AUTHOR'S POV:

"Papa, when will we reach? I want to play with Choti ." A 5-year-old boy whined to his father.(Father) ; (Little Sister)

A woman in her late 20s softly laughed and said, "Wait for some time Kiddo; you can play with your choti at home."

"Yay, it's not like my princess is going anywhere. She is always gonna stay with her Papa. Right, Princess?" A man in his early 30s cooed at his daughter while driving the car.

"Oh! Really now, Princess's Papa. So, what about the time when your Princess finds a Prince for herself, huh? Then what?" The woman asked while wiggling her eyebrows.

"Nah! No Prince will ever be worthy of my Princess. Right, Son?" The man asked his son with a smirk.

"I am angry with you, Papa, but you are right. No boys for my choti." The 5-year-old boy huffed.

The woman laughed as the man asked, "But what did I do?" 

"Firstly, you did not let me play with MY choti in the hospital, and now you are driving sooooo slowly." His son replied as he dragged his words out to show his disappointment.

"Bacha, it's not your father's fault. See, the weather is so bad. It's raining so heavily." The woman tried to console her son.

"It no rain, Mumma. God Happy. Choti here, God Happy." A little voice suddenly said, breaking the banter.

The parents smiled, as the woman who held a two-day-old baby girl said, "You are my right, beta. God is happy because our Angel is here."

The man turned around to look at his family when suddenly a blinding light came straight toward them. For a split second, everything slowed. The roar of relentless rain drummed against the windshield, the wipers struggling desperately to clear the sheets of water. Headlights fractured into thousands of shimmering streaks across the slick highway. His wife's frightened gasp echoed in the cramped cabin as the light grew brighter—too bright. A deafening horn shattered the silence.

"Papa!" The scream came a heartbeat too late.

The oncoming car, its tyres skidding helplessly across the flooded road, spun sideways. The driver fought the steering wheel, but the vehicle had already surrendered to the rain.

Impact. Metal screamed against metal with a sickening crunch. Glass exploded into glittering shards that flew through the air like frozen raindrops. The force hurled both vehicles across the soaked asphalt, spinning them in opposite directions.

The family's car slammed into the guardrail. Another violent jolt. The airbags burst open with explosive force, filling the cabin with the acrid smell of burnt chemicals. The world became a blur of twisting steel, shattered windows, and relentless rain.

Then... Silence. Only the rhythmic patter of rain remained. The engine hissed weakly. Steam curled from beneath the crumpled hood. Hazard lights blinked through the darkness like a fading heartbeat.

The man groaned, his vision swimming. Warm blood trickled down the side of his face. Every breath burned. He turned his head.

In the back seat... 

His heart stopped. His two sons were slumped sideways, the seat belt holding their tiny bodies in its place. A small cut on their forehead trickled blood, and bits of shattered glass glittered in their hair. Their eyes were closed.

"They are Okay. They are okay." The man wheezed as he saw his sons injured yet unconscious.

He himself was injured, but his family's safety was his priority. He groaned as he tried to remove his seat belt.

A feminine whimpering diverted his attention as he turned his head towards his wife and whispered, "Wait for me, Love."

After quite a struggle, he removed his seat belt and slowly turned around to remove his son's seat belt so that they could breathe easily.

He quickly located his phone to call for help.

"Hello, XYZ Hospital." The person from the other end of the phone answered,

"Help, Accident, My family -" But before he could continue, a shiver ran through his body as he turned his head towards the passenger seat.

The phone slipped from his hand; a painful scream left from him as he shouted, "PRINCESS."

"Hello, Sir." "Hello." The voices came from the phone, but soon the phone got disconnected due to bad weather.

"Baby?" the man called out as he cradled his daughter's body in his arms.

While freeing his sons, he totally forgot about his daughter, who now lay motionless without a breath of life in her.

"...Princess?" His voice was barely a whisper.

"Hey... Papa's princess..." He forced a smile through tears that refused to stop falling.

"Enough now... this isn't funny." He gently stroked her impossibly small cheek with his thumb.

"You... you heard right, what your brother said. He said that God was happy because you came."

A broken laugh escaped him. "So... why would God take you away now?"

He pulled her closer against his chest as though he could somehow warm life back into her.

"I haven't even held you properly."

Another sob escaped him. "The nurses kept saying, 'Support her head carefully.' I was so scared I'd do something wrong."

He looked at her tiny face, searching desperately for even the slightest movement. "I promised your mother I'd carry you home today."

His breathing became uneven. His tears fell onto the baby's blanket. "I still haven't shown you your room. Your brothers have been waiting for you for months."

He laughed weakly through the sobs. "He wouldn't stop talking about you. He wanted to teach you games... share his toys... protect you from everyone."

His voice dropped to a whisper, "And I... I was already making plans. I was going to teach you how to walk. How to ride a bicycle. I was going to scare away every boy who looked at you."

A broken smile appeared for only a second before disappearing again. "I hadn't even decided what silly nickname I'd call you. So don't do this. Please..."

His shoulders shook violently. "I know you're angry because Papa forgot you for a moment. I was trying to save your brothers. I'm sorry. I'm so... so sorry. I should have picked you up first. I should never have taken my eyes off you. If you're upset with me, then cry. Hit me. Keep me awake every single night. I promise I'll never complain. But please... Open your eyes. You have to call me Papa one day. I've only been your father for one day. One day isn't enough. It's not enough to love you. It's not enough to memorise your face. It's not enough to be your Papa."

He held her close, rocking gently despite the pain coursing through his body. "So please... Come back. I'll give you every tomorrow I have. I'll spend the rest of my life making up for today. But don't leave me with only one day. Please... Papa is here. Your Papa is here. So wake up, my little princess...please wake up."

"You can't take her away from me, God. You can't. Everyone is waiting for her. Please, you can't take her. You can't." He sobbed as his body shook uncontrollably.

Suddenly, a piercing wailing broke out from somewhere. The man quickly looked towards his daughter, thinking his prayers were answered, but it was not hers.

He slowly wiped his eyes and came out of the car, his baby still in his arms.
He looked towards the other car from where the sound was coming.

Inside the car, he found the bodies of the couple, whose faces were destroyed beyond recognition, but by some miracle. A small baby lay wide awake in the woman's arms.

The man gasped when he saw the situation. He cursed the whole situation.
On one side, his family lay awake, but their will to live was gone, and on the other hand, this child's family was gone, but her will to live still.

Suddenly, the baby's cries turned into giggles when she saw the man standing outside in the rain.
The man's eyes softened when he heard the baby's giggle.
He remembered how his family waited for the moment their little princess would giggle. How eagerly they were waiting for her first walk, her first day of school, her first day at college, her first everything, but now the dream lay shattered in his own arms.

He knew the devastation they all would feel when they realised that their Angel was no more.
He wanted to save them from it.
He wanted to protect his family.
He wanted his and his family's happiness back.
So, he did one thing that would change the whole future.