"I don't want to talk to anyone!!!" Nidhi whispered, her eyes downcast.
Ashutosh quietly left the room and strolled into the hall and was startled to see BB hurrying towards him.
"Ashutosh Beta, kya hua? Aaj tak uski oonchi awaaz nahin suni aur aaj yeh..."
"Baba, ek bahut bada problem ho gaya..." Ashutosh confessed...as his thoughts went back to Anjie-Ranga's wedding...
They had just been married for a couple of months and had come back home, tired, after having attending Anji-Ranganath's wedding. "You should have a baby now..." an old tongue had wagged, and though Nidhi had tried to brush it off, he himself was keen on it.
He had talked about it to Nidhi and they had agreed on a two year waiting period for Nidhi to pursue her career ambition...but then this was a surprise development.
The first indication was the "lost" look and body language of Nidhi. And that was highly significant, for someone so bubbly, vivacious and full of life...she just sat and stared in space throughout. During dinner time, she just picked on her food, food which was her one time favourite, and her demeanour was such that even HK had commented.
"Kya baat hain, Nidhi beti...achha nahi bana kya?"
"Nahin HK...bhook nahin hai..." Nidhi had left the table in the middle of a meal. Ashutosh had tried to stop her, but she had walked off to the bedroom. He had followed her and found that she was in the toilet...maybe one of her bad days, he had vaguely justified to himself.
Then one night he had woken up to find her missing from the bed...his groping hand, had returned empty from her side of the bed. He checked on the time: dawn was about to break on the rooftops...he had tip-toed across the house to find her sitting quietly on the steps leading to the patio and drawing a vague pattern in the mud with her fingertips. She was deeply lost in thoughts when her fingertips encountered his feet and she had snapped to attention...Ashutosh was standing next to her. She stood up hastily and started to go elsewhere, when he caught her arm,
"Yahan kya kar rahi ho? Subah subah uth gayi tum...lagta hai poori raat soyi nahi...neend nahi aa rahi thi ya?"
"Ha, neend nahi aayi..." Now this was highly unusual for Nidhi.
"Uthne ka time ho gaya, chalo coffee peeyenge, I will make..."
"Nahin, uski koi zarurat nahin...please leave me alone..." Nidhi was standing now, eager to leave the scene and Ashutosh caught her hand, "Nidhi...aisi kya baat hai...tum itni pareshan ho...I have been observing since the past week...mujhe nahin bataogi?"
"Nahin, please akela chhod dijiye mujhe..." Nidhi was sobbing quietly now, as Ashutosh turned her to meet his gaze. "Nidhi, kya hua...ro rahi ho...?" Ashutosh cupped her face and wiped her tears with his thumb, "Ab tum bataogi nahin to mujhe kaise pata chalega?" and led her to their room.
"Nahin, ek gadbad ho gayi..." Nidhi sniffled. She had taken refuge on the nearest chair while he bolted the door from within. He offered her a glass of water and waited as she drained the glass in a single gulp.
"I am pregnant!!" Nidhi blurted out.
"What? But how is that possible? I mean, we had decided on two years...ek saal bhi nahin hua ab tak...tumhari internship 2 months ki baki hai...bachche ki planning maine tum par chhod do thi na...phir?" A volley of directionless blind queries flew from Ashutosh as his thinking mechanism went into overdrive.
"I must have missed a pill sometime...magar pata nahin kaise..." Nidhi's eyes brimmed over.
"Yeh to badi gadbad ho gayi..." the event finally dawned on him.
"Magar aap kyoun fikr karte hai, aap yehi chahte the na? Aapki to murad poori hi gayi..." Tears flew with a renewed vigour down Nidhi's cheeks.
Ashutosh was momentarily stunned with this accusation, as he began, "Nidhi...Aisi baat nahin hai..." as Nidhi shook off his hand and stood up.
"Aur nahin to kya? Bahut khush hai na...itne khush to uss din bhi nahin the jis din aapne mujhe KGH se nikala...mera career, mera future barbaad ho gaya..." Nidhi was clearly incoherent.
"Nidhi...please relax..." Ashutosh grasped her arm.
"I said, leave me alone..."Nidhi had shaken off his hand.
He abruptly came back to the present as BB was shaking him, "Kya problem ho gaya beta? Aur Nidhi ki tabeeyat to theek hai na? Tum dono mein koi ladai hui kya?"
"Baba aapko yaad hai, maine aapse kaha that ki 2 years ke baad hi bachche ke baare mein sochenge..." Ashutosh was clearly not comfortable discussing these matters with anyone other than Nidhi, but this was not the time to feel shy at all.
"Ha, yaad hai..." Baba recollected the day.
"Baba, Nidhi is pregnant...aur ussi ki wajah se pareshan hai...yahan tak sochati hai ki uska future barbaad ho gaya...totally agitated " Ashutosh explained the situation, as BB had his doubts, "Par yeh hua kaise? tum logon ne kuchh planning nahin kiya tha kya?"
"Woh sab maine Nidhi par chhod diya tha...lagta hai wahin par..." Ashutosh was clearly at a loss of justification for this event.
"To phir beta...yeh theek nahin... aur agar Nidhi bachha nahi chahti to...usse Dr Bharati ke pass le ja beta... abhi bhi kuchh nahi bigda...abortion ho jayega..." Baba continued further, "Dekh beta...shayad tujhe main pathhar dil lagta houn, par agar Nidhi ki yeh halat hai to yeh kissike bhi liye achha nahin hoga beta..."
Ashutosh was dejected for a while, but overruled his feelings, "theek kehte hai baba...iss mamle main main Nidhi ko majboor nahin karna chahta...the final decision will be hers..."
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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