Chapter 7

taani standing near the window staring outside with a small smile playing at the corner

of her lips.rey came in from outside the room. Seeing her standing near the window,

smile on her face, mobile in one of her hands and the other palm on her abdomen, he

reached her and hugged her from behind, his arms over hers surrounding her waist and

his chin resting on her shoulder.

They stood for awhile quiet , listening to the sounds of the night slowly dying down.

"kya soch rahin ho?" he asked, his voice soft against her skin of her neck

taani shook her head without turning.

"not sleepy?kisse baat karrahin thi? Aashi?"

"maa se baath karrahin thi" taani s voice was so soft that rey had strain to hear her.

his head went up suddenly,"kya? U mean mom se?"

She shook her head first in a NO and then a YES...his head resting on her shoulder, his

hands still rhythmically absentmindedly stroking hers asked," matlab? yeh tum meri

mom se itne baat kya karthi ho taani? Seriously!"

she didnt reply but her body stiffened slightly and rey continued to hold her in silence

for a while wondering at the peaceful feeling that seemed to come from her now..she

had appeared disturbed at the clinic- he had initially thought she was angry with him for

going late but then..like he had constantly felt about her these days- she s lonely, pata

nahin kyun ...kuch gadbad hain...pehle pehle tho office ka tension laga tha but then now..

dad ke saath hain tho zyaada tension bhi hain...but abhi ajeeb si hain

" taani ab se tum thoda dhyaan rakho. Chalo , milk aur tablets dono lelo aur sojao" he

muttered and disengaging himself from her , turned her around to face him his hands

on her shoulders. taani tried to avoid facing him but he caught her eyes which were wet.

"tum rorahin thi? Kya hua ?" and his finger under chin forced her to look up and meet his

eyes.she took one look at him , met his eyes for an instant, saw the concern flooding his

eyes and tears filled her eyes up. Placing her head on his chest , her hands around his

neck she let her tears flow. rey hugged her tight not knowing what had happened.

He hated it , even after all these years he hated her tears.. Kya hua sweetheart?

He tried to see her face but she clung to him keeping her face hidden, now fingers holding

his vest in a fist

Office again? Ya ...maybe mom said something, i mean mom tho bindaas kuch na kuch

boldethi hain and this one s sensitive...plus yeh tho aaj kal mom ke elawa aur kisiki sunthi

bhi nahin but then mom wouldnt have ...or maybe because he was going for his trip...

maybe it was just the bloody pregnancy mood swings ...she was never going to get

pregnant again if its goign to be like this again ...taani...

She was not making noise, not sobbing really...just letting the tears flow like they had

been sealed for years ...instinctively he held her and let her ease off whatever she was

feeling bad about , for once without asking questions , keeping his own uneasiness at her

tears aside...instinctively he knew this wasnt one of her usual crying spells though for

the life of him he couldnt imagine what it was that was making her shed tears like this...

even by her own standards of crying, this was too much...

When she had stopped , when he realised she had stopped sniffing , he held her a little

away cupped her face in his palms and wiping the last of her tears of her cheeks with his

thumb , raised his eyebrows questioningly

Taani gazed at the concern , the love and impulsively kissed him on both cheeks, his

forehead and his nosetip making him smile slightly

"ab bologi?! Ya aur bhi kiss karna baaki hain? Mujhe koi problem nahin hogi par phir

bhi..."

"kuch nahin rey. Bas maa ki yaad aarahin thi..." it took him a few seconds to realise what

and whom she meant- maa- whom did she call maa? Oh shit! Her mother , her maa,

real mom...

she placed her hand on his which was on her cheeks and continued, " wo mom se baat

karne ke baad maa ki yaad agayi" and went quiet.

Rey had no clue what to say, she had never mentioned her mom ...

"oh...achanak se taani? Kuch hua ?" he asked helpless in himself " i mean tum kabhi bhi.."

it had never seemed to him that she was missing her as well

" i know, maa ki usually baat nahin karthi but aaj doosre baar hain life mein jab mujhe

maa ki bohot yaad aarahin thi , bohot miss karrahin thi jab hospital mein thi tabse ... "

He held her closer to himself and asked," doosri baar ?"

wedding par bhi maa ki yaad aayi thi par tab naani maa thi na meri saath , ab wo bhi

nahin hain rey" she stopped , he was quiet," abhi abhi mom se... Actually nahin, hospital

mein jab..." and placed her head back on his chest , told him what she felt after the

lady had exchanged her appointment with her," aur abhi mom se...matlab aapki maa se

baat ki tho ...aise hi yaad aagayi"

"oh...mom ne kuch kahaan tho..."

"no no," she looked at him and continued after a second," she s very strong rey, mujhse

alag hain bas but i know she s sweet, mujhe complain karne ka koi haq nahin bantha.

Bas..." His arms went around her consolingly," kabhi kabhi shes so ..."

"stuck in her own views ki tumhe overpower karlethi hain" he completed for her.

She smiled, wiped her eyes and nodded

" isiliye maine hamesha se yahin kahaan hain ki dont let anyone else affect you tumhaara

..." and stopped why was he lecturing her now?

She smiled and understood why he stopped. He smiled back at her understanding and

both moved towards each other for a hug , taani placed her head on his chest again,

his arms went around her more strongly than before

"i cant bring back your ...matlab taani i know no one can take her place par itna zaroor

karsaktha hoon..."he held her tighter ," tumhara saath hamesha rehsaktha hoon,

tumhaara khayal rakhsaktha hoon and ..love you more than anything else in the world.

Chalega?"she laughed slightly , wiping her eyes.he continued

"fornow tumhe tablets lene hain, milk peena hain. Phir acchee achhe sapne dekhne

hain ! Chalo" and lifting her up in his arms walked to the bed, laid her on the bed and

said," should ask that doctor to lift you, tab nahin kahegi ki weight ka khayal rakhna"

She smiled ," bohot heavy hoon?" he sat on the bed next to her and shook his head

smiling , picked her hand up and kissing it said," ab ok?" she nodded, half got up and

indicated for him to stretch next to her snuggling up in his arms sideways , head on his

chest as he did so with his arms around her

"taani" " rey" and smile. He kissed the top of her head

"i dint know ki tumhe apni mom ki yaad thi...i mean im sorry sweety , mujhe sach mein

idea bhi nahin tha ki..." wondering if he had to talk to her or not about it considering that

she was already upset

She nodded,"papa ki nahin hain, i was too young but maa ki acchhi se hain.aur aapko

kaise pata hoga rey, mujhe khudh ko pata nahin tha ki main kyun itna lost feel karrahin

thi...abhi jab realise hua tabse ek ajeeb sa feeling hain rey ki suddenly mom meri paas

aagayi hain, ek sukhoon sa hain. like main itne din se kisiko dhoondrahin thi , khudh ko dhoond rahinthi aur wo mere

paas hi the, mere andher hain...ab koi complaint nahin koi anxiety nahin..."

she was talking her hand stroking over her tummy softly, his on hers

She stopped and both wondered if he would ever understand that phase of her life

" tum tab se uncle aunty ke saath..."he attempted to understand

" haan...Main highschool mein thi jab maa chodke gayi...bohot sudden tha...par tab bhi

yehi ehsaas tha ki maa kabhi bhi yeh nahin chahegi ki main kisika dil dukhaaoo" and

stopped . Rey looked to see if she was crying but she wasnt," i know kki main lucky rahin

hoon, maa ke jaane ke baad bhi naani maa thi , tauji taayji aur bhai the ...sabko naseeb

nahin hota jitna mujhe mila hain, isiliye shayad maine kabhi unke saamne maa ko yaad

karke rothi nahin thi...aur phir aap bhi hain ab , mom dad hain...sab kitna kuch kiye hain

mereliye ki ..."

"taani tum apne mom ko yaad karnekeliye justification dene ki zaroorat nahin hain " he

interrupted,"just bcoz sab hain, iska matlab yeh nahin ki you dont miss her.kisine

tumhaara khayal rakha hain tho it doesnnt mean ki you have to listen to them ya agree

with them ya aisa kuch"

She didnt reply, he continued," tho kya isiliye tum apne tauji se kabhi kuch argue nahin

karthi?" she didnt reply,he frowned " i dont agree sweetheart...jo unhone kiya wo unka

pyaar tha ya responsibility thi but it doesnt mean ki tum automatically tumhe unki saare

baat ...ya infact mere mom ke saare baat maan leni chahiye...it doesnt work that way"

she didnt reply

finally rey knew why she was forever hesitant to backanswer or do anything that would

any of the elders at home...she still didnt answer...he knew this was her own battle ,

how on earth could he help her with this? Mera life itna secure rahaan hain ki uski

insecurities mere samaj nahin aathe...thats why she always wants to impress mom...

And unfortunately for her mom bohot different hain usse...thats why she likes my dad

more ...shayad tauji se zyaada ..kyunki dad kabhi usse kuch bhi expect hi nahin kiya...

i guess i should just let her be...

" Taani " he called , no reply...he then noticed her soft rise of the chest and realised she

had slept off...must ve been tired, should ask aashi ya sharon atleast to tell her to take

rest ...aur mom ko bhi jaldi aane keliye kahoonga...i wish i didnt have to go at all ...though she seems more peaceful now

----------------------------

Two three days later TR dining room, TR/ SS arranging the dinner table talking in smiles

reys mom came in from inside her room freshned up and sat at the table calling

everyone loudly

"chalo cmon everyone , lets finish up dinner and go to sleep. Im tired , long day today"

everyone smiled at her enthusiasm , she didnt in any way look tired and started coming

nearer to the table .sharon gave her a hug and sat down next to her

" so swayam sharon you guys are all going together i suppose" sharon nodded,

"great...im sure taani hoping ki rey nahin jaayega" she grinned at taani who smiled back

at her

"actually im wishing i didnt have to leave her and go" rey grumbled making all of them

smile and taani blush slightly

"tho dont go" mom said

"pehle wahin socha tha but then..." all of them looked at each other," there are three

branches scheduled to open this year later on aur agar main is trip ko miss kiya tho ...

.well out financers for one of the branches backed out aur ...lets just say we need the

money for it from everywhere right now" he closed the chapter in short

( im bugged to type out all his problems)

"umm that" mom said as taani passed the sabji around and everyone served themselves

and rey served taani," i mean with so many of you as partners this was bound to happen.

Rey you guys should have split up into ..."

"no mom" rey cut her sharply, all oof the other three looked at each other," d3 kabhi

split nahin hoga...we are trying to branch out bas "

Reys mom seemed least bothered with his rudeness, she sighed, put a piece of roti into

her mouth swallowed and said casually," then you have to face all this..."

pointing to taani," seperation" grinned at taani making her blush a little and

after a second said ," u know taani thats why i say women have to work...see if you

were working pehle se then rey could have afforded to forego this trip..."

"but mom, main trip apne liye nahin team ke liye jaarahan hoon so how does taani

working help in that?" rey argued

"shayad but dont tell me ki apne finances ke hisaaf se you can afford to miss trip abroad

like this" she added shrewdly

The chnage in his face showed that that was true, SS exchanged glances- taani looked at

all three of them- it was true they werent earning so much that they could afford to miss

opportunities like this but then they were generally well off and so it hadnt mattered ...

till now

Reys mom though her head bent, eyes on the dinner in front of her knew exactly what

their expressions were, she smiled and looked up, taani was looking at her , she smiled

and said," this is why i say iss time mein u just cant afford to not work, u need the money

, u need the challenge ,the kick of being equally incharge of your families finances...at

my age its more of ...habit shayad " she pointed to SS

look at them they are both working aur ..."

"aur phir bhi dono yeh trip miss karna afford nahin karsakthe" taani replied her voice

smooth...The smoothness sarcasm that the voice conveyed was something that reys

mom hadnt heard from her, the others however looked at her ...