Prejudice

42. Four Years Later.....

It was a usual scene for the staff to witness four year old Kabir to see lying on Prithvi's chest, while Prithvi himself lied flat on the soft grass in the gardens of the mansion.

"When will I meet my Daddy?" Innocent Kabir asked for hundredth time now, and everytime, the question sent Prithvi in thinking.

"Soon." He whispered while stroking Kabir's lush hair.

"Tell me about him." The child prodded.

Prithvi smiled.
"I have told you a lot about him already."

"Tell me again. Let's go to him." Little Kabir whined.

Prithvi sighed and got up, picking the child in his arms. He walked to the mansion and climbed up the stairs with very exited child who couldn't stop jumping in his arms. Prithvi tightened hiss hold, knowing very well, how energetic the child was. He pushed opened the door and stepped in, only to let the child jump down and run to the pictures of Jay framed on the walls of the room.

The child squealed in joy, and Prithvi again picked him up to raise him to see the pictures closely.

Prithvi looked at Kabir as he stroked the smiling face of Jay through the glass.

"He is very handsome. And very intelligent too." Prithvi whispered.

Kabir looked back at him.
"More than you?"

Prithvi laughed out.
"No, just a bit less than me."

"When will I meet him?" Kabir asked again.

Prithvi knew how desperate the child was to meet his biological father.
He kissed Kabir's temple and looked at the picture.

"You know what, once you meet him, you will forget to meet me."

Kabir blinked at him in confusion.
"Why?"

"Because he might snatch you from me." Prithvi replied with a hind of sadness.

Kabir made a face.
"I am not a toy to be snatched away. I am Kabir Agarwal, and I belong to myself."

Prithvi laughed out at his words. The boy must have got his attitude from his father, his mother was too timid to be reply back.

"So, you promise to always remember me?" Prithvi asked playfully.

Before the child could answer, the striking sound of tinkling tiny bells was heard and Rajbansi stepped in the room.

"You both are here? Kabir, it's time for your homework. Get going." She commanded in a stern voice.

"Yes, Maa." Kabir wriggled in Prithvi's arms and ran away when he was put down.

Rajbansi looked at her husband and gave a look of disapproval.
"Why do you keep him bringing here? You are not ready to let Diya go to her husband and on the other hand, you make the boy dream about all this."

Prithvi suddenly lost his interest in answering her and tried to walk away, when she held his hand and stopped him.
"You can't always run away from the answers."

He sighed deeply.
"I am not running away from anything. Kabir needs to know who his biological parents are. And I will make sure he is in safe hands. About Diya, I am not sure how safe she is out there, and I don't want to play with her life anymore."

"You are not making any sense." She was frustrated now.

Prithvi leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Why don't you focus on my baby? He needs your more attention. Don't worry about Kabir. I am there to think of him."

Prithvi was gone in a blink, but Rajbansi was left thinking as always.
As soon as Kabir stepped into their life, Prithvi decided that they needed their own baby. She was taken off-guard by his decision as he was not ready for a child, a month ago. He wanted to distract Rajbansi from Kabir. He intentionally never allowed anyone to grow close to Kabir more than what was needed. Rajbansi was fond of the boy, but was forced to focus on their own child - Kunal, who was a year younger than Kabir.

Prithvi had made sure to create a collection of Jay's pictures and had them framed in the room adjacent to Kabir's. Kabir was made aware of his biological father and he called Prithvi his Papa, and knew him as a father figure. Prithvi had made sure to tell Kabir everything that he could about his father.

The little boy kept wondering if his father ever missed him.
Prithvi had just answered that his father misses him a lot and would love him to no extent.
Kabir awaited the day to come to reality.

Jay really missed his dead wife and unborn child.
He was known to be single and heartbroken. Now with his father gone, his relatives were under an impression that he should think of getting married again. Pranav's was being pestered for the same and was constantly being approached by the close relatives to get Jay ready for second marriage.
Pranav was in no mood to handle all the drama and very well knew that neither him nor Jay was in condition to do any such thing.
He was still on his mission to find missing Diya, and was still clueless about her existence. Even Siddharth had advised him to stop the search and accept that Diya is no more.

Kite was left with no work to do, and he would wander around through the properties where Pranav's father would stay.
The locket would still turn blue and vibrate at his arrival. The chips were still changes and checked, but nothing suspicious was ever found.

Pranav would always find himself at square one.

Siddharth knew that the branch in Canada, that Pranav's father looked after, needed attention. Pranav had managed everything remotely until now, but the staff there was undisciplined due to the lack of actual control.

"We should make regular visits in Canada branch to keep everything under control." Siddharth had warned.

"Isn't there anything we can do about it?" Pranav asked thoughtfully.

"One visit can make a great impact. Why don't you and Jay visited that branch for a day or two? Let Jay stay there for a few days. It will be a great distraction for him too." Siddharth suggested.

Pranav rubbed his forehead in defeat. Siddharth's suggestions were valid and he knew the gravity of the situation.

"Fine. Let's go in next week. And you are coming with us." Pranav decided.

Jay was not very happy with the turn of events.
"Are you taking me along to meet someone? I am not interested in meeting anyone, let alone getting married." He declared at the dining table.

Pranav wanted to strangle his creamy neck at the thought of second marriage, when his first wife was alive somewhere. He gave him a dirty look and Jay was instantly aware that Pranav had nothing of that sort in mind.

A week quickly passed by and the day to depart for Canada arrived.
Jay, Prithvi and Siddharth were all set to fly and we're waiting for their flight.

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Another chapter up

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