Part 149
A: Achcha Riddhima, is weekend par hum bua ko kahan le chalein?
When there was no reply from her he said "Ok bua aapko Kochi guma laate hain. We'll go on Saturday morning and return on Sunday evening. Ok Riddhima?" She distractedly nodded in assent.
Soon it was time for dinner and after some TV watching all of them went to bed. Seeing Riddhima sulking Armaan asked her "Kya baat hai Riddhima, are you not keeping well? Why are you so quiet from the evening?" She said "Kuch nahi, I'm ok," and lay down beside him but his words, "that was your first birthday after our marriage, so naturally I had to give you some surprise. Surely you are not expecting it every year," kept playing in her mind as she fell asleep.
She was woken up my Ani crawling over her and calling out chweetly, "mama, mama" and that was followed by a 'pa' from him. She opened her eyes, pulled him beside her, cuddling and kissing him. He gurgled with laughter. Suddenly she wondered how come he was on the bed and so asked him"Tum bed par kaise aaye?" "aap ko bappy bilay kehne" she heard Armaan mimic his voice and suddenly the lights came on, blinding her for a minute. When she blinked and finally opened her eyes, there was this trolley in front of her and pointing to it Ani was saying "Ani mum mum". It was way beyond his reach or else he would have helped himself to it.
Suddenly all of them, Armaan, Akshat, kaka, akka and Bua entered the room together, singing 'happy birthday to you.' She blew the candle, cut the cake and fed it first to the most greedy person there, the little hero, then Akshat, bua, kaka, akka and lastly her hero. Then she touched the elders' feet to take their ashirwad and they left quietly. Armaan picked Ani and asked him to give mama a 'pa' which he willingly obliged and then in a baby voice said "Happy bilday mama". "Thank oo" she also replied in a baby voice. Armaan tried to snatch a kiss in the midst but she gently pushed him away. So he started rocking the little one in his arms, to get him to sleep.
Next Akshat kissed her and gave her a pretty pink rose box and a box in the shape of a butterfly and a card. The card had four palms imprinted on it with water colours. Two very tiny and two a little bigger. When she opened it she read the following words,
My mother's the greatest that I've ever known,
I think God made my mother like He'd make his own.
Mama, we may be small but our love for you is very big.
Hold our hand and lead us on ,
Keep us in your embrace always.
Lots n lots of love,
Akshat and Aniruddh.
R: yeh words tumhe kahan se miley?
Ak: mini maasi ne computer se print out nakaal kar diya tha. Par yeh card mein apna haath chapane ka idea mera tha. Baap re yeh Ani ka chaap lena kitna difficult tha. Who poora paper hi kharab kar deta. Athai bhi pareshaan ho gayi. Dus baar kiya tab yeh mila.
She kissed both the pairs of hands and said "cho chweet. Wonderful idea."
R: My God this rose box is so pretty. Iske andar kya hai?
AK: yeh khulta nahi hai mama. It's a type of bouquet.
R: Kya?
Ak: Haan mama, iske andar sirf sponge hai jo main florist uncle se le aaya. Aur yeh roses us sponge par pierce kiya hai.
R:Yeh tumne banaya hai?
Ak: Haan mama, bahut easy hai. 1 hour mein ban gaya.
Eyes brimming with tears, she hugged and kissed him saying "Thank you sooooooo much shona."
Armaan was smiling seeing the mother 'son love. Their bond was naturally stronger because they had spent more time together than he had with them.
Then she opened the butterfly box, inside it was another cute trinket box which she knew was definitely made by him. The butterfly shape card was only the wrapping.
And inside the trinket box were these two cute pair of earrings.
R: Wow, this is so pretty, kahan se kharida? Bahut mehenga hoga na? Tumhe paise kahan se miley?
Ak: Yeh to maine apne pocket mney se Mumbai mein kharida tha, jab aap us din mall mein dresses try kar rahi thi. Matlab tab dad se paise liye the, phir yahan aakar unhe lauta diya. Aap chahe to poochlo dad se.
R: Mujhe tumpar bharosa hai. Dad se poochne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Lekin itne paise tumne jama kaise kiye?
Ak: Mere paas the na. Mere birthday par, dadu aur athai ne jo rupaiye diye the, woh main bachake apne money box mein rakhe the. Aur Dadu jab purana paper raddhi wale ke paas dete hain, usmein jo paisa aata hai, woh mujhe dete hain. Unhone kaha tha ki woh mera pocket money hai. To main usey bhi apne money box mein rakhta hoon. Unhi paison se kharide. Aap ko pasand aaya.
"Bahut bahut bahut pasand aaya," she replied placing it against her ears and looking in the mirror. By then the little one had slept. Laying him in his cot Armaan and taking Akshat by his arms said, "chalo beta, tum bhi sojao, kal school bhi jaana hai na."
Akshat went along with him mumbling in an envious tone, "Haan, aapke to mazey hain every Saturday chutti rehati hai." When Armaan returned after tucking Akshat in bed, he saw Riddhima already in bed. asked him "Aap ka gift kahan hai?"
A: I've given you two wonderful sons what else do you want?
R: Achcha yeh baat hai? What about a daughter now?
"Sure, why not? Whenever you are ready for her, we can get her," he said pulling her near and kissing her. "Happy Birthday sweetheart" he added.
Riddhima was surprised as she was expecting a negative answer. Seeing her puzzled face he continued "Whenever you are ready, we'll go to Chandigarh and adopt one of the Nahi Paris." She shook her head and said "What if I want our own one?" "No way Riddhima, let's not get into that now, please." Before she could say anything further, to divert her from that topic, he got up. "Naraaz ho gaye?" she asked pulling his hand. He gave her his dashing dimpled smile and said "Nahi, sweetheart, just a minute." Then picking up his briefcase, extracted an envelope from it and handed it to her saying "This is my birthday gift to you, hope you like it."
The cover had MSHC stamp on it and was addressed to her. She pulled out a letter from it and read. It was a letter accepting her as an intern in MSHC, and promising her of a job on her successful completion of the internship and the post graduation. She couldn't believe it till she had read it at least 3 ' 4 times. Then she hugged him tight and showering him with kisses n both his cheeks alternately said "thank you, thank you, thank you so much. This is the best gift you could have given me." Then laying he head on his chest said "Now I can be with you all thrugh the day also. When do I begin?"
He pulled her up and holding her face in his palms asked "how about next week?" She nodded as his mouth descended to claim hers. He kissed her so sensuously and passionately, moving from her lips to her neck, her chest and then they were lost. He knew how to take her to the peak of ecstasy which left her moaning for more. A hoarse "Armaan" was the only sound which left her lips. It was dawn by the time the two lovers fell asleep.
He woke her up with a kiss, just a few hours later once again wishing her a very happy birthday. When she just snuggled closer to him, he whispered in her ears, "kapde pehen lo, Ani uth jayega." That made her eyes open wide and she hastily pulled on her clothes just in time the hero was also awake. When Armaan picked him and handed him to her she complained "I had managed to wean him, now I'll have to do so all over again."
A: It's ok you can wean him when he's feeling better. Now he seems to want only your feed all the time.
R: His mouth is quite ok now. He can take solids. Once he starts taking my feed he doesn't want to take any other food. Akka says as the child grows, breast milk becomes thicker and tastier, so they do not like to give it up. That's why I weaned him in the first place, so that he'll take more solids. After the infection he's avoiding solids. He won't gain weight if he does that and he'll also end up with all sort of mineral deficiency.
A; And you'll be away for the whole day when you join MSHC.
"Chalo, I'll go and get Akshat ready for school and drop him," he said, as left to Akshat's room. After she fed him, she went and handed him over to akka and went to have her bath. When she came out she saw a pretty blue suit laid out for her on the bed. She picked it up with a smile, knowing who had left it there and a pair of familiar arms hugged her waist from behind. Putting his chin on her shoulder and nibbling her earlobes, he asked "pasand aaya?" Turning to the side and kissing his cheek she asked "Aap laaye aur humey pasand nahi aaye, aisey ho sakta hai? It's very pretty. Chalo, hato, let me wear it, Akshat aata hoga. Aur tum bhi jaldi se naha lo. We'll drop Akshat at school and go to the temple."
She went into Akshat's room and saw him all set for school.
AK: Mama aapko yeh dress bahut suit karta hai.
R: thankyou. Aur dekha maine kaunse earrings pehne hai?
Ak: Haan, aur yeh aap ke dress ke saath exactly match bhi ho rahe hain.
R: yes shona, tumne apne dad ko earrings pehle hi dikhaye honge na, isliye unhone uske matching dress liya hoga.
"Galat, earrings saath le jaakar match karwake kharida hai." They heard Armaan's voice from the doorway. All three of them got into a hug and then went to have breakfast.
Kaka had prepared badam halwa, and akka had prepared masala dosa and sambhar. All her favourite dishes, for breakfast. Akshat was sulking because he was the only one who had to go. But when he came to know that his parents were dropping him, he was very happy.
The temple was quiet and serene though there were quite a number of devotees, it being a Saturday. Armaan spoke to the Pandit and asked him to offer a special pooja for Riddhima as it was a birthday. As usual after the pooja, the priest offered kumkum to be put on her maang and a string of flowers and gave them an apple as Prasad. As they finished making parikrama of the temple, they met an old couple who lived in their colony. They gave them a nod and a recognizing smile and went away.
R: yeh kitne cute couple hai na? They go everywhere together only.
A: Yes, everyday they go for a walk early in the morning. When I go for my jog, I see them returning from the walk, holding each other's hand.
They automatically proceeded towards the water tank in the temple, where everyone threw puffed rice for the fish. They went and sat side by side on the steps of the tank.
R: It's so peaceful out here na?
A: hmmm. Aaj bhagwan se kya maanga tumne?
"Maangna kya tha? You get me everything even before I feel its need. I only prayed He should keep you always by my side," she said slipping her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Like that uncle and aunty?" he asked teasingly. She slapped him on his arm, and grumpily said "tumhe to har baat mein mazak soojta hai." Putting his arms around her he said "Sholly sweetheart, no mazak. Main bhi yahi chahta hoon. You and me not just in this birth but in all our rebirths also.
Edited by ssh57 - 14 years ago
Anupamaa
41