Adhura Alviida 2

a match

"Baby, no!" Aditya grabbed Aadhya by her shoulders as she looked at him with her doe-eyes. He was already on his knees lowered to her height as he engulfed her in his arms, petting her hair softly while closing his own eyes trying to hold back his tears.

"Who told you that, honey?" Aditya asked while slowly stroking her hair in a repeating motion as she buried her face in his neck and mumbled "I heard the nurses saying I have cancer, Papa. Are they right? Ammi says when people die, they become stars and that means I will be a star too, papa."

Aditya brought her away from his proximity as he looked at her face and cupped it as if she was the most fragile being on earth. His eyes all teary as he looked at the innocence on her face. His daughter didn't deserve this, she was just a little angel, unaware of this world and it's ways. There was no way a God could be so cruel as to snatch her ability to live away. She wasn't just an ordinary child, she was a messiah in Aditya's dark life. An angel sent to bring happiness into his life after everyone that had left it. She couldn't be taken away from him. He would rather die the most brutal death possible, than watch anything happen to her. 

"No, baby." He shook his head. "Papa wouldn't let you be a star. Do you want to go away from all of us—me, ammi, and Shadow?"

Aadhya shook her head in the negative.

"You have to promise Papa that you wouldn't leave us, Aadhya. You're our whole world." He said as he hugged her again and she clutched on to his big shoulders in comparison to her little arms. "I want to stay with you all, Papa." She said, her voiced cracking a bit as she felt sad at the thought of leaving everyone. "I don't want to be a star."

Zoya looked on from the bedroom door opening as she saw Aadhya and Aditya engulfed in a wide hug as the two latched on to each other as if their life depended on it. She removed a tear from the side of her face as if it was a hurdle as she smiled at both of them. Everything had to be okay. She couldn't lose her family again.  Somewhere seeing Aditya be so gentle with their baby girl awakened some emotion for him in her heart once more. She momentarily thought back to her pregnancy, how wrong she was to hide Aadhya from him. Seeing his care and concern now, she could only imagine what he would've been like if he was united with his daughter from birth. She knew forgiving Aditya for his past issues was a longshot, she found it difficult to even remember how he had accused her of sleeping with Rajveer, but right now she wasn't going to let those past memories cloud her judgement of him. She felt as if she was seeing two different sides of Aditya, one before she was here and another after Aadhya's medical condition. She failed to comprehend why Aditya was so distant to Aadhya all along when it was obvious that the love he carried in his heart for their child was magnanimous.

But all of that could be dealt with at another time, she had the rest of her life to think about this, right now her priority was Aadhya. And she was going to make sure that Aadhya got the family she always wanted. Zoya was a mother after all, her daughter's feelings would always take precedent over her own.

"Ammi!" Aadhya said, looking up from her dad's shoulder as she saw her mom standing at the doorway.

"My Aadu!" Zoya said smiling as she walked towards her, extending out her arms.

Zoya lowered herself to her knees as Aadhya left Aditya's arms and ran over to her mother.

"Why is my baby crying?" Zoya said, wiping the tear stains on Aadhya's cheeks. "Is papa making you cry? Should we fight him?" Zoya said mischievously while flicking Aadhya's nose with her forefinger as Aadhya scrunched her nose and chuckled, while Aditya jokingly acted shocked at Zoya's statement. Zoya made Aadhya sit in her lap before she responded "No, ammi. Never."