All she could think was she did many good deeds in her past lives to get him as her husband in this life. She was under constant stress for the past four days about opening about Aishi. But when she opened up and saw his reaction it was pure bliss to her heart and soul. Now seeing him paying loads for Annadhan as soon as he came to know about her pregnancy and his daughter. But still, there was something that she never even thinks about opening up about him. She touched her belly and heaved out a deep breath. While then, her phone rang flashing her mother-in-law's name, she came out of that thought and attended the call to share the good news with her.

"Ani, everything went well..." She asked as soon as she attended the call, she was already informed about her but she had no clue about her pregnancy. Her throat got dry due to continuous crying. But she spoke.

"Yes, I told him, Maa," she told while keeping her eyes focused on her husband who was arriving towards her with his eyelids fixed on her with the offerings in his hand, he had a smile on his face but she could trace the pain of missing huge part of Aisha's childhood, she was sure, he must have blamed himself for that.

"How did he react?" Jhanvi asked in an anxious tone. But Anika drew a deep breath when he sat beside her with a smile and asked her about the call.

"It's maa..." Anika said. He immediately shifted his gaze to the floor and she continued talking to her.

"He's your son..." Anika kept her reply short and she found a small lopsided smile on his lips. She knew Jhanvi would have understood everything by her reply.

"Thank god! I and Aishi went to the temple today, and just now returned! I prayed to all the gods, I feel like my prayers are finally answered!" Jhanvi said in an emotional tone that triggered the tears in her eyes again. But she didn't reply to anything.

"Anika, can I talk to him?" Jhanvi asked her. She held his palm and he quickly turned back.

"Mom wants to talk to you," Anika said to him. He quickly took the phone from her and kept it in his ears.

"Hello" He responded, but he didn't speak anything else, he was simply holding the phone in his ears. Anika intertwined her arm around his arm and kept her head on his shoulder when he struggled to speak anything or ask anything.

***

He acted very strong before her but the information started to sink in, he started to feel weak and helpless, he has a daughter and he wasn't aware of that couple of hours before, tears welled up in his eyes also he came to know that they are expecting their second child, he felt like an equal amount of happiness and sorrows took place at the same time, he left with no idea how to respond to anything. But the shine and expectation in her eyes kept him going, he had chills in his body when he spelled the name "Aishi Shivaay Singh Oberoi" to the priest when he donated to the temple.

Tears gathered up in his eyes and the image of his daughter constantly appeared on his face. He refused when she asked shivaay to speak with her on phone, for some reason he was very clueless and scared. He knew his daughter just turned 2 years old, and he just missed two years of her life. But he had no idea how to console his heart. At the same time, he can't blame his wife who had gone through everything single-handedly for three years.

Taking the offerings, he went towards his wife who looked at him with desperate pair of eyes, her eyes didn't leave him for a moment, her eyes held the fears that transmitted from her heart straight. He didn't notice there was a phone in her hand, but when he sat next to her, she gave the phone to him. It was his mom, but he couldn't speak anything to her.

"Shivaay..." His mom called him over the phone, but he couldn't reply, he was struggling inside, and he was confused with the emotions of whether to thank her or shout in the excitement that he now has a daughter and will have another baby soon. Emotions exploded inside him. But no words escaped.

"I know how you're feeling, I exactly felt the same way when Anika told me about Aishi when you were in ICU," Jhanvi said, tears grouped in his eyes but he didn't reply. He just listened to everything.

"Anika is precious, Shivaay... I know she shouldn't have left you, but we did an equal mistake by disappearing, neither was she could able to contact me nor you," She said, tears leaking from his eyes, and Anika intertwined her arm around him, and she kept her head on his shoulders. His mom was indeed right, the girl next to him was someone whom he yearned for his whole life. And he would have destroyed himself if she didn't turn back to him.

"You don't believe shivaay, Now looking at your daughter, I feel like I got everything in my life that I lost, her smile was enough for me to enlighten the whole world, she is such a blessing, shivaay, for our family. You won't understand it until you meet her. Come soon, both Aishi and I were eagerly waiting for our family reunion," Jhanvi said, she sounded so delighted, at last, he chuckled, he didn't speak anything, but her words shed all the hesitance and thoughts he had in his mind.

"We three are on the way..." He finally said, Anika quickly jerked her head from her shoulder and looked at him shocked, he was confused for a while but understood everything from her gaze.

"Three?" His mom questioned.

"I didn't say anything to them, you are the first person to know..." She whispered to him, he couldn't help but smile at her but his mom became impatient over the phone.

"Shivaay, say something..." His mom insisted.

"Well... Will you wait till we come back?" He asked while controlling his smile.

"SHIVAAY... SAY..." His mom thundered over the phone.

"Exactly what you're expecting, We are going to become parents, again. Ani is pregnant." He explored the news with blush filled chuckle, for a while, he didn't hear anything from his mom.

"Maa... Hello..." He checked the signal while his wife looked at him with a smile, he was smiling widely, and he couldn't express those feelings with words.

"Yeah, I am here..." Jhanvi sounded emotional.

"Are you crying, Maa?" He asked her which eventually provoked tears in his eyes. He didn't know it was the child's thing to cry whenever their parent was crying.

"No. I am not... This day... Feeling so blessed. And give the phone to Anika..." His mom asked. He gave the phone to her, she didn't say anything but blushed, that spot he understood, the moment he was living currently was his most priceless moment, and he promised, this time, he will be there with her in every step.

****

He never felt so tense in his entire life, he had lots of questions in his mind, and some part of him still said that he still has a chance to cherish his daughter's childhood, also a chapter in their new life has already been started. That news kept him going, the days he missed being with her, he will cherish for the second time.

"What are you thinking?" He heard his wife's voice, and he nodded no with a smile.

"If you're thinking, about how you're going to gel with your daughter, don't worry. She didn't take time to connect with Maa, and if you like to share everything with her, she would become your thickest buddy than me. I promise." Anika said flashing a smile at him. Even though his heartbeat skipped when she smiled, he was confused about what he had to share to get a place in his daughter's heart.

"Why did you say so?" He asked. And wondered after two hours of silence during the travel, she finally decided to speak. Now they were just half an hour from meeting the symbol of their love.

"Because whatever you like she likes the most, from favorite food to everything, so better don't be her competitor, but her partner in crime, like we used to be." Anika chuckled. He remained silent looking at her smiley face, soon, she started to browse something on her phone. And showed him a clipping where Aishi's smiley face was the thumbnail.

"I have proof." Anika played the video on her phone.

Aishi was wandering around excitedly wearing a pink frock and a cute hat when Anika called her name on her phone, she smiled widely showing her teeth. And suddenly Saahil pops up and held Aishi to his height and soon he realized it's a bakery.

"What do you want, baby?" Saahil asked her while holding her in his arms, and she got excited when she saw baklava on the tray, both Anika and Saahil chuckled at her reaction.

"Bakava.." She said while clapping her hands.

"It's Baklava, baby!" Anika chuckled through the phone, Shivaay laughed looking at her reaction. Aishi clapped in a hurry when they saw the salesperson packing her sweets.

"When did she discover it?" Saahil asked Anika.

"My boss gifted this sweet for eid, I didn't know she will love it," Anika said.

"And you know one thing, it's her dad's, favorite sweet," Anika said to saahil over the phone. He could see the difference in saahil.

"But he's not there to share it with her," Saahil said to her. But there was a clear silence with her. While then, that box came to her hand, and she chuckled opening the box on her own.

"My god! Strong girl!" Anika exclaimed.

"Can I ask you something, Aishi?" Anika questioned when Sahil fed the sweet from his hand.

"Yeah..." She answered most casually.

"Will you share your sweets with your daddy if he asks?" Anika asked. Aishi looked at her for a brief second and nodded no with a wide smile.

"Aww. That's rude" Anika exclaimed to her.

"Ok, will you share it with me, darling?" Anika asked her sweetly. She looked at her for a while, and her excitement disappeared but she took one piece and gave it to Anika.

"It's okay, baby! You eat, I love watching you eating this." Anika said and fed the sweet back to her.

"Toothie... Smile" Anika said and the clip ended.

"And here's the proof," she said to him. Tears welled up in his eyes, even looking at the small clipping, his heart overwhelmed with happiness.

"I guess along with the sweets, I have to share someone else with her." He said to her, she was confused.

"Who?" Anika asked.

"You... But I don't mind sharing with her." He replied, she smiled but that smile didn't reach her eyes, he became more confused, and her conversation with him became very limited. Till then, he didn't notice it since he was also some other thinking about his daughter. Over then, he realized, that their second baby needs his equal attention, out of a sudden, he felt so concerned about her, thinking about her comfort.

"Ani, Are you feeling all right?" He asked with concern. She didn't reply to him for a while, but she soon kept her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know what's going on in my mind, already I am away from Aishi for months, and now being pregnant, I am going to her, won't she feel alone that my concentration and attention will get divided with you and the baby growing inside me than my two-year-old." She finally said to her, that was thoughtful. Till now, Aishi was her only solace. Even though he was clueless about a solution, he chuckled and patted her cheek for her silly thought.

"I am here, sweetheart. With you on this journey, along with your love, I will shower my baby with all the happiness in the world, aren't you thinking I am capable of that?" He asked her.

"No, I didn't mean that." Her reply came instant.

"Okay, for now, don't think about it much and relax," He said, pulled her to his control, and smiled at her. She smiled at him back.

***

The moment came, shivaay had three packs of different flavors of baklava in his hand. The reality was far different from his imagination, he thought he will feel nervous, but in contrast, he felt excited and constantly tear-eyed. Jhanvi arrived as soon as she heard the car sound, he could witness his mom's happiness in the way she welcomed them widening her arms for them. She hugged both of them at once, the tears held up in his eyes finally escaped. He held her mom tight, no words escaped, he didn't hug her in the last three years, but now, seeing her, he couldn't hold up his emotions.

"Finally I got my family back, you both have no idea how much I have yearned for this moment." She said and cupped his face in her palms, shivaay knew what she must have gone through in these two years because of his anger due to her betrayal, but he couldn't understand that she did everything for him. His thought broke abruptly when he heard the childish sound of someone shouting "Mumma" all from her heart. Their entire concentration shifted to the little creature running towards them. 

"Babieee..." Anika exclaimed in happiness and moved a little forward and held her up when she jumped towards her mom. Anika had tears in her eyes when she hugged her daughter after a long time. And Shivaay stood stuck witnessing both of them showering love on each other. 

That was the moment he wanted to capture it in his heart and cherish it for life, even though he was not involved in it. Tears blurred his vision when Aishi groped her mother's hair aside and kissed her on her cheek and patted her back when her mom cried bitterly.  As magic, she blinked her eyes in his direction and stared at him with her deep ocean-colored eyes, he heard his mom say his eyes were dark like the ocean when he was little and it was pure bliss to watch it all day and night, now he understood everything. She kept staring at him blankly, his heart beat unusually fast when she looked at him in that way. His palms yearned to hold her but there was no action till Anika broke the hug and turned towards his side with a pair of tearful eyes. 

"Shivaay," He heard his mom calling him, when he turned around to her, she eyed to hold his daughter, and even for that, Anika was waiting. But he was clueless, but his yearning to get a part in this emotional ride brought him nearer to his daughter. Soon Anika threw her other hand to his shoulder and pulled him into a hug so that he could hold his daughter and prevent her from falling, Anika chuckled to see Aishi's reaction who was still blank. 

"Whose this, baby?" They heard Jhanvi's voice asking Aishi questions, and she turned in his direction. 

"Daddy..." She called him in a shocking tone, Shivaay's body somersaulted when she called him daddy for the first time and locked her eyes with him, Anika and Jhanvi couldn't stop themselves from chuckling when Aishi looked at him for a brief time without moving her eyes to anything or anyone. He didn't expect this reaction, he thought she will cry or be shy around him. But this, looking at him without any pause. That moment, he got the real meaning of his existence lies in his daughter's eyes, he could see his future in her and he now got it, that he will live his life to his fullest. 

******