Part 36: Reality Check
The next few days, Dilip and Naina had more opportunities to go out together. Naina was on cloud nine, Dilip was much happier than he'd ever been, and Angad was happy seeing the relationship between his parents. Every time he saw them together, he sent a silent thank you to Kripa. He knew it wouldn't have been possible if she hadn't had a talk with Dilip.
Angad and Arnav were also immersed in their work now that their training had finished. Armaan was still nowhere near returning to work, he was having too much of a good time with his wife for that. Riddhima, however, didn't like this so much.
"Armaan, you need to get back to work. It's been a month since you've come back!" She said sternly as they lay in bed, his arms wrapped around her.
"But I want to spend time with you...if I start working; I'll be gone most of the day..."
"Isn't that a part of life? And eventually you're going to have to get back to work, right? Eventually I need to get back to work too..."
His grip around her waist loosened. "Are you bored of me? Are you tired of spending time with me?"
Riddhima gasped and turned her head to look at him. "Of course not! I just don't want you to delay starting your career just because you wanted to spend time with me!"
"Fine. If you want me to get back to work, I will." Armaan started climbing out of bed.
"Armaan...I didn't mean it that way!" Riddhima was bewildered. "Armaan, wait!" She called out after him as he walked into the bathroom.
Riddhima slumped back onto the bed and a couple seconds later, Armaan stepped out of the bathroom, laughing out loud. Riddhima sat up and looked at him weirdly. Armaan held his stomach and leant forward, still laughing.
"You should...Should see your face!" Armaan boomed with laughter.
Riddhima's jaw dropped. He'd been joking with her the entire time. Annoyed, she grabbed every pillow she could reach and lunged it Armaan. He dodged a couple and got hit by a couple of them. With no more pillows to throw at him, she got up and walked to him. He tried to stop her hands as she slapped his arm and back.
"I got worried thinking I'd upset you! God, you're so stupid!" Riddhima sulked.
Armaan seized her arms and pulled her against himself. "Even if you're bored of me, I'm not going to let you go Mrs. Mallik."
Riddhima smiled at him before surprising him with a kiss.
On the other hand, in Khanna House, Naina and Kripa sat on the couches, talking.
"You're right...there is definite movement..." Naina stated as she put a hand to Kripa's belly and felt the movement of the baby.
"Yeah...But there hasn't been a definite kick yet!" Kripa sounded disappointed.
"Don't worry Kripa...the baby is moving...Angad didn't kick for the first time until I was near the end of my second trimester. It's different for everyone!"
Kripa frowned and pouted while Naina shook her head at her. Kripa was being a typical woman undergoing her first pregnancy. She freaked and worried over little things even more so these days since the hormones and mood swings were finally getting the better of her.
"Aunty!!!" Khushi screamed from the kitchen and Naina rolled her eyes.
"Uh oh. You better go and help her out before she drives everyone up the wall." Kripa warned.
Naina got up and left. Kripa picked up her chocolate bar and started nibbling on it when a phone rang. Kripa recognized the phone as being Angad's and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Uh...hello...may I speak to Mr. Angad Khanna please?"
"He's not around right now...do you have a message for him?" Kripa asked.
"Actually, it's kind of urgent. I need to speak to him."
"Uh...Okay. Give me a minute." She said getting up.
She slowly made her way up the stairs to Angad's room. She heard the water running in the shower and knew right away that he must be in there.
"He's in the bathroom right now. You can tell me what it is and I will pass the message to him." Kripa suggested.
"Can you have him call me back within the next ten minutes?"
Kripa rolled her eyes. "Yeah Okay."
Kripa hung up and put the phone down on the bed. Just as she turned, she felt a sudden wave of nausea which she hadn't experienced in a while. Without a second thought, she hurried towards the bathroom. She knocked once and pushed the door open, very aware of Angad's habit of leaving the door unlocked.
"I'm in here!" she called out as she leaned over the sink, waiting for it to start.
"Kripa? Are you alright?" Angad called out.
"Yeah yeah...just...ugh...sick..."
She leaned over the sink until she felt the nausea subside a bit. She splashed her face with cold water to refresh herself. Meanwhile, Angad smirked to himself behind the patterned glass door that separated them, a naughty plan brewing up in his mind. He grabbed the pair of shorts he had hooked up and put them on before knocking on the glass.
"Uh Kripa...can you pass me the towel?"
Kripa took the towel off the rack, and knocked on the rain glass door of the shower. Angad smirked to himself, a naughty plan brewing up in his mind. He opened the door slightly and put out his hand. When he felt the fluffy material of the towel, he reached a bit further, grabbed Kripa's arm, and pulled her in.
He heard her gasp and before she had time to register anything, he had her pinned against the opposite wall. Her eyes were closed tightly against the stream of water that was showering on her face. He moved his free hand to her cheek and touched her gently, as if she were made of delicate crystal.
Her eyes fluttered opened and she squinted to avoid the water that sprayed from the showerhead. Angad turned slightly to block her face with his shoulder. She opened her eyes completely and looked at him—a weird mix of panic and joy in her eyes.
Angad smiled at her gently and moved the soaking strands of hair out of her face. He cupped her face once again and leaned a little closer. She stood frozen in her spot, unable to move, too shocked to form coherent thoughts.
Taking her silence as her permission, Angad moved closer until he felt something against his stomach. Kripa suddenly became very aware of the situation and the joy left her eyes—they were only panic stricken now. Angad frowned as he slowly realised that the something that was keeping him a little away from her was her pregnant belly.
Her arms were cradling the tummy protectively. Now that he recalled, she had been in that position since he'd pulled her in. The last time he had pulled her into the shower, she had wrapped her arms around him...but today...they were wrapped around her unborn baby.
He reached out and turned the shower faucet off. As the water stopped, the sudden silence that filled the bathroom was deafening. Kripa could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. She looked at him as he looked at her stomach, deep in thought.
And then it happened. The baby kicked. Her eyes widened and Angad's head jerked up to look at her. She knew he had felt the kick since his stomach was touching hers—her soaked t-shirt was barely enough to provide a barrier.
"Was...was that...?" He trailed off.
"I think—oh!" Kripa gasped as the baby kicked again. "Oh my god! Oh my god! That was the first time!"
Tears of joy suddenly filled her eyes and Angad couldn't help but smile as he felt the soft second kick on his stomach. His hands involuntarily reached her stomach and Kripa adjusted hers so that Angad could feel the kicks.
Angad kneeled to make himself more comfortable. Both waited for the baby to kick again and a minute or so later, it happened again. Kripa giggled as the tickling sensation took over her abdomen and Angad's smile widened. He pressed his ear against her stomach, as if he could hear the baby moving.
His simple gesture made Kripa snap back to reality. This was her dream...and momentarily, it was true...but she couldn't live in the hope that Angad would change his decision. She suddenly remembered everything that had gone wrong since the news of her pregnancy. She was so busy in her thoughts that she barely realized that the baby kicked for the fourth time that morning.
"I felt it! I felt the baby kick, Kripa I—" Angad looked up at her and her expression caught him off guard.
Pain was written all over her expressions. The tears in her eyes weren't of joy this time, he knew right away. He realized too. He looked at his own hands on her stomach and slowly—though reluctantly—moved his hands away. He stood up and looked at her, frantically trying to think of something to say to her but he couldn't come up with anything.
All he could do, all he did was stand there and stare at a particular tile in the wall as she stepped around him, out of the shower, and out of the bathroom. A distant click of the door told him that she had left his room too. He ran a hand through his soaked hair and sighed. He stood there, recalling the baby's first kick, the joy on Kripa's face, and more importantly, the joy he'd felt when the baby kicked. The most important thing was the connection he felt.
In those couple of minutes, he'd felt responsible for Kripa, he'd felt responsible for the baby, he'd cared for the baby, he'd been curious about the baby...for the first time since he'd heard the news of the pregnancy, he'd felt like a father—even if for a few seconds.
Did that realization scare him or make him happy?—He didn't know. He didn't want to know.
On the other hand, Kripa sat on her bed after she'd changed out of the soaking clothes. Every now and then, she felt the baby kick or punch. She couldn't keep her mind from going back to what had just happened in the bathroom. It was obvious to her that he had momentarily forgotten she was pregnant—she could pinpoint the exact moment he remembered.
Of course she was happy after seeing him so excited about the baby kicking. But the event had made her hopeful again and that she didn't like. Deciding that she needed to distract herself, she went back downstairs and sat on the couch. She scrolled through her Netflix list and found a romantic-comedy to watch.
Slowly, Khushi and Naina had joined her for the movie. Kripa was unaware of the fact that Angad had stayed back home. He had made up an excuse about not feeling well.
Back at Armaan and Riddhima's house, Riddhima finally stirred back to consciousness around 2 pm. She opened her eyes to find Armaan staring at her with a gentle smile on his face.
"Wake up sleepy head..." He moved a few loose strands out of her face.
She smiled at him. "Good morning!"
"Afternoon, my love." Arnav smiled a twinkle in his eyes.
Riddhima gasped and sat up. "Oh no! Why didn't you wake me up?? We were supposed to go see Kripa."
Armaan suppressed a giggle as he looked at her face. "You looked beautiful when you were sleeping...I didn't want to wake you. Go get ready. We'll leave as soon as you're ready to go."
Riddhima beamed at him and kissed his cheek before hopping off the bed and running into the shower.
"One. Two. Three—" Armaan didn't have time to finish his count to five.
"Armaaannn!!" Riddhima bellowed from the bathroom.
The door to the bathroom burst open at the same moment Armaan jumped off the bed. He ran out of the room and Riddhima ran after him.
"I am going to kill you!!" Riddhima yelled as they ran around the dining table.
Riddhima stopped and gauged her next attack while Armaan stood right across her and looked at her face—a beautiful artwork of his.
While she was asleep, he had taken her eyeliner and drawn a cat nose, whiskers, and a beard on her face. She glared at him.
"So this is why you didn't wake me up!" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him.
Armaan looked at her sheepishly. "But you look adorable this way!"
"Adorable? ADORABLE?? I'll give you adorable!" She took a bottle of ketchup and chucked it at him. He tried to dodge it but missed and it hit the right corner of his forehead.
Riddhima gasped and rushed around the table when he winced in pain.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
Riddhima fussed over him as he tried to assure her that he was alright. After minutes of reassuring her that he was okay, she was convinced. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and shower. When she returned, she found him watching TV in the living room.
"Okay...I'm ready to go" She said as she made her way towards him.
He turned to face her and she stopped dead in her track with a gasp. The spot where she had hit him with the ketchup bottle now sported a bright red bump. He held up his hands before she freaked out.
"It's alright. I'm okay. I've put ice on it." He said cautiously.
Her eyes suddenly filled with tears as she walked to him. She gently ran her thumb over the bump on his head.
"Riddhima, don't cry. It's alright. You didn't really mean to hit me with the bottle..."
Riddhima hugged him. "I'm sorry Armaan! I shouldn't have thrown the bottle at you in the first place. What the hell was I thinking?"
"No...What the hell was I thinking...drawing on your face?" Armaan said light-heartedly.
Riddhima pulled apart, sniffled and frowned at him. "Yeah. What the hell were you thinking?"
Armaan laughed out loud. "I was thinking that you'd look very cute. But my art skills suck."
"Well...your art skills only suck when they involve eyeliner...when it comes to the art of love..." She trailed off suggestively, gazing away from him shyly.
"Wow Riddhima...just...wow...I didn't know my wife could talk like that..." Armaan paused to watch her blush even more. "Seriously...keep talking like that and we'll have that cricket team sooner than you think."
"And if we don't leave soon, Kripa will kill you sooner than you think." Riddhima pulled away and headed out the door.
There you guys! That was the part for today! Hope you all liked it. Thank you for your wonderful comments on the last update! Next update in two weeks. I have major deadlines next weekend so wont be able to update! Enjoy!
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