Satisfied that Ava was finally asleep, Janani wriggled gently away from her and slid off the bed. Armaan moved as silent as a cat as he strolled across the rug towards her. "A water pistol?" Armaan asked mockingly Janani gasped in fright and covered her mouth with her hands.When did he come back?How did he come in without making any noise?"Goodness! You scared the hell out of me" she said, placing a hand on her racing heart.She peered over her shoulder to see if Ava's sleep was disturbed due to her loud gasp, and sighed in relief when she saw the child sleeping peacefully."Don't wake her up. It's taken me ages to settle her" Janani said softly"I saw that" Armaan said dryly.Heavens! She looks like a teenager, in that ridiculous nightwear, her face bare of any make up. Gritting his teeth Armaan reminded himself what she was. A woman who stole a baby for money. Young, she might be!! But innocent, she was not!He has a dossier on her, which proves how much of an experienc
Next morning, Janani woke up at six along with Advi. Advi is an early riser.He wakes up promptly at six, will have a bottle and plays long enough to drive away his mama's sleep and goes back to sleep by seven.By the time Advi goes back to sleep, Janani would be wide awake. As usual Advi went back to sleep by seven. Janani took a quick shower and switched on the baby monitor before walking towards the kitchen. She also took her post it notes with her so that she could mark the direction in case she got lost again, like the previous night.As she entered the kitchen she started looking for the ingredients to prepare breakfast.She could find nothing in the darn kitchen other than the things she brought. "Payal" she called out seeing the house help coming into the kitchen. "Yes Ms Janani" the other woman greeted cheerfully."First of all stop calling me Ms Janani. Just Janani is fine" she said making a face and Payal chuckled "Okay Janani" "Now, why is this kitchen so empty?
Janani looked at the dress Ava is wearing in stark disbelief . Last night the child was only wearing an under pants.Today she is wearing a frock made in brocade cloth.Who dresses a three year old in such clothes? Maybe in the eighteenth century, the royal family might have made their royal babies dress up like this.This is the 21st century for crying out loud. She turned towards Mrs Seth, now Shaanima, for her name is Shanthi Seth."Shaanima, aren't there any other dresses for Ava in here?" Janani asked."There is a cupboard full of clothes for her, but all like this" Shanthi pointed at the dress Ava is wearing. Ava and Advi were now sitting on the rug on the floor and playing.Ava is being the momma and Advi her little baby. Janani opened the drawers one by one and checked what all Ava had got in here. They were full of new and exquisite baby clothes which made her catch her breath.Not in admiration. In dismay! Lovely though they were, these were what she privately call
Janani followed Armaan out of the kids' room. "Mr Verma?" Janani called out to gain his attention. "Yes?" Armaan raised an eyebrow in enquiry"I want to talk to you about something" Janani said hesitantly"Go ahead" He told her "It's just that, we need to go shopping." Janani said hesitantly not wanting to hurt his feelings. And his ego!."Right! I was wondering when that demand would come" Armaan retorted dryly, making Janani frown.But when she realised what he was implying she lost her cool.Screw his feelings and ego!! "Mr Verma, the designer wardrobe you have provided for your three year old little girl is neither practical nor comfortable. It would do your daughter some good if you could provide her with some casual clothes in which she can feel comfortable" Janani said equally dryly."Oh I thought" Armaan was cut off by the sarcastic look on Janani's face"Of course you will think! Why am I not surprised?" She asked sarcastically "Well, you do have quite a reputation Jan
"Cute family" Janani looked up from feeding Ava when she heard the voice and saw the sales girl who was assisting her looking at them and sighing, a dreamy smile on her face."Oh no. We are...-" Janani began to correct the sales girl but Armaan beat her to it."Thank you" he said with a smile and added "why don't you go ahead and bill all those clothes we selected. We will be right behind you" "Sure Mr Verma" the sales girl smiled and walked away taking the shopping bag with her. "Why did you let her think that we are a family? I was going to tell her" Janani frowned at Armaan "And have her advertise our surrogacy deal?" He asked dryly "You could have told I am the nanny" Janani countered "She heard Advi crying for you calling you mama. I don't have the time to sit here and explain the complicated relation we share" Armaan said taking the empty bottle from Advi and giving it back to Janani."Right" she mumbled reluctantly "Now come on. The shopping is over right " Armaan aske
After they reached home, Janani had him assemble the swings in the kitchen for the time being. As she pointed out, it's an easily portable device and could be hung wherever you want.At the moment she wanted him to hang it in the kitchen.While he and Aadesh were setting the swings, he saw Janani feeding the children who were happily sitting on their new high chairs.She had placed what seems to be their favourite plates in front of them.Because, like Advi, Ava too has her own favourite plates and cups from today onwards."Advi, don't squash your bananas" Janani chided softly, cleaning the squishy mushy banana piece from Advi's chubby little fists and started feeding him instead.They had the swings together by the time she was done feeding. And then cleaning up the kids, she slid both of them inside making sure to fasten the safety belts.They have set the swings in such a way that the children would be facing each other.She wound what looked like a music box for each swing and su
"I miss my babies" The older woman sniffed and Janani tried her best to console her weeping mother and deeply troubled father as the three of them were on a video call.Her adoptive parents have returned back after their two week vacation to an empty home.Janani hadn't informed them about her trip to Mumbai as she didn't want to spoil their much needed vacation. Because she knew very well, if informed about the happenings in her life, they would have cut short their vacation and rushed back home.Janani couldn't let her parents do that. Not after what they went through after her twin made a mess in their orderly life."Maa, Advi is Armaan's son and the poor guy has been searching for him for months" Janani pointed out.Janani was feeling sick with shame. Never had she lied to her parents before. Not about something important. They would be horrified if they knew she was pretending to be her dead sister and faking being Advi's mother. Nothing she says in her defense will persuade th
Janani paced across her room in agitation . What had come over her?Did she seriously kiss the man? Albeit, it was an innocent one. After seeing the sadness in his eyes when they were in the park, she had felt something for him.Who would kiss someone just because they felt sorry? She is an idiot. A complete idiot.And who did she kiss? The Armaan Verma out of all the people.And what would he be thinking now?? Definitely he would have concluded that she is on her way to seduce him.She groaned at her own stupidity.She walked into the washroom and splashed cold water onto her face.It might bring her to sanity.Because she is definitely out of her mind.Why else would she kiss Armaan Verma out of all the people?She dried her face with a fresh towel and looked into the mirror only to gasp.There, Armaan Verma is standing leaning against the wall staring straight into her eyes. He raised his left hand and rubbed his left cheek where she kissed him and smirked at her."What was th