I Belong With You part 30 updated (Arsh ff) - Page 14

hey!!!!! awesome parts..........................u r such an amazing writer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😊

ARman is so simple here.................................just loved his confession and Shilpa is also veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy nice............................😊

thanx for the PM and do update soon.....................

Afrin

part 13

Shilpa whimpered as her alarm clock woke her up from the peaceful and restful sleep she had in Armaan's arms that night. Neither of them had been willing to go out and buy protection, both preferring to stay together as much as possible. Though her needs hadn't been entirely satisfied, Shilpa had to admit to herself that having Armaan's arms around her all night felt heavenly.

"I need to go," she muttered, trying to unlock Armaan's hands from her stomach.

Armaan groaned as he reached for her cheek and kissed her. "Let me go see what she wants," he said, already pushing the blanket off him but not leaving her body yet.

"You don't have to," she muttered.

"I know," Armaan opened his eyes and kissed her bare shoulder. "But I want to."

Shilpa gave up. She was too sleepy to go deal with Shona at that early hour, so Armaan's help was more than welcomed. "She has a bottle in the refrigerator."

"I know," Armaan chuckled and leaned down kissing her one more time before he got out of the bed. He pulled his boxers on and rubbed his eyes, banishing the sleep, as he walked outside.

He turned the lights on in Shona's room and saw her tiny body wiggling in the crib as she cried. Armaan walked over to her crib and leaned down, picking her up. "Good morning you too, Baby Shona," he a wide smile lightened his face as he cradled her into his arms, kissing her cheeks.

Baby Shona didn't answer in any way to Armaan's greeting and kept crying.

"Don't cry. Armaan's here now!" he said softly, soothing her. "And he's going to stay here from now on," he added as if that was the reason for her weeping. "You must be starving," Armaan concluded in the end, as he found her weeping very deafening. "I will take care of your breakfast in a second, so calm down," he said softly, pacing around the room a little, hoping he would calm her down.

"Who are you?" The reproachful, unfamiliar voice made Armaan stop from pacing. As he turned and looked at the door, Armaan saw Muskaan in the doorway, glaring at him.

"Dr. Malik," she recognized him, surprised to see him there at that hour. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked inside and came to him and Shona.

Armaan was speechless for a moment, shocked and embarrassed at the same time to meet Shilpa's mother at that hour and wearing almost nothing. "I came to see Shilpa," he mumbled.

"I found out last night about that," Muskaan grumbled and took Shona from his arms. She cradled her into her arms, patting her back. "Where's Shilpa?" she asked Armaan, frowning.

"She's still sleeping," Armaan mumbled.

Muskaan shook her head disapprovingly and kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "I need to go now, so …" she stopped as she watched Armaan for a moment, before she handed Shona back. "You'd better take good care of my granddaughter," she smoothed the pajama on the baby's back and turned to leave. "Tell Shilpa I will call her later," she announced while walking outside the room.

Armaan stared at the doorway a moment longer after Muskaan left. His gaze broke when Shilpa showed up, scared. "You saw my mom?" she asked.

Armaan nodded. Shilpa sighed and leaned her back against the doorway. "I forgot to tell you she was here," she muttered. "What did she say?"

"She lives with you now?" Armaan asked Shilpa as he walked over to her.

"She's just visiting," Shilpa answered, smiling as she caressed Shona's cheek. The baby kept crying and held her hands out to go to her Mommy. Shilpa took her into her arms and as she cradled the baby to her chest, Shona started patting on her breast. "I need to feed her," Shilpa said as she turned and walked out on the hall.

"Your mother said she would call you later," Armaan announced.

Shilpa just nodded, "I heard that part." She stopped then and smiled at Armaan. "Do you want to hold her while I heat up her bottle?"

Armaan smiled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "I do," he answered, still staring at her, and took Shona back. "Why?"

"Why 'why'?" Shilpa giggled as she started walking ahead.

But as Armaan put Shona to his chest, holding her head on his shoulder, he found out the reason. She was screaming deafeningly into his ear.

"That too," Shilpa laughed as she heard his groan. "She also keeps hitting my breasts."

"Is it this difficult?" Armaan asked. He saw Shilpa sighing and nodded.

Shilpa had three bottles of milk in the refrigerator, prepared from three different milk formulas. As she heated the first one, she gave it to Armaan so that he could try feed Shona. Shona finally stopped from crying when she saw the nipple coming to her mouth. As she took it into her mouth, she spit it out quickly and started screaming again. Shilpa gave Armaan the second bottle, but Baby Shona decided she didn't like that one either.

"Are you sure this one will work?" Armaan asked as he took the third bottle. He was getting a little worried to see Shona refusing to eat.

"Usually it works at the third bottle," Shilpa let out a sigh and waited to see if Shona would like the third option.

Armaan gave Shona the bottle, but Shona was firm. She spit it out as soon as she tasted the milk.

"I'll try a new one," Shilpa muttered as she walked over to the cupboard and took out another milk formula.

"Is this normal?" Armaan asked, standing up and rocking Shona back and forth, hoping he would calm her down a little.

"I don't know," Shilpa sighed. "The doctor says it's normal for them to refuse certain milk formulas, but she refuses all of them. She said they just need some time to get used to it."

Shilpa prepared a new bottle of milk and gave it to Armaan, hoping that would be the one. That was actually the only milk formula Shona hadn't tried that morning. Shilpa tried a little trick and put some sugar syrup on the nipple, hoping the baby would like it better. Shona wasn't impressed with her Mommy's idea as she refused to take the bottle and her weeping started to sound hysterical.

"Hey, calm down now," Armaan pleaded as he paced around the kitchen, rocking her back and forth. As he looked up at Shilpa, he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Shi," he said softly as he walked to her.

"I am such a bad mother," Shilpa muttered as her eyes gazed on her baby. "I don't know what to do anymore," she muttered before her voice cracked and she started sobbing.

Armaan shifted Shona in one arm and wrapped the other around Shilpa as he pulled her to him. "Don't say that," he said softly, kissing her on the forehead. "We'll figure out what we have to do."

Shilpa sunk her face in his shoulder as she cried. "I deserve this. I deserve all these," she sobbed. Armaan rested his cheeks against her forehead as he held her into his arm.

"What if we give her some water," he suggested.

"Water?" Shilpa pulled back and looked at him, confused. "That's not nutritive."

Armaan looked at Shona, who was still crying and wiggling in his arms. He ran his finger across her tiny forehead and wiped the sweat. "Maybe she needs some water to calm down and maybe then she would want to eat."

Shilpa shrugged and complied with Armaan's suggestion. She had no other idea of how to feed her daughter so she was ready to try anything. "It can't be cold," she said, confused as she took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"Heat it up just a little," Armaan suggested.

After she heated it up, Shilpa checked its temperature and gave the bottle to Armaan. Shona tasted the water, but she refused to have that as well.

"See?" Shilpa was on the edge on a new burst as she saw her daughter's refuse.

Armaan had to admit that he was also clueless. He didn't have much experience with the babies in the past and this situation overwhelmed him a little. "I am going to make a phone call," he said and gave Shona back to Shilpa.

"Who are you going to call?" Shilpa asked.

"Someone who had many children," Armaan answered and walked out the kitchen. He went into the living room and picked up the phone. He dialed a number as he paced anxiously around the room.

"Hello," A sleepy voice answered after several rings.

"Mom," Armaan sighed with relief.

"Armaan? What's wrong? Do you have any idea what time is?" his mother scolded.

"Mom, I have … a situation," Armaan explained.

"A situation? What kind of situation?" his mother sounded rather concerned than nervous now.

"I… uh…" he tried to explain, just then realizing he hadn't told his mom about Shilpa. "I am uh… visiting a friend and… she has a baby."

"You're visiting a she at this hour?" his mother asked, chuckling. "Rohan told me something about this."

"Rohan?" Armaan asked surprised. "What did Rohan tell you?"

"He told me you met someone in Seattle and that she's a single mom," his mother answered.

Armaan couldn't help but wonder why had Rohan told his mother about that.

"So what's the situation?" his mother asked.

"Uh… we can't find the way to feed the baby," Armaan answered. "She's three month old and her mother can't breast feed her anymore. We tried several milk formulas, but she refuses all of them," he explained.

Then he heard his mother sighing. "That reminds me of you."

Armaan was surprised to hear that detail. "What should we do now?"

"Bear," she answered.

"Bear?" Armaan asked, confused.

"She will eat at some point. Babies don't starve themselves to death. From time to time, try to give her a bottle. Any bottle. I can assure you she will eat any milk formula."

"Ok," Armaan sighed, but a little more relieved now that he had his mother assurance that Shona would want to eat at one point.

"I am expecting you to tell me about her," she said.

"I will," Armaan smiled. "Thanks, mom."

"Goodbye, Armaan,"

"Bye," Armaan hung up the phone and went back to Shilpa.

As he walked back into kitchen, Armaan found Shilpa sitting in a chair and rocking her baby- both of the crying. He took a random bottle of milk and handed it to Shilpa. "Try this one," he told her.

Shilpa wiped her cheeks before she took the bottle and looked up at him. "What makes you believe she wants this? We already tried it."

Armaan smiled reassuringly. "Just try and if she doesn't like it, then we'll take her back to her room."

"And let her starve?" Shilpa snapped, glaring at him. "Is this the kind of education you prefer!"

"It's not about education," Armaan smiled. "She won't starve herself to death, so she will eat. And we take her there just to make it easier for us too. Now try one more time," he insisted.

Shilpa looked at him as she took the bottle. She sighed and tried to give the bottle to the baby. Both of them were surprised when they saw Shona sucking from it.

"Who taught you this?" Shilpa laughed, amazed to see her daughter finally calming and sucking from her bottle.

Armaan crouched in front of them and smiled, caressing Shona's head. "Apparently, I was like Shona when I was a baby," he admitted, grinning at Shilpa.

"You called your mom?" Shilpa asked, surprised.

Armaan gave her a genuine smile. "It appears that she knows about you," he said. "From Rohan."

"Rohan?" Shilpa frowned, finding surprising what Armaan was telling her. "Rohan told your mom about me?"

"I know. I don't know what's going on in his head," Armaan said, shaking his head.

"And your mom knows that you're here?"

Armaan reached out for his lips and kissed her softly. "Stop doubting of yourself. You are an extraordinary mother. It's just a rougher time right now. There will come more, but we'll figure them out," he smiled reassuringly as he brushed the hair out her face and tucked it behind the ear.

"We?" Shilpa smiled.

Armaan smiled and reached for her lips again. "We. I promised Baby Shona this morning that I would be here for her and for her mommy."

Armaan stood up and pulled a chair in front of them to sit down and be close to them. "I don't dare to ask you to let me feed her. I don't think she would like to be disturbed."

"I don't think so either," Shilpa giggled and smiled down at Shona, who was sucking from the bottle.

"How is it going with your mother?" Armaan asked.

Shilpa smiled at him and shrugged. "She has been working on a research with Sanjeevani for the last month and she was… kind of helpful with Shona. She loves her."

"That how it's supposed to be," Armaan pointed.

"I guess," Shilpa shrugged. "My mom wasn't much around when I was a child. It's… strange to see her with a baby. It makes me wonder if she was like this with me too."

"I am sure she was," Armaan reassured her. "Maybe she just doesn't like showing her feelings too much."

"Maybe," Shilpa muttered. "I tend to hide mine a lot."

"That's not good," he shook his head and smiled genuinely as Shilpa looked at him, sad.

"She's leaving today,"

"So I came back in time," Armaan chuckled. As he said that, Armaan noticed the disappointment in her eyes. "I could have come earlier," he admitted quietly.

"You could have," Shilpa muttered under her breath. "What time do you have to be at the hospital?"

"I will call and tell them I will be late," he answered. "I want to spend the morning with you two."

Shilpa giggled and leaned down kissing her daughter. "You didn't choose the best morning to spend with us," she smiled at him when Armaan looked at her, confused. "She's having a bad morning. We're having a bad morning. She has never behaved like this until now. Not wanting to eat anything and screaming like that."

"This is the most wonderful morning I've spent in a long time. Probably the last best morning I remember was at the age of 10."

"What happened when you were 10?" she asked him curiously.

Armaan laughed. "It was the last Christmas I believed in Santa."

"10?" Shilpa smiled, surprised.

"Don't tell me you were a young lady already when you found out that Santa doesn't really exist," he laughed teasingly.

Shilpa just smiled sadly. "I was 6 I think."

Armaan frowned completely displeased to hear that.

"I had a Nanny at that time, which I didn't like much. She didn't like me much either and one day, I think it was a few days before Christmas, we had a fight over something and then she blurted it out that Santa doesn't exist."

"And your mom didn't deny it? She didn't hurry to reassure you of Santa's existence?" Armaan asked, sounding almost outraged.

Shilpa smiled. "She didn't bother. She said I would be a young lady soon anyway. Let's change the subject," she asked. "And don't feel sorry for me. I survived."

Armaan couldn't help but smile sympathetically at her.

"I need to change her diaper now and give her some clean clothes," Shilpa said after Shona finished her meal. "You can go take a shower if you want to."

"I don't want to," Armaan smiled. "I want to change her diaper and give her clean clothes."

"Of course you do," Shilpa laughed. "How silly of me."

"Exactly," Armaan laughed too and carefully took Shona from Shilpa. "Let's make you a clean girl because we want to see you smiling today. We don't like cranky Shona," he started talking to Shona as he carried her outside the kitchen.

When Shilpa came out from the shower, she found Armaan and Shona in her bed, lying beside each other. "Is she feeling better?" Shilpa smiled as she walked over to the bed. She lay down beside them and took Shona's hand, who was now smiling at her Mommy.

"Much better," Armaan answered, kissing the hand he was holding. "Keep her like this while I take a shower," he leaned to Shilpa and kissed her before he kissed Shona's hand one more time.

Shilpa stood up after Armaan left to the bathroom and taking Shona into her arms, she moved on the pillows and leaned her back against the headboard, cradling her. That was how Armaan found them a few minutes later when he returned to them. He walked around the bed and crawled beside Shilpa, sneaking an arm around her shoulders and making her lean her body against his. He closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent of her hair and kissed her.

"This feels heavenly," he said quietly. "I love you, Shilpa and I don't want us to feel awkward with each other anymore. I want to stop thinking of Shona as Rohan's daughter."

"I don't want to see you two ending your relationship because of me," she muttered.

"We're still friends," he reassured. "I don't think I can give up on my friendship with Rohan. We've known each other since we were kids. I just want to be selfish and forget that he was part of your life."

Shilpa looked up at him and smiled. "I want you to be selfish too. I think I am ready to move forward. But…" she stopped, hesitating.

"But what?" he asked.

Shilpa didn't want to tell him she was thinking about their future. She was imaging her life with Armaan by her side from that moment and she was too ashamed to tell him about it. Maybe their relationship wouldn't work and then, Rohan would never show up in their life and play an awkward role of uncle or mysterious father. She nestled in Armaan's arms, resting her head on shoulder. "I need to find her a Nanny," she said, changing the subject.

Armaan noticed that and didn't like it, but he decided not to say anything about it, understanding the uncomfortable situation they were in at that moment.

"We'll find her," he reassured.

Shilpa smiled at him, always having the warm feeling inside her heart when Armaan talked to plural about them. "Or him," she added teasingly.

"Would you hire a man as Nanny?" Armaan frowned, visibly displeased to hear that.

"You would be a great Nanny for Shona," Shilpa continued, teasing him.

"But I am a surgeon. I'd love to be her Nanny, but I can't have two jobs," Armaan replied, yet not getting the joke.

"Men can be good Nannies," Shilpa shrugged.

"Would you seriously hire one?"

"If I find one," she answered.

"I don't think there are too many candidates out there. I didn't see any on your list either,"

"I have many lists," Shilpa laughed. "Are you jealous already?"

"Yes," Armaan answered frankly.

Shilpa smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I have an appointment for an interview at 9:30."

"I am curious to see how this goes. You seem to have seen many people and yet you don't have a nanny,"

"I want the best for my baby. I can't let her alone with anyone," Shilpa explained. As she looked down at Shona, Shilpa saw her sleeping and watching her, made her yawn.

"You should get more sleep while I prepare the breakfast," Armaan suggested.

Shilpa smiled at him and nodded. Armaan took her chin between his fingers and softly dropped a kiss on her lips. "I'll take her to her room," he said, sliding his hands beneath the baby.

"Armaan?" Shilpa called him when Armaan was about to leave the room.

He stopped and turned to look at her from the doorway.

"Thank you," she smiled and lay down, drawing the blanket over her.

end part 13