Second Chance Love

Suppressing Feelings

Abhimanyu was half amused and half irritated with his kids. As expected, they were pretty excited to see him waiting for them at the bus stop. As soon as the door opened, both of them jumped on him and Abhimanyu almost lost his balance for a second to hold on to his twins along with their heavy bags. But just as he finished telling them how he was free for a few hours, they inquired about Akshara. When Abhimanyu said that she will come later in the evening, it was followed with a barrage of whats, whys, and how unfair it was. The rant about not having Akshu at home went on throughout lunch, and now Abhimanyu was frustrated. He was about to lose it when his phone rang. He thanked all the gods for this interruption and excused himself, leaving the kids with his mother.

After completing the call from the hospital, he decided to spend a few minutes in his study to calm himself. He laid down on the couch in his study and closed his eyes. He knew that his kids were attached to Akshara but their constant ranting was giving him a headache. Even during their regular conversations, they couldn't go without mentioning her a few times. That was probably the reason why he found her on his mind so often. He was quite surprised to see her at the hospital. And he had surprised himself when he offered Akshara and her sister-in-law a lift to their home. He had convinced himself that it was to help a pregnant woman but he couldn't deny the fact that it felt nice spending time with Akshara, although there were other people in the car.

"Oh, you like her," he could hear Ananya's teasing tone. "Or is it love, Dr. Birla?"

"Don't annoy me, Ananya. It is neither."

"But she is so pretty and very sweet too. And don't you think it is high time you move on?"

"Shut up! I am not moving anywhere. I have only liked and loved one girl. And you are it for me."

"Shaant Bheem Shaant! Take a deep breath, Abhi. You know what I mean. We have talked about it."

But before Abhimanyu could answer the inner dialogue he was having with his dead wife, the door of his study swung open and Abhir and Roohi burst in and pounced on him, followed by a bombardment of sorries.

"Baba, we are really sorry." said Abhir.

"Dadi explained that we are being rude to you. We are sorry Baba. We are very happy that you are here to spend time with us. Don't be angry at us, and don't be sad, Baba" said Roohi with tears rimming her eyes.

Abhimanyu's heart melted. He hugged their little bodies to himself. "Baba can never be angry at his babies."

"BABA" both of them shouted together. "We are not babies anymore. We are soon going to be 7."

Abhimanyu scoffed. "You will be my babies even when you are 70." The twins giggled at this. He saw his mother at the door smiling at the trio. He smiled back at her thanking her. As she nodded her head in acknowledgement, her phone rang. She smiled looking at the caller id and swiped to attend the call.

"Hello Akshu. I was wondering whether you are getting hiccups."

"Hiccups, Aunty?"

"Ya, with the number of times Abhir and Roohi have said Akshu since they have come from school, I am sure you would be drowning in hiccups now."

This earned a chuckle from Akshara while the twins started insisting Avni to convert their call into a video call. Avni asked if Akshara was ok with it and switched the call to video call when the latter answered affirmatively.

"Akshu," screamed Roohi and Abhir together as soon as the call was connected. "We miss you".

"I miss you too and will see you in two hours. But I hope you are having a fun time with your Baba."