Qurbat ✓

53|Meera Manik Malhotra

Tu hi jannat meri,
Tu hi mera junoon,
Tu hi toh mannat meri,
Tu hai ruh ka sukoon

~~~

" Aaram se ! "
Naina exclaimed when Manik and Nandini walked inside the house with alta dripping from Nandini and their princess's feet.

" Naina, hold her. "
Raj said handling her the baby and then Nandini dipped her hands in the alta and pressed it to the wall right besides the mark Arohi had made.

“ CHA - CHI ”
Abeer made grabby hands at her and she smiled taking him in her arms.

“ Bas Chachi chahiye isko har waqt. Chachi ka chamcha. ”
Arohi said and Abeer giggled. He rubbed his face in her neck and Nandini too smiled feeling ticklish.

“ Ab bas tum jao aur rest karo. No more rituals for the day. ”
Adhiraj said kissing Nandini's head.

~~~

“ Nandini, phool ke zamin me rakh do aur chandan lagao. ”
The pandit ji told her and all this while, Manik held their daughter and sat besides her.

Then Arohi came and showed the name written on the piece of paper to the priest who smiled at the little girl and closed his eyes chanting mantr and asked Arohi to whisper in the baby's ear.

Nandini and Manik together announced the name,

“ Meera Manik Malhotra. ”

The hall erupted with applause as everyone pyared silent wishes for little Kanak, who herself giggled, thoroughly liking her name.

Today was the Naamkaran ceremony and Nandini was somewhat better after one month of delivery with the bleeding now gone.

The common symptoms like extreme soreness and mood swings were still taking a toll on her but her body was surely better than the condition it had been in in the initial days after delivery.

“ Kitni sundar hai bachi, nazar na lage ! ”
Manik's Maasi complimented as she caressed Kanak's head with love and cooed at her. The baby too looked at her wide eyed.

“ Bilkul Nandini pe gayi hai. ”

Naina told them holding Nandini's shoulder and gave her a kiss on her hair.

“ Idhar laao, mai bhi dekhun mere Manik ki beti ko. ”
B

ua dadi said as she put forward her hands.

Nandini smiled at the way she was glowing, sure she had been an old witch to her but she could see how much she loved her daughter.

“ Kitni pyaari hai, bilkul Manik jaisi aankhein hai iski. Aur Nandini ke jaisa masoom chehra ! ”

“ Mumma, mai abhi aati hun ! ”
Nandini whispered to Naina who nodded before letting her go.

“ Nandini ka khayal rakhna, abhi bhi delivery hui hai, na toh office jaane dena, na koi ghar ka kaam karne dena. Body ko complete rest ki zaroorat hai abhi. ”
Naina fought the urge to let her smile show on her face.

“ Ji ! ”

Manik chugged down another cup of coffee when Kabeer raussed his brows at him and asked Manik to come to him.

“ Thak gaya !? ”

“ Hmm ! ”
Manik sighed and cracked his fingers.

“ Veer kaha hai ? Arohi aur Rashi dhoondh rahe the usse. ”
Kabeer asked going through his recent emails, to which Manik replied.

“ Pata nahi ! Mai dekhta hun. ”
He looked around but did not spot him so he told Kabeer that he'd be back in a few minutes.

“ Kaha chala gaya yeh !? ”
He muttered to himself and rushed up the stairs and looked around in different rooms. However when he was about to go, something caught his eye.

“ Chhat ka darwaza kisne khola !? ”
He looked down in the hall and then at the slightly ajar door once again.

Feeling a little wierd, Manik went up to the terrace and pushed the door open.

There stood Nandini, leaning against the wall, looking at the evening sky, her fingers fidgeting continuously.

Manik slowly moved towards her. He kept his hand on her shoulder and she turned at once, keeping her hand on her heart with her eyes widen.

“ Manik ! Dara diya tumne mujhe. ”
She shook her head a little and then smiled.

“ Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho ? ”
Manik rubbed circles on the back of her palm and questioned her back,

“ Yahi toh mai puchne aya hun, tum yaha kya kar rahi ho ? ”
Nandini leaned a little and kept her head on his chest before saying,

“ Kuchh nahi, bas thoda thak gayi hun. Subah se pooja, guests .... Sab kuchh laga hua hai. ”

Manik detached himself from her and and then cupped her face.

“ Ab mujhse jhoot bologi ? ”
He raised his brow and she tilted her head,

“ kya ? ”

“ Tumhare dad ka letter.....dekha maine. Bataya kyu nahi tumne !? ”
He asked with utmost care and gentleness to which Nandini turned around and said,

“ Batane wali koi baat hi nahi thi isme. Ek letter bheja hai formality ke liye unhone. Apne haath saaf kar liye unhone. ”
Her voice turned painful and he immediately pulled her back by snaking an army around her waist.

“ Haath saaf kar liya !? Tum Meera ki ma ho, tum usse is duniya mein leke aayi ho. And I know that your dad's behaviour is the reason why my wife is upset today, I also know that tum isse zyada strong ho. ”

He kissed the back of her head and a drop of tear rolled down Nandini's eye and fell on the back of his hand.

“ Bachche ! Idhar aao. ”
He called out to her and she turned with watery eyes and said,

“ Ek call tak nahi kiya, it's his daughter's birthday tomorrow and even his phone is unreachable because he's busy preparing. Par .... Meri beti ke baare mei ek call nahi kiya Manik. ”
Nandini hated how small she felt saying this but Manik rubbed her back and wiped away the tears from her face.

“ Galat kiya unhone. But it's his loss jaana- I know it hurts bad but- ”
Veer barged in through the the door and interrupted him,

“ Yaha kya kar rahe ho tum dono ? Meera ro rahi hai neeche, Arohi usko tumhare room me leke gayi hai. Nandini go check on her and Manik tu mere saath chal, kuchh special guests aye hai, unse mil le. ”
Manik nodded before leaning a bit and asking Nandini,

“ You'll be fine ? ”

“ Hmm. ”

~~~

Barely 2 to 3 chapters left.

Happy birthday to my favourite person in this world, Parth ❤️

Much Love
Vishakha