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I find it difficult to comprehend the sudden onset of these events in my heart. After all this, I had forgotten how to live, so why is this happening suddenly? It appears as though I may have only recently begun to experience life.

~I will reiterate that there is nothing wrong with this because there is nothing wrong with loving your life partner, especially when he respects you so much and pays you so much attention. Your love for him is extremely precious.

Papa, I am very scared.

~And I have to tell you that you should now leave your fear behind and become that same Avishka again, who was never afraid... You are very brave...

You were my strength, and as long as you were there, I was not afraid of anyone. I had only learned to fight for myself. But now that you've all left me, all I can feel is fear. You want me to live, but even in this life, I feel scared all the time.

~That is why I am telling you that you are not made to be afraid. You are the one who can scare even fear. I never taught you to be afraid, I taught you to fight. And I am proud of you that you have always been fighting for yourself. Today, when you have a storehouse of happiness, you do not want to accept it just because of your fear. Throw away this fear from yourself and then once again spread your arms and feel your happiness. Then you will know how much happier you can be.

Avishka starts looking very closely at Prakram, who is doing very intense exercise, and then closes her eyes for a few seconds. A few drops of tears naturally trickle down her cheeks, and she utters these words to herself.

"You instilled courage in me and taught me how to face the world. My family was my courage, because of which I always used to fight, but after losing you all, my courage has also been lost somewhere. You used to drive my fear away from me. You all were my courage; I lost you all... That is why I gave up my courage too. I have experienced the agony of being completely alone, helpless, and possessing nothing but an empty palm....How do I explain to you that yes, everything is very good, everything is very beautiful, and happiness is all around me? But you people are not around me or in my life. I lost you people, and because of me, I lost you people. How can I embrace this happiness when I know that I have lost everything because of me. I have lost it because of this beauty."

She looks at Prakram, who has finished his exercise. She knows that he is going to come inside soon. She turns and sits near Aashi, caressing her head very lovingly. Seeing her smile, she says softly to her.

"Neither am I afraid of loving you, nor can anyone stop me; I love you very much, and my life is completely incompletewithout you... You are the only truth for me... I love you, my sweet daughter.... Mumma loves you so much.”

CHAPTER 44

She lovingly kisses Aashi's forehead and calls her very lovingly.

"Aashi….”

As soon as Aashi hears her mother's voice, gently stirring in her sleep, she immediately finds her and grabs her saree. With a smile, she calls her again.

"Aashu… My sweet daughter, wake up."

With her second call, a very sweet smile appears on Aashi's face, seeing which Avishka also starts smiling. After finishing his exercise, Prakram had come inside, and he was looking at both of them while wiping his sweat on the towel. He is very surprised to see Avishka in a saree; his feet unintentionally move towards her. Even before Aashi opens her eyes, he comes and sits behind Avishka, and this time he calls out for Ashi.

"Aashi…"

Avishka's focus was solely on Aashi, and as a result, she was unaware that Prakram was approaching and sitting next to her. However, as soon as Prakram called Aashi, she immediately turned back to him. Prakram was already very surprised to see her in a saree because, since coming here, she has not worn anything except a suit, but after looking at her face, he is mesmerized with her beauty: her wet hair, Kohl-filled eyes, very light tinted lips, especially the bright vermilion in her hair partition. Upon closer inspection, it's evident that she applied it just a short while ago. Both of them were looking at each other,and they were not paying attention to the fact that Aashi was looking at them and smiling.

"Mumma papa…"

Aashi immediately calls out to both of them. Both of them look at her together. Aashi rises and approaches them with her arms wide open. She hugs Avishka and also holds Prakram. As a result, Prakram enfolds Avishka in his arms, hugs Aashi, and also embraces Avishka from behind.

Prakram was still not wearing a shirt, and because the back neck of Avishka's blouse was slightly deeper than the line of her suit, their skin touched, causing a sudden sensation of a current to run through their bodies. But Aashi has put her arms tightly around Prakram's neck while holding Avishka, due to which she is not leaving her father, so both of them are not getting separated from each other at all. Feeling his touch in such a way, Avishka finds herself in a different kind of experience that she has never felt before. Prakram cuddles with Avishka every day because of Aashi, but to date, he has completely restrained himself from all kinds of feelings. But today, seeing her close to him like this, he feels a bit deluded.

"Papa, when will we go for a trip?”

Both of their attention goes to Aashi, who has left them, but they were so engrossed that they did not pay any attention to the fact that Aashi has not hugged them and is sitting in front of them. Prakram quickly leaves Avishka. When he moves away from her, she stands up from the bed and starts handling things there, as if this work is very important. After listening to Aashi, Prakram takes her in his arms and makes her sit on his lap. It has been more than a month since he came here, and as soon as his work is completed, they will go back to India. He knows that his workburden is going to be reduced in a few days, so he says this to Aashi smilingly.

“My work will be done in a few days, and then after that, I will take you here for a nice tour, and I have planned a very nice surprise for you."

"Promise…"

"Promise…"

Whenever Avishka hears the father-daughter conversation, a smile automatically appears on her face. She is well aware that Aashi will now accompany her father to the swimming pool inside the cottage, where the water is often lukewarm, leading to a significant amount of playtime for both the father and daughter. Prakram says this while lifting Aashi in his arms.

"Come, my mermaid... We will enjoy today so much."

Ever since Aashi had jumped into the water, Prakram had become very conscious of the thing; hence, while buying the cottage, he had taken extreme care that there should be a swimming pool here. He tries his best to teach her to swim whenever he has time. She was able to learn swimming, and after coming here, he has tried a lot to ensure that Aashi learns all this as soon as possible, and his hard work has paid off. Aashi is not very good but has learned to swim a little, due to which there is a lot of satisfaction, and he knows that due to continuous practice she will soon improve her swimming skills.

Avishka leaves both father and daughter and quickly goes to the kitchen because she enjoys making new things for Aashi every day. Prakram knows her hobbies very well, which is why he deliberately buys a lot of books here. So whenever Avishka is free from some work and Aashi is busy somewhere else, she oftensits down with books and reads them for hours. Simultaneously, she engages in daily conversations with Vishnu and Padma, which consistently brings Avishka joy. While working in the kitchen, Avishka can hear Prakram and Aashi screaming loudly, which makes her happy. However, she has been playing in the swimming pool for a while, and her breakfast is almost ready. As a result, she immediately goes to the swimming pool with a towel and tells Aashi.