OS : Daddy & Baby Raizada

This an OS written by Molten Lava. I read this by chance and loved it soo much & thought to share. I found this at India Forums. Link to this post

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2789429

Hey Guys, I'm back with another OS. This time it is completely different from my other OS's. After such a crappy Valentine's day , I needed to write something other than romantic stuff. As the title reads, this is only about Arnav and his baby Girl. 

Now I had imagined it completely different before writing it. But somehow, now after finishing it, I feel like I have written utter crap and couldn't do justice to it. And now I'm scared to send PM's because I want to convince myself first, that it isn't as bad as it seems.

As you read it, you will realize that it is very similar to what every father experiences with his baby. And I feel that the father- daughter relationship is one of the best in the world. So here you go.

Warning: Contains absolutely no Arhi romance. Just saying 

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Arnav glanced at the clock beside him. The green fluorescent digits showed 3:00 a.m. He slowly turned around to see his wife, Khushi sleeping peacefully beside him. Even in the dark, she was looking like an angel, her beauty beyond comparison with anyone for him.

He was still lost in the thoughts of his wife, when suddenly he heard the other angel in his life crying out loudly, bringing him back to his senses. Oh No! he only had thirty seconds before his Khushi would wake up to the sound of their baby crying. He got up from the bed and wore his flip-flops and ran across to the other end of the room where the cradle was kept.

He looked at his 6 month old daughter, who was now beginning to make weird faces while crying.

Arnav- "Sshh, Cookie, Sshh..." he tried to pacify his daughter, before lifting her up in his arms and hurried outside their room lest Khushi be disturbed.

Today, just before dinner, he had observed the dark circles under the eyes of Khushi. She looked tired and sleep deprived. She had spent sleepless nights over the past few weeks. Their daughter had been determined to disturb their sleep over the past few weeks by waking up every night at 3:00 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep for the next two hours. Even during the day, he had heard Khushi mention that she wasn't sleeping and that she used to trouble her everytime. That was so typical of his daughter. Afterall, she was Khushi's daughter. Thinking about it, brought a huge smile on his face.

But today, he had decided that he would allow Khushi to sleep peacefully and look after the diaper and feeding duties of Cookie. Afterall, for these past six months, Khushi had made sure that Arnav's sleep wouldn't be disturbed by his crying daughter.

He took Cookie and went to the guest room beside their bedroom and laid her on the bed. Cookie, that was what he had nicknamed her, since she was born. She was so cute and adorable, that he felt like nibbling her just like a Cookie.

The baby had still not stopped crying. Afterall, she was waiting for her diaper to be changed.

Arnav- "Patience, my dear Cookie, Patience!" he said in an animated tone, before he slowly began to undress her. He had never changed a diaper before, because Khushi was always ready for that. But he had seen Khushi do it. Afterall, how hard could it be? He thought amusedly. He slowly pulled open the sticker strap of the diaper.

Arnav- "You Bad Girl!" he said wagging his finger. "You pooped in your diaper." He said furrowing his eyebrows. Something about his expression made the little girl chuckle out in laughter and stop crying.

Just as he was about to lift the baby's legs to remove the diaper, he realized he had forgotten to bring wet wipes and clean diaper from his room. His eyes suddenly grew wide in panic at this new situation. Since the soiled diaper was already undone, how could he take the baby along with him to the room without cleaning her first. He banged his head with his fist, realising his foolish mistake.

No need to panic, Arnav , he thought to himself. Suddenly, an idea flashed to his mind. He took all the pillows lying on the bed and made a physical boundary across all the sides of the baby, so that she wouldn't roll over and fall down. Yes, this was a perfect idea, he thought to himself.

Arnav- "Cookie! Daddy's gonna be right back!" he said before kissing her on her chest and sprinted back to his room. It was dark but if he switched on the light, Khushi would wake up. So he slowly made his way towards the cupboard and started searching for all the things required. When he found it all, he dashed back to the guest room.

Cookie was still lying in the same position on the bed. Phew! He thanked his luck. If at all , his wife would come to know that he had left their daughter unattended for a few minutes, he would have been definitely thrashed black and blue.

He went towards the baby, and slowly removed the soiled diaper and kept it aside. Oh god! This was disgusting. He wondered how Khushi was able to manage all this stuff by herself. She is one great woman, he thought to himself.

He took the wet wipes and started cleaning the baby's bottom. He saw that Cookie was enjoying this a lot, as she began chuckling with more laughter.

Arnav- "Looks like you aren't clean yet." He said frowning observing the baby. "Come let's take you to the washroom." He lifted her in one arm and made his way to the wash basin where he let the warm water flow on the baby's soft bottom, as he cleaned it.

The baby was enjoying the water session, but soon it started getting all messy as she started kicking her legs violently in the air, spraying water all across Arnav's clothes.

Arnav- "You naughty Girl!" he said while glaring at her with huge eyes. Looked like his daughter got the message because she became silent after that.

He took her back to the bed and wiped her dry. Now what was the next thing Khushi did, he started wondering. Oh! Yes! The baby powder. He took the container in his hand and started shaking it. But nothing fell from the container.  He shook it violently, and then the lid flew across the bed, causing the atleast half of the powder in the box, to sprinkle on his face and the baby's body.

"Dammit!" he panicked as he tried to blow away the powder, causing it to sprinkle on his wet black shirt. He grabbed all the wet wipes and wiped away the powder from the baby's body.

This only caused the baby to get more excited and she started wriggling her hands and legs as if cheering her Daddy with amusement. Finally, when the baby was clean, he took out the diaper, staring at it for a whole minute. Now which is the front side, he wondered rotating it around trying to figure it out. He grabbed the whole packet of diapers to read for directions.

After experimenting for five minutes, he finally figured it out.

Arnav- "Yippie! Give me a Hi- fi!" he said offering his palm. Cookie just stared at him unable to understand what she was supposed to do. So he took her tiny arm and Hi-fied it with his own palm. He couldn't help coochie coo her soft tiny feet. They were pink in colour. Not only her feet, but even her chubby cheeks had a pink hue. Just like her mother, he thought to himself. He couldn't prevent himself from tickling  her belly and her feet. She began giggling continuously, making him laugh along with her.

Arnav- "Now which dress will my Cookie wear? Blue one or Pink one?" he asked the tiny angel holding both the baby dresses, one in each arm. "Hmm.. let's see. Daddy thinks blue will look good on my Cookie, right?" And she nodded her head as if she understood his every word.

After dressing her up, he realised that her stomach was growling with hunger. So he picked her up in his arms and went downstairs into the kitchen, to prepare infant formula.

Now where did Khushi keep the formula powder?

Cookie started to get cranky and started weeping once again. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 3:45 a.m. Maybe she was really hungry. He went through all the cabinets and finally found the right one, which had all the baby food.

"What the!" was all he could say looking at huge collection of tins. It looked like Khushi had brought the whole supermarket section home.

Arnav- "Cookie, I have no idea what would you like but I'm sure you can forgive your Daddy for the first time right?" he murmured before blindly picking up one of the tins. Still holding her in one arm, and balancing the pan in another arm, he poured all the ingredients and stirred it. Now his daughter was wailing at the top of her voice. He tried to silence her. At this rate, everyone in the house would wake up at her noise.

Arnav- "Don't cry, don't cry" was all he could say. He never liked it when the women in his life cried. He couldn't bear to see tears in their eyes. He tried all the antics to stop her from crying ranging from making funny faces to singing songs. But still she wouldn't stop crying. Finally, in a last attempt, he threw her up in the air, before catching her a second later.

Yes, she stopped crying. Atleast, she became silent. So he repeated the action once again. This time she let out a chuckle. He tried it for the third time, and she burst out laughing.  She seemed to enjoy it. So he repeated it again and again, till he felt his hands ache with the repeated action.

He glanced at the vessel on the gas burner. It looked ready. All he had to do was wait for it to cool. But Cookie wanted more action. She made an angry pouty face when he stopped throwing her in the air. So she grabbed a handful of his hair in her tiny fist and started pulling it.

Arnav- "Ow!" he said, before glaring at her with huge eyes. She glared back at him as if to prove that she was his daughter and no less than her father.

Arnav- "So you want to get even Huh! Well try this!" he said as he began rubbing his stubble on her soft cheek. He knew she hated it the most, when his rough patch scrubbed her soft cheek. Instantly, he saw her lower lip curl downwards and a minute later, he heard soft sobs escaping her tiny throat.

But he couldn't bear to see her weep. Even though his hands were still aching, he threw her once again, up in the air and caught her and then he immediately saw her frown replace with a huge smile. He placed a warm kiss on his daughter's chubby cheek and her soft hair.

He filled the bottle with the baby formula, checking whether it was at the correct temperature and decided to go upstairs to feed her. He entered the guest room and made himself comfortable on the bed and cradled her in his arms against his chest. Just when he was about to insert the bottle's nipple inside her mouth, he realized she was refusing to open her mouth. He tried again and again but in vain.

Arnav- "Cookie!" he forced the bottle inside but she pushed it away with her tongue. Was the taste weird? He opened the bottle and poured a little of the contents inside his mouth. It tasted good. Then what was the problem. He tried to feed her once again. Still she refused.

He tried to remember the times, Khushi was feeding her. He ransacked his brain trying to recollect details about Cookie's food pattern.

Ofcourse! He suddenly remembered Khushi telling him, that Cookie never began drinking the infant formula without having a spoon of Apple Puree. He immediately got up from the bed and hurried to his bedroom with Cookie in his arms. He saw that Khushi was still deep asleep on their bed.

He searched the table for that little jar. He knew Khushi always kept it handy for situations like this. He quickly grabbed it and ran back to the guest room.

He once again sat back on the bed and fed her a spoonful of the Apple Puree. This time she gladly  opened her mouth and happily licked the spoon. He saw her clap her hands together indicating a victory sign for her Daddy. He smiled at her thinking about the stubbornness she had inherited from him.  This time she happily accepted the infant formula and drank it.

Half an hour passed before she completed the entire bottle. By the time she had finished, Arnav's eyes were half way down due to sleep. Only when she started pushing away the bottle from his hand, he woke up from his slumber. He was feeling really sleepy now, with his hands still aching.

But he remembered Khushi tell him, he had to make sure the baby burped after drinking milk. Or else she would vomit back the whole thing. He remembered how Akash had once enthusiastically held her in his arms to play with her, only for her to puke on him the next minute. He shuddered at that thought. So he quickly stood up and put her on his chest, her head resting on his shoulder and started rubbing her back.

He rubbed for whole of five minutes but the burp never came. He started to panic thinking he had committed an error on his part. He held her in his arms and looked into her face. She looked normal. No signs of distress. She was actually smiling at him. And then he heard a loud burp. He stared at her in amazement at how such a small body could produce such a loud sound. Then he remembered Khushi who was no less than a tornado herself. Afterall, she was her daughter.

Arnav- "Just like your mother!" he whispered before he put her back on his chest.

Then he felt his back go warm and wet and horror flashed across his eyes. He pulled her back to see her face and with the weird expressions on his daughter's face, he knew she had puked.

Never had he felt so grossed out before.

Arnav- "Oh! Cookie! No. No. NO!" he groaned out with utter disbelief. He ran to the washroom and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was complete mess. With the baby powder all across his shirt and now the vomit, he looked gross.

He slowly slid the shirt away from his body and threw it to a corner. He wiped the baby's face clean. And then the most unexpected thing occurred.

She slightly bent down from his arms and brushed her wet lips on his cheek, flashing him a sheepish smile, as if apologising for her deeds. Instantly, Arnav felt his heart melt down with love, unfelt before.

Arnav- "My Cookie, Daddy still loves you" he said in an animated voice before reciprocating back with a kiss on her cheek. Even if you puke on him, he murmured under his breath.

For the next ten minutes, he contemplated on whether to wear a new shirt from his room, when he realized that his daughter was nicely cuddled up against his warm chest and dozed off to sleep. Phew! Atleast he didn't have to sing her a lullaby to put her to sleep. Gosh! He didn't know a single lullaby to sing for his baby girl. Now that is a very disappointing thing Mr. Raizada, he thought to himself.

He stealthily tiptoed into his room and tried to place her in her cradle. But the minute he separated her from his body, she began to whimper. He cuddled her once more, before she began starting to cry. She looked at him with sleepy eyes before she dozed off once again on his bare chest.

He decided it was futile to attempt to separate her from him and place her in the cradle. So he walked over to his couch at one end of the room and arranged the cushions to support his back and sat down on it.

He felt nostalgic as memories of his own childhood flashed across his eyes. He remembered his own Mom complaining to him, that he had been troublesome when he was a baby. How he had given her sleepless nights and drained off her energy. But she had never forgotten to mention that this was the best feeling in the world. At the end of the day, nothing felt as satisfying than caring and loving your own offspring.

Now as he held the tiny bundle in his arms, he understood the true gravity of her words. Howsoever, he was tired, he felt warm and nice to do all this things for his daughter.

He held her tightly in his arms before his eyes dozed off, not before glancing one last time at the fluorescent green digits that showed 4:50 a.m.

Bright light seeped through the French windows into the room, and woke up Khushi from her slumber. She moved her hand to the other side of the bed to cuddle him, but she found it empty. She sat up straight on her bed and glanced at the clock. It was 6:30 a.m. Oh No! she hadn't woken up to feed the baby. Frantically she rushed towards the cradle, only to stop midway across the room, astonished by the sight in front of her eyes.

There in front of her eyes, lay the father and the daughter, cuddled on his bare chest with her sucking her tiny thumb. Both of them lay fast asleep, lost in peaceful dreams, content spread across their faces. She slowly moved towards them and observed both of them. Cookie looked fully like her father. Those same eyes, that same nose, the way she furrowed her eyebrows when she was upset. Maybe the cheeks were like her. But she was definitely Daddy's girl.

A smile broke out on her face looking at them. They were her world and her life revolved around them. She felt happy seeing both of them at peace.

She had to capture this moment. It was too perfect to be wasted. She ran towards their cupboard and took out a camera and captured that priceless moment in it. Years later, both of them would thank her for capturing this moment.

Then she slowly went and lifted the baby in her arm and laid her inside her cradle and covered her with a warm blanket. She turned around to see Arnav suddenly wake up from his deep slumber and stare around in confusion. She went towards him and ran her fingers through his hair.

Khushi '" Looks like Daddy took charge of the baby in the night." She said with a slight chuckle and an amused expression.

He smiled back at her. "Oh! Don't even start about that. Only today, did I realise how much efforts you put to raise our baby. I don't think I can ever match up with you."

Khushi '"Don't say like that. I think you are the best daddy in the world."

Arnav- "Am I?" he asked in a curious tone.

Khushi '" Yes you are!" she said before she kissed him lightly on the forehead and embraced him in a hug.