19. MISSING!!!

IN DIXIT’S RESIDENCE

There is a lot of hustle-bustle because today, the Dixit’s held a small holy ceremony for their little angel as she completed two months happily. They kept this ceremony to keep the evil eye away from her, unknown to the storm which is coming towards them. 

Malhotra’s are also present there with their little happiness Manik, who is playing with Arjun and Nandini. 

Arjun and Manik are surrounding Nandini’s crib and making her smile by making weird-weird faces.

Manik:- ( poking her cheeks ) uh…..nanhi….

Arjun:- ( palming his face ) uff….. Her name is NANDINI…… not NANHI..

Manik:- ( cutely while denying ) no….nanhi….. My nanhi….. 

Arjun:- no…..she is not yours. She is my sister, only mine. 

Innaya interrupts them and pulls Manik away from Nandini. But he jerked her hand hard because his little mind alerted her that she is SEPARATING HIM FROM NANDINI. 

Innaya:- co..m we …..play, manik. ( come Manik, we will play together ) 

Manik:- no…… mani…. play…wi …t…..nanhi. ( no,…. Manik will play with Nandini only ) 

Jerking her hand he runs away leaving her teary eyes. 

Innaya:- mum…. No one …..ply….with me…..from…..she comes. ( Mumma, no one plays with me from when she { pointing towards Nandini } comes here )

Her mother comes there running, seeing her daughter’s tears, and listens to her complaint. 

Avantika:- don’t worry baby. Today, I will snatch everything from this girl ( while looking at Nandini with venom ) 

Saying this she goes inside taking innaya to attend the pooja but not before messaging someone that “PLAN IS ON”. 

All the members of the family are attending this small ceremony. Nandini is also here and looking around with her big doe eyes. Krishna is taking care of all the kids as everyone is busy with other guests. But she is extra attentive towards Nandini. Don’t know why but her motherly instinct is giving her negative vibes. Ya, she is not her biological mother but she loves her to the moon and back. She got some unknown emotional attachment with her within a short period of time. 

After the small ceremony, all of them enjoy the delicious lunch unknown to the deeds which are happening behind their back. 

As all the members of the family are busy together and Nandini is alone in her room because Krishna is heating the milk for her. Avantika sneaks inside her room and picks up sleeping Nandini with a devilish grin.  

Avantika:- tch….tch… sorry baby you have to leave this house…..( palming her mouth dramatically ) sorry…… THIS WORLD. But don’t worry your aunt made a beautiful arrangement for your stay in heaven. Bye…. bye…. Until we meet again, princess. 

Saying this she sneaks her outside the house without anyone’s notice and hands her to a strange-looking man. 

Avantika:- take her….. And go away before anyone sees you. Do you know what you have to do? 

Man:- yes, mam I know. 

Avantika:- hmm….. But make sure that nothing went wrong or else forget about your money. 

Man:- don’t worry mam, I am an expert in this work. 

Saying this he takes the basket from Avantika’s hand in which Nandini is smiling and making a cute “O” face unknown to the fact that her life is in danger. 

Inside all the members are enjoying Arjun and little manik’s fight who is fighting over their little angel. 

Manik:- ( angrily ) min… nanhi…… ( mine nandini ) 

All smiles hearing his cute angry tone who is claiming Nandini as his.

Arjun:- no..no… she is my sister only mine!

Manik turns his head angrily, showing his anger at him. 

Varsha:- aw…. See Manu is getting possessive for Nandini.  

Yashoda:- Thu…Thu…. Kisi ki Nazar na lage mere Bache ko. ( may God keep the evil eye away from my babies ) 

Vishamber:- Yashoda, I will guarantee you that my decision to marry Manik to Nandini will bring happiness in his life and in our house too. Manish, you will see how much my Manik will love your Nandini? He will keep your granddaughter like a queen, HIS QUEEN. 

Everyone admires manik’s little possessiveness for his new friend but their small happiness comes to hold when Krishna comes there while huffing badly because of running. Seeing her state everyone looks at her with frowns. 

Krishna:- madam, nandu baby apne room mai nahi h….. ( mam, Nandini is not present in her room. )

Kiran:- kya Matlab hai tumhara? Woh Kaha jayegi? Nandini Sirf do mahine ki hai….. Use toh chalna Bhi nahi aata. ( what do you mean by “she is not in her room”? Where will she go? { nodding her head in disbelief } she is just a two-month-old baby……. She doesn’t even know how to crawl…. )

Krishna:- ( worriedly ) mujh par Vishwas kijiye madam, Maine nandu baby ko har jagah dhunda par woh kahi nahi h. ( trust me, madam, I look for her everywhere but Nandu baby is not anywhere ) 

This makes everyone worried about where their princess went? They all stood up and ran to look for Nandini but they all came out with disappointment. 

Divya:- ( crying ) oh god…. Where is my Nandini? Ajay, where will she go?…. She is just a baby….

She is crying and wants to see her daughter safe and sound. Her husband hugs and consoles her. 

Ajay:-  don’t worry…. Divya. We will find her. She will be here …….. Maybe in the garden with a servant. You know na she loves to play in the garden. 

They all run into the garden and look for Nandini but there is no clue about her. Till now Arjun is a crying mess whereas Manik looks at everyone’s teary face with a sad look because he doesn’t know why everyone is crying. His little mind is clueless about everything but one thing is clear to him that his new friend NANDINI is missing. 

Manik:- ( cutely ) maa, nanhi? I pla..y with her. ( maa, where is nanhi..? I want to play with her )

Varsha:- shh….. Manik…. Nanhi is sleeping in her room. 

Listening to this the little Manik kept silent. 

Krishna:- ( worriedly ) I think we should file a missing complaint about nandu. 

Listening to this Avantika went pale. 

Avantika:- what is the need of filing the complaint? She must be here and playing around with someone. Don’t you guys know how much she loves to play? 

Prakash:- she is right. We must look for her around. 

Manish:- we already checked each corner of the house but she is not here. I think we should file a complaint before anything happens to our princess. 

Arjun:- ( crying hard while hugging his grandmother who is also crying instead of making him quiet ) I want my baby….. Dadi…. Please bring her back. 

Elders cry more seeing Arjun’s state which is worse than anyone. 

Without thinking twice they filed a complaint and the police started looking for their princess. Malhotra’s are also there with them for their moral support. 

On the other hand, the man who was taking Nandini to an unknown location suddenly met with an accident. Maybe God has some other plan for the little angel. 

The accident is so severe that the driver died on the spot, but Nandini is all safe by God’s grace. Soon the rain started pouring on the car and because of the broken front glass, the water started collecting inside Nandini’s basket making her drench.

Her sleep broke because of the rain and soon the area echoed with her cries. But no one will listen or help her because of the deserted road. With time her cries went silent and her hands and legs also stopped working. She becomes lifeless. 

After almost half an hour a car in which a young couple was traveling stopped seeing the scenario. They move towards the car and notice a dead body which is leaning on the driver seat and the small baby who is almost sinking in the water-filled basket. Seeing the baby’s condition the couple freaked out and they moved towards the baby. 

The man:- Roshni, pick up the baby. We have to take her to the hospital before it gets late. 

The lady i.e. Roshni immediately picks up the baby and starts rubbing her back and tries every possible way to get any reaction from her but nothing works. 

Roshni:- Suraj, we must inform the police about the accident and the baby. 

Suraj:- yaa….. But I think for now the baby’s health is more important. I will inform the police after reaching the hospital. 

They reached the hospital and admitted the baby to the emergency while Suraj informed the police. The couple decided to wait there till the baby’s family arrived. 

In Dixit’s house, It’s been 8 hours and there is no clue regarding Nandini. No one had a morsel in these hours. But soon the news came which gave them happiness but next second it snatched the floor. 

The inspector:- Mr.Dixit, my team found a baby who is looking just like your baby. You guys have to come with us to confirm. 

Hearing this, there is no end to Dixit’s happiness, but Avantika looks frustrated because her plan failed. 

Manish:- yes, we will come. Where do we have to go?

The inspector:- HOSPITAL. 

Krishna:- ( on the verge of crying ) HOSPITAL!! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY NANDU?

Hearing the word hospital Avantika smirks inwardly whereas others are just looking at the inspector and trying to digest the news. 

To be continued…