CHAPTER 42
Upon hearing Aashi's words, Avishka immediately glances at both the father and daughter before providing an explanation to Aashi.
"No, Aashi, you won't cut all the cakes; you'll only be able to cut two and store the rest. The cakes are completely fresh and will remain fresh for at least two to three days. You can continue to cut the cakes daily."
"No please…"
"Please Aashi…”
Prakram is understanding Aashi's enthusiasm, and he is also understanding Avishka's care very well. That's why he also takes the time to explain this to Aashi and Avishka.
"Yes, Aashi, we will cut two cakes; Papa will cut one and Aashi will cut the other. First, we will eat those two today and do the same again tomorrow.”
"Mumma will cut one too... We enjoyed three cakes."
Both of them are satisfied with the fact that at least she is not asking to cut all the cakes because then she would definitely eat them, which is not right, so they both agree with her, and soon three cakes are placed in front of them. Prakram and Avishka ask Aashi to sit in the middle, and Aashi cuts the cake. To have fun, both of them start singing a happy birthday song, due to which Aashi starts laughing loudly, and he also joins in her laughter. She cuts the cake and feeds it to both of them, then gives the knife to her father, who immediately cuts the cake. Aashi begins to sing the birthday song loudly, which prompts Avishka to smile, and Prakram reciprocates with a smile and a glance. He cuts the cake and feeds it to Ashi.
"You will not feed cake to Mumma."
Prakram and Avishka immediately started looking at each other. And Aashi cuts a big piece, laughing, and tells Prakram.
"Papa, please feed this big piece to Mumma.”
Prakram smiles at Aashi, then picks up a piece of cake and passes it to Avishka. Both of them know that Aashi is extremely happy, so this is a small gesture for them. Avishka smiles and takes a small bite of cake, but Aashi insists and starts screaming loudly.
"Papa, feed her completely."
Avishka puts her hand in between and begins to grab the cake, but Prakram suddenly grabs both of her hands and starts feeding her the cake forcefully. This action causes Aashi to laugh, finding the struggle of the cake clinging to her cheeks particularly enjoyable. Prakram also joins in her laughter and feeds the entire cake to Avishka.
Avishka starts looking at both of them while eating the cake, her mouth full of cake, and both of them are continuously laughing at her because it is very hard to eat now as her mouth is full. After finishing her cake, Aashi hands over the knife to Avishka. Avishka cuts the cake. Prakram and Aashi sing the birthday song together. Avishka feeds cake to Aashi very lovingly. Aashi signals that Avishka should feed the entire cake to Prakram, due to which Prakram also starts laughing, understanding her signal. Avishka immediately picks up the cake and turns it towards Prakram, and Aashi holds Prakram's hand, saying that he couldn't stop Avishka at all. Due to this, Prakram starts eating the cake slowly, but Avishka starts feeding him the cake immediately. Prakram also starts eating it laughing, due to which a little cream gets applied to his cheeks, and there is continuous laughter echoing there. Both Avishka and Prakram start looking at each other and laughing, and Aashi enjoys it very much.
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Aashi is tugging at Avishka's hand, attempting to stop her, but she is not listening. Prakram is sitting in his room, reading the file. He is constantly hearing the voices of both of them, due to which he immediately closes the file and goes near them.
"What happened, Aashu?
"I want to sleep with you."
"Yes, then let's sleep."
"But mom is not coming..."
Prakram suddenly looks at Avishka because he is unable to understand anything. Aashi again grabs Avishka, starts pulling her, and tells her.
"Come quickly; we will sleep with Papa today."
After listening to her, it doesn't take long for Prakram to understand that Aashi is insisting on sleeping with both him and Avishka. Prakram looks at Avishka, who immediately tells Aashi.
"Aashi, go and sleep with Papa; Mumma will sleep here."
"No, I want to sleep with both of you.”
"Aashi please…"
"All children sleep with their parents. Aashi also wants to sleep with Papa and Mumma.”
Both Prakram and Avishka understand everything Aashi says, but the relationship between them is such that they are feeling a little uncomfortable. Prakram sits in front of Aashi and tells her.
"Sweetheart, we'll both enjoy ourselves together; Mumma will disturb us too much, so leave Mumma here; we'll both leave."
"No, from now on, I have to sleep with both of you."
"Aashi does not insist on everything."
"You are also insisting that if a fight happens between you and Mumma, why do you both live separately? ... When we visited the grandparents, you used to live in one room, but now you live separately. Grandparents never live separately, even after fighting; why are you two not living together?"
Hearing Aashi's words, both of them are just looking at each other with surprise at how well a small girl can notice things, due to which both of them have no answers. Avishka is in a very strange situation. Prakram expects her to make Aashi understand, but she herself is unable to understand how to do so. Prakram takes Aashi in his arms and, holding Avishka's hand, immediately walks towards the adjacent room. Avishka is trying to free her hand, but seeing Aashi's smiling face, Prakram immediately pulls her very close, hugs her waist, and looks at her. She looks at him and says,.
"She is a kid..."
"But we are not... You and I should have a good idea of the impact that parental differences have on children. If she is thinking something wrong after seeing all this, then we will have to stop her thinking."
After coming into the room, Aashi becomes thrilled and starts playing with both of them. Observing Aashi's happiness, Prakram and Avishka also feel a surge of joy, realizing that children often discuss trivial matters. They take it to heart, and after that, they start facing a lot of problems, and when the same thing is accomplished, they become openly happy. After some time, Aashi starts feeling sleepy, so she comes near Prakram and lies on his chest, causing him to smile and caress her hair. Aashi looks towards Avishka, who is sitting on the corner of the bed, with the full intention that when Aashi falls asleep, she will immediately get up from here and go to her room.
"Mumma come…”
Aashi calls her near her, due to which Prakram looks at Aavishka immediately. She is becoming very uncomfortable lying close to him like this, due to which Prakram turns his head to the other side so that she can lie down comfortably. She may not feel much trouble, but suddenly Aashi sits on his stomach and removes the pillow by straightening his right hand and tapping on his arm.
“Come mumma…”
Avishka briefly glances at Prakram's hand before shifting her gaze to Aashi. Prakram's condition is such that he is looking only at Avishka and Aashi; she says this while smiling and tapping on his hand.
"Mumma, your new pillow, come and sleep. Every day, Grandma sleeps with a pillow that Grandfather made, and we talk until we both nod off. Come quickly; otherwise, we will not be able to talk.”
After listening to her, Prakram gently rubs his forehead and speaks softly.
"Why did I let her sleep in her grandparents' room?”
"Because they love me, I sleep with them, and I will sleep with you too."
Prakram quickly realizes that everything he said was loud enough for Avishka and Aashi to hear. He starts looking at Avishka, who has still not moved from her place.
“Mumma…”
Avishka is not able to understand at all what to do because she has started rubbing her eyes with her small hands and is able to look at her with great difficulty. She extends her hand toward her and begins to lift her into her lap, but Aashi refuses to go into her lap and instead holds her hand.
"Mumma, come on, Papa Pillow, and tell me a story.”
Prakram has looked towards Avishka, who is looking at Aashi, who is pressing her lips between her teeth. His eyes get stuck on her lips for some time, then he holds her hand and pulls her towards him, due to which she comes straight into his arms. He tells her as she lies down on his side.
"Sleep here."
Aashi is not making any demands that her parents cannot fulfill at all because every child likes to sleep close to their parents, and both of them know this very well. The situation is definitely awkward for both of them, but they don't want Aashi to feel like there's a fight between her parents or that they're uncomfortable with something, as this discomfort will hurt Aashi greatly. With a very cute smile, she holds Avishka's dupatta well and then looks at Avishkar lying on her father's chest. Prakram can see Aashi and Avishaka from the same angle, which he finds very beautiful in itself. Avishka starts narrating a story to her while gently caressing her hair, due to which both Aashi and Prakram fall asleep, and after some time she realizes that Aashi is asleep.
She gently glances at Prakram, who is asleep, and tries to get up by lifting her head over his hand, but her hair is pressed under his arm, preventing her from getting up immediately. She tried a little harder.
"Ahhh…"
Upon hearing her sigh, Prakram feels compelled to get up, but he does not open his eyes. Avishka is slowly trying to free her dupatta from Aashi's hands, and in the meantime, she is lying on Prakram's side. She is doing everything quietly and slowly as Aashi is cuddling them; Prakram knows very well what she is doing but does not let her know by opening his eyes at all that he is awake. Aashi suddenly wakes up when Avishka is trying to free her stall from her hands.
"Mumma What are you doing?"
"Sorry Aashu… I had to turn on the side, so I thought I would get the dupatta out of your hands and turn."
"You sleep just by looking at me."
Avishka is left with no option and starts trying to put Aashi to sleep again. After some time, Aashi falls asleep. However, Avishka does not want Aashi to wake up again, so she herself lies down for a while with her eyes closed. She finds it difficult to get up easily, and in order to do so, she must work very hard to remove her hair, which must come out properly from under Prakram's hands. It gives Prakram a strange kind of comfort to sleep close to her like this. He was lying down with his eyes closed, and immediately he fell asleep. And while waiting for Aashi to fall into a deep sleep, Avishka also falls asleep.