Bonus Chapter Three

500K READS!

WOAH!

I still can't believe this happened! Thanks a ton for your immense support.

The question— Till what age did you use to share the bed with your parents? I started sleeping alone when I was twelve. My sister still shares the bed with them. She's too scared to sleep alone!

– D I V Y A –

I raked my hand through my hairs and groaned.

This was not how I expected it to go!

The door of my room opened and Adarsh walked in. "Mam, there's a meeting with Reddy's at 12:15. You have your lunch scheduled with Mr Vinay Gupta at 2:30. Then there's a meeting with Rawat's, the textiles one, at 5 in evening. At 7, you have an appointment with Mr Ayaan Chauhan."

Dad wants to have lunch with me. Why? I don't want to listen to his rants again. He just wants to force me into taking over the company. I bet Dhruv's going through the same hard time. Atleast, I have knowledge about business, but he knows nothing.

Dhruv tried shoving the topic off by saying that— “I just had a baby and I need to give all my time to my children.” He literally took a 6 month long paternity leave after the birth of his daughter, both from hospital and dad's nagging.

Should I have another child just to save myself from taking over dad's company?

No!!

Dad's wish is better than an addition to four rascals!

"Is there no way to skip the lunch?" I looked into his eyes with hope and he sighed before shaking his head in negative, "How about you go there instead of me. I mean you're my assistant and the lunch is professional, so you could accompany him at my place."

"Mam, it's not possible. I promised my wife for a lunch." He spoke and I shook my head in disbelief. Serves him right! I pitied on him when he had to cancel his honeymoon because of urgent work. I guess I shouldn't have felt bad for him.

He married Srishti a month ago. I mean, it was surprising for everyone to imagine them as a couple. They're poles apart. Who knows how fire ignited between them?

Okay, I feel a little bad for them.

I'm not heartless.

They had to cancel their honeymoon.

But they're getting the leave they want after two weeks, hopefully.

"I'll take my leave." He said before walking out. I checked the time and closed my eyes. There was still a lot of time left to pick kids up.

Aanya is about to turn 9 in seven months. She is in third standard and excelled almost all the subjects except singing. When she sings her voice is too shrill and intolerable. But, her artistic skills are great. The way she paints and sketches, I wonder if she would become an artist in future.

The triplets Armaan, Ehaan and Nirvaan study in Upper KG. They'll turn 5 in two months. Not a day had gone without them pranking and making a mess of our house. They're the official troublemaker in our family and never fail to give me a headache.

And then, everyone says I love my daughter more!

Because Aanya deserves it and those troubles don't. They're more like Ayaan in every way. Same crazy like Ayaan!

The door of my room barged open and I opened my eyes to see who had the decency to walk in without knocking. As my gaze crossed him, I leaned my head back on the chair and rolled myself 360 degree.

"Just admit that you can't do it. You lose."

I chuckled and kept both my arms on the table. As he sat opposite to me, I leaned my head forward and smirked, "I am gonna win this. Just wait and watch." Although I hated every second of it, I couldn't lose. Especially from him.

He stood up and my gaze followed his steps as he walked towards me. I sat straight and raised my eyebrows when he stepped too close to me. His face neared to mine and I felt my breath pausing.

My eyes closed involuntarily as I felt his breath falling on my face. I waited and waited. When anticipation was too much to take, I opened my eyes and saw him smiling mischievously.

I am such a fool!

I stomped my feet on the floor and stood up to leave to bathroom. As I crossed him, I was pulled back with a strong force. He caged me between him and the table and placed his lips on mine. This time, I showed reluctance.

"Piggy!" He groaned and I stepped on his foot, leading him to shout.

"I told you not to call me by such names. And, you always do it deliberately in front of kids. You know, when someone asks them about their mother's name, they answer Mrs Piggy Chauhan. Just stop this rubbish or I'm gonna kill you!" I yelled and he chuckled, forcing me to crush his foot.

"Divya, relax." He picked a glass filled with water and pressed it on my mouth, "Have it, you'll feel good." I nodded and took a sip, "Just like a pig."

"Ayaan! You're going to die in my hands!" I kept the glass aside, pushed him away from me and held his hand to drag him out. Before I could throw him out of my room, he pushed me on the couch and barely took a second to hover over me.

"Sorry. Fine?" He spoke in his oh-so warm voice and I narrowed my eyes as he placed his lips on my neck.

"You know that it's not good to seduce your boss. It's a punishable act."

"You're my wife first. Boss comes second."

"I like to keep my personal and professional seperate. I hope you get this into your thick skull soon enough."

"Do you remember the time when you used to walk in my room whenever you were in mood? I was your boss and never said no to your demands. The thing you're doing now is injustice!"

"Your fault. I never told you to fall for my advances. Now leave."

"Divya, all I'm asking for is some time with my wife. Please don't snatch it from me." He blinked his eyes while swaying away fake tears. I took a deep sigh and kissed his cheeks.

"Fine?"

"Ofcourse not. That's not a kiss." He complained. I cupped his face and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "No, that wasn't even a proper kiss." He pounced upon me and joined his mouth with mine. I knew there was no stoppage now. I'm stubborn, and he's the next level.

My fingers slipped into his locks as he deepened the kiss. He grinded his lower body on mine and I grabbed his butt to pull him closer.

And then.

Bang!

We turned our heads back and looked towards the door which was now wide open. "Mam, there is some work. I... I'll come later. Sorry." Adarsh quickly rushed out and closed the door on his way. I turned back to look at Ayaan and gave him a glare.

He should've locked the door when he walked inside with his one and only intention!

He rested his head against mine and gave a sheepish smile, "Not my fault. He's your assistant. Teach him some ethics about knocking before entering." I rolled my eyes at his speech. Adarsh became my assistant three weeks ago, or better, I became his boss three weeks ago, which is going to end in two more weeks.

Ayaan and I made a bet four weeks ago.

We fought because of our work load. He told me that my work was easier than him and I told him the same. Hence, we were here.

I became the CEO unofficially for a month, ofcourse with the decision of board members. Ayaan was CEO for the world but I handled all the work.

Similarly, he handled my post. I actually laugh at it. It's practically possible for me to look upon Ceo's work. But how would he do mine?

Only he knows.

Hearing the sound of door opening, we again turned our heads towards the door. Ayaan was still lying over me as we saw Adarsh peeping in. "Sorry, but, this is urgent. On a second thought, office romance is restricted." He walked in and turned his back to us, giving us a moment to make us presentable.

"Get up!" I whisper yelled to Ayaan and he gave me a distasteful look before getting up.

××

Meeting with ‘Reddy's’ was done.

Lunch with dad was done. Sadly. He again striked the topic of me taking over his company.

Meeting with ‘Rawat's’ was checked.

The time was 6:50 now and I closed my eyes to take a short nap. It was a tiring day! As I felt a pair of hands slipping in my hairs and massaging it, my eyelids crawled up to check who it was. Someone known or not, the movement of hands in my scalp felt so good.

As my gaze went towards the pants he was wearing, I took a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. "Divya, shall we leave?"

"No, I guess I have an appointment at 7. I need to work late. If you're tired, you can go back."

"I know. So, shall we leave?"

I took a deep breath and leaned my head back on the chair. "Ayaan, I have an appointment in a few minutes. In which language do you want me to speak?" He chuckled and my brows raised high up in question. "What happened to you? Are you fine?" I kept my hand over his head to check his temperature.

"It's me who booked your precious time. Shall we leave?" My lips twitched high up as soon as I heard him. Why didn't he tell this to me beforehand? I was dying to go to home and meet our kids. "Didn't Adarsh tell you about your schedule?"

"He did but I didn't pay much attention to it." I smiled sheepishly and he shook his head in disbelief. Before he could say anything else, I clasped his hands with mine and picked my purse on the way to go out. "Let's go fast. I need to see if kids broke something today too."

Last week, they mistakenly hit a ball on mom's favourite antique piece, which she brought from the auction years ago. My Aanya was not included in them; she never causes destruction.

Day before yesterday, they broke a painting which Aanya had drawn when she was five. Recovering it was a huge task! When she scolded them for this issue, we decided to step back from the matter. There was no point in saving the boys after they made mistakes. They did wrong and they had to bear the consequences.

"Everything's fine at home. Mom called me a few minutes ago."

"Thank God." I sighed and turned towards him when I saw we were not driving in the direction to home. "Where are we going Ayaan?"

"It's a surprise. I didn't borrow your time for no reason."

Time passed by in me asking him to reveal everything and him dodging the matter off. He pressed the breaks as we reached one of the mall.

"Where are we going?"

"Patience, woman, patience." I rolled my eyes and he tangled his hands with mine before walking in. My eyes roamed around as we walked in one of our clothing stores. Staff shook their heads in greeting and I nodded in return. People were checking the dresses they wished to buy and some were going through custom details. All over, things were going good.

"Why are we here?"

"Get anything you want to?"

"I don't want to. I have enough clothes."

I don't want to waste my money.

"It's on me. We'll use my card." He said and my eyes shined.

"No going back! Promise?"

"Promise."

I ran through the dresses which I wanted to buy a few days ago but were out of my budget. Not budget actually; I didn't want to let go of my hard-earned money. I mean, I could buy them easily with his card but I didn't want to use his money after the great fight we had.

Using his card gave me a different kind of satisfaction!

I picked a few clothes for kids, which wasn't a hassle-free task. From checking the fabric and quality to design, it took most of time. Picking a shirt and a few briefs of Ayaan's size, I ran to the billing counter where he stood.

"Done?" I hummed and gave everything for the billing. He walked to me and leaned his head to my ears. "I told you to shop for yourself, not kids and me."

"The kids section looked so pretty and fabric was good too. As for you, your underwears are getting too old. That's the reason I bought you new ones." I told him and heard the cashier girl giggling.

"There was no need to shout it aloud." I showed him all my teeth and handed him the fifteen shopping bags. He couldn't blame me for the amount of shopping, he asked me to do it. Keeping all the bags at back, we sat in the car and he started driving. "Your mood's fine now, right?"

"What happened to me? I remember I was fine the entire day." I turned my head towards him when the thought crossed my mind, "Did something happen at home again? Tell me A-"

"Would you like to have some samosas?" I raised my brows at his failed pitch, "Or burgers? Pizza? Momos? Chhole bhature? Pav bhaji..."

"All of them. But answer me first."

"Actually... Nirvaan and Armaan fought with three children in school. Ehaan wasn't involved in the battle, trust me. And they broke another art piece of mom."

Ehaan wasn't involved in fight?

Strange!

He's the one who's more short tempered among the three. Ehaan is sweet at times but his anger is at another level. It takes him a chocolate to cool down.

Armaan is a bit stubborn, but he understands things when we tell him what's right and wrong. Being the eldest of all brothers, he took it as a moral responsibility to take care of the younger two.

Nirvaan is everyone's shehzada. He took qualities of both his brothers. He does get angry sometimes. He's quiet most of the time but when he opens his mouth, we can expect something meaningful.

When they stay together, we're always ready to face an explosion. They've turned our world upside down in these five years. Them having similar faces doesn't help us either. They look absolutely same as Ayaan when he was five. It was another thing that I hated that face in childhood but loved the same features on our kids.

The irony!

"Who told you they had a fight in school?"

"Their principal called me."

"All this happened, and you didn't care to inform me!"

"You were stressed with work. I didn't want to burden you with another problem." I released a deep sigh and leaned my head back on the seat. When I closed my eyes, I heard him saying, "Dont worry, I went to their school and resolved the matter. Everything's fine now."

"I don't trust you with such matters. I remember what you did the last time." When a fight happened last time, we were urgently called to their school. Our kids were clearly at fault but instead of scolding them, he showed his immense support towards their bravery.

"That was another thing. Trust me, everything's good at home."

I scolded him all the time about not disclosing the matter to me while he defended himself until we reached home.

As we walked inside our home, our gaze went toward the boys and their grandmother. Mom sat on the couch opposite to them and made them do their homework. Aanya sat adjacent to them and was busy filling colours in her sketchbook. The quiet atmosphere looked strange.

Too strange to digest!

I walked to mom and leaned down to her ears, "Mom, how're they so quiet?" It was a magic! I never knew mom is a magician.

"Relax. Don't start scolding them. I've already taught them much." Mom whispered and I nodded. Ayaan and I excused ourselves to our room to get fresh.

As soon as we reached the bathroom, he put his hand beneath the tap to wash and turned to me. "Did you see that strange sight?"

"I did. I mean, as much as they're yours, my blood runs in their veins too. I know enough manners and I guess that's what's working in them. It is rare to see, but not impossible."

"Not impossible!" He mimicked me and I elbowed him. I walked to the cupboard to bring my clothes and picked a pair of his when he asked me to. "Do you think it is their regret or another plan to create a havoc?"

"How would I know? I'm their mother, not a partner in their crime!"

Time easily passed by and it was almost time to sleep. We had already eaten the dinner and filled our stomachs. I walked into the kids' room to put them to bed and came through a quiet, neat and clean sight.

What the hell was happening today?

Nothing much. Maybe the world turned upside down.

They wanted a seperate room and gave the reason that they're growing up. I mean, I could've believed it if it was Aanya who came with the idea first. But no, our four year olds needed privacy. I know, it was more than that.

It was all because of us, Ayaan and me. We've been too touchy sometimes which no kid likes to see, ours are no exception. Maybe that's what forced them to shift into another room.

Another reason was the personal play space they got to hide their toys which everyone gifted them. The brothers never like to share their toys with any other child, not even with Diya's or Natasha's children.

Nirvaan walked to me and sat on my lap. "Mumma, I'm sleepy. Good night." I wrapped my arms around his tiny body and patted his back to make him sleep faster. My gaze went towards Ehaan and Armaan who were giggling inside the sheets with Aanya.

"Aanya, beta, did you complete your homework?" Aanya peeped her head out of the blanket and answered in a big yes. "Can you all tell me what happened in school today?"

"Nothing mumma." Armaan answered and I pinched his toes lightly. "Arnav and his gang forced us. They stole our drawings. I didn't want to beat them, but they're too bad."

I could understand what he wanted to say. It took them total three days to complete their drawings. They were irritated with their school work for the first two days but finished it at last. It was Aanya whom they requested for help. Why wouldn't she when it was her hobby?

"So, you fought with them? You could've complained to your teacher. I told you not to use your hand–"

"We used our legs."

What?

"You did what?"

"I used my legs and Nirvaan beat them with his bum."

My child did what?

He fought with his BUM to save support his brother in the battle!

"I didn't do anything mumma, I promise. You told me not to get into fights." Ehaan said and I sighed. Placing the sleeping Nirvaan on bed, I crawled to them. They immediately lied besides me and Aanya sat in the space between my legs.

"I trust you, my good boy. Now go to sleep." I told Ehaan and turned to Armaan, "When I tell you not to use your hands, it applies to your legs and bum too. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Did you pee and use the lip balm?"

"Yes."

"Go to sleep."

"Mumma..." Aanya handed me oil and I quickly took it from her. Picking her up in my arms, I walked to her bed which was adjacent to the large-size bed used to accommodate boys. As I massaged her head with oil, she sighed and leaned her head back.

"Divya, Diya called you." Ayaan walked in with my phone and handed it to me, "I was in bathroom when the call came... Massage my head too." I called Diya and kept the phone on speaker while my fingers worked on my daughter's scalp.

"Hello, auntie." Krish greeted from the other side and I returned him the same. "Can you pass the phone to Aanya?"

"Sure." I slid the phone to Aanya and she raised her brows.

"Hi!" Aanya mumbled and Ayaan looked at me accusingly. I braided her hairs and tied the end with band. I stood up and walked to Ayaan.

"Is this the time to talk? Tell him that our daughter won't wake up till late." Ayaan whispered and I rolled my eyes. He was overhyping the matter. An innocent child was just trying to talk to his friend, he asked nothing more. To me, Moksh and Krish were just like my own sons.

"I'm not fat, you are!" Aanya shouted and we turned to her. "Look, mumma... Krish is calling me fat." I took the phone from her and heard another voice in background.

"I'm sorry on his behalf auntie. Krish is mad. I'M NOT MAD, YOU ARE!" Hearing two voices at a time, I took a deep breath.

"Where is your mother?"

"She's sleeping."

"Moksh, Krish, go to sleep. It's too late. Okay? Bye."

"Bye! BYE!"

I hugged Aanya and lied beside her. "Did you fight with Krish?"

"Hmm... He's stupid." Ayaan settled on the other side of bed and looked at me. I blinked my eyes, signalling him to be quiet. After checking that all four of them were asleep, we went back to our room and got to bed.

"I'm telling you, Divya. These boys are not good. I know they're Shrey's sons but I can't support them. A father's heart knows everything."

"Ayaan! They don't have bad intentions. They're her friends, and friends fight a lot."

"Don't you remember how Moksh hurt her in the temple?" Seriously? They were just four when he accidentally tripped and made her fall with him. It wasn't planned, he hurt himself too. "Don't you remember when Krish slapped her?" They were barely two at that time. Once, they started slapping each other and Ayaan could see only Krish's fault.

"You know what, go to sleep!" I shouted and turned to the other side.

Idiot!

Not even a few seconds had passed after our argument when his hand crawled into my t-shirt. As his palm touched my skin, I slapped his hand and he shouted. Instead of withdrawing back, his hands travelled high up and hugged the life out of me.

"I'm sorry. But trust me, I can't see anyone saying mean things to our daughter. I care for her. She's too young to see through people and know who's right and who's wrong."

I tried pulling his hand off me but failed terribly. With all the patience I had, I turned to him. "I was barely four when I met you. Did my dad stop me from interacting with you? No."

"But-"

"Our daughter is running in her eighth year. You can't expect her to not talk to her friends and stay at home. She needs a normal life. Even if she has a boyfriend, I would encourage her."

"Aanya's just eight. Why would she have a boyfriend?"

"I'm talking about future." I said and he made a I'm-not-interested face. "Answer me, did my dad ever stop me to interact with you or any other kid in my childhood?"

"He didn't."

"That's what I want you to do. Our daughter is growing and she needs her privacy. Now, she's eight. It won't take her much time to be fifteen, then twenty five. Let her learn from her mistakes. You can't spoonfeed her for life."

"Okay, I get it. Shall we talk about us now?"

"What?"

"It will be ten years to our wedding in a month. Aren't you excited?"

"Excited? I know you from three decades. You don't excite me anymore."

"I. Don't. Excite. You... Really?" He asked with a challenging look and I shook my head.

"Yes." His hand trailed down from my back and slipped into my bottoms. As his warm palm gripped my ass, my eyes widened. "Ayaan!"

"Tell me, if I thrill you or not?"

"No, you don't."

"Shall I make some jalebi for you?"

"Yes."

"So, do I excite you?"

"If it gives you happiness, yes, you do." He smiled and pulled me entirely over him.

"I love you."

He very well knows how to manipulate me.

But it happens only when I'm ready.

"I love you too. But my jalebi?"

"I'll arrange them tomorrow. Okay?" His arms wrapped around my waist and his head settled in the crook of my neck. His lips worked on my neck and I controlled myself from moaning any type of sound.

"You're a traitor! You promised me for now. You can't leave my taste buds hanging."

"You're impossible! Let's go and fry your oil-filled jalebis."

"No word against jalebi. Wait, what? You're going to make it now?"

"Ofcourse. What could I do when my wife is too demanding?" He sighed and stood up.

"I'll help you with a head massage."

"Really?" I shook my head vigorously and a big smile touched his face. "Do it now. My head really needs it."

"Sure, but let's prepare my sweet first!"

*****

TIED TOGETHER BY LOVE 💍

Our babies have turned 36. 😭

Their babies are 8 (Aanya) and almost 5 (Armaan, Ehaan and Nirvaan).

Dhruv's 40 and a father to two (a son— Atharv and a daughter— unnamed!)

How did the chapter go? Trust me, completing this huge chapter took hell of a time. I've lost the habit to write longer chapters.

I had my Economics final today, and statistics is shit!

Bye bye...