How I Married Your Mom

Chapter 27- Friendship: A New Start

Jiya got inside the house. Samarth sighed and went to his room. He opened his laptop and began checking the presentation that his employee had sent him. Suddenly Pari barged inside the room. "Papa, Mamma aagayi kya?" Pari asked curiously. Before Samarth could reply, the door to the room opened and Jiya came in.

"Pari, bachha, it's 10:30. You didn't sleep yet?" She sat down to Pari's level and kissed her cheek while caressing her face. Pari smacked her head before responding, "Offo Jiya Mamma, tomorrow is a holiday!" Jiya passed her and Samarth a confused smile. "Holiday? On what account?" 

Samarth took another sip of his coffee, his eyes fixated on the laptop screen. "Few people get so engrossed in their professional life, that they forget an important festival altogether." Jiya looks at Samarth who was looking clearly disappointed or angry, she couldn't understand why. "Mamma, tomorrow is Holi." Saying this, Pari jumped on Samarth's bed. She started hopping joyfully while Jiya cursed herself for forgetting the festival.

She smiled on seeing Pari hopping and clapping her hands. She stood up and went to Pari. She could see the little version of herself in Pari's eyes. Jiya was the same when she was a child. She used to get very excited one day before a festival. She used to help her parents in preparing for the festival and would get up before everyone on the eventful day. 

But, now everything had changed. The eagerness, the happiness had gotten lost somewhere. Everyone grows up. Adults don't remain excited for their birthdays as well whereas children frolic and dance months before their birthdays. Everyone grows up and things become less important. The talent of finding joy in small things is lost. Jiya hugged Pari, knowing that she too will grow up, will struggle, will not remain so tension free always. She had gotten too attached to this little human being within a very short span of time. Surely, Jiya had not given birth to Pari but the amount of love and affection she had for Pari, no one could tell, she wasn't her birth mother.

Samarth saw Jiya hugging Pari. He smiled but quickly hid it after remembering what had happened just a few minutes ago. Who was that man? She had surely come with a man, for his eyes couldn't betray him. And, not to forget, she was smiling while entering the house. Was she on a date with him? Is she cheating on him? A lot of these unwanted thoughts did a whirlwind in his mind. He was brought to the reality by Jiya's voice.

"Toh, rang aur pichkaari ready hain?" Jiya asked Pari. "Mamma, woh toh Papa, 2 din pehle hi mangwa dete hain." Pari replied. Jiya looked at Samarth. "Haan, ab kisi ko toh festival yaad rakhke bachhe ke mann layak kaam karna padega na." Jiya didn't like Samarth's reply and the tone he was responding in. She was sensing something totally different in him.

"Ok bachha. Ab aap jaakar soo jaao. Tomorrow you have to get up early to play Holi na!" Jiya lifted Pari up in her arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I am so excited. This will be my first Holi with my Mamma." Pari wrapped her little hands around Jiya's neck. "Me too. Bachha, me too." 

Jiya helped Pari sleep after telling about Holi, how she celebrated it when she was small, the significance of Holi and the story behind it. Pari had successfully drifted off to sleep. "Ab aap bhi soo jaaiye, thak gayi hongi." Shipra told Jiya. Jiya smiled at Shipra's concern. She gave a forehead kiss to Pari and left the room. 

She came back to her room to see Samarth shirtless. He was lying on his bed and scrolling his mobile phone while drinking coffee. "Coffee khatm nahi hui abhi tak tumhari? Ye kaisa coffee mug hai jismein se unlimited coffee nikalti hai?" Jiya chuckled while opening the cupboard to choose her night dress. "Ha ha ha, very funny." Samarth mocked, his eyes still fixated on the phone.

To say Jiya wasn't feeling anything on seeing Samarth shirtless would be wrong. She was not able to take his eyes off of him but to hide that embarrassment she had turned around pretending to choose a night dress from the cupboard. "AC ka temperature kam karke, shirtless hone ka matlab samjhi nahi main? Sardi lag gayi toh?"