SS - Switched - Completed on 16th April - Page 31

Chapter 11

"But I wanted you to get one." Rishab protested, with a slight whine attached to the protest.

"Yup and rightly so ' I ' am getting one..." She grinned, this is so much fun, "while I still have possession of this body."

Madhu rushed past Rishab into the bedroom quickly dialling Bittuji's number. "Bittuji make an appointment for tomorrow. I want to get my nipple pierced."

"Uhh Chief, your..." Bittuji paused, his chief was... how to describe him... eclectic, yeah thats right eclectic. He would suddenly get an idea stuck in his head and then all hell would break loose. Things would get even crazier as he came up with elaborate plans to see to the completion of that idea. You never knew when and how he would throw the ball at you, you just had to make sure you caught it. Maybe this is one of those days. Now that Bhabhiji is home, maybe she can talk him out of it. If he only knew that it was his Bhabhiji who was asking him to make the appointment.

"Nipple, Bittuji...its called a nipple. You know the pigmented portion on the surface of your chest. Everyone normally has two of them. Though some people maybe born with three, then its called a nubbin." By now Madhu was standing atop the bed, holding the phone to her ear with one hand and deflecting Rishab's attack with the other.

"Ha! Ha! I made the appointment!! Madhu jumped around teasing Rishab immensely.

The jumping on the bed trying to pry the phone away from Madhu, reminded Rishab about a fact he had conveniently forgotten a few minutes ago, as his face turned a despicable shade of green. And what a reminder!! Before he could help it, the front of Madhu's golf clothes was covered with chunks of food, this mornings food.

Madhu stood there like a statue, stunned by the sudden downpour of half digested food. She opened her mouth a couple of times to say something, but words failed her.

Rishab got off the bed and looked back at Madhu. "Well you asked for it." Wiping the corner of his mouth with a towel he said, "Plus no more golf clothes. Two birds with one stone, or rather two jobs complete with one puke. Now that is what I call efficiency."

*******

As they entered the dining room for a late lunch, they were greeted by the Bhatia Bunch. You will find them on google, if you search under 'warts' – A growth that you are stuck with. In this case 3 of them. They are generally harmless but if exposed or stay in the company of others for a long period of time, their brainlessness can be highly contagious. They generally seek the weakest person and weave their trap from there. They may sometimes disappear for a while, but will recur or if you have real bad luck they will last a lifetime. Any treatment provided has limited effects and the effect seen too lasts temporarily. Basically no permanent cure available.

Rishab and Madhu wanted to tell Mummyji about the baby, now that the baby has passed the critical stage. But Madhu was still anxious about telling her, though she wanted to desperately. Telling her meant telling the Bhatias and with one of the Bhatia's past record, they couldn't trust her to not harm their baby in any way. So Rishab put his mind to it and as usual came up with a brilliant plan. When a child at school is extremely naughty and the teacher cannot control him, the teacher usually makes the child the class monitor. Once the responsibility is put on the child, the child leaves his bratty self behind. Maybe they could do the same in this case. They came up with a Plan of Action – Get Deepali on the job.

"Maa... Madhu is having my baby." Madhu, who was in Rishab's body announced after lunch, holding Rishab's hand as he pretended to blush as per Madhu's instructions earlier. On hearing the news, on one hand Radhaji was excited and called for sweets, on the other hand the father-son duo seemed indifferent. But the best expression of all was Deepali, who seemed to be run over by a 18 wheeler truck after being thrown out of a plane without a parachute.

"Deepali control yourself or you are going to overflow with excitement." Rishab commented sarcastically, seeing the initial shock change into scorn.

Deepali immediately came to her senses, controlled her emotions and put on a fake smile and got up to congratulate the to-be parents, or in this case, Rishab. Even now as she came forward to wish her hero, she tried to brush up against him, not knowing that she was actually trying to make a move on Rishab's heroine, Madhu.

Madhu held her at arms length and further announced. "I would like you, Bhabhiji, to personally see to all of my 'wife', Madhu's needs. I said it once, for your right ear now let me repeat it for the other ear too, so that you can't say that it went into one ear and came out the other. You are going to take care of ALL her needs."

And just as Rishab had told her, she bent down a little so that she was in Deepali's ear level and whispered to her, "And if I find even a dark circle or a chipped nail on Madhu, or if my baby is even half an ounce lighter than what he should be, you will not only be out of this house but will find permanent residence in the slums of Dharavi with no chances of return and no relocation, since the chawl will still be too good for you." The dark look Madhu gave Deepali at the end scared the living daylights out of Deepali and she quickly nodded and scampered away.

Rishab watched as Madhu performed her part flawlessly and smiled as things fell into place, just the way he wanted it to. Madhu not only met his expectations but surpassed them with the last look she gave Deepali. On further thought, he realised that look was not a put on, but was for real. It is the look of threat any mother, be it human or animal, gives a potential perpetrator who might harm her young-ling.