A/N: this chapter was written by me! Enjoy!

Present Time…

Raj jumped onto his parents' bed. Despite, being only two, he knew when the day was special. And though he didn't know why, he was incredibly happy. Laughing, smiling and giggling away as any toddler should.

Anjali, on the other hand, was incredibly tired. Groaning at her little boy jumping on the bed, she was not yet ready to face the day. Rahul had kept her awake the entire night, claiming, at least once it reached midnight, that it was his 28th birthday, therefore he had all sorts of ideas for celebrating and they all involved certain amorous activities in the bedroom. She was more than eager to participate. After all, she loved him and loved being intimate with him.

While recovering her previous night's activities, Anjali recalled the past couple weeks, which had been spent catching up and connecting (or reconnecting in her husband's case) with Naina.

Anjali had been completely supportive of Naina's endeavors to reunite Rahul and his parents. But they hadn't brought up the idea to Rahul yet. Anjali knew that her husband was still incredibly hurt by the way his father had cast him aside. She also knew that Rahul wasn't a person who loved easily. Yes, the two of them had fallen in love rather quickly, but they came to the conclusion that that had been destined to happen.

Rahul wasn't a person who loved easily. Yes, the two of them had fallen in love rather quickly, but that had been destined to happen. Rahul though, once he did love someone, loved them deeply, with all his heart, with an unbelievable power and vigor. He had this intrinsic desire to protect his loved ones, to make sure they always got the best. He did everything he possibly could to keep those that he loved happy and healthy.

Yet he was deeply wounded by betrayal.

Because as logical and smart as he was, Rahul trusted his heart just as much. And though he hadn't shown it when leaving his home, he had been severely wounded. Because on one, especially someone like Rahul, takes heartbreak well.

Especially when it's your own father who is doing the heartbreaking.

Anjali shook her head, clearing out painful thoughts and smiled.

To which her husband smiled back, widely showcasing his dimples, making Anjali's heart miss a beat.

Rahul pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair, only to be cast aside by his son as the latter burrowed his way in between his parents and situated himself on their pillows.

Anjali reached over to her son, pulling him closer, but directed her words at her husband.

"Happy birthday."

He grinned wider, a playfully innocent expression taking over his face. "So you told me. Several times last night."

Anjali blushed.

Raj, who had heard the birthday, immediately perked up. "Cake."

The couple laughed, and the young boy just stared at his parents.

A couple seconds, he smiled and giggled, simply because his parents' mood was infectious.

And Raj was happy.

Naina closely examined her father as he ate, thinking about all that had occurred.

She knew that, though it had taken a couple years, her father regretted pushing Rahul away.

Her mother had never supported the decision, she knew, as she glanced at her mother, who was quietly pushing around the food on her plate.

Kabir's hand found its way to hers, grasping it tightly as he gave her a brave smile.

She squeezed back, bracing herself for the words she was about to say.

"I saw Rahul."

Her mother slowly stopped chewing, but her father simply allowed his fork to clatter onto his plate.

Naina winced, thinking about the scratches she would have to deal with later, but focused more on the topic at hand.

"He's ok." She reassuringly continued, that piece of information mostly for her mother. "He's married and has a two year-old son. The boy's name is Raj."

Feeling Kabir's reassuring squeeze and support, she continued. "He's happy."

She glanced at her mother, who had a wide smile on her face as her eyes were brimmed with tears, happy to hear such news.

She finally mustered the courage to look at her father, making sure their eyes met.

He finally spoke. "And?"

Naina took a deep breath.

"I think that you should meet him." She corrected herself. "Meet them."

When he didn't reply, she kept going.

"Papa, it's wonderful what a difference being an engineer has made." She ignored the way her father stiffened when she mentioned engineer.

"He's done so much for the world, and Papa… Papa, he's so happy. He's so proud of everything he's done, and he just wants to share it with you." Her voice took a slightly softer, more somber tone. "But he's still hurt. He loves you both so much, and misses you."

Growing more confident, she knew that this next piece of information was vital for them – especially her father – to know. "And I know you miss him and love him too. No matter what you said, he is your son, and my brother, and there's nothing you or anybody can do to change that."

She then frowned, knowing that her father's stubbornness was the one factor standing in the way of reuniting their broken family. "And if you are still too stubborn to apologize," she continued. "And reconcile with him, then I have nothing more to say to you. Ten years ago, I couldn't do anything, mostly because I was too young. I idolized you. But now," she scoffed slightly. "Now, I know better. What you did, it was wrong. Mama knows it, and I know it. But Rahul loves you too much, and I know he still carries around guilt. For following his own dream, with which you should have supported him. But you didn't."

She soon stood up from her seat, Kabir following suit, confident that her plan was going well and on schedule.

Looking back at her mother, she spoke again. "Mama, if you want to meet him, just call. I know he really wants to see both of you, but one parent is better than none."

As they made their way through the door, letting her parents' stunned expressions and her boldness sink in, Kabir whispered into her ear. "And here I thought we were telling them about your pregnancy."

Yash took a deep breath, staring slowly into the crackling fire, alone with his thoughts. The noise of the coals was nearly enough to drown out his pounding thoughts. But not quite. His mind flashed back to the events of the day.

After Naina had left, his wife had looked up at him with such a look of disappointment, his heart had stopped. Despite the fact that they were arranged, he had come to greatly respect Reema, and value her opinion. Maybe it was because Reema had always had a great maternal instinct. Maybe it was her level-headedness, compared to Yash's own signature short temper and rash decisions. Regardless of his reasoning though, Reema's disapproval cut deeper than he would have thought.

Feeling another thorn pricking around in his mind, he slowly allowed his thoughts to wander to his daughter and her impassioned words. Her disapproval, her betrayal. Though she hadn't voiced these thoughts ten years ago, simply knowing those thoughts had crossed her mind ate at him. Not only crossed, but haunted her mind for ten years.

It dawned on him that he must have been incredibly intimidating to scare even his daughter into submission. Naina, who had always been outspoken, utterly confident and never one to be intimidated, hadn't told him that she believed he was making the wrong decision. Instead, she had sat silently. Weeping for her brother and stowing away her anger.

Yash supposed it was her belief in her brother's skills that kept her going. The knowledge that he would probably be okay must have pushed her forward.

But that fateful day, ten years ago… The day that his daughter, his pride and joy, had stopped respecting him. He hadn't seen it, not till today, but Naina had lost all respect she used to have for Yash. Knowing that Naina used to worship him caused it all to sting that much more.

Yash pulled himself back from his reverie as the fire sputtered and went out, plunging the room into a pit of darkness and blocking out his vision. Which was fine with him, because it left him to contend with his thoughts. And the worry that he may have been wrong.

A/N: What'd you think? Review plz