Part 6
As promised Milind was home by 5 o'clock to take his wife to the doctor. Prachi was ready waiting for him. Before joining him, she gave Baba his BP medicine and later bent down to receive his blessings as she normally did in every visit to the doctor. Baba blessed her with his whole heart and asked Milind to drive carefully. Milind nodded his head and escorted his wife to the car.
At the doctor's clinic they waited for a few minutes before they were called in.
"Good evening, Mrs. Mishra. How are you feeling?" Dr.Medha asked Prachi genially.
"Quite well, doctor," replied Prachi.
Dr.Medha examined Prachi's file. "So you are eighteen weeks pregnant now. Do you still have morning sickness?"
"No, doctor. I am free from it for the past two weeks."
"That's good. Have you had two litres of water?"
"Yes, doctor."
"Good. Are you excited to catch the first glimpse of your baby?" Dr.Medha's gaze swept both of them.
They nodded their heads in unison. Milind felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension as he turned his head to catch the enthusiasm in his wife's face. While he could understand her feelings as the mother of the child, he did not understand his own. Why did he feel so strongly for this unknown, unborn baby? Before he could think further, Dr.Medha asked Prachi to loosen her clothes and she lifted her kurta. Seeing Milind turn his head away from the protruding stomach of his wife, Dr.Medha teased him. "Really, Mr.Mishra. You don't need to act prudish around your own wife! You have surely seen her in far less." Milind gave her a sheepish grin and felt compelled to look at Prachi's stomach only to avoid any suspicions the doctor may have regarding their relationship. He gulped at the sight of the gently rising mound of her fair and smooth stomach with the slightly enlarged navel at the centre of it. The doctor rubbed some gel on Prachi's stomach and ran the instrument across it, gently prodding to get the signals.
"There you are! Can you see that?" asked Dr.Medha, pointing to the monitor. Milind was relieved to be able to turn his attention away from Prachi's stomach.
Initially he could not make head or tail of what was on the screen. The doctor patiently explained the picture to them.
"See that large oval shaped figure? That is the baby's head. See those elongated thin shapes facing up? They are the hands and the legs of your baby. There now, can you see the baby twitching its toes?"
Milind was excited to see the movement of the baby and went up to the screen, tracing the baby's form on it.
"Wow, that is amazing!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in wonderment and he looked down at Prachi's face which mirrored his expressions. He impulsively held her hand and squeezed it, inviting her smile.
After a few minutes, Dr.Medha assured them that everything is normal with the baby. She informed them that although she can make out the gender of the baby, she is forbidden by law from revealing it to them. They reassured her that they themselves preferred to wait till the birth of the baby to know whether it is a boy or a girl. The doctor gave them the pictures and a CD of the sonography. Thanking her, they left the clinic.
After they got into the car, Milind turned the car in the direction opposite to that of their home, much to Prachi's surprise.
"Are we not going back home?" she asked him.
"No," he responded but refused to divulge anything further till they reached their destination. He parked the car in front of a mandir and opened the door for her. Taking the hand of a confused Prachi, he led her to the entrance of the temple. By way of answering her questioning look he said that he felt like offering prayers there. Although she was surprised by his sudden piety she nodded her head and walked into the temple with him. After a few minutes of silent prayer they returned to their car.
"Prachi, have you visited this city before?" he asked her.
"No." she replied.
"Well, you have lived here in Pune for nearly three months now and have not seen any place of interest, have you?"
She shook her head in the negative.
"I am sorry I did not take you anywhere. I'll try and make up for it today."
He then drove down to the Empress Garden, a large botanical garden in Pune.
Inside the garden was a large lotus pond with the statue of Queen Victoria at the centre. They circled the pond and strolled up the sprawling lawns and finally sat on one of the benches on the side of the path way. Prachi closed her eyes and threw back her head, enjoying the gentle evening breeze which caressed her skin. Taking this opportunity, Milind studied her face more closely in the fading evening light. While he was always aware of her beauty he did not pay much attention to it before. That day though, sitting amidst tranquil natural surroundings, he felt a magnetic pull towards her and realised just how breathtakingly beautiful she was. His eyes scanned the angelic oval face, the broad forehead, the sharp nose, the neatly arched brows, the large lids which covered beautiful, lustrous almond shaped eyes and which were rimmed by long curly lashes, the soft pink lips, the blemish free chubby cheeks and the delicate chin. He suddenly had an urge to caress the smooth silky skin of her face. As if to answer his wish a tree ant fell on her face just then. He immediately flitted it away and in the process his fingers grazed her soft cheek. Startled by his sudden touch, she opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise. He explained that he had just got rid of an ant on her face. She smiled a thank you, revealing deep dimples which made his heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly looked away, wondering about the new sensations she seemed to be evoking in him.
As it was getting dark, he led her back to the car and called home to inform Baba that they will be eating out that day. Prachi looked at him in amazement, wondering what had come over her husband, why was he so extra caring that day. If he was aware of her wonderment, he did not show it. He took her next to a garment shop and asked her to select some loose fitting clothes as she was growing big for her dresses. As she could not make up her mind about what to buy, he himself chose a dozen dresses for her. He asked her if she needed anything more. She nodded and looked towards the lingerie counter, turning red with embarrassment. Understanding her wish to be left in private, he asked her to buy whatever she wants and told her that he will wait for her at the billing counter.
After a few minutes they headed towards the most posh restaurant in the city. He asked her to place her order and was pleased to note her healthy appetite. Over dinner, Milind haltingly broached the subject of her mysterious past. "Prachi, where are you from?" he asked.
Prachi was shocked by his sudden interest in her past. She remained silent for a couple of minutes.
"You needn't tell me anything if you don't want to," he assured her.
"Surat," she said after some hesitation.
"Do you have parents?"
She shook her head in the negative.
"Brothers? Sisters?"
She did not answer him indicating that she did not want to discuss this topic further. Although he wanted to know more about her, he decided not to press on. Instead he changed the topic and asked her what she did that day. She seemed relieved that he did not pursue the earlier line of questioning and gave him a detailed account of her day. He smiled at her exuberance. She asked him about his day. He shrugged and said it was pretty much the same - boring. She smiled at that. She finally asked him what was plaguing her mind the whole evening.
"Milind, why have you taken me on this elaborate outing?" she asked curiously.
"To make up for last night," he replied and looking deeply into her eyes he said a simple yet heartfelt sorry.
"I'm sorry too," she said solemnly.
"What for?" he asked puzzled as he settled the bill.
"For not waking you up this morning," she smiled as they came out of the restaurant.
Shaking his head, he flashed her his most charming smile, gladdening her heart.
By the time they reached home it was 10 o'clock. Feeling exhausted, Prachi promptly went to sleep but Milind remained awake for a long time after that. He wondered about the new feelings he seemed to be developing for the woman who lay across him in bed. Were they always there or have they suddenly cropped up? What is it that made him want to protect her and her unborn baby? Why did he take the huge step of getting married to a complete stranger, willingly giving up on the bachelorhood he so cherished? Granted that he tried to cover up for a lie he had uttered to his father about a non-existent wife inorder to avoid acquiring a real one. But has he not done exactly what he set out to avoid? Has he not acquired a real wife and that too one who is carrying another man's child? He apparently married her to give her baby an identity apart from trying to cover up his lie. But what does he know about this woman? He knew nothing about her, save her name. Today he tried finding more about her past but she clamped up. Still he did not seem to mind. It did not bother him that he knew next to nothing about her. She could well be a gold digger and the entire suicide attempt could be part of an elaborate plan to trap him. Yet, he knew in his heart that she could not do such a thing, she could not dupe him. What made him trust her so unconditionally? Was it her eyes and the sincerity he saw in them?
And what about her baby? Why did he feel so strongly about it? What was the connection between this baby and him? Yesterday he blasted Prachi for not eating her dinner on time and depriving her baby of nourishment. Today when he saw the ultrasound picture of her baby he felt elated as though he was seeing his own baby. He even went to the mandir to offer prayer for its well being. Why was he so interested in the welfare of that baby, a baby that wasn't even his? Was it only the baby he was interested in or was he also interested in its mother? If he was interested in both, was he interested in the mother because of the baby or in the baby because of the mother?
In the past he was against the whole institution of marriage not only because he saw many unhappy and broken marriages around him but also because he did not want a woman in his life. Not that he was against women. Afterall his mother was also a woman. He respected them, even felt attracted to them. But he felt that women spelt trouble, trouble he can well do without. Afterall has he not lived 20 years out of his 28 years of existence on this earth without a woman in his life? He has turned out pretty well. So what was the need for a woman in it now? He had despised marriages because they created a dependency on woman.
Does he still feel the same way about marriages now? What about his marriage, in particular? What was he expecting from it? He kept saying that this marriage was a farce, that they can break it up anytime they want. But does he really want to break it up? When the time comes for her to leave can he really give her up? Can he give up the baby? Does he even want to? He had no choice here. He had afterall promised to let her go. So unless she wants to stay, he is really helpless. Does she want to stay?
She did show a lot of concern for him. All the little things she does for him have not gone unnoticed. She made sure his things were in place although she never made it obvious she was doing these things for him. He knew that she slept after he did. He never covered himself up while sleeping but still every morning he found the comforter pulled over him. So he knew she was the one who covered him up in his sleep. Today she stepped in to defend him against his father's tirade. She was always careful not to hurt his feelings. But she could be doing all these things out of a sense of gratitude. So how can he be sure she had any feelings for him beyond gratitude? Strangely the dependency that he feared earlier is what he now seems to be willingly accepting, even needing. So has he changed? All these chaotic questions, the answers to which he did not have, kept swimming in his head, giving him a severe headache.
He got up and rummaged through his medicine cabinet to locate an asprin. Having found one, he popped it in, sloshing it down with a glass of water and drifted into a disturbed sleep.
Edited by Opti - 16 years ago
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Bindi
