AYAAN
"Ayaan, why did you suggest the doctor give her an injection? She was so upset, you know how difficult it was to put her to sleep," Aashi said, sitting beside me and leaning her body on my stomach since I was lying down.
I looked at her innocent face and tried to remember if I had ever called her by any other name like Ayushi did. I never used any derogatory words to replace her name.
"Can you please give me some water?" I said, taking a long pause. She reached her hand towards the glass on the table.
"BITCH," I finally completed my sentence. Her hand stopped midway, and she looked at me confused.
"Did you just call me that?" she asked, pointing her finger at herself.
"Give me a glass of water, BITCH," I said, avoiding eye contact and focusing on my phone. I didn't want to see the hurtful look in her eyes.
"Why... Why are you calling me that?" she asked, throwing my phone to the other side of the bed.
"Does it hurt?" I replied.
"It shouldn't? ," she asked, her voice becoming heavy. I could see a tear rolling down her cheek. When Ayushi, whose existence is because of us, cursed at her, she didn't react.
"Ayaan, why are you calling me that?" she asked, her eyes wide with confusion.
"It hurts me too. Our daughter, Aashi, OUR DAUGHTER, cursed at you just because she was mad at me," I said, holding her arm.
She looked into my eyes, and then broke the eye contact to hug me tightly.
"Please don't use that word to refer to me. I really don't like it. They may be kids, but you're not. It may be a small word, but I still don't appreciate being called that by you. I love you, so please don't do it. She said, sniffling, and the way she did it tells me she has a cold too.
I stand up and walk towards the door. After locking it, I come back to bed and hold my sweetheart in my arms.
"It's not right, Aashi. She shouldn't curse at you. She shouldn't curse at all, especially since she's only twelve. I really hate it when cute little kids curse, and every child is cute and little. They're not adults who can curse. If she grows up and decides to call her friends bitch, then I wouldn't mind. But she can't call you that, not now, not ever, Aashi." I said, cupping her cheeks.
"It's okay, Ayaan."
I give her a firm smack on her thighs, causing her to cover her mouth to prevent herself from shouting and attracting attention from the other kids in the room.
"It's okay? Is it okay for them to curse at you?"
She shakes her head and starts rubbing her thighs.
"It's red, I'm telling you. It has to be red." She said, and I can tell that we have a lot of comfort between us, as she immediately shows me the hand mark on her thigh without any hesitation, and I love it this way.
She used to be a shy doll. It took a lot of time to turn my shy doll into this.
"I'm asking you something else. It wasn't okay." I ask, my hand dangerously close to her core. Okay, I took advantage of her taking off her pants.
"Yes, it was wrong. Don't play with me like this." She said, adjusting her dress.
"Tell me, did Aryan curse at you before? Please, they're my kids too. I won't harm them. Tell me the truth." I said firmly. She nodded her head slowly, very slowly.
"But I actually don't min-"
"For heaven's sake, Ayaan." She said, starting to rub her chest. I didn't pinch her breast, I swear.
