Chapter 15

Taani entered the room calling REY and stopped ...rey was sitting on the bed , his head in

his hands staring staright ahead at nothing and his elbows on his thighs ...she moved to

him rey...he turned to her as she came nearer and held his hand out to her , she moved

quicker suddenly scared again , went to him and held his hand in hers not knowing what

to say ...he pulled her closer and putting his arms around her waist hugged her ...his

head above her bulging tummy buried in her chest and sobbed

For a moment taani didnt realise whatwashappening, she instinctively held him and placed

her head on his hugging him tighter with her own arms holding his neck ...rey kya hua?

But he sobbed again and she realised ...he was scared

She had forgotten...in all the tension...she had kind of forgotten that rey was his dad s son

completely...they were friends, rey was almost a replica of his dad ...she could imagine

unpe kya beeth rahin hain ab, She let him cry , her own tears flowing out again..he held

her tighter making her back ache a little as she was forced to bend, she stood still

stroking his back lovingly ...

His sobs reduced slowly , the warmth of her bosom, the calm stroking of his back, the

warm tears that touched his hair on the forehead and her soothing voice of its fine now,

hes okay...unhe kuch nahin hua hain...hes fine acting as an antidote to his fears ... then

he stopped and still hugging her looked up at her

She wiped his face of the tears , brushed his hair back and kissed his forehead once and then again and again ...he closed his eyes at her kiss making her heart clench..itna vulnerable kabhi nahin

dekha inko ,main kabhi inhe itna kamzoor nahin dekhna chahthi thi , yeh kya hain

krishnaji! she had been waiting for him to come back and take charge forgetting he would be broken seeing his dad in such a state

Mom hospital mein akeli hain rey... He nodded and just as he was about to let her go,

the baby kicked and he felt it right under his chin...he looked up and met her eyes, both

smiled at the same time and he kissed her tummy saying softly im glad you were here

at the right time ...both of you

She shook herself free and sat next to him holding his hands in hers rey dad teek hain

abhi..

I know taani..mom bhi itna tired lagrahin thi ki...kabhi mom ko itna lost nahin dekha hain

maine...and had a glimpse of his mom hugging him like a lifeline as she cried ,he shook

his head ...bas seeing him in the hospital in the ICU was ...he swallowed...like suddenly

you are alone and helpless

I know rey she said softly..he looked at her and met her eyes...of course she knew, much

better than him, much earlier...she understood the vulnerability and helplessness he felt

...the scare...maybe mujhse kahin zyaada...she had been a kid when she lost her mom...

reading in her eyes the same feelings mirrored, he felt closer to her than ever before

and hugged her...arms around her waistline, head buried in the crook of her neck..and

hugged her tighter...understanding unspoken insecurities and strangely feeling secure

in the circle of her arms thinly wrapped around his neck...they stayed like that for a while

and taani spoke up softly rey my back s aching unable to tolerate the pain in that

position

He left her and wiping his face with his palms said u ate? She shook her head in a no...he

got up and saying i ll get sunithi to give you something, eat and go to sleep. And standing

up , held her face in his hands and kissed her forehead main mom ke paas jaarahaan hoon

if she agrees i ll send her back home.

main bhi chaloo aapke saath?

he shook his head smiling slightly no you ve done more than enough. i ll go

She nodded though all that she wanted was to just stay like that in his arms forever.

He moved to pick some stuff and looking at her again said ru okay? She nodded why the

backache? She hesitated , opened her mouth but looking at his already tensed face said

tired bas, so jaaoongi tho teek hojaayega thinking baad mein batadoongi

He nodded and picking his stuff kissed her again , patted her tummy and with a small

smile walked out calling out to sunithi as he left...taani looked at the door feeling more

tired than ever and fell on the bed catching her back as she fell...thank you krishnaji sab

teek hain bas rey ka khayal rakhna ab

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Front room...week later

Reys dad on a couch seated comfortably, mom next to him and taani on the other sofa

leaning back rey walked in from outside to listen to serious discussion going on

dad arent you supposed to be under rest?

Under Rest not under arrest, dad frowned at him, and tum...tumhe koi kaam nahin hain?

Im on a break till the team gets back , bas kuch paperwork karna tha new branches ka

wo karrahaan hoon..doctor ne aapko two weeks tak easy lene keliye kahaan tha

Shut up rey, dont bug me like these ...

Like these... ka kya matlab hain? Its bcoz...

I know its bcoz you care and all but im sure itna discussion karsaktha hoon main he

snapped and turning to taani looking irritated , waise bhi im just giving taani some

instructions ...which shes going to refuse anyway reys eyebrows went up

Taani sighed looking adamant and said im sorry dad but i seriuosly think this will work ,

isse humein hamari credit miljaayegi hamaare hisse ka and that bewakoof ABC ko unki

hisse ka he didnt reply but seemed to be thinking

nahin taani i dont think he will give in if he hasnt given up in a week and if he doesnt...

If he doesnt lets get back to your original plan , dump him. Jis tarike usne behave kiya

hain last week jab aap hospital mein the...she stopped looking angry

Reys dad sighed and said but that will mean extra 5-6months work beta

Its okay dad, im sure saari team ko yeh manzoor hoga she argued,when reys mom

looking at taani stubborn face said its okay , lets wait and see , waise bhi kal tumhe

pata chal jaayega.

Rey had been looking from one to the oother not really bothered except to stare at

taani admiringly once in awhile, she was giving his dad a good fight and he smiled

moved to her , placed his hand on her shoulders massaging them softly making her

feel relaxed and said, now if you ppl will allow, she has to have her dinner

Haan like all of us survive without dinner and only taani has to eat...mom shot back at

him half smiling and he smiled back at her

Taani stood up saying main dinner... Turning to kitchen

waise tum log kab neeche shift karnewaale ho? Maine kahaan tha na tumse taani

mom asked little irritated

Haan mom main sunithi ko batadoongi kal ...and looking up towards their room

continued ...but ajeeb lagega us room se baahar ...paanch saal se aadat padgayi hain

and looked at rey. He smiled agreeing...it was their private space

Nothing doing taani , shift soon. Mom said finality in her voice and turned to her

husband who was still thinking but turned back to them and said but wait...how long

have you been married? Three and something years right? Tho tum paanch saal se us

room ki kya baat karrahin ho?

Taani blushed deep red looked at rey, rey looked embarrassed for a second and then

smiled cmon mom and reys mom lifted her eyebrows up and pretending to be extraaa surprised

said these kids!!

and turned to her husband who shook his head at her acting surprised and both of them

started grinning.Rey and taani looked at each other and walked to the dinner table

together looking embarrassed.

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TR room

taani in washroom ,her phone rang and he picked it up...some nice looking guys

face came on screen...his eyebrows went up who was this? she came out , put her hand

out for the phone and recieved it hurriedly

Hi Mr ABC, itni late? ...no i usually dont recieve official calls itni late but then kyunki

aapka tha ...her voice smooth, rey sat on the bed shaking his legs staring at her ...she

waited her face showing her dislike of the man and then smiled a small smile ...

ok that would be best, lets meet up a little early. Bye

And then turned looking satisfied with herself and looked at rey, sat next to him and

placing her head on his shoulder said im tired flatly my backs aching

taani why so much? uve to take ...

Its not that bad rey and its only for few more days .. phir mom waapas kaam pe aajaayegi

and i ll be free from her work...aur kal yeh stupid project ko wo bewakoof aadmi accept

karlega tho ...im almost done..

But tum enjoy karrahin ho na sabke saath fight karna and all

Nahin rey sach mein achha nahin lagtha but that man!

Is he the same guy...dinner datewaala? She frowned trying to recollect and then said

haan...business dinnerwaale rey linking her hand in his

You didnt tell me he was so young She gave him a so what look

Nahin i mean..tum iske saath dinner ke liye kyun jaati ho? Why not have the meetings at

office?

She looked at him lifting her head up from his shoulder completely wondering what he ..

aapne hi tho kahaan tha jaane keliye and then laughed realisation dawning on her face

rey aap jealous ho? And started laughing as he looked caught

He made a shut up face but still said mujhe laga koi dad ke age ka hoga , business suits

and grey hair jaisa...this guy s ...and trailed as she laughed again holding her sides ,

he smiled sheepishly and put his arm around her shoulders pulling her back on his

shoulder saying shut up taani making her laugh some more

Rey im pregnant aapko yaad bhi hain? how can you be ...She asked patting her tummy

Shut up he placed his hand on hers over the tummy and felt the kid kick

She laughed again , placed a hand on his cheek sideways and said i love you rey.

he smiled ...aap bhi chalo mere saath dinner meeting pe kal?

No no i didnt mean...

Uskeliye nahin, mujhe bhi achha lagega please and looked at him..he nodded she smiled

and dozed off comfortably her hand still in his on her tummy , smile on her face

He looked at her and thought..how tired she looked inspite of the smile, kitni pyaari dikhthi

hain .one week and she s been holding the fort alone...mom dad ghar office...he sighed ,

in all honesty he felt guilty she had to do all this , struggle so much now...7 months plus

almost now...i should have never let her work

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dinner at the restaurant next day

Taani, rey that ABC guy and two more persons all talking, rather rey sitting and looking

bored rest of them talking...all rey could do was

Stare at taani...her hair left free longer than before , her face in a strange glow, confidence

and determination oozing out of her words ...her body language different...she felt

different...he couldnt stop smiling at her...she was cornering the man bcoz he had tried

to cheat dad and that man couldnt outright curse her because she was inherently so

sweet...he was so proud of her

So this seems like the best we can do , now its upto you ...there s no point in going back

and forth. Aap decide karke kal tak batadeejiye and we...

Kal tak kyun? Mrs Singhania , we are all ready for this...this makes complete sense she

smiled sweetly knowing it didnt make sense for his side but just this point here , aap

kuch modify karsakthi hain is clause ko tho...

I guess we can ask, Dad ko poochlethi hoon She pretended to be thinking and then said

okay, then...if its over can we wrap this up? Mujhe ghar jaana hain

So early! I havent even said hi to your husband and turning to rey said your wife doesnt

like small talk, she s a through worker and smiling asked so you run a dance academy?

And started making some small talk with rey

Taani leaned back on the chair completely satisfied and smiled to herself patting her

tummy telling the kid mentally aap sogaye kya? Meeting karthe waqt tho bohot kick

maarthe ho , jab meeting khatam hojaathi hain tho baat bhi nahin karthe ...

achha nahin lagtha haina meetings sab aapko? Mujhe bhi and felt a kick...she smiled

picked up something from the table and ate while the men started talking something

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Later in the night, TR walked into the house dimly lit...taani tired was about to climb

the stairs when rey held her elbow and turning her towards another room said

this is ready

But maine tho ...

I got it done as much as possible, tum kal se jo bhi aur chahiye get it done and pulled her

to the room

She entered it and stopped...it was set up exactly the same way as her...their actualroom was ...

the bed , sheets the beanbag table , the towels as well everything...he hugged her from behind

and whispered ur clothes and stuff sab cupboard mein rakhdiya hain..see if you need anything

else for now but i couldnt change the wall colour

as of now it was dimly lit with only the bedlamp on and she really couldnt make out colour, she smiled her eyes filling up and leaned back against him , his head on her

shoulder and hers touching his on the side thanks rey but you know whats most familiar is room mein? aap

He smiled and left her saying wait a minute...went to his cupboard as she went and sat

on the bed , put up one of her feet and pressed it...didnt it look swollen? her back was achingagain..When he came back sat on his knees in front of her and held out a

package surprising her

Tumhaareliye liya tha trip mein but then yahaan ... And she took the packet from him

happily excitedly , opened it and stopped ...it was a diamond set in platinum the pinkish

hue of the diamond sparkling bright in the dim light...she looked at him , her eyes filling

up and shook her head as he picked it out and sitting upright , put it on her neck and

went back to see how it looked..her bright eyes twinkling with happy tears matched the

sparkle of the diamonds

Rey kya? Kyun?

Kyun? He sat next to her,putting his hands across her shoulder, pulling her closer kyunki

i had to prove that i can afford my expensive wife and grinned

She hit him on the chest and he held her hand saying i vent got you anything recently

after pregnancy...

Thanks she whispered and ignoring her back,lifting her face up kissed him , her fingers stroking his hair her lips placed softly on

his ...he murmured see i really cant afford this, this is priceless ...she left when the baby

gave quick kicks successively

He looked at the baby and said yeh abhi se disturb karna shuru kardiya! Its a boy im

telling you

She laughed and placing her head on his chest said achha hoga , i wish if its a boy its just

like you

And if its a girl tumhaari...

Nahin if its a girl i wish its ...meri maa ki tarah ho..wo bohot pyaari thi, sach mein.

He held her tighter and this time actually understood what she felt.