AYAAN'S P.O.V
Let's start the conversation. I noticed both of them looking down, but Ayushi seemed a bit annoyed.
"Have you had your dinner, Aryan?" I inquired, and he shook his head. I knew he had eaten his porridge, but it was quite a while ago, and he didn't have much.
"It's past your bedtime, so let's head downstairs and have dinner. And Aryan, why did you slap your mom?" I asked, maintaining a stern tone.
His lips quivered, and he began rubbing his eyes.
"It was a mike..."
"Mistake," Ayushi corrected him, and he nodded.
"Same. I didn't want to eat that."
"Okay, you didn't mean to slap her. So why did you throw a glass at her? Didn't you see how much she was hurt because of that?" I inquired, trying to keep calm.
He shook his head again.
"It was a mitake too."
"Mistake," Ayushi mumbled once more. Aryan looked at her and punched her arm.
"I'm right, don't interrupt me," he said, thinking he could get away with hitting her. I'm sitting right here still he choose to hit her.
I grabbed his hand firmly.
"She's correcting you. She has every right to. If you hit or throw anything at someone again, you'll be sleeping alone in this room with no toys to play with," I warned.
He pouted and made a puppy face, trying to escape.
"Aryan, I've told you many times, you can't curse at others, you can't raise your hand against others. Aren't you a good boy? Mommy was hurt when you slapped her. Mommy was hurt when you refused to eat. Mommy was hurt when you threw a glass at her. It hurts me to see my little baby behaving like this," I said, cupping his cheeks.
"I don't want you to go to bed with sour butt , but we'll continue this tomorrow," I added, and he just looked down. I heard a chuckle from the side, and I wondered why these kids wanted to drive me crazy.
Aryan turned to Ayushi and pointed his finger at her. "She's laughing at me."
She's just waiting for me to give her a reason to cry, I thought to myself. I shook my head and patted Aryan's head.
Go downstairs and watch TV. I'll be there in a few minutes and remember what I told you. You can't act like a naughty boy. "I told him to get off the bed and leave the room," I said.
"Ayushi, he's your younger brother. You should try to make him understand instead of behaving like that yourself."
"He even hurt mom today. He spiled hot bowl on her lap. Go and check on her."
They're definitely going to be the death of me.
"I'll go check. Can you please drop the attitude?" I said, but she shook her head and turned away.
I grabbed her wrist and made her look at me.
"Do you want to repeat your answer?"
She rolled her eyes as if my words didn't affect her. Now she doesn't even bother to answer me properly? I'm not her mom who will tolerate this behavior.
"Why are you acting out?" I asked, and she glared at me, trying to pull her hand away, only to receive a slap from me that made her stop her foolishness.
"Now answer me," I demanded.
She try to rub her cheeks and looked up at me with teary eyes and shook her head again.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled her onto my lap. If I continued like this, she would either start crying or get too angry, and in both cases, she wouldn't listen to me.
"Now tell me why you're acting out," I asked, and she wrapped her arms around me.
"I missed you, but you scolded me as soon as you saw me in the park. I missed you for so many days, didn't you miss me?" she said, and now I understood why she was behaving this way.
"I missed you a lot, like a lot. But that doesn't justify your actions. Tell me, why don't you listen to your mom? If I didn't listen to you, wouldn't you feel bad?" I asked softly, and she nodded her head.
" Mom is my friend why should I listen to her. " She mumble
"Mom is your mom. She's kind and understanding and doesn't scold you for no reason. Ayushi, you have no idea how much it hurts her when no one listens to her. Would you like it if your mom started talking to you in a stern tone?"
She nodded in agreement.
"If I hear any of you disrespecting each other or even if you fight with Aryan then I will not sit with you to explain you why it's wrong. And you will be getting punished too tomorrow," I stated, concluding the conversation.
"Please don't punish me, I won't do it again," she pleaded, giving me her puppy eyes.
"I distinctly remember lecturing you on how it's wrong to misbehave with your mom. Let's not discuss this further and have dinner," I replied.
"Papa, I'm serious. My whole leg hurts after your punishment... Please," she said . I simply picked her up. Who said punishment is for enjoyment?
"Let's fill your tummy," I said as I moved downstairs. Aryan looked at us and ran to me, opening his arms.
I picked him up too and placed them both at the dinner table.
"I'm bringing food."
After dinner, the kids went to their room while I served a little bit for Aashika.
I gently opened the door and locked it behind me. It was good that she had fallen asleep after crying. It gave me time to talk to the kids.
I gently shook her, but when she still didn't wake up, I pulled her to sit. She started whining but eventually opened her eyes.
"Finish dinner so I can discuss your punishment too," I said with a side glare. But without paying attention to my words, she put her head on my chest.
"Feed me."
