Rikara Short Stories Collection

Kabhi Hum Na The : Part Four

Thanks to all for voting and commenting for the previous part.

"Let's sleep!" Ayusha and Ayush screamed excitedly making Om and Gauri smile. Finally, their room was ready and ever since they saw their room they have been in love with it. Om and Gauri take them to their room. Ayush and Ayusha run ahead while they followed them behind. "Don't run." Gauri instructs them when they started running up the stairs, they started walking in a hurried manner. Om smiles happily, satisfied seeing their excitement.

The kids run into their room and Ayusha jumps on her bed while Ayush climbs up the ladder of the bunk bed and gets on the upper bed.

"Ayush, tomorrow I am sleeping on top." Ayusha tells him.

"Okay!" Ayush replies as he fell on the bed excitedly.

Om and Gauri turn to look at each other and smile happily.

"Okay... don't make noise... go to sleep, both of you." Gauri tells them as she pulled the blanket on them.

"Can we talk?" Ayusha asks.

"Yes, but not loudly."

"Okay! Can you hear me Ayush?" Ayusha asks from down.

"Yes." Ayush replies excitedly.

"We should get walkie-talkie."
Gauri had already put her foot down when Om suggested on getting the kids mobile phones.

"Yeah... then we can talk from our bed." Ayush replies excitedly. "Papa, tomorrow get us walkie-talkie."

"Yes... will get you both one." Om tells them.

Gauri and Om kisses them goodnight, and after turning on the nightlight and switching off the other lights, Om closes the door.

"I am going to be sleeping in the other room." Gauri tells Om.

"But..."

"Now the kids are in their room... I will be using another room." Gauri tells Om ignoring his upset face.

"If that is what you want..." Om says sadly.

"That is what I want." Gauri replies and goes to the other room.

Gauri was tossing and turning in the bed. After a long time, she was sleeping alone. Before it was kids and then Om also joined them. Now sleeping alone was becoming a little difficult. She missed her kids. She even missed Om a little, Gauri admits. Closing her eyes, Gauri tries to sleep when she hears the door open.

"I can't sleep." Om confesses as he stood at the door. "Can I sleep with you?"

Gauri didn't know what to say, a part of her wanted him to sleep with her and another part wanted to slam the door on his face.

"Please Gauri... I will not disturb you." Om pleads.

"Okay." Gauri says as she moved to one end of the bed.

"Thank you." Om says smiling excitedly as he hurried in.

Seeing him smile so happily, Gauri couldn't help smile. She felt happy seeing him smile.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, they rolled towards each other and hugged each other in their sleep.

Two nights later, Gauri was getting restless as she lay on Om's bed alone. Om had gone somewhere saying that he would be back only the next day. She missed him but more than that, there was an uneasiness in her wondering where he had gone to. She hadn't asked, and he hadn't said anything on where he was going. She couldn't help wondering if he has gone back to his old ways. In these past few months, she had expected him to slip up and make mistakes, but he had surprised her by being there with them. He had been so attentive and so earnest that she had started trusting him to be loyal, so much so that it has started making a difference to her if he had other girls in his life. He had started mattering to her. Gauri tried to shut her eyes and tried to think of something else, but her thoughts went back to where he is, what he is doing and who he is with. He had called around the kids' bedtime to wish them goodnight and he had talked to her asking if everything was fine, but she was so restless that she had acted so disinterested that he had quickly hung up. Now, she regretted her action.