:: OS FF: Khushi's Indigestion ::

Khushi's Indigestion

By JanakiRaghunath

Arnav stomped into his and Khushi's bedroom in a grouchy mood. Work had been stressful that day, and to top it off, a shipment of new dresses which had just released in the market had been delayed because of the workers' laziness and neglect. An important meeting he'd had with the CEO of a competitor company had not gone well, and moreover, he'd lost almost a crore's worth of money in a business dealing. What he wanted more than anything else was to wash of the day's stress in a hot shower, but instead…he walked in on his wife's moaning and groaning form on the bed.

"What is your problem?" he snapped at Khushi, who was clutching her swollen belly with a melodramatic lament, "Get off the bed, I need a nap."

"Go away, Laad Governor!" Khushi whined at him, "I am suffering from indigestion and you don't even care! What kind of husband are you?"

"A tired one," Arnav muttered, removing his shoes and socks and shouting to Omprakash to retrieve them, "Now leave me alone for a while. I am stressed out."

"So am I," Khushi sniffled, "I am sick and tired of carrying your monster child, and I am only six months along! I have to deal with the kid for three months more!"

"If it was not for my angel, I would have divorced you long ago," Arnav snorted, knowing he was being mean but not caring, "I suppose the baby will need a mother, though in my opinion Di and Nani can take care of it just fine without you."

"I HATE YOU!" Khushi shrieked, throwing a pillow at her husband, but he dodged it easily and strode into the bathroom with a cynical chuckle.

'Seriously, why did I ever marry him?' Khushi thought with indignation, throwing a murderous look at the bathroom door, 'If I was not so much against divorce, I would have left him a long time ago!'

When Arnav returned from the hot shower, feeling rejuvenated and slightly better, he found Khushi snoring deeply into her pillow, her mouth still set in an annoyed frown.

Chuckling to himself, he walked down the stairs to the kitchen and found his sister wiping the kitchen counter. She smiled when she looked up at him.

"Chhote," she greeted him, "Did you have something to eat yet or no?"

"Not really," he answered, opening the fridge and picking a fresh apple from it. "I'm not that hungry though. Did you all eat?"

Giving him a skeptical look as he poured himself some pomegranate juice, Anjali said, "All of us except Khushi. We tried to force her to eat something, but she complained of indigestion and went to sleep early."

"So she was not faking it," Arnav muttered to himself, downing the juice in two gulps before placing it in the sink. Taking a bite out of his apple, he chewed it carefully and swallowed it before asking, "She had nothing at all?"

"No, nothing," Anjali replied, giving him a strange look, "Did you not speak to her after coming home, chhote?"

"Yes, but she was having her usual mood swings so we had a fight," Arnav retorted stiffly, "I get enough of PMSing people at office that I don't need one at home, especially a hormonal wife."

Rolling her eyes, Anjali shook her head with exasperation and said, "You need to be patient and loving with her, chhote, she is pregnant after all! Can you even imagine carrying a child in your womb for so long? The stress does get to you after a while. I – I may not be a mother myself, but I have seen enough pregnant women in my life to know what to expect." She glanced away sadly, continuing to wipe the kitchen counter.

Arnav glanced at his sister with concern, knowing she was still hurting over the whole Shyam ordeal despite being free of him and his cheating character once and for all.

Approximately ten months ago, the truth about Shyam's character had come out when Khushi had summoned up enough courage to tell the family about him. It was shortly after Payal and Akash's marriage and a bit before Arnav and Khushi's. Khushi, who had not wanted to enter her marriage with lies, had revealed everything with strong evidence against Shyam, and Anjali had almost gone into paralysis due to shock. An enraged Arnav had first beaten up Shyam and had him thrown in jail, but a few weeks later, Shyam had broken out, turned psychotic, and vowed revenge on the entire Raizada family, especially Arnav and Khushi, for ruining his life and reputation.

Breaking into the Raizada mansion with a loaded gun, Shyam had snuck into Arnav's bedroom and expected to find him fast asleep. Much to his consternation, he had found Nandkishore, Arnav and Akash's cousin, in the process of playing a prank on a sleeping Arnav. The prankster had been applying whipped cream to his cousin's chin and neck, and had been cackling like a madman when he'd seen Shyam in the window with a gun in his hand. Both the men had stared at each other in shock, before Nandkishore immediately reacted and slammed his weight into Shyam. The pistol in Shyam's hand had gone off, hit the headboard above Arnav, and made him wake up screaming "What the hell?"

Basically, what had happened was that the Raizada women had run into Arnav's bedroom upon hearing the commotion, found Arnav and Nandkishore battling Shyam, and then saw much to their horror Shyam getting hold of the pistol and holding it to Arnav's head.

And then Anjali, who had seemed to come to life for the first time after finding out about Shyam, shrieked, "NOT MY BROTHER, YOU bas***d!" with flaring, red eyes and flying hair. She held up Nandkishore's copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (she had been reading it before bed) and brought it down with a thwack! on Shyam's thick head.

Grabbing the chance, Nandkishore had kicked the pistol from Shyam's hands and pushed him out the window. Before he had even registered what was happening to him, a dazed Shyam fell all the way down to his death, only to be found later on by the police, who had been told that the convict had attempted to climb the mansion to kill Arnav Singh Raizada, only to lose his footing and fall down like a fool. Of course, being the Raizada family, they convinced the police very easily, though even they could not explain away the nasty bump on Shyam's head. But just to evade punishment should he be found out, Nandkishore changed his name to 'Hari Puttar' and left the country for Sydney.

Anjali knew it would take some time to completely get over her ex-husband's betrayal, but after seeing him raise a pistol to her baby brother's head, she had felt something in her crack. How could she possibly continue to love someone who had almost killed her beloved brother? She knew this if nothing else would help her overcome Shyam once and for all. Who knew? Perhaps her real prince charming was waiting for her somewhere out there, and she was yet to find him.

Shaking herself of her thoughts now, Anjali smiled at Arnav and gave him a tray of food. "Chhote," she said to him, "Try to convince Khushi to eat something, for her baby if not herself. Even normally one should not go to sleep without eating, but a pregnant woman in particular should be extra careful."

Entering the bedroom, he saw Khushi snoring and smirked. She always refused to admit she snored, that had he the time, he would have recorded this just to rub it in her face later on.

"Khushi, wake up!" he commanded in a stern tone, "Khushi Kumari Gupta, get your butt out of bed right now! Up!"

"G'way, laad governor," Khushi muttered in an annoyed tone.

"So you were not sleeping after all," Arnav snorted, "Now get up and eat, fatso."

"What did you just call me?" Khushi's eyes shot up and she gave him a murderous look, "I dare you to call me that again, Arnav Singh Raizada."

"Fatso," Arnav repeated calmly, "You might as well admit it, Khushi Kumari Raizada. You ain't so thin right now, are you? With that big belly attached to you and your feet so swollen, you look like a penguin, especially since you waddle when you walk."

Khushi stared at her husband for several seconds, speechless with disbelief, and just as easily as she had gotten angry, she burst into tears and sobbed, "You are SO mean! I can't believe it, what kind of husband calls his own wife a fatso, and that too a pregnant one?"

"Please, get over it," Arnav rolled his eyes, "Now eat so that I too can sleep in peace. Di wanted me to give this to you and she won't be very happy if I return it uneaten."

"So it is because of Di that you are here," Khushi snapped, "You yourself don't care whether I eat or not, do you? You – you don't love me at all!" She broke into more wracked sobs, so that Arnav did not know whether to stomp out of the room and go to sleep in a guest room, or somehow comfort her. He was not good at comforting people, especially pregnant women, but he supposed it was rather dangerous to have one's wife against him.

"Of course I do," he rolled his eyes again, "But Di prepared the tray because she was concerned about you…and…so am I." He flushed a bit as he said this, as he usually did whenever he paid Khushi a compliment or expressed outward concern for her wellbeing. Though he did love her, expressing his feelings had always been difficult for him, and while marriage was gradually curing him of it, it still did not come as easy to him as it did to Akash, who constantly praised Payal, complimented her, and bought her gifts almost every other day.

"You – you are?" Khushi asked him slowly, giving him a hesitant look, "I don't believe you."

"No, it – it's true," Arnav cleared his throat awkwardly, "Look, quit making this more difficult for me, will you?! You know how tough it is for me to be nice. I'm not a nice guy. I never was. I'm mean."

"True," Khushi nodded, though a smile played on her lips, "But you're my mean guy, aren't you?"

"Yeah sure, whatever," Arnav muttered, "Now eat quickly so that I may return this tray to the kitchen. I'm beat and some sleep before the next millennium would be nice."

"Oh, fine!" Khushi grumbled, "But only if you feed me!" She gave her husband a mischievous look.

"You have got to be kidding," Arnav stared at her with disbelief, "What are you, five years old?"

"Then I won't eat," Khushi declared in a stubborn tone, "It's your choice, Arnav Singh Raizada. Jiji told me that Jiju always feeds her. What have you ever done for me? You don't have a single romantic bone in your body!"

"Fine!" Arnav snapped, not wishing to argue with her simply because he was too exhausted. Also, he hated being compared to Akash, especially when people declared he was so un-romantic in comparison.

Taking a seat next to Khushi, Arnav scowled at her but nevertheless mixed some rice with hot, liquid daal. Dipping a spoon into the substance, he held it up to Khushi's mouth and watched beadily as she gave him a sweet smile and swallowed. In this way, he succeeded in feeding her all the daal and dahi Anjali had prepared, so that by the time Khushi wiped her mouth and drained two glasses of water, it was past midnight.

Stifling a yawn, Arnav muttered, "finally!" and got beneath the covers.

Giving him a smile, Khushi cuddled up to him and murmured, "I love you, Arnav."

"I don't," Arnav muttered back, "Will you ever let me sleep tonight?"

"No," Khushi replied back easily, "I'm not tired. Want to read me a story?"

"No," Arnav answered without hesitation, "Will you shut up and go to sleep?"

"It was very sweet of you to feed me tonight," Khushi continued, completely ignoring him, "Do you know what would make it even better?"

"Perhaps," Arnav smirked, realizing what she had in mind. As Khushi raised her eyebrows suggestively, he rolled his eyes and said, "but that doesn't mean I feel in the mood."

"You suck," Khushi made a face. Pouting, she turned to her side and pretended to go to sleep. Smiling at her, Arnav wound his arm around her thickened waist, turned her to his side, and promptly pressed his lips to hers.

Sighing with pleasure, Khushi pressed herself into his strong body and dug her fingers into his hair. They remained in this position for several minutes before Khushi suddenly broke apart, a queer look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Arnav asked her, looking almost offended. "Am I really that bad of a kisser? Don't tell me your sister tells you that Akash is a wonderful kisser. That's just a slap to my male ego."

"Eww, sisters do not talk about that kind of stuff," Khushi made a face, "No, I – I think my indigestion has come to an end." Saying so, she leapt for the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Making a disgusted face, Arnav simply pulled the duvet over his head and fell asleep in mere minutes.