OS: Bonding with the baby

Arnav paused his work on the laptop and glanced sideways at Khushi seated on the bed, muttering something inaudible to herself. He saw her stare back at him for a few seconds, before she resumed the chatter once again, stroking her enlarged round belly. Khushi was now in her seventh month of pregnancy and slight back pains had restricted her mobility to her room itself.

"What are you doing?" Arnav asked, arching his eyebrows amusedly. This habit of hers was being noticed by him for quite sometime now. But he hadn't bothered to ask her about it due to his busy schedule that hardly left him any time to spend with her.

"Why would you bother?" she replied grumpily. "Go and bury yourself in your work. Lard Governor!"

Mood swings! Arnav rolled his eyes. It was also a part of her pregnancy but everytime he had encountered it, he had carefully handled the situation to avoid damages to both the parties involved. Afterall, it was inevitable and her gynaecologist had specifically advised him to keep her away from stress and tension in her third trimester.

But at the same time, he knew she was right. For the past two weeks, he had hardly devoted any time to her and so, her annoyance was justified.

Closing his laptop, done for the night, he let out a sigh and walked towards the bed, climbing on it beside her. He carefully clamped her hand that was stroking her belly and mimicked the same movements. Khushi stopped to look at him and her annoyance at him, melted at the sight of his eager eyes that were attempting to bond with his baby.

She pushed away his hand stunning him. But she then proceeded, to lift her night gown to reveal her bare belly and grabbing his wrist once again, she guided his warm palm over her baby bump.

Arnav stared at her with awe as his fingers came into contact with her skin, and suddenly, his eyes widened with immense surprise as he felt slow movements underneath.

"Do you feel it?" Khushi asked, looking at him.

"Yeah." Arnav managed to say, too wonderstruck to reply.

"That's our baby moving. See, he's kicking right here." She smiled as Arnav felt a sudden jerk on his palm. The whole experience was something unbelievable for him. This was the first time he was bonding with the baby and honestly, he felt a bit scared and excited at the same time.

"You know, I was talking to the baby." She continued as he stroked her bump with amazement. "He understands whatever I talk to him and responds with his kicks." She laughed. "When I'm tensed, he senses it and gets agitated too. When I'm happy, he gets extra playful and excited while rotating."

"Is she happy now?" Arnav asked, gazing back at Khushi.

"It's a boy Arnav. I'm sure of it. He's just like you." She corrected him, holding his face.

"How can you be so sure? I thought sons were like mothers and daughters were like fathers." He replied, grinning at her. "So by that theory, I'm sure it's going to be a girl."

"I'm still going to believe it will be a boy because I want a baby boy just like his father who has a huge heart and who will love back his mother." Khushi argued stubbornly.

"Khushi?" Arnav called out, hesitant to ask her what was going on in his mind. But he decided to proceed with it anyway. "I... even I want to talk to the baby. Can I?"

Khushi was a bit taken aback at his request as she wasn't expecting it, but she eagerly obliged. "Ofcourse you can."

"But... But I don't know how to start. This is... I have never done this before. I don't know how to." Arnav explained, hoping Khushi would help him out.

"Papa wants to talk to you and he's scared." She giggled. "Be a little gentle on him." She added to tease her husband.

"Khushi!" Arnav groaned, feeling a bit bad that she was mocking him.

"No, seriously Arnav. Don't worry. He's listening to you right now and he's very excited at your presence. I won't eavesdrop on your conversation. So you can talk to him whatever you want to." She assured him.

Arnav didn't know what to do. Bending awkwardly, he lowered his head so that his face was merely an inch away from her belly. He proceeded to place a light kiss on top of it and instantly, felt a responding kick on the same spot.

"Hi Baby!" he whispered, looking up at Khushi once again to notice her reaction. She was grinning at him, holding her mouth, but looked away the minute his eyes met hers.

"Khushi!" he groaned once again. "You know how I'm not good with verbally expressing my feelings right? Then why are you laughing at me?"

"Oh Arnav! He knows his Papa very well by now. I keep talking to him, about you every day. And trust me, he already loves you."

"She does?" Arnav asked back, feeling a sudden warmth flood his heart hearing about it. He looked back at the belly once more, wondering what else to speak. But he was at loss for words.

"I guess I don't know what else to say, but I love you a lot." He whispered, kissing the enlarged belly once more. "Your Papa is eagerly waiting for you to come out and hold you in his arms."

"Even your Mamma is waiting too." Khushi added smiling at her baby's father, as Arnav rested his head carefully over her belly, while she hummed softly, lulling both the babies in her life to slumber.

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