Her Nanny's Son - A Shivika fanfiction - Complete

~24~

Ramadan Kareem to all those fasting on this holy month :) 

Annika woke up a while later in her room. She felt something hard under her palm and looked up. What she saw took her breath away. She had never noticed his features. She traced his jawline with her eyes, then she looked at his long nose, his lips that formed a small pout. She put her hand on his chest and could feel his heartbeats under her palm.

'Dhadhak, Dhadhak...' Was his heart beating with her name? She wondered and removed her hand as if she got burned with this touch. She was about to leave when he held the hem of her dress. She looked back at him and he was already looking at her with a small smile on his face. He got up and pulled on her arm making her sit on the bed next to him. He then slowly put his hand up to her cheek.

"How are you feeling now ?" He asked with concern visible in his eyes. She looked down and smiled.

"I never felt that much alive until now Shivaay. I'll forever be grateful to you for giving me this. For making me able to raise stronger. I thought that letting go of mom would be difficult but I never felt that peaceful until today." Shivaay rubbed her back softly and she accepted this soft touch. She was staring at his face then her eyes lingered on his lips before looking back at his eyes. Shivaay too was looking in her eyes. He could see for the first time an emotion that he had never seen in her eyes. Shivaay saw innocence. He pushed a hair strand behind her ear and rested his palm on her neck.

His eyes traveled back and forth from her eyes to her mouth and he approached his face near hers. Their lips were only brushing when there was a knock on the door. Annika quickly moved away from him as if she was a child caught doing something bad.

"Come in!" She managed to say. It was Ofelia.

"You're both up?! That's great. I just wanted to call you for dinner."

"We're coming mom.," Shivaay answered, earning surprised stares from the two women. They hadn't heard him call her mom since that day when he left the house.

"How did you call me?" Ofelia asked as if she was in trance.

"I called you mom! Why? Isn't it how I shall call you?" He asked and she refrained a sob.

"Of course it is!" Ofelia went to him and hugged him tightly whispering 'mi hijito' (my little son). Shivaay inhaled her fragrance happily. He had missed her. Annika was watching at the scene with tears in her eyes. She was happy for Shivaay but she was mostly happy for Ofelia. She didn't deserve to be put in the middle of Annika's confrontation with Shivaay.

"Annika..it's a family hug." Shivaay extended his arm and she hesitantly joined the hug. She was on his left so she could still hear the 'Dhadhak' of his heartbeat and smiled while he unconsciously dropped a kiss on her forehead. Ofelia smiled on seeing that Annika and Shivaay were on the right path to having a good bond, and hopefully it was the bound of love.

The trio left the room to go eat dinner. As soon as they reached the dining hall, Annika's body became tense on seeing the people waiting for them. There, sitting at the table were Gauri, Om, Bhavya, Rudra, Ayaan, Carrie, and Neil Reddy. Carrie was whispering something in Neil's ear when they arrived and Annika noticed him blush.

"Neil uncle!" Annika greeted the first person she was more familiar with and he hugged her, kissing her cheek.

"How are you, baby girl?" He asked and she smiled warmly at him.

"I'm not a baby girl anymore uncle. But I'm fine, thank you." Annika replied.

"Shoot, I forgot that you are Shiv's baby girl now, right?" Neil chuckled as he saw Annika turning red. The latter rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Anyways what are you all doing here?" Annika asked.

"We're here for Shivaay's birthday. You've been knowing him for that long and you don't even know his birthday," Om said through gritted teeth making Annika's smile disappear. She knew about his birth date of course, but it was just that the latest event had got the best of her. Annika looked down and was about to leave the room planning to mumble a quick 'I'm not hungry' but Shivaay held her waist and nodded his head no.

"Don't be so harsh on her Om. She's tired, we've been dealing with some stuff lately she just couldn't have time to remember something as futile as a birthday. To be honest I only remembered about my birthday today because I got the notification on my Google account. Moreover, I'm not planning to roast you or judge you but I think we shall all move on from this period where we were all against Annika. Time flies and people change. I believe in the fact that Annika can change because I'm a witness to this change, a genuine one. Please don't be harsh Om."

"But..."

"But nothing Omi... We're ready to forget and forgive and move on. Right, Annika...bhabhi?" Gauri asked Annika with a smile on her lips.

"Bhabhi?" Annika repeated as if in a trance.

"Well, Shivaay is like my bro so you'll be upgraded to bhabhi... if this is okay with you.." Gauri trailed off. Annika wiped some tears away and nodded emotionally.

"Yes, you're right Gauri. Let's forget and forgive." She looked at Shivaay as if to look for his consent and he just grinned. He held her hand and lead her to the table. For the first time since she had lost her mom, Annika was dining with people who could be seen as family.