OS: Of Romance and Babies
Abhishek Mehra stealthily prowled across the living room of his empty house. He silently stalked up the stairs, taking two at a time in an effort to reach his destination faster. His onyx eyes twinkled merrily and a smirk graced his handsome features as he slowly approached his door, quietly pushing it open. Eyes fell on unsuspecting prey and adrenalin rushed through his veins as he practically tiptoed behind her.
His unsuspecting wife had just finished her bath it seemed. Dressed in a soft white flannel cotton kurta and tights, she gently worked the towel on the ends of her lusciously thick jet black hair in front of the vanity. Her glasses sat on the dresser and he suspected she had worn her contacts, a habit she had picked up recently- to his dismay - after breaking her glasses a few months ago getting ready for a party (despite him providing her with a closet full of replacements). Pragya was so engrossed with her task she didn't notice her husband until he was right behind her, pulling her flush against him.
"Abhi!" she gasped, dropping the towel as his arm wrapped around her waist. He pulled her hair to one side and pressed his lips against the skin of her neck, making her breath leave her in a soft swoosh.
"Don't you look appetizing," he murmured, lips moving up the column of her neck to press firmly against the spot below her ear that made her knees buckle. A bright red flush worked its way across her cheeks at his brazen words.
She turned in his arms and he lost himself looking into pools of liquid ebony. He kept one arm around her waist, clutching the soft fabric of her kurta, while his other hand worked its way to her cheek.
In response her own arms came around his waist, holding tightly to anchor herself in place. Abhi pressed a soft kiss onto his wife's forehead, inhaling the sweet aroma of her shampoo, before working his way to one cheek, then the other. He placed a kiss on her chin, then her nose and Pragya whined in need, making him chuckle.
"Abhi..." she whimpered, plush lips trembling. His heart was knocking against his ribcage, as was hers, as he slowly descended on her lips, eyes slowly sliding shut.
"Uwah!"
The sharp cry broke the moment and Abhi groaned as his wife left his arms, feeling cold as she took her soft heat with her. He whimpered pitifully as he saw his wife bend over the bassinet next to their bed, before making eye contact with the one who ruined his moment with his beautiful wife.
Playful black eyes peered over his wife's shoulder and he scowled at the little monster his wife coddled against her.
Siddarth Mehra.
His enemy. His dushman. The villain in his love story. The kebab mein haddi of his love life.
And Pragya's favourite nephew in the whole wide world.
He watched as the little monster- as he so fondly referred to the young baby in his mind- clutched onto a lock of his wife's hair as she cooed and coddled him.
"What's wrong my little prince?" she lavished, giggling at the baby who smiled toothlessly at her. "Are you hungry? Is little Sid hungry after his nap? I bet you are!"
She placed a kiss on the baby's nose before placing him back in the bassinet. Pragya walked past Abhi with a lovesick smile, no doubt to go to the kitchen and warm up some milk for the baby. Abhi made sure his wife was out of the room, before pouncing on the cradle. Bracing himself against it he glared down into the eyes of his life's nemesis.
"You did that on purpose you devil's incarnate," he whispered, lest his wife walk in and hear him.
Sid cooed up at his uncle and Abhi's glare turned fierce at the perceived taunt. "Don't think you can get away with this you little brat," he threatened "You think you're clever huh? You have another thing coming to you, kid. I am rockstar Abhi! And don't think for one second that I'll take this lying down."
At some point during his rant Sid's attention had turned towards the rattle in his cradle. Pulling himself up, the little baby sat on his behind, grabbing the toy and shaking it excitedly, giggling merrily at the sound.
Abhi gave a frustrated groan and threw himself on the bed, sobbing pitifully at the state he was in.
Six days. Him and his beloved wife were to be left alone, by themselves, in their large empty house for six full days. In Abhi's mind it was the perfect chance to spend some quality time with his kishmish. And why not? The whole family, and he meant the whole family, was out of town.
Sid's parents, Rachna and Akash had happily married a month before the baby's birth. Due to the complicated relationship the two had shared, Akash's maternal family members could not attend the marriage and with the birth of baby Sid, Rachna had still not met her husband's close maternal family. Taiji had promised her family that as soon as her grandson was old enough she'd take both her sons, their wives and their children, and her husband and come down and visit them. At the same time, Dadi and her Daasi sister's were heading back to their hometown, with Aliya in tow, to visit some family and attend a wedding.
For Abhi it was like a dream come true. He could imagine the days, cuddling with his chashmish as the winter storm raged on outside, sharing intimate candle lit dinners and staying awake the whole night to hopefully partake in a marital duty they had been unable to do, though it wasn't for lack of wanting.
However, a day before the trip, baby Sid had fell ill with a fever, and Rachna refused to leave in the middle of winter with a sick baby. With much cajoling from her husband and mother-in-law she compromised, and with a heavy heart, left her baby in the hands of her rockstar jiju and bhabi so she could meet the rest of her husband's family and prove herself the ideal wife and mother.
A day later the baby was back in good health and Abhi too was happy. Now that the baby wasn't sick his wife wouldn't fret so much, and he was sure the baby would sleep the days away so he and his chashmish could romance away.
No such thing.
The devils incarnate - another nickname he dubbed upon the baby - was clearly trying to keep him and Pragya apart.
Every moment, every damn possible instance where he found to romance his wife the little hellion would do something or another to distract her away from him.
Now with only two days left before his family returned, and brought back with them the hectic chaos of the household, Abhi was getting desperate for some alone time with his wife. That - and severely blue balled.
He whimpered pitifully into his favourite pillow and glanced at the cradle the little demon was in, likely strategizing on how he would keep Pragya's attention on himself. The rockstar's eyes moved up towards the little mandir Pragya had on the wall and he groaned.
"What kind of agni pareksha is this bhagwan?" he lamented "What kind of a test is this?! You taunt me with desire only to use this little rakshas to keep my wife away? Is this some sort of punishment? What murder did I commit in my past life that I'm being punished in such a way today? Was it Ghandi ji? Majno's? Romeo's? WHO!?"
"Abhi what are you going on about?" Pragya questioned, coming into the room with a bottle of milk. He flashed a quick smile at his wife and shook his head.
"Nothing." He replied, pulling himself up onto the bed. She shook her head, an amused grin on her face and he watched spell bound and she took the baby in her arms then sat on the recliner in their room. She began to feed him and Abhi's heart knocked against his ribs at the image she made.
Beautiful, his mind whispered. He could spend hours, days even, just observing his wife in her everyday actions. His heart ached at the thought of what his life would be like without her in it, and he thanked God every day for finally realizing her true self.
Pragya felt the heavy stare of her husband's eyes and she glanced towards him. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his stare and her heart fluttered. Her mind scrambled for something, anything to say, to break the heavy tension that began to accumulate in the room.
"Do you want to try?" she blurted.
Abhi could only nod, still spellbound by the image she made. The next thing he knew she was sitting impossibly close to him, and the little demon child was deposited in his hands.
"Hold his head like this," she instructed, moving his hand carefully under the baby's head, "And now feed him like this."
With her hand over his, they both held the bottle that baby Sid gently sucked on. Pragya stared down at the baby, a gently smile on her face, while Abhi stared at his wife.
"You'd make a great mother," he thought aloud suddenly. She looked up and blushed, the thought of being the mother to Abhishek's children spreading a warmth through her.
"You wouldn't be such a bad dad yourself," she teased.
"Please chashmish," he smirked "I'd be an awesome dad. I'd be the coolest dad out there and so would my kids. They'd all be rockstars."
They were brought out of their flirtatious banter when Sid popped the bottle out of his mouth. He looked up expectantly at the duo and Abhi frowned down.
"Now what?" he questioned, confused at the baby's stare.
"He needs to be burped," she explained. "Why don't you try?"
She instructed him on how to burp Sid, so with the baby held over his shoulder, Abhi gently patted his back. After a few tries he heard a gentle burp and he held the baby away from him.
"You did such a good job," she praised and Abhi didn't know if it was for him or for the baby.
"I'm going to give him a bath and put him to bed in Rachna's room. I don't want him to get accustomed here or he won't sleep there when she comes back. I'll turn on the baby monitor so we can make sure he's ok."
She gathered the baby up and headed to the bathroom and Abhi shot a victorious smirk towards the baby's direction, hopping out of bed to romanticize his room.
Soft music played as Abhi gently lit the last candle in their room. He stepped back and surveyed his handiwork, pleased with the results.
It was like the set of every clichd Indian soap suhaag raat scene had vomited over their room. Candles, rose petals, and soft music made up the ambience.
It was perfect, Abhi agreed to himself, internally patting himself on the back.
He sat on their bed, and waited, giddy with anticipation of what was to come.
Finally, finally, finally he and chashmish would get to become one.
He grew excited at the prospect and had to stop himself from skipping down the hall and grabbing his wife, where she was no doubt putting the devil's spawn to bed.
As he waited his mind trailed and he idly wondered what would happen, if say, Pragya got pregnant after their encounter tonight.
Thinking on it he agreed it wouldn't be an entirely bad thing. It would just tie his lovely wife to himself even more, not that he was insecure or jealous (as he told himself), and he was sure she would look radiant carrying his child.
However as he pondered the wonders of pregnancy a slightly horrifying thought came to mind. What if, as absurd as it sounded, when the baby was born Pragya began ignoring him. If she was so attentive towards Sid, who wasn't even her own child, what would she be like if she had her own child.
What if the only reason she wanted to get close to him was so she could get pregnant and have her own baby?
He could see it now...
"Honey I'm home!" he trilled, walking into their room. He frowned as he heard no answer, despite his wife, sitting on their bed.
"Ey, Pragya, I'm home!" he exclaimed "I'm back from tour baby!"
His wife paid him not attention, instead continuing to coo at their son.
"Oh whose my perfect little boy!" she squealed "Who needs a husband when they have a baby?"
Abhi stumbled back, shocked and hurt.
"Pragya what are you talking about!" he shouted, striding to his wife. "How can you forget about me, you love me!"
"I love my baby," she sniffed and turned away.
He stepped back dazed, then glanced at the baby in her arms. He should have never slept with her, if this was the result.
Now, it was time for drastic measures. He'd have to-
"Abhi! Abhi!"
He snapped out of his day dream to stare at his wife who loomed over him with a worried look. He shrieked and flung himself away.
"Don't touch me!" he cried, and grabbed the covers of their bed and held it up to his chest.
"Abhi what is wrong with you?" his wife questioned and moved closer to him.
"Don't come any closer!" he demanded "I refuse to be your sperm bank! I won't let you get pregnant, even if it means keeping you away from me!"
"Have you gone mad?"
She stared at her husband in shock, not even having enough brain capacity to question what was happening. Pragya slowly took a breath in and tried to diffuse the very odd situation she found herself in. When she walked into the room she had anticipated a romantic night with her husband, not this bizarre scenario she was in now.
"Abhi," she repeated slowly "What are you talking about?"
By now he had buried himself under the blankets, and looked out from the peephole where his eyes were visible. He responded but the many layers muffled his voice. Irritated, she pulled on the covers until his handsome face came into view.
"Again." She demanded.
"I said," he explained "That if we sleep together you'll get pregnant. And if you have a baby you'll ignore me like you do when you're with Sid."
At first the childish explanation made no sense but before long she was giggling uncontrollably. Abhi pouted.
"It's not funny..." he murmured childishly.
She giggled and leaned down and placed a kiss on his noise.
"Oh Abhi," she sighed with a smile "What am I going to do with you?"
He peered up and she continued to giggle, placing kisses all over his face.
"Where you get these crazy ideas I don't know. But I promise baba, if we ever have a baby that I will never ignore you."
"Never ever?"
"Never ever."
He looked so cutely suspicious that she had to lean in and press another kiss on his forehead.
"Now stop being crazy and come from under the covers." She demanded.
He pulled himself out and felt mildly embarrassed at his overreactive train of thought. But determined not the let the night pass he pulled his wife stop of his and looked up mischievously.
"Well not that that's been settled," he murmured, raking a hand across his wife's back and making her shiver, "I say we practise our baby making skills."
"Abhi!," she admonished, blushing.
He began tugging her face towards his, and just as their lips were to meet a shrill cry sounded through the baby monitor.
Pragya's face changed from desire to worry as she moved off her husband, who pitifully sobbed at another lost opportunity.
"We're never having babies," he said to himself over and over again as he rocked himself to sleep.
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