Chapter 17 "So the Raman Kumar Bhalla likes having a lot of kids?!" she laughed remembering his comment for the umpteenth time in the car as they drove back home. And he smiled shyly each time she mentioned his fumble at the clinic.
"Stop! It's was just a small slip. I didn't mean that." He tried to defend himself.
"Did you see the doctor's face? Priceless!" she burst out laughing.
"I...It was just a wrong sentence!"
"Very!"
"Just forget it now!" he wanted to get away from her teasing.
"How can I?"
"Whatever!" he said as a faint smile crept on his face as he focussed back on the road as she smiled in the back seat with the sleeping Ruhi.
As they reached home, Mummyji had gone out leaving a message and not she would be back in a few hours. Raman asked her to go put Ruhi to bed and then they should start packing. As she placed Ruhi on the bed, he booked their tickets for the next day as soon as possible. As he came into the room, she was taking out some of her clothes.
"Ishita the flight is at 11am tomorrow. It's quite early and we will leave for the airport at 9:30."
"Raman that's fine, but I don't even know how long we will be there, so how much should I pack?"
"Let's do one thing. Just pack for 3-4 days and we will buy clothes from there. Anyways it's better if we don't over pack."
"And for Ruhi as well?"
"Yea, and I will pack a couple of my suits and more casual clothes."
"I will do it for you, you should go finish off the work you need to do."
"You will?"
"Yea, it's no problem unless my choice in men's clothes is absolutely terrible."
"No you have good choice, the suits you pick out for me are usually the ones I like."
She nodded and he went on his phone making phone calls trying to manage everything at work. She watched him run around the room giving information to everyone and he would open up his laptop and then walk out only to come back a minute later. She sat down and did their packing taking advantage of the time Ruhi was asleep. Raman rushed in looking for something and she got up to ask him what he needed. She saw him trying to turn on his laptop and brought him her own to use while she looked for his charger. She put his on charge and went back to her packing as he mouthed a thank you to her while busy on the phone.
She went outside to bring him his food only to come back and find the room a mess and he was about to leave. She stopped him and asked him to clean up because she was tired and hungry to clean up after him. Though she had it in a joking manner, he took her seriously and like an obedient husband went to go clean his mess and by then she had his lunch set leaving him no choice, but to eat at home with her.
As he headed off to work, she went back to her packing which took a good amount of time and she finished a few minutes before Mummyji came back and she told her about their plans. Muumyji helped her pack Ruhi's necessities and told her about some of the things Raman might need.
The rest of their day went into the preparations for the next day's trip. He spent most of his finishing up pending work and trying to adjust his schedule to get everything done here while she helped him by arranging his meetings and sending emails to managers keeping them updated on his changes.
The entire family shared a huge dinner together made by both Mummyji that consisted of their favorite food as a treat before they left. She also told them to starting feeding Ruhi baby food in a week or so while they were in Mumbai. She told Ishita everything Ruhi's doctor had said about feeding her while Raman assured her he would be with her so she doesn't need to memorize everything.
Tired from the exhausting and since they would need to wake up early for the flight tomorrow, they both went to bed soon after dinner.
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He woke up on time due to the alarm he had set on his phone, but she was still asleep. Considering the amount of work she did and Ruhi's waking up in the middle of the night, he figured it was best to let her be and decided to wake her up in half an hour, so she would still have an hour to get ready.
He got ready himself, got Ruhi dressed, finished his work and did last minute checks on everything before waking her up at 8:30. When he woke her up, she almost jumped out of bed and started to run around panicking about her tardiness and he shook his head before stepping in her way stopping her.
"Relax Ishita! Just go get dressed, eat breakfast, and check your luggage before leaving. I have done everything else."
"Are you sure?"
"100 percent. Now go get ready, you have an hour alright?!"
She went off to get ready and everyone had breakfast together before the trio headed out to the airport after all the last minute rush that always happens before leaving for a trip. The car drive was silent as the trio sat in the back together for the first time, but the presence of the driver made them both stay quiet and engrossed in their own phones as Ishita texted Amma and Mihika since they hadn't gotten a chance to meet with her after her marriage and she was leaving so suddenly. Raman actually for once had nothing to do and just played around with his phone or with Ruhi or just looked out his window until they reached the airport.
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Raman checked them in as Ishita just stood next to him with Ruhi in her hands. He carried their handbags and they both sat down in the waiting area getting busy with Ruhi to kill the few minutes they had left before boarding. As Ruhi started to get cranky, Ishita became a bit nervous about taking her on a plane.
"Raman, she is so moody right now. How will she be on the plane?"
"She will be fine. Just feed her before we take off and give her a pacifier afterwards and we should be good. Also take the aisle seat, it will be easier to get up and walk around in case she cries or you feel uneasy."
"You sure know a lot about traveling with children, don't you?"
"Experience."
"Meaning?"
"Ruhi was born in Mumbai, and the two of us had to travel to Delhi when she was discharged from the hospital. Mom was with us in Mumbai, but she couldn't catch the same flight as us, so it was just me and Ruhi."
"I didn't know that! But it must have been so hard travelling with such a small child."
"Oh trust me it was! Halfway through the flight she started crying and I couldn't understand what was happening. She was crying for a good 15 minutes and you should have been there to see the stares I got from people."
"I can imagine you in situations like that."
"It was so bad! The people who were playing with Ruhi before we took off were now looking at me like they would kill me if she wouldn't stop crying. Finally after trying everything I just took her to the bathroom and stayed there until she stopped crying because I was so embarrassed to stay in front of everyone."
"Awww poor you!"
"Yea! Poor me! And the worst part was we were sitting in business class so we seemed so out of place, the people who were headed to meetings and conferences probably wanted to throw me off the plane."
She and Ruhi started laughing while he made face as he remembered the incident that happened last time. He looked at Ruhi and Ishita laughing and didn't mind the fact they were laughing at him.
"Ruhi! My naughty baby is laughing at Papa's misery!" he smiled at her.
"Oh my God Raman! You're seriously something. Raman Kumar Bhalla, the man who everyone is scared of hides in a plane's toilet all thanks to his little princess. I love it!" Ishita said as she finally controlled her laughter.
"Well this time around we are prepared and you are also with us, so hopefully no hiding in bathrooms this time."
"I hope so! By the way where are we going to be seated?"
"Business Class, it's much easier to travel in and I was going to go there anyways."
"Ru, this time mommy is with you, so no crying okay?" Ishita told Ruhi and Ruhi cooed as if agreeing with Ishita.
"See she listens to me!" she proudly said to Raman.
"So?! She listens to me too right Ruhi?" talking to Ruhi. Ruhi stayed quiet as Ishita giggled and Raman frowned.
"It's alright, my little baby will take my side when he or she comes!"
Ruhi frowned as he said that and started to cry. Ishita tried to calm her down, but she reached out for Raman still wailing. He smiled and took her into his arms making her stop her sobbing. Raman laughed as she stopped crying in his arms as Ishita looked at Ruhi shocked and then started to fake anger.
"Look at her! So jealous of her sibling already, doesn't want to share her parents!"
Ishita had a moment of doubt. She knew he loved her child so much that he called it theirs and he cared so much for her, but he loved Ruhi as well. He had completely accepted her baby and she had accepted Ruhi, but what if Ruhi wouldn't like this baby? What would Raman do then? Raman saw her sudden change in expression and then thought back to his sentence and understood what was going on in her head.
"But it probably happens with all kids, you were probably jealous of Mihika as a kid right?" he said trying to tell her he had only made a general statement.
"Always! At times we were best friends and other times worst enemies. That's just how it is with siblings." She said excitedly and Raman knew he had succeeded in diverting her mind from the unnecessary worry.
"Sounds fun! I always wished for a sibling as a kid, but never felt like I didn't have one because I was close to my cousins and friends, but now when I'm older I can feel the empty space now. That's why I love seeing you and Mihika together, the way you two fight and then how you care for each other, and when you scold her for her teasing, it's sweet."
"Mihika is like a sister to you as well now."
"She is, I can't help but treat her like I would treat my own sister. She is so fun and so easy to get along with unless she is concerned for you. Then she just puts on arms and gets ready to fight."
"I'm glad you passed her test. She doesn't easily believe people when it comes to commitment."
"That's actually good. She won't get into any pastime relationships."
"I did..."
She realized her sudden slip and looked away while he realized she had just revealed something about her past to him. Clearly she was invested into that person, but since she said pastime, clearly her ex wasn't. Raman cursed him under his breath for hurting a woman like Ishita. He turned back to Ishita and put his hand on her shoulder making her turn around.
"It's all over now Ishita and I promise you this relationship is a lifelong one. We will keep this one going..."
"We will..."
They both looked into each other's eyes as if silently promising each other that they will work and they will make it work no matter what. They both looked at each other grateful for having met the other and smiled at each other until they were interrupted by the announcement for the boarding of their flight.
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They both found their seats and he had made sure to watch over her in the crowd remembering her break down in the mall before their wedding. He didn't hold onto her, but had one arm near her as he walked behind keeping people from bumping into her while the other hand held their bags. He had her sit down and handed her Ruhi's pacifier from the bag while he stuffed their bags in the overhead compartment. He took the window seat as she got up to give him space to get through. As the flight took off, Ruhi was asleep in her arms and she closed her eyes patting Ruhi's head. Raman picked up a magazine and started to read it.
About halfway through the flight, he felt something on his shoulder and looked over to find Ishita leaning on his shoulder asleep. He knew she was tired from last night and hadn't got enough sleep, so he let her have some shut eye. He looked at her peaceful face making his lips curve instinctively. He saw she was trying to hold Ruhi in her sleep, and gently pulled her out of embrace while still letting her head rest on his shoulder. He admired his sleeping angels watching over them and stopped the air hostess from waking her up. He didn't even realize how the 2 hours flew by as he watched two sleep in the noisy aircraft. When the plane was landing, Ishita woke up due to the landing on the ground and found herself on his shoulder.
"Sorry...I don't know-"
"It's ok. You two were tired, so it was good you got some sleep."
"Are we here already?" she asked as she saw people starting to get up.
"Yep. Now just hold Ruhi and wait until the crowd clears away. We will get off then."
They sat with Ruhi until the crowd started to disappear and she got up followed by him who took out their bags and repeated his protective ways this time around as well and didn't even let her know about it.
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And here they were in Mumbai. Both of them shared many memories here with their exes and both had once decided not to come here, but they were there. They both looked in opposite directions wiping of a small tear that threatened to fall down before they turned around to face each other with a smile.
"So! We're here!"
"Yep, we're here." He said looking around at the city's view from inside the airport.
"So where is your apartment, far away or nearby?"
"It's a little while away, in a quieter area. I can't handle this hustle bustle of this city."
"Nice, so should we go?"
"After you." He said as he held the door open for her, and followed her with their bags in his hands while she managed Ruhi in her arms.
And so the three of them went out the airport and headed to their home...
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That was all for now! Please like and leave your feedback! Will look forward to reading it!
Chapter 18A- Page 86
Edited by smilesforever98 - 10 years ago
Anupamaa
10