"Rk, can we talk?" Madhu walked into his room and asked.

"Sure, Madhu. Come, sit" he said moving aside so that she can sit beside him on the bed. She sat down next to him and remained silent for a minute or two and Rk patiently waited for her to talk.

"Last time..." She started and paused.

"Go ahead"

"Ruhi's first birthday wasn't celebrated in the way she deserved. I lost my nani a couple of months before Ruhi's first birthday. I had no one to celebrate my daughter's birthday with. I just made her wear a new dress and took her to the temple and did a pooja in her name, and then I baked a cake for her and made her cut it. She didn't know what was actually happening around her then. She just played the whole day in the house not even realizing her mother didn't do anything special for her little girl on her special day..."

"You did everything you can for her, Madhu so you don't have to feel guilty of anything." Rk said with a reassuring smile.

"Well, I want to make her second birthday grand as you are here now for her, her loving daddy..." she said truthfully with a happy glint in her eyes and he so wished to add "I am here not only for her but for you too Madhu" but he restrained himself as he didnt want to spoil her mood.

At the moment he wanted to think only about his daughter. His pride. He felt so proud to be a father for one the world's most beautiful baby girls. Well, he was her father so obviously for him his daughter will be the best. Haha.

"We will make it big this time, Madhu." Rk took her hand in his and squeezed it. "We will do anything and everything to keep our little princess happy."

Madhu nodded with a smile. "So coming Sunday is her birthday. We should speed up and do all the necessary things to throw a grant party for her."

"Do you have any theme in your mind?"

"Um... I don't know... may be some fairy tale theme... we will decide that later."

"So where we should start?"

"Dress shopping for Ruhi?" Madhu suggested.

"Of course! So where is my angel?" he asked.

"She is in her playroom, playing with Bittuji."

"Cool. You go get her ready mean while I will get ready too so that we can go shopping"

"Okay" Madhu nodded and walked out of his room to get herself and Ruhi ready.

When Rk walked down the stairs he found Madhu kneeling in front of Ruhi and making her wear her booties. Ruhi was dressed in a short black and white striped frock with full sleeves and black and white polka dot booties.

"Papa, lookie me" Ruhi twirled and showed her dress to her daddy.

Rk with a smile scooped her up in his arms and kissed her cheek.
"Papa, same same" she pointed to his and her clothing and laughed. Rk had worn a black jeans and white button down shirt matching with Ruhi's frock.

"Even your momma is in matching dress." Rk whispered to Ruhi glancing at Madhu. She was wrapped in a body hug short sleeveless black dress. Her glossy black hair was left loose and curled at the end. She looked stunning and Rk couldn't take his eyes of her though he found that dress little short. He wished the dress was below her knees rather than above her knees.

"Momma, no white" Ruhi said to her papa refusing to agree that her momma was also wearing a matching color attire as there was no white color in her dress.

"But still..."

"No, Papa" Ruhi strictly refused to accept. Madhu shook her head at the two and went to put her black pumps.

"Mama..." Ruhi called and patted her papa's chest asking him to set her down. Once he did she ran to her momma and asked her to wear white stiletto pumps. She kicked the black shoes at two ends and took the pointed heel shoes from the shoe stand by holding the heels and thrust to her momma.

"Matchie, mama" Ruhi wanted her momma to match with them by wearing something in white. Madhu looked down at her black dress then at the white shoes and sighing she slipped her legs into those shoes as she knew arguing with Ruhi will be a waste effort. Rk took Ruhi's hand in his and with other hand he held Madhu's waist. She gasped when he gently squeezed her hip.

"You are wearing killer heels and I don't want you to totter..." Rk tried to reason her for holding her back but she cuts him off saying "I know how to walk wearing high heels so you better keep your hand to yourself." She hissed swatting his hand off her and walked ahead swaying her hips showing attitude. Rk smirked as his eyes fell on her pretty little ass. "This view is much better." Rk muttered to himself.

"Papa... walkie" Ruhi pulled his hand making him walk rather standing still like a statue.

"Yes, Darling" Rk saluted and followed Ruhi and Madhu to the elevator.

~~0~~

"I think she would like purple and white color theme for her birthday... we can do all the decorations in purple and white be it the balloons or flowers. What say?" Rk suggested to Madhu as they went through the baby gowns.

"Hmm... I like the idea. Then we will find some purple color dress for her."

"Yeah, we will get all the dresses we like for her and also let her choose some for herself."

"She don't know to select"

"Whatever she touches it's hers"

"You are spoiling her." Madhu scolded him. Rk ignored her and looked for some more pretty dresses.

"We will keep the purple dress for cake cutting time."

"Okay" Madhu agreed and showed Rk a purple mermaid dress. "How is it?"

"She can hardly walk with her wobbly legs, Madhu. Get something short which will fit her height."

"No! Short frock will be so simple. I want something grand and heavy. May be a fluffy floor length gown with many layers." She explained the picture of the dress she had in her mind. "Won't you like that Ruhi?" Madhu turned and look at the chair where she made her daughter sit but it was empty now.

"Where is Ruhi?" Madhu asked Rk.

"What? She was with you, right? I was checking the gowns in the rack..." Rk frantically looked around the shop to find his baby girl.

"Ruhi!" Madhu called out for her as she ran in search of her. Rk quickly went to the security guards in the entrance of the shop and asked them about his little girl but they said they didn't see any little girl walking out. Rk asked them to keep an eye and not to let any little girl of 2 years in black and white dress out of the shop.

"Excuse me, did you see a small girl in black and white stripped frock? My daughter. She was sitting there in the chair but now she is missing. Can you please check the CC TV footage and spot her?" Rk asked the sales girl. He knew his daughter was safe somewhere in the shop only as his heart said so but still he wanted to alert the shop members in advance so that he can easily track down his precious baby. He didn't want to think all the negative possibilities like Ruhi being hurt or kidnapped. He kept his mind positive and silently prayed to the God to show him his daughter soon.

"Monsieur, I saw a little girl walking towards the trial room." The sale girl said in a heavy French accent. Rk muttered his thanks and raced towards the changing room.

He gently pushed the door open and found his little girl sitting on the floor with her legs out stretched and sleeping with her head hanging down.

"Madhu!" Rk waved his hand and directed Madhu to come over to him.

Madhu bumped into two customers on her way in her hurry to reach him.

"Where is Ruhi? Did you find her?" Madhu asked breathing heavily standing beside him just outside the trial room. Rk pointed his thumb towards the room and inclined his head asking her to move and see.

Madhu took a step forward and turned her head to her side and sighed in relief seeing her baby, sleeping so adorably.

Madhu walked into the small room with mirrors on all the four side while Rk stood behind her folding his arms over his chest.

She knelt down and gently caressed Ruhi's head and moved her hand down to her cheek. She cupped Ruhi's little face with both her hands and placed a kiss on her little forehead.

"Why you always love scaring your momma, Ruhi?" Madhu asked hugging her daughter. Ruhi squirmed in her arms and woke up from her sleep. She looked up at her momma with a confused frown scratching her head.

"What are you doing here, Ruhi? Didn't momma ask you to sit in one place?" Madhu scolded her softly.

"Mama... Lookie... So many Ruhi..." Ruhi pointed her finger to the mirror where she could find her own image ignoring her momma's question.

Ruhi was so bored seeing her parents pile up clothes but not selecting any. She looked around the shop for some fun play and found a girl walking out a small room. Ruhi wondered what was there in the room. Her curiosity made her sneak out of her chair and head to the room. Once she got into the room and pushed the door behind her, she was so fascinated seeing multiple images of herself in the four sided mirror. When she looked up in awe there too she could find her face as there was a ceiling mirror. She sat down closer to the mirror and caressed her image and laughed. She didn't realize when she fell asleep but when she opened her eyes she was in her mother's arms.

"Papa... Lookie me..." Ruhi called her papa.

"Haan, baby." Rk said assuring her that his full attention was on her.

Ruhi spread her hands wide open and jumped and danced and swirled in glee. Then she stopped swirling and moved towards the mirror and kissed it.

"Ruhi... muahha... Ruhi..." She kissed the mirror again and again giggling cutely and looked up at her daddy with her sweet baby smile. He laughed heartily enjoying her cute antics.

"Papa... Um... Me want this room." She asked leaning onto the mirrored wall.

Rk scooped her up in his arms and kissed her cheek. "You want this room?" He asked.

She nodded her head. "Okay, I will get this room to our home" He said. Its no big deal for him to make a room with four sided mirrors at home for his daughter.

"Promie?" She asked putting her palm out.

"Promise" Rk promised and kissed her cheek again making her giggle.

He looked down and found Madhu still kneeling on the floor with her head dropped down.

"Hey" Rk squeezed her shoulder. "Get up. We will go and quickly choose a dress for Ruhi."

Madhu looked up at him and then at Ruhi and nodded her head. She looked so upset.

"You want to hold her?" Rk asked.

"No, you keep her safe." Madhu said caressing Ruhi's head.

"Oh c'mon. Don't get upset. You know how our naughty little girl is then its only expected. Well, from this incident we should learn the lesson that we should never let her down and set her free in crowded place and if we do also we should keep a hold on her or we should keep watching her constantly. Today we were so busy discussing about the dresses and we totally forgot about her. It's our mistake and not hers." Rk reasoned to Madhu but still she wasn't convinced. She partly blamed herself for being neglectful but partly mad at Ruhi for always scaring her.

"I was running like an idiot around the shop searching her, having my heart in my throat but she was... She was sleeping in there so innocently." Madhu said running her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Madhu, please don't make it big. She is a baby and she doesn't know what she was doing. If she had any idea how worried her parents would be then I sure as hell she wouldn't be swirling around and giggling happily." Rk said and kissed Ruhi head who reminded silent as she somehow sensed that her momma was angry at her and she didnt dare to mess with her so she just clung to her daddy circling her arms around his neck.

"You should stop taking her side, always!" Madhu snapped at him. "I want you to support me too, atleast at times." She pouted cutely.

"She got the pouting from you, Madhu." Rk laughed plucking her pouting lips and took his fingers to his lips and kissed them. Madhu turned her face slightly blushing. Rk walked behind her and leaning closer to her ear he whispered "I am always your support." Then she felt a soft kiss on her nape.

Getting mad at his audacity to kiss her, she swiftly turned to shout at him but stopped when Rk took a step back and lifted his hand up in defense and pointed it to little Ruhi who was giggling in his hand, mischievously. "She did the kissing." Rk said honestly. Madhu couldn't help but laugh at herself for mistaking him. "I am sor..." He cuts her off

"But that doesn't mean I didn't want to kiss you... She just beat me in kissing." Rk said and before Madhu could process his words Rk smacked his lips on her cheek and walked coolly with Ruhi in his arms as if nothing had happened leaving Madhu wide eyed, open mouthed & blushing beat red.

"Rk, you like this dress?" Madhu asked finally finding a purple dress as they expected.

"Wow, it's pretty. Baby you like this dress?"

"For me?" Ruhi asked in surprise placing her little hands on her chest.

"Yes, darling for you." Poor girl didn't realize their shopping trip was to find a perfect outfit for her birthday.

"Papa... Wo... Punzel ress?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes, sweetie... This dress is similar one to what princess Rapunzel wore in that movie Tangled" Rk said.

"How does she know about princess Rapunzel?" Madhu asked curiously.

"Daily afternoon when you are in the dance school Ruhi and I watch all animated fairy tale movies."

"The Superstar Rk watching kids' favorite animated movies? Never thought this day will come." Madhu said with a smirk.

"Well, Superstar Rk didn't watch but Ruhi's daddy watched the movie happily with his baby girl." Rk retorted and turned away from her, pissed.

"Papa, me want looong..." Ruhi said pulling her hair. She wanted long tangled hair just like Rapunzel in that movie.

"Okay, sweetie, you will get long hair when you grow up."

"That looong?" She asked doubtfully. Her daddy can't fool her by saying 'okay' to everything she demands for.

"Um.. Well, you will... Why not?" Rk said with a shrug. "Well, we will get this dress along with the other dresses which we have already chosen." He said to the sales girl and asked her to bill them all.

"What next?" Rk asked to Madhu.

"I want to get a dress for me for her party." Madhu said.

"Okay"

"But before that we will have lunch."

"Okay" Rk said and followed Madhu carrying Ruhi in one hand and shopping bags in the other hand.

After having lunch they proceeded their shopping again. Madhu was looking at the dresses with so much interest. It's been so long since she went out for her own dress shopping. Ever since Ruhi was born she was her priority. She did all the shopping for her daughter and never done anything for herself. She actually forgot to fashion herself.

She wanted something simple but elegant.

She picked one short... Really short wine red color dress.

"Madhu, you said you wanna buy a dress for you? Then why again you are looking a dress for Ruhi? Well, this dress is good. We can take this but it will be pretty long for her... May be once she turns 4 or 5 this dress will fit her..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Hang on there! I am looking at this dress for me." She said.

"For you?" Rk asked, his eyes rounded in shock. "This is barely a dress. There is no back! There is no bottom."

"Oh c'mon. It's a bit short and backless but look at the front V cut. Isn't it beautiful?" She asked admiring the dress.

"Do you want to display your cleavage and butt to the whole world?"

"I like this dress!" Madhu said stubbornly.

"Nah, mama... Nah" Ruhi yanked the dress from her and threw it away making Rk grin victoriously.

"See, even Ruhi didn't approve that so called dress."

"Oh please, she doesn't know anything about fashion now. But mark my words once she turns to the right age she will demand you to get her such short dresses."

"Like hell I will get her. She will wear only jeans and full sleeve tops or floor length gowns covering her body from neck to toe once she cross the age of 10. Okay, Ruhi?" Rk asked looking down at Ruhi.

"Okie, papa" she agreed with a bright smile not even knowing for what she gave her word.

"We will see whether she says "okay" to you for your silly orders after few years."

"She will because she is Daddy's Darling" Rk said confidently. Madhu snorted.

"Look, I don't like my girls showing their pretty skin to the evil world full of men" Rk said possessively. Madhu rolled her eyes.

"I am not your girl." Madhu reminded him.

"Yes, you are mine." Rk said looking intensely at her eyes. She could feel his burning passion for her in his eyes. She couldn't stare back at him for long so she looked down at Ruhi who was now looking so tired and sleepy resting her head on her papa's chest.

"Rk, she is sleepy. We will take her home as its her nap time."

"But what you will wear? We can do your dress purchase and go home, Madhu. She is comfortable sleeping on my shoulder."

"No. I am not in the mood to do shopping now. I guess I have few new dresses at home. I will choose one from that. Now, lets go home."

"Okay... If thats what you want I will take you home." He agreed and taking her hand he walked to the parking lot to their car and headed back to their home.

... To be continued!!!

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