APPLE OF OUR EYES

9. THE PARENTS!!

"Even if I had a problem with your ways, I wouldn't have told you off in front of him. You know that. Itni toh understanding hain na hamari?" 

She immediately nodded, not wanting to anger him further.

"Dimag lagakr sochogi toh samajh aajayega maine kyun chillaya tumpe!" He admonished her for messing up things. 

"Tumhe sab allowed hain Naira per apni Maut ki baat karna allowed nahi hain. Hazaar baar samjha chuka hu tumhe ki gusse mein bhi Abhi ke saamne aisi baatein nahi kar sakti tum. Lekin phir bhi vahi karna hai!! Uski galti jitni bhi badi ho...woh yeh deserve nahi karta. 

Bacha hain. 

Humara hai! 

Galti hogayi usse. Bahut badi. 

Use uski sazaa milegi. 

Sambhal lenge hum sab kuch! 

Uske bawajood....woh yeh sunna deserve nahi karta ki uski maa....." 

Naira was quick to intervene and apologize "I am sorry." 

Karthik sighed and leaned back against the headboard "Mat karo phirse Naira." She settled beside him, gently hugging him "I won't." she assured him and they stayed like that for a couple of minutes, trying to get in terms with the situation, before Karthik broke the silence. He kept his head on his wife's shoulder "I failed my son, Naira." He started lamenting on his failure and Naira simply tightened the embrace, trying to comfort him "Karthik.."

"I didn't do enough when I found things fishy with Abhi. I told him off whenever I saw him trying to busy himself in work unnecessarily but I never looked deep enough into it, even when I knew that something is wrong." 

Karthik blamed himself for letting so many things happen behind his back. When Abhimanyu announced his decision, he tried his best to make him accept the opportunity but couldn't force his will on his child. When he found his son not sharing on what he used his pocket money, he should have pushed or kept tabs instead of letting it be in the name of space and trust. Though he made sure his child wasn't doing anything wrong, he never tracked his activities keenly as long as his child looked happy and healthy.

Karthik made sure of many things but those were simply not enough. 

Before he could go far in the lane of guilt, Naira stopped him. She ran her fingers through his hair "It's not the time for all that blame game, Karthik. Please don't do this to yourself. It is time for us to compose ourselves and deal with our child who got manipulated initially but got sucked into the loop of lying and hiding....one after the other. 

That infraction needs to be addressed and addressed sternly. 

We both have to be a team for that. We need to be sorted in our head before we went about dealing with our son." Her voice was firm enough to pass through hazy cloud of guilt in Karthik's mind.

At the same time, Naira's phone rang and it was Naksh. She looked at her husband who nodded before answering the call and put it on speaker.

Naksh didn't waste time. Though he was shocked with how the night turned out, he somehow contained his calmness.  

"Abhi kaisa hai?" Naksh asked the question he was desperate to seek answer for. But when Kaira stayed silent, he understood it all. He badly wanted to dig deeper but he was experienced and understanding enough to give them the space to deal with their baby. 

"Karthik, Naira... I am here if you need a shoulder to lean on or rant. Just remember that." He assured and paused, waiting for some response but when he didn't get any for a couple of seconds, he sighed. He wished he was with the couple right now. He couldn't even imagine how Karthik and Naira are feeling right now, especially his sister. Naira already went through the pain of leaving her dream behind, but somehow, he is sure, Abhimanyu doing the same is much more painful for her.