The concept of this os is taken from a TV anthology series but with a different script
Happy reading!

*****

Neil& mitali have been married for 6yrs& also have a 3yr old daughter

They acted as normal couple in front of the world &their families but nobody knew what actually used to happen behind closed doors

3yrs after naina's birth, khanna family went back to London- (where they actually lived), leaving neil, mitali& a tiny naina behind bcz of maddy bua's ill health

Neil was a successful businessman& lived in mumbai itself

He was a father as well as mother to their 3yr old daughter naina (reason will be disclosed in fb format)

From breakfast to dinner- everything was handled by neil except for bathing& washroom chores bcz he felt that despite being a small child, naina might not be comfortable so their maid bheema used to handle that stuff

Neil used to feed her all the meals bcz she didnt have her food by anyone else's hand

He made sure that no matter what,he wont burst out on naina for anything- he knew what she was already going through alot at such tender age& didnt want to cause any blunder which makes her distance from him

More than a life partner, his first love was his 3yr old daughter- she was his princess but despite her being a single child, he decided to never spoil her

*****

Everything was going pretty smooth in neil& naina's life when 1day he saw something that made him realise that naina needed a caretaker-for her safety in his absence bcz though he used to work from home yet there were times when he had to leave naina at a neighbor's house

He took interviews of maids on his own bcz he wanted someone with complete safety& full attention towards job

He searched alot but couldnt find anyone suitable& had nearly given up when a close friend gave him the contact of the lady who wouldnt let him down by any means

He interviewed her& she was selected

Neil took her to naina's room who was busy playing with her fav doll

N-princess?

Naina moved her gaze on hearing the voice
She got up on the bed& ran into neil's arms

Na(happily)- dadda

Neil hugged her while avni smiled on seeing their bond

Ne-princess, i want you to meet someone

Neil moved aside& naina saw a young lady standing in front of her who had a smile adorning her face

But naina's expressions instantly changed into fearful ones& she moved back, clutching neil's waist tightly

Ne-what happened to my princess?
Her name is avni& she's here to take care of you in my absence

Na(teary eyes)- you are gonna leave me dadda? All alone with mumma?
Are you angry on me bcz i made some mistake& you will leave me as my punishment?

Ne-no princess
I can never do that
Never

Neil pulled her in his arms& caressed her hair to console her& stop her cries

Na-but i dont want her- i only want you dadda

Ne- but dadda also needs to go to office na?
So she will take care of my princess

Naina broke the hug& slowly moved towards avni

Na- aunty, you wont hurt me like mumma na?

Avni(sweetly)- no sweetheart
Im here to take care of you& play with you

Na-you will save me from mumma's scolding?

Avni didnt know the exact reason behind naina's fear regarding her momso she looked at neil who nodded his head positively

Avni faced back to naina& nodded a yes

A- will you be my friend?

Avni had forwarded her hand towards naina who accepted it, though she was still scared about how avni is

Ne-princess,now you play with your toys
Dadda will be back soon
He gave her a peck on her forehead

They came out& neil gave avni a sheet of paper with naina's daily schedule

N-study it well& ask bheema if you have any queries - in case im not home

A-when should i join sir?

N-from tomorrow bcz its my off today so she wants only my company
She wont pay attention to anyone else today

A-no problem sir
Avni left& neil went back to naina's room

Currently, all avni knew was that naina fears her mother alot
And she knew that kids who fear something/someone have a heart& trust which is difficult to win- it's not impossible but just needs extra amount of patience

Avni decided to take baby steps to win naina's trust

She did have problem initially bcz naina was used to neil's care only& but slowly, naina started trusting her bcz neil had told her to make avni her friend& trust her the way she trusts her dadda

Naina didnt want to let neil down so she let avni take care of her& avni did her job like she was naina's mother
Slowly, naina also got used to avni's care

*****

On the other hand, mitali mostly used to stay out of house due to her work so the house only had avneil, naina& 2/3 servants for different jobs

Distance& communication gap between them was so huge that now neil had started feeling that mitali might be having extra marital affairs or one night stands

Though he used to feel disgusted upon thinking of it, he actually didnt bother anymore bcz he had his daughter to spend time with

And anyway if mitali used to come home, it was mainly for getting a short break- rest for few hrs& then again leave for her so called profession- she was just not bothered about her husband or daughter- as if they didnt exist

Neil had accepted this as his life but he knew that naina was craving for her mother's love

Alas, he couldnt do anything to help his princess
He just wished that naina becomes comfortable with avni which was actually happening &he was happy for the same

*****

Since naina had got used to avni's presence, the only thing she didnt like was that avni used to come in the morning, be with her throughout the day& leave once neil returned

She was happy with avni& even gave her another name- "angel aunty"

She wanted to request neil about letting avni stay with them but was scared if neil scolded her

Same night-

Neil was working on his laptop when naina came to door of his room but then backed off

She tried to gain some courage but couldnt bcz she was scared about neil's response
After her third attempt, she decided to let it be but neil saw her& called her

N-princess?

Naina flinched as she realised that neil had spotted her

N-what happened?

Naina stood there silently- not uttering a word

When neil saw that naina didnt respond, he felt that something was serious

He at once got off his bed& moved towards her

Soon he picked in his arms& made her sit on the bed
Her gaze was lowered

N-what happened to my baccha?
Angel aunty hurt you?

Naina at once looked up& shook her face negatively

Ne-then what happened to my princess?

Na-dadda i want something

Ne-bolo
Kya chahiye meri princess ko?

Na-but you will scold me

Ne-i would never do that to my princess
Batao
Kya chahiye?

Na-dadda cant angel aunty stay with us?

Naina's request shocked neil

He became silent for a moment& naina thought that her request cant be fulfilled

Na-its ok dadda
I understand

Neil came out of his trance while naina got up& was about to leave when neil held her tiny wrist with his finger

Ne- its ok princess
But we need to know about wheather our idea suits angel aunty or not, right?

Naina nodded

Ne- so we will talk about this tomorrow morning
Rn, my princess needs to sleep
Lets go to your room

Na- no dadda
I want to stay in your room only

Ne- as you wish
He pecked her forehead,layed her down& covered her with duvet but naina shifted her head on his lap

Neil smiled& started to caress her hair

Slowly, her eyes became heavy& she slept off

*****

Next morning-

It was weekend so neil was at home& naina was asleep when avni arrived
She gave a small smile to neil& was about to go& wake her up to give her a bath but neil stopped her

N- avni, i need to talk to you about something &it would be better if we talk before waking naina bcz the issue is slightly sensitive &personal
I dont want naina to get affected by it

A-i completely understand sir
But did i make some mistake?

N-no
Not at all
In fact naina is very happy with you
It's something else

A-what happened sir?

Neil told her to sit on the sofa& she did
They sat in front of eachother& neil spoke, after taking a deep breath

N-avni where does your family live?

A-i dont have my family here sir
I belong to a village &lived with my family itself- my parents &elder brother
We werent well to do but somehow managed our daily living

I was 17& had just completed my 12th- i was preparing for my entarance exam when 1day i heard my parents saying something which shook me completely

Flashback-

Ay-she had turned 17
Her schooling is completed
We dont earn enough to educate her further
I guess we should get her married asap

As-yes
But before that, we need to get amol married so that the money we get from amol's in laws in dowry can be used as dowry in avni's wedding

Ay-i agree but dont spend all of it on avni's wedding &dowry- let something remain for our old age as well
And anyway, avni wont be our support in our old age- she will belong to her sasural only

Her education isnt as important as amol's- she anyway has to do household work in her sasural- what will the use be of educating her further?
Whereas amol will need to handle us as well as his future wife &kids so his education is more important

As- yes
So you start searching for a suitable groom from today itself
Only then we will be able to find someone who will be ready to marry her with minimum dowry

I was horrified by what I heard but neither did i confront them nor i informed my elder brother bcz i knew that if i do so, then they wont let me take my own choice regarding such a serious decision

I never thought of doing love marriage- it's not that im completely against it but i thought that whatever my parents will decide will be for my wellbeing only but i wanted to at least complete my graduation

Little did i know what my parents had actually planned for me

The day i got to know about this, i started collecting all the money i had saved since childhood with a small amount of jewelry which relatives had gifted me

It wasnt too much but sufficient enough to reach Mumbai &somehow, start a new life

The same night, i escaped from my house with all my clothes, important documents, money& jewelry
I reached the station &boarded the cheapest train for Mumbai- it was a very low grade train bcz of the cheap price- it was jam-packed& the washrooms were stinking horribly but i managed somehow

When i reached Mumbai, i didnt know much about the city life
I was nervous bcz i had never travelled alone in life

I sat on a small bench& ate the food i had cooked& packed from home itself

I was busy eating when i noticed the gaze of a middle aged lady on me

She was slightly healthy &well decked up in a pretty heavy saree

Initially i ignored her but when i was done& was packing my tiffin back, she approached me& buttered me that she will fetch me a sensible job in the city

I found her suspicious bcz i had read about many prostitution rackets& how these ladies trap young girls &push them into this hell from where they are never able to escape so i clearly refused& almost ran from the station asap

I boarded a bus& reached the society area of Mumbai& after lot of requests, i finally found a job in a house where i worked as a part time maid

The family was happy with my service& honesty so they kept me as full time maid for nearly all the jobs
They also let me study to complete my graduation

I completed my graduation &got a job as a waitress in high end restraunt
Though i wasnt satisfied with the job i got- as it wasnt worth the effort i had put but then shrugged it off thinking that i will get better job in future

The family was very happy for me& i can never repay them for the favours they did for me

From that job i took a small flat on rent
When i thought that God was finally giving me some happiness after so many struggles, life again put me back to where i started

It was a regular evening- the restraunt hours were over& i was winding up everything with my colleagues when the boss called me in his cabin

I was worried if i made any mistake& although i was hell scared from inside, yet i went to his cabin

As i entered, he latched the door& started staring at me from head to toe with his lusty eyes

The moment he latched the door, i became hell scared from inside but maintained my composure& asked him why he called me but instead of answering my question, he started moving towards me whereas i started taking steps backwards until my back hit the wall

Now, I was caged between the wall& him
His dirty gaze was still on me& i felt disgusted for the same

That's when i recollected everything which i had ignored since beginning- his lust for me didnt happen all of a sudden bcz in reality, he had his lusty vision on me since day1 but i was serious& determined about my job so i didnt pay attention

He was about to molest me& i didnt know much self defense as well but all i knew was that i needed to escape before things go out of my hand so i kicked his manhood harshly& he screamed in extreme pain
He stumbled backwards &lost his grip on me

I made use of the moment &escaped
After that incident, i knew he would anyway fire me& even i was in no mood to put myself in danger all over again so i never met him again& went back to the same family who had employed me earlier

They felt really bad after knowing all this& they told me that you needed a nanny to take care of your child& now, here i am- in front of you

Flashback over

Neil was shocked-he didnt know what to say
He kept silent for a moment &then spoke

N-im proud of you avni-
Im proud of the strength &confidence you built inside you to face any situation
It takes lot of guts to escape from your home at such small ade- especially when you have no idea about city life

A-if you dont mind, may i ask you a question?

N-why naina is so scared from her mother, right?

A-yes

N-mother?
That lady doesnt deserve to be called a mother (sarcastically)

Avni gave him a confused look

N-My life was never so complicated- i was at least asked once for my consent for every serious decision related to my life until i was tied up in marriage with the person i hated since childhood

It wasnt bcz of any personal grudges i had against her but it was her clingy nature which used to irritate me& hence i used to maintain distance from her- as much as possible

But alas- our families knew eachother very well &they had imagined us as a couple since our childhood &hence, got us married only on basis of mitali's so called confession that she loved me
I knew that it was all a drama- i was only a trophy she could flaunt to the world bcz of my family background

She knew that this marriage will increases her popularity in her office that she was able to marry the most wanted bachelor in the city

When my family insisted on us to have a child, i delayed it as much as possible- not bcz i wasnt ready to take the roles& responsibility of a father but bcz i knew mitali's nature very well- she had got married to me but wasnt mature enough to take such a serious responsibility

But of course she had to show herself as an all rounder dil so after 3yrs of marriage, i had to give up& we were blessed with a cute little daughter

But after an year of naina's birth, all my fears came true bcz everything happened which i never wanted-

She resumed her job- family didnt have a problem with it but i knew that she cant multi task& as expected, she started neglecting naina-giving more importance to her career (sorry but im not mentioning her job- i dont wanna defame anyone's career preference
I hope you all dont mind)

Everyone in the house protested& wanted her to give equal attention towards naina as well but mitali being stubborn, didnt give a damn about anyone &did only what she wanted

When naina turned 3, my family went back to London due to my aunt's ill health- thus making me a father as well as a mother for my daughter

Being at a higher post, i didnt have too much of work load so i used to work from home itself so that i can take care of naina as well

I went to my office only for serious meetings or signing important papers- which couldnt be done on a video call& used to leave naina at our neighbors flat

Naina never said it but i knew that she always craved for a mother's love which mitali never gave her

And what she did recently became the limit for me& i understood that i need someone to protect my daughter in my absence from her very own mother- yes, she was about to slap her very own daughter

That was probably the first time i saw naina trembling in fear to such a high extent

I still remember each detail of that incident- it's like a wound which is still fresh in my mind

Flashback-

Na-sss...ooo...rrr...yyy mm...um...mma...

M(yelling)-what sorry huh?
Do you even know how expensive that vase was which you broke with your stupid ball?

She had raised her hand& was just about to slap naina when neil held her hand mid air& jerked it off

N-mitali!!!
Have you lost it?
You were gonna slap her for just a stupid vase?
She's our daughter for god's sake!!
She's just 3yrs old- at least think once before reacting!!

Neil gave her an unbelievable look& turned to face naina who was still trembling in extreme fear& just hid herself behind neil, clutching his1 leg

He picked a scared naina in his arms& then realised that she had wet her lower garments bcz of fear

N(scolding mitali)- look what your anger did!

Ne- Dont worry princess
Dadda is here, right?
Dont be scared
Common let's clean you& change your clothes

I instructed bheema to clean the floor& left with naina, giving a deathly glare to mitali which left her fuming in anger

*****

I knew that naina was still scared by mitali's actions so after cleaning her& changing her, i ditched my work for the day& spent time by playing with her, sitting on her soft bed (Neil bought a very soft mattress for naina's bed so that she sleeps peacefully)

Na(innocently)- dadda?

Ne-yes my princess?

Na- why does mumma hate me?
Why doesnt she spend time with me like you do?
Why she never picks me from playschool like parents of my classmates?

Naina's innocent questions stung me terribly- i didnt have the answer to any of her questions bcz she was too small to understand how complicated the relationship between her parents was

He just picked her from the mattress to his arms& rested her head on his chest, caressing her back as well

Ne-no princess
Mumma doesnt hate you- shes busy& gets tired na- just like you become tired after playing so much in the park

Na-but she always scolds me
Am i not a good girl?

N(kissing her forehead)- you are the best my baby
Now lets take a small nap

Na- but why?
I want to play more (puppy eyes)

Ne-baby we will wake up &then continue playing
Ok?

Na-promise?

Ne- yes princess

He put her head in his lap& caressed her forehead tenderly
Soon naina was asleep while i was still caressing her hair- thinking how to handle the situation &then, i decided to hire a caretaker for naina who will protect her in any situation &not let her get scared

Flashback over

N-i had interviewed uncountable maids but i found none of them suitable

When i had almost given up, my friend sent your no by saying that you wont disappoint me& i must say he was right- slowly, i got my old, chirpy daughter back
Indeed avni- your presence has worked wonders for my daughter

A-its my duty as well as a pleasure to work for you sir

N-avni this is the only thing i hate

A-what sir?

N-when you call me sir
Plz call me neil

A-ok sir i mean neil

**Time lapse***

Many months had passed to avni's arrival in neil& naina's life

She was just a caretaker but played the role of a mother as well as a wife inderectly &effortlessly- filling the emptiness present in the lives of father& daughter

Seeing the closeness& comfort naina felt with avni, a thought struck neil's mind

N- i think avni& i should get married- for naina's happiness, safety &to prevent her childhood getting destroyed bcz of witnessing the almost broken marriage of her parents

But before talking to avni, i need to ask naina
Her consent is very important &avni too,will think of naina's comfort rather than her own decision
I really hope that naina agrees to accept avni as her mom

To be continued