn't do this?

"Bhabhi skipped her dinner again, Bhai."

Kabir hears his younger sister Samyra say this. He turns and finds her standing at the kitchen door, rubbing her eyes. Ayaan immediately squeals on seeing his aunt, after all she's the one who's been taking care of him despite his mother being alive.

"BooMa!" Ayaan stretches his arms for Samyra to take him. Samyra fulfills his wish and take him in her arms.

"You want to have your dinner, Bhai?" Samyra quietly asks Kabir. From her brother's face, she knows well he wouldn't have his dinner today, as well. It isn't anything new for her, she's used to it now.

"No," Kabir answers, walking out of the kitchen. He goes and quietly stands in his balcony, gazing at the dark sky. Samyra follows behind after switching of the lights. She waits silently for her brother to speak something, but when he doesn't, she quietly starts to move towards her room with Ayaan still in arms.

"Let Ayaan stay with me tonight, since you have exam tomorrow and I don't think he's in mood to sleep," Kabir says, his voice weary.

"But, Bhai, you must be tired after such hectic day. I'll manage with Ayaan," assures Samyra, seeing her brother's exhaustion.

"No, it's fine. Give him to me and go sleep," Kabir says, slightly stern, which makes Samyra agree to him. She hands over Ayaan to him and leaves for her room.

After she leaves, Kabir cradles Ayaan in his arms and continues to stare out of the window, at the black sky. His life has become like this sky, dark and mirthless. And sadly there's nothing he could do to stabilise it.

"Dada," his baby son speaks, pulling Kabir's cheeks and then giggling, his giggles resembling his mother, who hasn't smiled let alone laughed in ages.

Kabir caresses his son's cheek and walks towards his room. Ayaan still isn't in mood to sleep, but Kabir lays down on the bed with Ayaan sitting on his stomach, playing with Kabir's hand.

While playing, Ayaan falls down from Kabir's stomach on the bed, just beside Anaisha. His giggles vanishes as he sees his mother sleep, without acknowledging his presence. Even a two-year-old can feel his mother's indifference towards himself.

He turns his face away from his mother and again climbs to sit on his father's stomach. Continuing to play with his father, Ayaan falls asleep some minutes later and Kabir makes him lie beside himself. He hugs the tiny body of his son. Wide awake, he allows himself to recall the incidents that took away his wife from him.

Around six years back, Anaisha joined Life Savior Hospital as a paediatric intern. Kabir was working there as a consulting cardiologist. A colleague of Kabir, introduced him to Anaisha and both became friends after a couple meetings.

Gradually, their friendship progressed and they became best friends. Their families, who were mutual friends from the same social circle, decided to get them married as they seemed a good match. Both Kabir and Anaisha agreed to the marriage as both had begun to harbour feelings for each other.

Their marriage was solemnised after a courtship period of three months. Life after marriage was pretty much smooth for them, both felt blissful in their marital life.

Two years after marriage, Anaisha finally gave the good news. Kabir and their families were ecstatic about the arrival of the new family member. Their happiness doubled when in Anaisha's second trimester they came to know that Anaisha was expecting twins.
Kabir took great care of Anaisha and both waited excitedly for their babies' arrival.

That day came soon and Anaisha gave birth to two non identical baby boys. When deciding the names, Anaisha named her firstborn as Arman, symbolic to her desire of becoming a mother and the second baby as Ayaan, a gift from God to her and Kabir.

It was no less than a festive celebration for the families of Kabir and Anaisha. Almost everyday one or other person dropped by to meet Anaisha and the babies as Anaisha had a cesarean and had to stay in hospital for 10 days. The entire atmosphere around them only conveyed their happiness and elation.

But their happiness cut short a day before Anaisha's discharge. Around afternoon, Anaisha was called for her doctor to discuss about the babies and their health and she left her private ward with a nurse looking after her sons.
Just minutes after she came for discussion, one nurse came running inside the doctor's cabin and informed Anaisha about the nurse who was looking after her babies, had ran away with one baby.

Horrified, Anaisha rushed to her ward and found only Ayaan in his crib. The nurse then explained to her how she had entered an adjacent ward to inform the patient about a test, when the other nurse had tried to run away with both the babies. The first nurse had tried stopping the nurse, but could only take one of the babies out of her grip and called for help. But by then the nurse had already escaped from the hospital building.

Kabir was soon informed and a case was lodged, much against the hospital authorities' wish. Through the investigation, it came to light that the nurse who stole their baby was infact part of a baby stealing racket, who had previously stolen many babies and then sold them to childless couples for a hefty price.

The hospital authorities were also booked by the cops for hiring people without proper screening. Kabir and Anaisha both quit their jobs at the hospital. The investigation continued. The nurse was caught after few months, but their baby was already sold to a couple, who had left India.

This left both Anaisha and Kabir hopeless, leaving them heartbroken, though the police assured they would find their baby. But it seemed less likely to happen, given there was no identification documents or evidence to identify the couple who had bought their baby.

Since there was no hope for finding Arman, Kabir resolved to start afresh with Anaisha and raise Ayaan with all the love he deserved. He found a new job in one of the most reputed hospitals of the city, NLHRC for himself and Anaisha as well.

But Anaisha wasn't on the same page as him, and slowly fell into depression. The impact of losing her child after he had just came into this world, badly hit her. She stayed aloof most of the times, hardly ever paid attention to Ayaan, who badly needed a mother. Her negligence toward Ayaan was the reason why Kabir asked his sister to move in with them, and thus Samyra took Ayaan's responsibility.

Anaisha also stopped going to work and stayed at home all the time, mostly in her room. Unlike Kabir, she was unable to cope with the loss of her baby and became indifferent toward everyone. In her pain, she didn't even see how severely she was hurting her husband and her baby son, both of who were at no fault.

The loss of Arman was so potent, that it consumed Anaisha completely and left Kabir heartbroken, who not only lost his son, but also his wife.

Kabir doesn't realise when a tear escape his eye. He quickly wipes the tear and finds his son snuggling into him. He smiles and hugs his son tighter. Atleast, his Ayaan is with him, even if Arman's no longer in their lives.

Glancing at his wife, he wishes for her to atleast start acknowledging Ayaan's presence in her life, before it's too late to make amends.

Soon, Kabir falls asleep, tired from his tragic life, and only one wish in his heart ... to finally win back his Anaisha, who no longer seems alive without any trace of happiness, which once was part of her jovial personality.

A/N: Do leave your feedbacks and please do vote! :)
It is again unrelated to TSOUHD, so don't get confused.