~*~* Tera hone laga hoon *~*~
PART 15
Bharti somehow managed to wake up early with a little help from Tamanna. She looked over at a sleeping Armaan and smiled because he looked so happy in his sleep. She leaned over and gently brushed his fringe off his eyes, trying not to wake him. She joined Tamanna in the kitchen and while they were eating, Tamanna explained everything to Bharti about Karva Chauth. After a bit, Armaan came to the kitchen to join them and they were surprised to see him up.
Tamanna: "What are you doing up? You really don't have to keep us company...Oh wait, don't even tell me..You're going to fast too?!"
Bharti just looked at him surprised while popping a grape into her mouth.
Tamanna: "Awww, that is just too sweet!"
Armaan: "Tamz..please..."
Tamanna: "Okay okay, well I'm done and I'm going back to sleep, have to be all refreshed and beautiful for my hubby. See ya"
Tamanna left and Bharti was just watching Armaan.
Bharti: "You know, you really don't have to fast with me, I mean it's really very sweet of you...but you don't have to..."
Armaan just nodded and said that he won't. Bharti ate a bit more and then said that she was going to bed.
Armaan: "What, you're done?! No no, come on and sit down, eat some more. You're not going to be eating until tonight, so eat up."
Bharti: (quietly to the side)"Don't remind me..."
Armaan took a piece of fruit and went to put it into Bharti's mouth. He fed Bharti a bit more and then Bharti held up her hands saying that she really can't eat anymore.
Bharti: "Why don't you eat something since you're up?"
Armaan: "No, I'm fine, anyway I can eat during the day."
Bharti: "Okay then."
After that they both went to bed. Armaan thought to himself while looking up at the ceiling, that he really should have eaten something. After a few hours they woke up and went off to work, leaving Jiya at school. Tamanna rushed off as well, she had to meet a client in the morning, then go check on the house, before returning home to prepare everything for that night. Bharti decided to take half the day off because Tamanna wanted to get mendhi done for both of them. Throughout the day Bharti had many many thoughts of food, all her favourite foods and even foods that she didn't like or had never eaten. But she tried really hard to distract herself. Bharti and Tamanna were getting their mendhi done when Armaan arrived home after picking up Jiya. He didn't go back to work, as all his work was done. When the mendhi was done, Armaan went over to sit next to Bharti.
Armaan: "So...feeling hungry?"
Bharti: (looking at him with a slightly sad expression)"Very!"
Armaan: (laughing and looking at the floor)"Yeah, I can imagine..."
They sat for a while talking to Jiya who had joined them, then she went off to quickly finish the little homework she had so that she'd be free for the festivities at night. Bharti was sitting and just admiring her mendhi, when a strong breeze blew in from the open balcony. Bharti tried to move her hair away, but to no avail. She couldn't use her hands properly due to the mendhi. Armaan noticed this and tried to help her by moving the hair away from her face. He saw a hair clip next to her and clipped some of her hair up, so that it wouldn't bother her again.
Bharti: (smiling)"Thanks"
Armaan: "No problem. Oh look, you've gotten mendhi on your top."
Bharti: (looking down)"Oh man...I'll have to go and change it."
She went to the room to change and after a while, Armaan too went to change his clothes assuming that Bharti was done. He saw that Bharti still hadn't changed, it was difficult with her mendhi and she didn't want to spoil her mendhi at all. Armaan saw her struggling and wanted to help, but he wasn't sure what he could do and whether Bharti would let him. He went over to her and asked if he could help her. At first she didn't understand, but then she realised what he meant. Bharti didn't know how to respond, she knew she needed to change, and she knew Armaan wouldn't take advantage of her, but she was nervous...After a bit of hesitation, she nodded her head. The top that she was wearing was all tied up at the back. Armaan carefully untied all the strings and her top fell to the ground. He then helped her get the other top over her head, all the time standing behind her back. He then excused himself as he had an errand to run. Bharti sat down thinking about all that just happened. She knew Armaan was trying to make her as comfortable as possible, he made a conscious effort not to touch her, even accidently and his eyes were averted the whole time. Bharti respected Armaan even more after this and she felt completely secure with him now, about everything.
After their mendhi was dry and they could carry on with the work, Tamanna went to the kitchen to get all the food and sweetmeats ready for when they could break their fast in about 3 hours. Bharti finished up with the decorations and then went to the kitchen.
Bharti: (looking at all the food from dish to dish)"How can you possibly deal with all this food when you haven't eaten for the whole day??"
Tamanna: (laughing)"It gets easier over the years, I remember my first year was quite tough..I thought I was going to die without food...But just think about the reason you're doing this and all your hunger pains and cravings will disappear."
Bharti: "I never thought of it like that..I think I'm going to try to think like that for these last few hours. Maybe it'll stop all my food cravings and my over active imagination. I promise you, I've been seeing food everywhere!"
Tamanna just laughed at her and they carried on with the preparations. While they were busy, Tamanna told Bharti that she was feeling a bit light-headed.
Bharti: "Yeah..I was feeling like that earlier, why don't you go sit down. We're almost done, I'll finish up."
Bharti watched her start to go and then she saw that Tamanna was about to faint. She managed to reach her in time and stop her from falling. Bharti called for Jiya and with her help, they got Tamanna to the bed. Jiya showed Bharti the family doctor's number and Bharti called her. When the doctor said that she'll be coming over, Bharti called Armaan and asked him where he was. Armaan dodged the question and asked her what's wrong. She explained what happened and told him to hurry because she didn't know what else to do. Armaan arrived and waited with Bharti and Jiya while the doctor checked on Tamanna. While the doctor was inside, Aman arrived. Armaan explained what had happened and thankfully Aman was not the type to panic, so he stayed calm. The doctor came out and Aman asked how she is and if he could go in and see her.
Doctor: "I'm assuming you are her husband. Well, there is nothing to worry about and you can go in and see her now, she's just lying down."
Aman went inside and Armaan went to the doctor.
Armaan: "Doctor, is Tamanna okay? Was it just the fasting that caused her to faint? She been feeling tired for the past few days.."
Doctor: "She is fine, don't worry. The fasting definitely brought on the light-headedness and it caused her to feel faint, but the main reason is that Tamanna is pregnant."
Armaan: (looking very happy glanced at a surprised Bharti)"Wow, really?! That's such great news!"
Doctor: "Yes it is, Congratulations. I'll have to do a few tests and then we'll know exactly how things are going. Okay, well I'll be off, Tamanna is giving the news to Aman now, I prefer it that way, rather than me telling him. Tell her to take care of herself. Goodbye."
Armaan saw the doctor to the door while Jiya was excitedly telling Bharti how excited she was, as now she could have someone to play with. Bharti smiled at Jiya and was just wondering if KK had anything to do with this. Armaan came to Bharti and was all excited, going on about how happy he was for Aman and Tamanna as this was something they had long wished for... They went in to see Tamanna and they congratulated her, they sat around the bed chatting for a bit when Tamanna glanced over at the clock and realised how late it was.
Tamanna: "Guys, look how late it is..the moon must have come out. Go and break your fast Bharti, I'm so sorry you've had to wait because of me."
Bharti: "No, it's fine, I actually forgot about that.."
Tamanna looked at Armaan who was still sitting there and she took the cushion and hit him and told him to go.
Armaan: "Hey! Relax!"
Tamanna: "Go! Bharti must be hungry!"
Armaan: "Yeah I know, Okay okay, I'm going....you don't have to get violent. What about me?"
Tamanna: "What about you??"
Armaan: (sighed while getting up)"Okay, you just sit here and relax then. Come lets go Bharti."
Armaan carried the sleeping Jiya out of Tamanna's room and placed her gently in her bed. He and Bharti went out to the balcony and Bharti had all the stuff that Tamanna had prepared for her. She pretty much knew what to do as Tamanna had explained it earlier. Bharti carried out all the rituals and prayers she had to do and then she asked Armaan to make her drink some water and give her something to eat. Armaan brought the water to her mouth and she drank it quickly, as she was even more thirsty than she realised. Armaan then very lovingly fed her a piece of the burfee and she looked at him with a wide smile of relief on her face.
Bharti: "Okay, lets go in quickly to eat, I'm still very hungry."
Armaan: (caught onto Bharti's hand to stop her from going)"One second Bharti, there's one more thing I'd like you to do for me, please...."
Bharti: (coming closer to Armaan)"Oh! Is there something I forgot?"
Armaan: "No no, it's not that..Um..Bharti..."
Bharti: "Armaan...what happened? Please tell me quickly."
Armaan: "Well, I was wondering if you could please give me some water to drink now."
Bharti: "Oh okay..."
Bharti took a glass of water from the table and handed to Armaan.
Armaan: "Actually I was wondering if you could make me drink it...like I did to you just now.."
Bharti: "Um, okay....no problem."
Bharti wasn't sure what was up with Armaan, but she went over and made him drink water from the glass with her hands.
Armaan: "Bharti, before you go, don't you want to feed me a piece of that burfee..."
Bharti: "Armaan, there's so much of food inside, come inside and sit down and eat with me."
Bharti was turning to go when she saw the look of disappointment on his face, she was really confused, but she decided to just feed him the piece of sweetmeat, then she can go and eat sooner. When she was feeding him the burfee on his insistence, she realised what was going on. She crossed her arms and looked at Armaan with a stern look.
Bharti: "Armaan....did you fast today?"
Armaan gave no answer, he just looked into Bharti's eyes and then looked away.
Bharti: (moving a step closer to him and putting a hand on his arm)"Armaan..I told you not to.."
Armaan: "Bharti..I'm sorry I lied to you and said that I wouldn't fast, but I just really wanted to and I couldn't let you fast alone."
Bharti: "But that means that you didn't eat since last night!?"
Armaan looked down again.
Bharti: "Armaan, you should have eaten something in the morning, I'm so sorry, because of me you kept the fast and you didn't even get a chance to eat in the morning. Sorry..."
Armaan: "Bharti, it's not your fault, it was my decision, anyway just don't worry about it. Please can we go in and eat."
Bharti nodded and they both went inside to get their food. They both sat and ate hungrily in silence, but during the meal, occasionally Bharti would go to feed Armaan some food that he had not put on his plate and Armaan did the same too. After they ate, Bharti went outside to stand on the balcony to get some fresh air. She was thinking about the fact that Armaan had just kept a fast for her...that means he loved her so much and she was that important to him.... Bharti felt terrible now thinking about all those girlfriends who would say that they would fast for him and he would just laugh them off. He never really realised just how important this fast was, just how much love and commitment was behind it. Bhaskar had never loved anyone that much that he would fast for them...but wait, she just kept the fast for Armaan...so that means....
Armaan just came to stand next to her and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
Armaan: "Oh, it feels so good to have eaten, but I'm stuffed now, what about you Bharti?"
Bharti turned to face Armaan.
Armaan: "Bharti....?"
Bharti looked up at him with her big brown eyes welled up with tears. She blinked and the tears that had built up just ran down her cheeks. Armaan moved closer to her and put his hands on her cheeks and looked deeply into his eyes. He just shook his head at her and with his thumbs wiped her tears away.
Armaan: (with much concern, wishing she would smile at him)"Such big tears? Why?"
Bharti: "Armaan...(looking down and going quiet for a bit, then looking back up at him) I can't believe you kept that fast for me..."
Armaan: "Bharti, what's so hard to understand? I love you and if you can keep the fast for me, I can do the same for you."
Bharti: "But..."
Armaan: "But nothing. What I can't understand is why only women are expected to keep this fast and when men happen to do it, they are praised as if they are the greatest husbands..To me it's simple. If you're fasting for my long life, it's obvious that I would fast for yours..Who else am I going to spend my long life with, huh?"
Bharti was not expecting to hear anything like that and she was just so overwhelmed with emotions that she wrapped her arms tightly around Armaan and hugged him intimately. Armaan didn't hesitate in holding her close to him and they just stayed like that, lost in each others arms. Eventually Bharti pulled away realising what she had done and she furiously tried to wipe away her tears.
Bharti: "I'm..sorry Armaan. I don't know what.."
Armaan: (putting his fingers to her lips)"Shhhh..and no more tears."
All her tears had been wiped away, but there was still a single tear that clung to her long eyelashes. Armaan went real close to her and all the while maintained eye contact with her. Neither of them blinked. He leaned in and kissed the one tear away. He pulled away and they both just looked at each other. Just then, perfectly in line with the mood that had been created, a gentle, yet steady drizzle of rain started to fall. Neither of them were the type to ordinarily stand or dance in the rain, but Armaan just felt so good at that moment, so free, that he tilted his head back and let the rain drops fall onto his face.
Bharti stood there watching him, he seemed so happy and so free. She was watching him and couldn't help but think that he looked so childlike with his fringe washed down onto his forehead, yet with his shirt wet and clinging to his body he looked so...she didn't know how to describe it, her heart was doing strange things at the moment. Armaan straightened his head and looked at Bharti and saw her just gazing at him. He saw something in her eyes that he had never seen before...was it just his imagination overreacting from the magical and intimate moment they had just shared or was it love....? Wow, she looked beautiful he thought to himself, her wet hair had formed those small curls that he loved and, her long eyelashes that framed her gorgeous eyes had tiny raindrops clinging to them. He saw the drops of rain running down her neck and his eyes moved up to the droplets on her lips.
Without thinking about anything further, he went close to her until his body was touching hers and he kissed her, he didn't hold back this time and they shared the most beautiful kiss, gentle yet passionate. They both found themselves pulling each other closer and Bharti was just totally lost when Armaan started kissing her all the way down her neck. Without any thought, Bharti's hand had made its way to Armaan's first shirt button, which was now open. Armaan pulled away, but remained close so that his face was almost touching hers. They said nothing; their eyes said everything. Bharti with no hesitation at all, wrapped her arms around Armaan's neck and he swiftly lifted her up and carried her to their bedroom.
Armaan gently placed her on the bed and removed each of her earrings, while kissing her ears. He then kissed her neck and removed her necklace too. He lifted up her wrists and kissed them, but left her bangles on. Bharti wound her arms around Armaan's neck and pulled him closer to her until they both were lying flat on the bed. Armaan reached over and switched the lights off...........
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