#4. What's in a Name?

Rudra looked at his wife gobble up the piece of chocolate cake, patting her 8-month-old baby bump, sighing in delight.

"This stuff is so good, I could die" Maya mumbled and Rudra looked at the piece hungrily.

It was 4 p.m. and Rudra, after attending a long three-hour meeting had received a call from Maya crying.

"What is it, baby?"

"I want chocolate cake"

"Then Swiggy it naa," he had said as he glanced through the minutes of the meeting.

"No, I want it from Rustom bakery," she had whined on the call.

Rudra had sighed and had promised her to get the cake.

"Sir, my wife is preggers, like heavy preggers,"

"Son, I have a flight in four hours,"

"Sir, please, I beg you," He had joined his hands infront of the old Parsi man in desperation who had sighed.

"Fine, but I can bake only one cake before I am off tot he airport,"

"Thank you so much,"

Rudra had watched as the man packed the cake in the box after long two hours of mixing and baking, and had thanked every God in the heavens. He had tipped generously and drove as fast as possible in the Mumbai traffic.

"Baby, are you happy?" He asked Maya, somewhat seething at her who nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

"But that doesn't mean they are calling me 'Mamuni'"

"But 'Mamuni*' sounds so adorable"

"By that logic, even 'Bebe**' sounds adorable,"

"Don't bring your Punjabi roots right now in this case"

"And what about you bringing in your Bengali clan?"

"Bengali is a beautiful language,"

"So is Punjabi!" Maya fumed at him and wrinkled her nose.

"You know what, screw it," she almost threw the box on the table and walked off to the new bedroom.

Rudra just sighed and sat. He ate the piece of the cake and for the nth time, the thought of mini Maya entering his life started scaring him, but he knew he would love the two more than anything.

"They can call you Mumma and me, Dadda, is that cool?" He asked he wrapped his arms around her huge baby bump.

"Ok," she said and kissed him, licking the chocolate cream that was still on his lips.

~~~~

*Mamuni-Means mom in old Bengali.

**Bebe-means mom in Punjabi