Abhigya SS: Slight Bump (pg. 10- Ch. 3 update!) - Page 6

Originally posted by: Fanaah

Anya, what a beautiful ficlet! I liked seeing Abhi go from always having and wanting only physical releases, but from Pragya, he has that peace and trust in her to keep her close and wanting something more than physical. But the role-reversal? I AM wondering why Pragya wanted to maintain that distance... Was it some kind of misunderstanding? Or was it just her assumption that because he only ever had physical relations before, she thought he would prefer it like that with her as well or is it because of how she was treated before?

So many questions! Will we ever get those answers? In the form of a companion ficlet? Maybe? Hopefully? And is this part of your SB universe or a standalone?

By the way, I hope you don't mind that I referred to you as "Anya"...

Originally posted by: quirky_senorita

It's so beautiful ...Loved it so much.

Originally posted by: adventure_gurl

cute addition

Originally posted by: nilmi

Awesome

Originally posted by: Asma-

beautiful you should write more ficlet =)

Originally posted by: putturani

Oh Valschanya this was beautiful! I'm talking about the part on page 6 because I want to comment on it before reading the latest update. The emotions you describe are all too real and I teared up. The bitter words with an intent to burn, the subsequent regret, Pragya's determination to not let him feel guilty ... all beautifully written.

The moment when Abhi realizes that he is holding his entire world in his hands was really powerful too. I'm really excited to see what you write next.

Originally posted by: sudanindia2014

I really am so fascinated by your writing ..I write some times but I'm not a writer so I may not be able to give a good and professional opinion about what I read , it is is more about how it makes me feel and what you write and the way you write it make me feel a lot and all of them are good feelings ..the way you delivered the general idea is so unique ..

I really love that although you seem to write without specific order all what you wrote till now is so coherent and every part is like a piece that will fit beside another piece to finally build up something bigger and complete

I really really love what you wrote till now and I'm so eager to read more can not really wait to have a new PM from you

P.s : do you have a name we can call you with or do we have to continue use your user name it is a bet difficult at least for me may be because I'm not Indian ..by the way you can call me Nuha ..it is my real first name

Hi guys! This is the final instalment of Slight Bump and I rushed through this. Eeep! I wanted to post this asap so here it is!

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"Fuggy, have you taken your folic acid yet? What did you take before lunch, was it the vitamin D?"

Abhi was at it again. He was hovering over his heavily pregnant wife, his irritated heavily pregnant wife, with a bottle of folic acid in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Pragya was trying to find a comfortable position to sit, she was on her maternity leave but didn't want to stay idle so instead of putting her feet up to rest she decided to take it upon herself to work on a scientific research article. Since she was forbidden to commute to and from work, she made do with the situation and decided to work from home instead. If it could be called 'work' at all, what with all the things Pragya shouldn't be doing at this stage of her pregnancy.

"Not yet--"

"Fuggy, you can't just forget things like this! Here, take one capsule right now and then you can take another one before we go to bed."

Pragya was grateful, she really was, but sometimes she thinks her husband is being a little too attentive. It's not like she was the first woman to ever get pregnant, she tried saying once to Abhi and was answered by a simple, Ye-es.. but no other woman has ever had my baby. Well, she couldn't argue about that.

She took the capsule from his fingers and washed it down with water. She stuck out her tongue for his inspection and was met with a satisfied smile. Abhi stole a quick kiss from Pragya and set off for the studio. Pragya could only roll her eyes in exasperation and began typing on her laptop.

Pragya was about to lift a heavy textbook onto her lap when she heard Abhi's reprimanding voice. She looked up and saw her husband making a U-turn, heading back to where she was.

"Fuggy, what did I tell you about lifting heavy objects? Your back is already aching as it is, don't make it any worse!"

He unceremoniously hefted the textbook and dropped it on the coffee table with a thump. As if that wasn't enough, he plucked a cushion from the love seat a few meters away from Pragya and settled it behind her back. She wriggled to make space for the cushion and when he deemed it good enough to support her back, he left without another word. Pragya tilted her head to the side in contemplation as she watched Abhi walk further away.

What an odd man.

Not even ten minutes after he finally left Pragya to work in peace, Abhi came strutting down towards her with something suspiciously resembling a Doppler device. He gathered all the papers strewn across the sofa and dumped them carelessly on the floor.

"Abhi! What are--"

"Ssshh, fuggy, I wanna listen to Junior's hearbeat."

"Now? You want to do it now?"

"Aww c'mon, fuggy! I haven't--"

"But I'm in the middle of--"

"You get to feel her all the time! I feel like I'm missing out on so much."

Whenever Abhi pulls the puppy eyes, Pragya was completely done for. She groaned internally, knowing she'd never be able to say 'no' when Abhi's acting like this. He's been involved in her pregnancy from the start, she didn't really think he's missed out on anything worth mentioning. This was just another one of the perks and oddities of Abhishek-the-father-to-be. Pragya struggled to keep a straight face.

"Abhishek, I've set a goal to finish at least two pages today. We can listen to Junior tonight, okay? I promise."

The man-child beside her began fiddling with the handheld ultrasound device and mumbled a few words under his breath. He kept his eyes downcast as he appeared to sulk.

"Abhi? What did you say?"

"I said 'you don't want me to bond with Junior'. I could be away for days when I'm on tour, I miss out on a lot of her development, fuggy, and I want to make it up to her. But.. you won't let me."

Oh for goodness' sakes!

"Fine! Alright, five minutes. You got five minutes and then promise me, Abhi, you'd let me get back to work without distraction!"

"Yeay! Come closer, fuggy. It won't take long."

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Pragya was starting to get antsy being confined at home. She wanted to add the finishing touches to her article but she couldn't sit in one position for too long, her lower back aches and the cramps in her legs would follow suit. She was too far along in her pregnancy to go out and about without a chaperone. Since everybody is too busy to humor an over-emotional pregnant lady, she decided to clean every nook and cranny of the mansion.

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Robin was sweating profusely. He was going to get killed- or worse, sacked. His employer made it absolutely clear that his wife shouldn't be doing anything strenuous, and he was pretty sure getting on your hands and knees to scrub the underside of the dining table is definitely included in 'anything strenuous'.

"Ma'am, please let me do it. You really, really shouldn't be doing any hard work.. or any work for that matter. Ma'am, please."

Robin was so desperate he was close to getting down on his hands and knees too. He's been begging for Pragya to stop scrubbing, poking, and sweeping every surface clean. The woman in question didn't pay Robin any heed. She continued scrubbing merrily, while whistling one of Abhi's catchy tune, half of her body hid beneath the large dining table. Pragya has been going on a cleaning spree since morning, right after everyone left the mansion to run their errands. Since Daadi is still in Ludhiana and won't be back until tomorrow, she had the whole mansion to herself. Robin cursed his bad luck.

"Ma'am--"

"Robin, stop worrying. Go get fetch me more soap, please."

Robin didn't want to leave Pragya alone, he was convinced she'd hurt herself if he left her to her own devices. He was running out of ideas, and Abhi could be back at any moment and walk in on this scene! He tried once more.

"Ma'am.. please, I really think this is not a good idea. What if--"

Robin didn't get to finish. With his breath caught in his throat, he twirled around at the loud voice booming right behind them.

"Fuggy, what do you think you're doing?!!"

Pragya, who was scrubbing a particularly dark stain, only paused in her work to throw a glance over her shoulders and returned back to the stain.

"As you can clearly see, I'm cleaning."

Robin has never been to one of those bullfighting shows he's seen on TV, but he was convinced this was what it felt like to be in the bull's direct line of sight. Abhi's chest heaved with deep, angry breaths as he stomped towards his nonchalant wife. Robin felt like a matador facing a raging bull, he jumped behind a chair to escape Abhi's wrath as he charged at them. Abhi only had eyes on his stubborn wife. When he was close enough to Pragya, he clasped her hips with his hands and carefully pulled her away from the table.

"Hey! I was still working on--"

"Shut up. I'm not going to argue with you on this."

Though his face was taut with anger, Abhi helped Pragya to her feet, firmly settling a hand against her lower back. He steered her away from the table and helped her up the staircase, all the while Pragya tried twisting away from Abhi's grip. Neither of them spoke a word, too angered by the situation.

She's so stubborn, doesn't she realize I'm doing this for her own good?

Pragya wasn't very happy either. She was so tired of him being overprotective!

Did he really think I'd do anything to harm the baby?

Pragya walked first into the room and stood in the middle, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. Abhi closed the door behind him with a slam and faced his wife with his arms akimbo.

"Why won't you listen to me? Who do you have to be so stubborn?!"

"I wasn't doing anything dangerous!"

"You were--"

"I was cleaning, Abhi! Cleaning the dining table. I wasn't jumping out of windows or climbing the roof!"

"That's not the point! Why can't you just sit still? You're in your last trimester, for God's sake, anything can trigger premature labor."

"Why do you have to be so.. so.. paranoid? I won't do anything to harm our baby!"

Abhi didn't even realize he had moved away from the door. He was looming over Pragya as he seethed in anger. He felt frustrated and was too angry to filter his words.

"Yeah? Seems like you did an exceptionally fine job when you ended up in the hospital!"

The moment the words came out of Abhi's mouth, he instantly regretted it and wished he could take them back. Pragya only gaped at him, her whole body tense. Abhi averted his eyes at the sight of Pragya's trembling lips, he felt utterly disgusted at himself. He lost the fight in him and his anger faded away into weariness. Pragya willed her body to move and started making her way towards their bed. She gingerly lowered herself at the edge of the bed and started rubbing her belly absentmindedly. Abhi stood immobile, his eyes following her every movement. He wanted to touch her, kiss away the pain he caused. He wanted to throw himself at her mercy.

I'm sorry, Pragya. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I'm so scared.

Pragya was still lost in thought when she saw a shadow looming over her. Abhi slowly kneeled in front of Pragya, his hunched form a testament of the shame and regret he felt. Abhi closed his eyes and licked his dry lips.

"I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean what I said, right?"

When Pragya just continued to rub her belly without raising her head, Abhi felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest, crowding out his lungs and making it hard to draw breath. He placed both of his hands on either side of Pragya's hips, gripping the bed sheet, caging her. Words spilled out unbiddenly.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm out of my mind with worry these days. I get images in my head of something bad happening to you and the baby. It scares me, Pragya. I know what it's like, what it feels like, to lose people you love. You know what the doctor said, you know you have a high-risk pregnancy. I-I've got so much to lose now, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if anything happens to you. I can't lose you. I want to protect you, I want to keep you away from harm and danger. I d-don't think I can forgive myself if anything happens to either of you."

Abhi kept his eyes on her belly. He couldn't take his eyes away from her hands, the same loving hands that caressed him, strengthened him, healed him.

"Those words.. they were borne out of anger, sweetheart. You believe me, right? You know I didn't mean anything when I said them?"

Pragya slowly lifted her hand and placed it on Abhi's bowed head.

"Pragya, s-sometimes.. sometimes.. I get scared you'll stop loving me when you realize--"

Pragya pulled Abhi's head to her chest and buried her face in his neck. Abhi held himself still in Pragya's embrace. He still didn't feel deserving of her forgiveness. Pragya, on the other hand, has had enough. She didn't want to hear self-hatred in Abhi's voice any longer. She was hurt by the thoughtless words that were spewed in anger, and she was tired of his overbearing ways, but she knew, she understood this impossible husband of hers. She knew he didn't say the words out of spite. She believes him.

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This is me practicing the Art of the Abrupt Ending.