Chapter 62
Akansha walked into the room with Siya's juice. Seeing the little one grinning despite her injuries, she gave the father-daughter duo a suspicious look.
She handed the juice to Siya, and the little girl drank it as if it were her favorite chocolate milkshake.
Usually, Siya threw tantrums over juice, and when she was hurt, getting her to drink anything healthy became even harder.
Watching her behave like the most obedient child in the world, Akansha narrowed her eyes at Shaurya.
He immediately shrugged innocently, understanding exactly what she was asking.
Too quickly.
And that alone confirmed her suspicion.
"Siyabear... Tell Mama Bear why you look so happy?", Akansha asked sweetly, fully aware of how easily her daughter spilled secrets.
"Hehe... Mama bear, you know Dadda said he...", Siya began excitedly before Shaurya frantically gestured for her to stop.
Siya immediately clamped her mouth shut and giggled at her father.
Akansha glared at Shaurya knowingly. Clearly, he had bribed their daughter with something she would never approve of.
"Really? Grow up, Shaurya", she whispered while leaning closer to him. She could see his reflection in Siya's juice glass.
"Okay, finish this and sleep for some time", Akansha told Siya, who obediently finished the juice.
"Dadda, story time! Yayyy!", Siya cheered excitedly.
"Okay... which unicorn story do you want today? Magic unicorn or adventure unicorn?", Shaurya asked.
Apparently, injured knees still couldn't lower Siyakriti Dixit Shaurya Shekhawat's energy.
Akansha shook her head at the two drama pieces in front of her and continued setting up the room.
"No... no unicorn. Tell me a leal story", Siya demanded.
Both Shaurya and Akansha paused in surprise.
"Real story? What kind?", Akansha asked carefully.
"Yes, mumma. Ronit told me a leal story about his mumma and dadda..."
Before Siya could continue, Shaurya instantly interrupted.
"Who is Ronit?"
Typical Shaurya.
"Her classmate", Akansha answered calmly, but Siya shook her head dramatically.
"He is my friend, and I like him a lot. He calls me cutie, Dadda", Siya announced proudly.
Shaurya's expression shifted through confusion, betrayal, and silent outrage within seconds. Akansha burst out laughing at his face, nearly dropping the cloth in her hand.
"Why didn't you tell me about him till now?", Shaurya asked his daughter seriously.
Siya blinked in confusion before quickly hugging him, sensing that her father was upset for reasons unknown to her. So, she apologized, but he still remained lost in his own thoughts.
"Dadda... I said sorry."
Shaurya immediately melted.
Internally though, he decided two things:
First, he needed to talk to Akansha about keeping boys away from their daughter.
Second, Ishan and Ivaan clearly required better training so they could stay around Siya at all times to protect Siya from boys' like Ronit's ill intentions.
'Ill intentions? Seriously, Shaurya? The kid is five', his brain mocked.
'Whatever', he shut it down immediately.
Deep down, he knew he couldn't actually stop boys from existing around Siya, nor was it fair to her. But the mere thought of one day watching his daughter love another man more than him irritated him irrationally.
Possessiveness came too naturally when it involved his wife or daughter.
"Dadda... I said sorry", Siya repeated softly, pulling him back from his thoughts.
"Ha... it's okay, bacha. But from tomorrow, you tell Dadda everything that happens at school, okay? Because Siya and Dadda are best friends, right?", he asked.
Siya nodded happily.
"Now tell me the leal story, Dadda."
"Real", he corrected automatically before chuckling at her impatience. "Which real story do you want to hear?", he asked.
"Um... mumma-dadda story."
Akansha stilled.
Both of them had already understood where this was heading the moment Siya mentioned Ronit's parents, but hearing it directly still caught them off guard.
Neither Shaurya nor Akansha wanted Siya knowing the truth about their past yet. Still, both knew their daughter deserved to know someday.
Shaurya silently looked at Akansha for permission. Even now, he worried about upsetting her. Her heart softened a little at that small gesture.
The way he constantly considered her feelings before speaking... those little things slowly weakened the walls she had built around herself.
For one dangerous second, she admitted to herself that she wanted this again.
His love. His presence. Their life.
Akansha shut her eyes briefly, forcing the thought away before nodding silently.
One glance at her face told Shaurya she still wasn't completely okay. He instinctively moved as if to walk toward her, but she shook her head lightly, gesturing toward Siya.
'Make her sleep first.'
He understood immediately.
Turning toward his daughter, Shaurya began narrating their story in a child-friendly manner.
"The first time I met your mumma, she didn't even look at me. She said she was busy and walked away", he complained dramatically.
He still remembered that day perfectly.
Akansha had been running around the college campus, managing last-minute arrangements for an event. Her face was sweaty, clothes wrinkled, hair tied into a messy bun.
A complete mess. A beautiful mess. And he simply couldn't stop looking at her.
What fascinated him most was how thoroughly she ignored him despite knowing he was an MLA. While everyone else reacted to his position, she barely spared him a glance.
At that time, she had been reading a text from her mother, irritation and hurt evident in her eyes before she rushed away.
And somehow, from that exact moment, he wanted to see her again.
"Hawww... Dadda, mumma ig... ignn..."
"Ignored", Shaurya helped.
"Yes! Ignored you?"
"Your mumma was in a hurry, but let me tell you, she looked so beautiful that I..."
Akansha loudly cleared her throat before he could continue further. She knew exactly where that sentence was heading. Shaurya coughed awkwardly.
Because yes, he had almost confessed to his daughter that the very first thing he wanted to do after seeing Akansha was pull her into his arms.
Siya suddenly asked the most dangerous question possible.
"Dadda... when was mumma prettier? Then or now?"
Akansha silently waited for his answer while pretending to continue folding clothes.
Shaurya smiled softly.
"Your mumma has always been the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Then, now, always. But before, she was only Akansha... my wife. Now she's three Akanshas together. Your mumma, my wife, and a successful doctor. Stronger, kinder... so even more beautiful now."
Akansha smiled faintly despite herself.
"Yes, Dadda. Mumma is superwoman", Siya declared proudly.
"Yes, she is", Shaurya agreed while staring directly at Akansha.
Even with her back turned toward him, she could hear the love in his voice. And unfortunately for her stubborn heart, it still affected her. The father-daughter duo continued talking until Siya slowly drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, both Shaurya and Akansha found themselves remembering their dating days. Those had truly been the happiest days of their lives. Akansha smiled unconsciously remembering how relentlessly he had pursued her. It had taken him over a month just to make her properly look at him.
And when she discovered he was an MLA outside the hospital where her father was being treated, she had dismissed him so casually that he became even more interested.
Initially, she assumed he only wanted something physical from her. She rejected him harshly every single time he confessed his interest.
But slowly, she started seeing the kind of man he really was. And little by little, the walls she built around herself cracked. Her thoughts broke when someone suddenly snatched the cloth from her hands.
She looked up to find Shaurya continuing the cleaning work she had started.
"Shaurya, give it to me...", she protested.
"It's fine. The fact that I let you work while I sat comfortably on the bed is already embarrassing enough. Let me help now", he replied while continuing to dust and organize the room.
"Well, if you had taken another cloth and worked separately, that would've helped. Snatching mine isn't helping", she argued. "And you weren't sitting idle either. Making Siya sleep is hard work, especially when she's injured."
"Yeah... speaking of that, I was thinking of talking to the school management. How can they be so careless?", Shaurya immediately started again.
Akansha closed her eyes briefly. There it was. The overprotective father finally resurfaced fully.
"They were not careless, Shaurya. Kids fall while playing. It's normal. They would've been careless if they ignored her injuries, but they didn't. They treated her immediately, so calm down."
"But—"
"No but."
The next several minutes passed with Akansha patiently calming down the panicking father in him. Eventually, once he relaxed slightly, she went to freshen up and changed into comfortable pajamas.
By then, Shaurya had finished setting the room properly.
Since everyone had rushed out hurriedly in the morning, the bedroom had turned messy, so the husband and wife quietly cleaned it together before finally settling down for the night.
Shaurya went to freshen up while Akansha sat beside Siya, who was sleeping peacefully. Relief washed through her seeing her daughter fine; thankfully, the wounds were not deep.
Then her thoughts drifted to Shaurya. The way he had panicked after receiving the school's call. The shock on everyone's faces when they saw him lose his composure. God... Shaurya had let his control slip publicly, something he never did.
That wasn't safe, neither for his reputation nor for Siya. If people discovered his daughter was his weakness, they could stoop to any extent to hurt her just to hurt him.
When Shaurya returned, both of them carried their work to the balcony and settled there with tea.