Chapter 6

TR house morning- kitchen a few days later

Taani yawning uncontrollably in front of the stove doing something like making chai . rey

came from behind her,hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. taani smiled lazily and

leaned back against him.

"good morning. Tum itni jaldi kyun utgayi? Aaj off hain"

"mom dad jaarahe the na aaj subah ...waise bhi mujhe bhook lagi thi...aap chodo mujhe "

she pulled herself away

"why? Aaj tho mom dad bhi nahin hain..." he nuzzled her neck and seeing her yawn again

"main chai banao?" from the side view the glow on her cheek inspite of her yawn, the

brightness in her eyes inspite of the sleepiness in them was extremely beautiful sight in

the mornings . He smiled as his heart lifted up with happiness again ," sit now" he pushed

her to the chair nearby and started making tea and toast. taani sat with her head resting

on her hand and her hand on the counter staring at rey with a sleepy smile.

"waise you slept before i came yesterday and abhi tak sleepy ho?"

"kal raat ko?" and remembered that she was supposed to be angry with him. Getting up suddenly

she pushed him away from the stove, pulling the sugar from his hands and put another extra spoon

into the tea grumbling,

"chodo aap...no wonder...main banaaloongi"

Rey stood back with irritation on his face and attempted to place his hand on her shoulder, she

pushed it off "yeh sudden change of mood kyun?" pretending to ignore him, she finished making

tea and placed his cup on the counter . Picking up her own with the plate of toast , she walked and

sat ignoring him near the table.

Rey walked towards her ,placed his hand forcibly on hers," whats this nonsense now? Tum kiskeliye

angry ho"

"kiskeliye?"sarcastically," rey aap kaise karsakthe ho aise? We waited for two hours and aap ne pick

nahin kiya humein and you had agreed to pick us up.mom ko kitni dher tak wait..."she took off

he drank the tea and swallowed with difficulty and placed the cup away...cut her sentence off with

"oh cmon i know my mom..she would have happily done two more hours of shopping. And before you

start again , tumne kahaan pick karne ke liye kahaan tha?" he stopped , she tried remembering and

then it striked...they had changed the place twice and hadnt informed him , her face showed how

foolish she felt in getting irritated with him, he caught the look and grinned at her .. Her face became

sorry kind of a look and then she smiled at his grin

"and mujhe dekho kal se aap par gussa ...pata nahi kaise bhool jaathi hoon sab kuch aaj kal...

actually mom ne change kiya last minute but...sorry rey ..i forgot to message ..."

"its okay but taani..." he still held her hand and pulling them closer said," tum itni dher tak kyun thi

baahar...i mean look at you , so tired . The whole day you were at office and the whole evening out..

.dont do this. You should tell my mom ki tum tired ho. she herself is never tired sweetheart.."

"its okay rey..."she smiled

" no taani ...tumne abhi kaam start kiya hain and you are overworking yourself" he frowned n placed

his hand on hers which was still on table," itna kuch karne ki kya zaroorat hain ? I know ki tum raat

ko mere sone ke baad laptop lekar baithi rehthi ho"

She looked guilty," main bas yeh sab quickly khatam karne ki koshish main hoon taaki main baby

ke aane tak free hojaaoo rey "

"dont work darling , simple hain...idk ki tumhe kya obscession hain meri mom ko impress karne ..."

She frowned," rey yeh aap baar baar aise ...aise...kyun bolthe ho? Agar main mom ko impress karne

ki koshish kar bhi loon tho whats wrong in that? "

"not wrong taani but whats the necessity?" he replied voice getting sharper," and honestly meri mom

hain, tum kyun bothered ho itna? Typical bahu ho tum bas" he repeated what he always said

Her face changed as he said- meri mom hain- which he didnt catch. She felt a surge of anger irritation

frustration at his words ...she had no idea why she was so angry suddenly but he always said bahu

like it was ...it was some kind of a ...disease

"haan hoon bahu aur wo bhi typical, hamesha se thi " she shot back and as he shook his head

frowning , she picked up the tea sipped it and spit it out,"aapne itne spoon sugar kyun dala tha? "

"maine? tumne hi tho..." and catching the yucky look on her face stopped himself ,"okay. Maine daala

tha. Sorry. Tum yeh toast khao tab ta.."

"koi zaroorat nahin hain" and drank the tea in one gulp " aur aap itne unnecessarily worried mat ho...

main teek hoon" rey looked at her wondering why he was feeling still unsatisfied.

totally unsettled by turn of the conversation,she got up suddenly and started walking towards the

stove with the cups of tea when and felt her head spin.

"taani " rey held her before she fell. She struggled to get free,"rey..chod.." and pushing him with all

force went to the sink in the kitchen to throw up.

Rey ran behind her helplessly ," aisi tired rahogi ...stress logi...garam garam chai peogi tho yehin

hoga"he grumbled shuffling on his feet , hand on her shoulder

she looked up in irritation ," main pregnant hoon" stressing on the word," pregnancy mein yeh hota

hain...ya yeh bhi isiliye ki main typical bahu hoon?" she shot at him and wiped her mouth with a tissue

he stood back silenced till she was done and then hugged her " sorry ..paani chahiye?" taani placed her head on hischest and suddenly smiled all things completely forgotten in the moment.

Pulling herself away ,she tried changing the topic before rey could say anything more" rey waise aaj

doctor ke paas jaana hain"

He nodded, kissed her forehead ," haan tum chali jao, main academy se directly aajaaoonga"

"aaj aap kyun jaarahe ho kaam pe? " she hit his chest," aaj tho off haina?"

"nahin taani, wo humein ek hafthe mein nikalna hain trip par.." he bagan guiltily

"i know rey" she interrupted smiling and kissed him," kaam hain..mujhe mat sunao bas"he kept quiet

still not convinced thinking he wasnt pregnant," im fine rey, itna socho mat' she said softly

"i dont know taani" he stopped behaving irritated," Matlab mujhe laga tha ki tum pregnant banogi

tho bohot changes hojaayega lekin tum tho pehle se bright aur beautiful dikh rahin ho bas" he

smiled sheepishly," and i dont want it spoilt bcoz of some stupid stuff like main housewife hoon,

nahin hoon, working hoon and all that"

taani blushed at his words ,smiling said ,"waise mujhe thakaan aur chakkar ke elawa koi change

hi nahi lagrahaan hain"

"but tumhaara tho baby ke saath connection hoga na. Net mein wohin likha tha" he said sincerely

"achha ? abhi tak yakeen nahin horahaan hain, mujhe tho koi connection nahin lagrahaan hain rey"

she replied back and held his hands closer," rey, kya main achhi maa nahin banpaaongi "

she voiced out a sudden concern

He mentally cursed himslef for talking"cmon taani dekho its just four and half months, im sure it

takes time"She looked unconvinced as he took her into another hug -

so main achhi maa bhi nahin hongi?

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Same day- Hospital corridor

Taani sitting alone near the doctors chamber. She dialled the mobile a few times and cut it frustrated

pata nahin yeh rey kahaan rehgaye. jaanthe hain ki aaj doctor e saath appointment hain. Aur

sunaathe mujhe hain ki main kaam zyaada karthi hoon...jaise ki unka dance dance aur mera kaam..

.typical bahu ..." and stopped her mind running

She looked around to see a few couples sitting and waiting, there were a few women with their

mothers.

' koi akela nahin aatha yahaan' and her eyes fell on a mother daughter pair,' waise sharon bhabhi

ya aashi ko bulaathi tho aajaathe " and she turned her eyes away.

nurse came and called her.

"main kya baad mein jaa sakthi hoon. mere husband nahin aaye abhi tak." she asked slightly

worried and scared to go in by herself

"but appointment ka time...shall i fix it up two hours later?" She asked

The mother of some mother daughter pair in the corridor came nearer and told taani," tum beta

hamare appointment ke time pe chalejaana. Exchange karthe hain, kyun sister?" the nurse grumbled

" kya sister, thoda adjust karo na. Abhi humko jaane do aur hamare number par is bacchii ko jaane

do." She followed the nurse calling her daughter and turned back to taani, gave a friendly wave

and smile and disappeared.

Taani s eyes turned moist and she sat staring at the door of the doctors chamber into which the lady

had walked in suddenly missing one other lady whom she hardly remembered and hardly ever

thought of but somehow seemed all important all of a sudden...where was she? The one person

who would have understood exactly how she was feeling each moment and felt bad each hundred

times more than herself each time she felt bad about anything...she shook her head..what was

wrong with her?

she suddenly knew why she wanted to hang out with her mom in law! Why she went running each

time aashi mom was in town! Why she always called and hoped swayams mom her taayji would

came here than go to jodhpur! ...she wasnt proving that she could be more than a useless housewife

..Rey was right as always...she didnt need to prove anything but she wasnt proving that ... She was

almost begging for a motherly attention

She smiled wryly...how long had it been ki maa ki yaad bhi nahin thi...shaadi ke waqt yaad kiya tha

but tab naanimaa thi..bilkul maa ki tarah...ab wo bhi nahin hain and her eyes filled with tears which

she knew had nothing to do with her pregnancy hormones

No wonder her mom in laws every simple word irritated her,motivated her , angered her and her

approval made her crave for more approval...she remembered what rey s mom had asked a few

days back

" waise taani tum apne mom ke ghar jaane waali ho?"

Taani s face had drained of all colour , she stared at her mom in law and said her voice soft and

slow ,hardly heard " ma tho hain nahin, naanimaa bhi ab nahin hain...tauji aur taayji abhi abroad

gaye hain and unhone kahaan ki jab baby aane ka time hoga tab aajaayenge"

And reys mom had said," thats ok dear..tum yahin raho. Kaam bhi karsakhogi and i can plan ki main

kab yahaan shift hojao"

She hadnt known whether to feel sad that reys mom had asked her so casually or whether to feel

happy that she had taken up responsibility of looking after the baby and herself ...in her own way

mom cared

But mujhe wo kaafi nahin hain , mujhe kuch aur chahiye...mujhe apni maa chahiye jiske saath main

ladaayi karsakhoo, jisko kabhi main useless piece of furniture nahin lagoongi ..Her eyes filled but

tears didnt flow out...she sat staring in front of her ...hazy images floated in front of her ...

"taani" rey came panting and shook her. She turned to him and saw him through a haze of tears,

" kya hua? Tum ro kyun rahe ho? Doctor ne kuch kahaan? Sab teek hain? Maine kahaan tha .."

Her resentment at rey coming late resurfaced as soon a she realised that he was in front of her,

" jaldi aagaye aap ?"

"sorry , sorry kaam karthe karthe time ka pata nahin chala."

The nurse came out and called taani. they got up and just as they entered in,the lady smiled at them

walking out behind her daughter. Taani smiled back feeling jealous and recognising it

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" yeh dekho" the doctor proclaimed showing something on the scan screen.

Taani looked not understanding while rey pretended that he knew what he was seeing.

"yahaan" she pointed to something , taani stared at it with vague curiosity , her expressions changing

to one of doubt.she looked at rey and saw the doubt mirrored in his eyes.

The doctor smiled understandingly," its ok. Next time aur achha sa dekhega" she said turning to taani

as taani got down from the bed , " sab teek hain. tumhaara weight ka khyal rakhna bas."

"kyun? kam hain? maine kahaan tha khayal rakho.." rey

"no its all fine..that was just a casual advise Mr Singhania but taani..." doctor turned to taani and said

" you definitely look dull, Maybe tired ho...just take care . U r other wise fine" and smiled

Rey smiled at her while taani tried to smile back at the doctor with all sincerity

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