Good News
Bright sunlight fell on her, making Pallavi turn in her sleep. Sighing, she slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the bright light. Stretching her arms, she looked beside her, only to find Raghav’s side of bed empty and made up. Glancing at the digital clock, she saw the day and time, “Wednesday 11 A.M”. She gasped in surprise, got up quickly and checked her phone. She was supposed to be at her work, not sleeping on the bed. The first message was from her assistant Monica, which read,
“Good morning ma’am, Raghav sir informed me that you won’t be coming to the boutique today and to communicate all important things over messages and mails. Good day, ma’am”
The second message was from her husband which read,
“Good morning, wifey. Hope you slept well. Kal tum bahut tired lag raha tha, so I thought you should rest today. I have informed your assistant to look after the work. Take care 😘”
She took a deep breath. She would have been angry at Raghav any other day for this, but he was right this time. For the last two days, all she wanted was to sleep. It raised her concern which she planned to deal with later. She rushed into the washroom to get ready for the day.
Pallavi reached the dining room for a late breakfast. Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she looked at what was there for breakfast when she heard Amma’s voice, “Pallavi” to which she turned to face Amma, while Amma continued, “Aa jao, tumhare liye mai Poha banvaya hai, tum ko pasand hai na?” and started serving her breakfast. Pallavi suddenly realized that she was having breakfast at almost noon. “Amma'', she began explaining, “vo aaj mujhe uthane mein late ho gaya, vo...”, which was cut short by Amma, “Pallavi beta, tum ko explain karne ka jaroorat nahi hai, kabhi-kabhi chalta hai. Waise tum theek toh hai na? Koi problem toh nahi hai na, office me ya aur kuchh?”, Amma asked with concern. Pallavi was tempted to share with Amma but stopped herself. “Raghav should know first”, she told herself, then answered her MIL, “I am absolutely fine, Amma. Aaj thoda lazy feel ho raha hai ''.
After lunch, Pallavi pondered about her situation. It all started four months ago, on their third wedding anniversary, when they had decided to start a family. She took the desk calendar and started counting the days since her last period began. “36 days”, she said to herself and sighed. She was a week late, which definitely meant something. However, still unsure, she started to look for other signs. Taking up the calendar again, she began recalling unusual behaviors of her body. She remembered that she had some cramping about a week ago that she had brushed as PMS. Next she realized that her breasts were sore for a couple of days. Lastly she noted the fatigue. All early signs of pregnancy. She took a deep breath as the realization dawned upon her. “I may be pregnant”, she told herself as a wide smile came on her face. Finally after months of waiting, they were expecting. She knew that she needed to confirm but her instinct told her she was definitely expecting. She picked up her mobile and called Raghav.
“Hello, Pallavi?” Raghav said from the other side.
“Raghav”, she began, but stopped herself from spilling the beans, she had to see him when she gave him the news, she continued, “Tumne mera alarm off kiya, aur mere office me bola ki mai aaj nahi aa sakti?”
“Haan, vo...”, Raghav began dreading the lecture that was going to come, but Pallavi cut him off by saying, “Thank you”.
Raghav was surprised, which would be an understatement. Sensing no response from Raghav, Pallavi continued talking, “Tumne lunch kiya?” to which Raghav replied “yes”.
“Pallavi, you are okay, right?” Raghav asked, concerned.
“I have never been better”, was Pallavi’s reply
“Okay bye”, Pallavi said abruptly ending the call, lest she tell him the news on call while Raghav was shocked at the abrupt end. “Pichi ammayi”, he said, shaking his head.
Pallavi spent the next two hours thinking how to break the news to Raghav. She looked at the home pregnancy kit in her hands, which she had ordered along with some general stuff from a pharmacy at a further distance from their home. She had seen videos about how some women hide the positive test to surprise their partner, but it seemed a bad idea to her. Truth to be told, she was too nervous to take the test alone so telling Raghav after taking the test was out of the question. Hence, she had decided to tell Raghav about her doubts, she would do the test in his presence and they would deal with the result together. After coming up with some cheesy, over the top lines and rejecting them, she concluded that all these filmy lines are not going to work, she had to tell him in straight-forward and clear words.
Raghav reached home at sharp 7 in the evening. He had been waiting to see Pallavi since she had abruptly ended her call. He entered the room to see Pallavi pacing around the room. Pallavi stopped walking and took a deep breath. “This is the time”, she said to herself, then moved near Raghav and said, “Tum aa gaye”, to which Raghav hummed.
“Tumhara aaj ka holiday kaisa tha?” Raghav asked while unbuttoning his vest coat and opening his wardrobe to get his clothes.
“Achha tha”, Pallavi answered, looking at her husband intently.
“Tum mere ko aise kyu dekh raha hai, Pallavi?” Raghav questioned her intent gaze.
“Mujhe tumhe kuchh batana hai”, Pallavi stated.
“Haan, bolo”, Raghav said, still busy taking out his clothes.
Pallavi, annoyed at the lack of his complete attention, pulled him away from the wardrobe, and then hugged him all of sudden. Raghav hugged her back. After a minute, Pallavi broke the hug and Raghav cupped her cheeks, “Kya baat hai, Pallavi?” Raghav asked tenderly.
“Raghav” she started, “mujhe lagta hai ki”, after a pause she continued, “ki main pregnant hu”, she revealed the news finally.
Raghav looked at her in confusion at first, then his eyes widened as the words sank in, ‘Pallavi’ and ‘pregnant’.
“Tum pregnant hai?”, he asked to confirm if he heard her right.
“Pata nahi”, she said which was replied with Raghav’s confused face, so she continued, “Kuchh dino se I have some symptoms of pregnancy but maine confirm nahi kiya.”
“Really”, he said, to which Pallavi nodded, “Toh chalo confirm karte hai”, he said to which she shook her head. She picked the pregnancy kits, and said “Iss pe likha hai ki subah so kar uthne baad test karna hota for accurate result.”
“Yani kal subah tak suspense me wait karna hoga?”, he asked, “Unfortunately, yes” she replied to which both smiled. Raghav pulled her in an embrace and whispered in her ears, “I am so happy, Pallavi”, “Me too”, Pallavi whispered back, as they broke the hug and kissed each other.
Raghav could not sleep that night while Pallavi slept like a baby. He kept tossing and turning on the bed, thinking about their future. How happy Amma would be when she would know that she is going to be a grandmother. Would they have a girl or boy? Would their baby look like him or like Pallavi? Would he be a good father? Would his child love him? He needed to plan so many things, there should not be any discomfort to Pallavi or their child. Somehow spending the night thinking (read: over-thinking), he decided to wake Pallavi up now, he couldn’t wait anymore. It was 6:30 in the morning. “Pallavi”, he shook her in order to wake her, “Pallavi, please abhi utho, please pregnancy test kar lo, baad me phir so jaana”, he requested her. “Raghav, please mujhe sone do”, Pallavi disturbed now, turned to sleep again. “Pallavi, please”, Raghav pleaded again and Pallavi finally woke up. “Do mujhe vo kit”, Pallavi asked. Taking the test, she walked into the washroom. Coming out of the washroom, with the kit in her hands. “Is it positive?” he asked. “Abhi two minutes wait karna hoga” she answered. “Aur wait karna hai”, he groaned, and Pallavi hugged him, “Relax Raghav, jo hoga vo humare liye best hoga”, Raghav smiled and hugged back. They stayed in embrace for a couple of minutes, Pallavi glanced at the clock, broke the hug and said, “Ho gaye do minutes”. They nervously looked at the kit which had two bright pink lines. “We are pregnant”, he declared to which she nodded and they hugged again, while tears of joy flowed from their eyes.
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