Ruined (COMPLETED)

Chapter Sixteen

   The bell rang and Janvi opened the door. There stood Veer with a smile on his face and his hands full of bags.

   "What is all this?" Janvi asked grabbing some of the bags and nudging the door wide so that he can enter. Peeping inside the bags she saw it was full of toys and clothes. She gasped, "Veer! You didn't have to!"

   She remembered the time Sakshi had visited her. They were more than similar in habits she thought. 

   The girls ran out to see who had rang the door bell. "Asha Usha, come on say hello to Veer Uncle."

   She balked at the idea but she didn't know how to get around to the truth. How does one go about it anyway?

'Hey Veer, these girls are actually yours and I hid them from you because you and your family were pretty solid that you didn't want them.'

How was she gonna tell the girls? They were young. They thought someone else was their dad.

   She shook her head and shrugged those thoughts away. "Well, why don't you guys chill? I actually haven't finished cooking dinner."

     The plan was to get him to come to her place for dinner. It had been weeks since his dad had slipped into a coma. She could see that he was getting busier as the elections were very close.

    After chopping the coriander and sprinkling it over the curry she arranged the cutlery at the dining table.  She went to the girls' bedroom and she already heard their laughs and giggles.

   She knocked the door and opened it to see Viren sitting cross legged on the floor with his eyes closed and Asha was on his back wrapping his arms ariund his neck. Usha was busy applying eye shadow on his eyelid. The sight of him made him smile. He had colourful bands tied to his hair and colourful plastic beads on his neck.

   "Asha Usha, dinner is ready. Go wash up!"

    Asha and Usha walked to the washroom and she lent an arm to Veer who took it to straighten himself up. Laughter erupted from her lips as she took in his state.

    "Are you laughing at me?" He pulled her to his chest by her waist.

    "No. How could I ever...but you look pretty."

    His eyes glinted in a naughty smile as he leaned down.

      They broke apart as the bathroom door opened and the twins walked out.

   "You should wash up too. Remove all this." She said.

***

    Janvi had served dinner to Asha and
Usha when Veer came in. She stood up to serve him food. "That's fine. I'll serve myself. Sit down." He waved at her and she sat down serving herself some rice.

   She remembered when she used to live with Nikhil. Nikhil expected her to do everything for him. From grabbing his towel to serving him food and his drinks. It was exhausting for her to handle two new borns who constantly needed her attention, plus the business being new, and with her post partum depression, she remembered how difficult it was for her.

   She found herself wondering if it would've been the same with Veer. She let that thought go. He would've hated her and the girls too if they had entered his life at that stage. He would've.

    She saw Veer making conversations with the girls asking them about school to their favourite shows. She decided that she would tell him today.

  ***

     After putting the twins to sleep, she walked out to the living room expecting the dishes to still be there but the dining table was empty and moreover it was clean. She rushed to the kitchen and saw him drying her dishes.