Chapter 26 #5
Akansha had to stifle another laugh seeing the offended expression on his face, as though she had just insulted his genius daughter.
“Siya... meri jaan... people don’t travel in goods trains,” Shaurya explained softly, his tone overflowing with tenderness.
The words meri jaan made Akansha’s heartbeat stumble.
He had called her jaan countless times before... but never meri jaan.
Was she actually feeling jealous of her own daughter?
Absolutely not, her brain denied immediately.
Yet her heart continued racing.
“But why can’t people sit hele? There is so much space,” Siya argued with her adorable mispronunciations.
Thankfully, both parents ignored her pronunciation mistakes for the moment instead of correcting her.
“Because there is no proper place to sit here. Um... have you ever travelled in a train before?” Shaurya asked gently, trying to explain it in a way she would understand.
“Yes!” Siya screamed excitedly, remembering the trip she once took with her mother and Richa.
“Okay... were there seats for you to sit on?” he asked.
She nodded enthusiastically.
“Exactly. Those are called passenger trains. People travel in passenger trains because they have seats and beds. But look at this one...” he pointed at the goods train. “This only has open space. What if it suddenly starts raining? What would happen to all the people you put inside this train?”
“Oh no... they will get wet...” Siya gasped dramatically before quickly removing all the tiny human figurines from the goods compartment.
Akansha quietly admired the way he explained things to their daughter.
That one small moment made her realize exactly what had been missing in Siya’s life all these years. Akansha was not naturally patient like Shaurya. She was not naturally soft-spoken either.
For Siya, she consciously forced herself to become gentler, calmer, and softer.
She had taught her daughter countless things with patience, but for her, patience was a practiced effort.
For Shaurya, it came naturally. If Siya had grown up with both her parents together, she would have flourished beautifully under both their influences.
Unfortunately, that life was no longer possible.
But Akansha silently decided one thing at that moment—She would make sure Siya spent enough time with her father from now on.
“Yes... correct. Okay, have we filled all the goods in here, mumma?” Shaurya asked, looking at Akansha, pulling her out of her reverie.
His words warmed her heart unexpectedly.
For a moment, it felt as though they were never separated. The way those words rolled out naturally from him, along with that gentle smile on his face, made it seem like everything between them was normal.
But nothing was normal.
That was the truth.
“She is my mumma,” Siya declared possessively, pushing Shaurya’s face away with her tiny palm.
“Yes, I know. I am asking her on your behalf, bache,” Shaurya explained patiently, calming his daughter who became extremely possessive whenever it came to her mother.
“I will ask her,” Siya said angrily.
Shaurya chuckled at his daughter before kissing her nose.
“Okay, my jaan, you ask her,” he surrendered dramatically.
“Mumma... Have you filled all the trains with go...” Siya struggled to pronounce the word.
“Goods,” Shaurya supplied softly.
“I will ask,” Siya snapped again, still annoyed with him.
“Siyakriti?” Akansha called sternly, glaring at her daughter.
Siya immediately understood her mother was angry because Akansha used her full name only when upset.
“Sorry mumma... sorry Sholya,” Siya apologized quickly.
“It’s okay, my jaan,” Shaurya soothed softly, kissing her head. “Okay, you were supposed to ask your mumma something, right?” he added, trying to normalize the atmosphere.
Thankfully, Akansha calmed down too.
“Mumma... Have you filled all the trains with goods?” Siya asked again, this time in a much smaller voice.
Akansha instantly felt bad for scolding her daughter and decided to lift her mood.
“Trains? How many trains do you have here?” Akansha asked teasingly.
The innocent little girl immediately began counting the bogies seriously while Akansha burst into laughter watching her daughter’s adorable concentration.
“Eight,” Siya announced confidently.
Akansha pinched her cheeks lovingly, still chuckling while Siya grinned proudly as though she had accomplished something huge.
“Siya bache... we have only one train here. These are called bogies,” Shaurya explained patiently while pulling her into his lap.
Akansha chuckled at the silly father-daughter duo, earning offended glares from Shaurya.
“Done? Now can we start the engine?” Shaurya asked dramatically.
Akansha nodded while trying hard not to laugh again.
“She is as smart as you,” Akansha whisper-mocked so only Shaurya could hear.
He glared at her, but internally, happiness bubbled inside him.
After so long, she had spoken to him normally, even if only for their daughter’s sake.
Akansha quickly composed herself again.
“Hm... yes, start the engine. I have loaded all the goods,” she finally gave permission.
Siya became wildly excited and switched on the engine. The moment the train started moving, she clapped her hands excitedly and jumped up and down.
Akansha immediately began capturing the moment on her phone.
Shaurya too took out his mobile to record it, but Akansha silently gestured for him to stop and simply enjoy the moment with his daughter. She would send him the videos later.
Shaurya gave her a grateful smile.
In the next round, Shaurya and Siya connected the passenger bogies to the engine. Siya stubbornly tried fitting the tiny human figurines inside, despite the passenger coaches already being full.
Both parents burst into laughter seeing their daughter insist on stuffing more passengers into the already overcrowded compartments.
The three of them spent hours playing together till lunchtime.
Later, Akansha fed Siya and soon the little girl fell asleep during her afternoon nap.
Only after settling Siya properly did Shaurya and Akansha sit for lunch themselves.
Silence filled the dining table.
Yet Shaurya’s heart felt strangely content.
Nothing between them had improved, but even this small moment of sitting together and having lunch felt precious to him.
On the other hand, Akansha felt conflicted.
She hated the tiny happiness blooming in her heart.
Because the larger part of her heart, and almost her entire mind, was still filled with bitterness for the man sitting in front of her.