Chapter 24
Randhir couldn't believe that his daughter had put forth a condition for him to marry her mother, and that too, one that was so innocent and sweet. He sat on the bed next to Shraddha and caressed her hair gently, a small smile now on his lips.
How could he deny such a sweet request from his daughter?
"Always care for your mommy like this, okay?" Randhir asked her, his tone gentle.
"I always will! I love mommy!" Shraddha told him.
Sanyukta walked towards the father-daughter duo and placed her hand on Randhir's shoulder.
"Good," Randhir said simply.
"Mommy, how long will this sickness be in me for?" Shraddha then asked.
"Not much longer," Sanyukta told her, caressing her own belly gently. "Just a few more months."
"Few more?" Shraddha asked, looking up and sounding excited.
"Well... like eight more," Sanyukta admitted. "But don't worry. You're going to feel better very soon. Do you want to know why?"
Shraddha nodded curiously.
Sanyukta sat down on the bed next to Randhir and took Shraddha's small hand, bringing it up to her belly, under her red sari, that was still draped over her body, from the wedding that never took place.
"You will have a younger brother or sister," Sanyukta told Shraddha.
"Really?" Shraddha asked, her eyes wide. "A small baby?"
"Yes," Sanyukta said tearfully. "A tiny baby... maybe the size of mommy's hand."
Shraddha reached out and took Sanyukta's hand, then she shook her head.
"That's not right," Shraddha told her, before reaching for Randhir's closed hand, which she stretched open with her own feeble fingers. "Probably more like the size of daddy's hand."
Sanyukta sniffled and leaned forward to hug Shraddha. She was so scared of losing her daughter far too soon. Even though the doctors had made an estimate, it was still a game of chance. All luck.
As she held her daughter, the same fear filled her. This exact same fear had once been her weakness that she had to face alone. She couldn't live without her daughter, and every moment, Sanyukta was living in the fear of losing the daughter that meant everything to her. Now though, she had Randhir's support and love. This support and love would give her courage to face every single day.
They would get through this.
Shraddha had her father and mother both now.
"Mommy, I have a request," Shraddha said, as Sanyukta rubbed her fragile back.
"Yes Shraddha?" Sanyukta whispered, trying hard not to let her daughter hear that she was crying.
"Can you and Daddy get married soon?" Shraddha asked.
Sanyukta broke the hug and gently held her daughter's face between her hands, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
"Why dear?" Sanyukta asked softly.
"I want to be at your wedding," was all Shraddha said, leaving Sanyukta with an empty feeling in her chest.
"Of course you will be there," Sanyukta whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Whether we get married now or in two years, you will be there."
"I don't know mommy..." Shraddha said weakly. "I'm feeling different."
"Different?" Sanyukta gasped, then looked up at Randhir, who had a shocked expression on his face. "We need to call the doctor. She's feeling different!"
Randhir snapped himself out of it and placed his hand on Sanyukta's shoulder reassuringly.
"Sanyukta," he said. "She's weak right now, so she feels that way. Don't be paranoid."
"No... I can't take a chance," Sanyukta said, and then ran to find a doctor, leaving Randhir alone with Shraddha.
Shraddha tried to sit up on the bed, but she was struggling. Randhir held her small body and gently helped her sit up against the pillow.
"Daddy, you promise right?" Shraddha asked him sincerely. "That you won't make mommy cry again?"
Randhir took Shraddha's tiny hand in his and nodded.
"I promise," he told her. "And your mommy and I will get married soon... very soon."
"Thank you," Shraddha said, and then leaned into his arm, closing her eyes.
Randhir felt his heart sink as he watched his daughter in such a weak state. He caressed her hair and kissed the top of her head softly, when Sanyukta brought in a doctor.
The doctor ran a few more tests, and Randhir and Sanyukta waited outside Shraddha's room for the results.
"We didn't find anything new," the doctor explained after he arrived. "She has one year, on the positive side."
"One?" Sanyukta gasped. "But a few months ago we were told that she has two years!"
The doctor looked over the reports that he got and adjusted his glasses, as if he was searching for any mistakes.
"It is possible that it had been two years... but now, there's only one year, best case scenario," the doctor told her. "Sanyukta, I know it's hard, but the body keeps changing, and sometimes cancer spreads even faster."
"It's consuming her," Sanyukta sobbed, and Randhir wrapped his arm around her.
Sanyukta leaned into Randhir's chest and continued to sob. She felt his tears in her hair, and she only cried harder.
"We were told two years a few months ago. Now they're saying one year... next month they might say one month," Sanyukta cried. "I can't lose my daughter Randhir."
"Please don't take so much pressure," Randhir whispered as she cried. "Shraddha will be fine. She has to be."
"I'm sorry," the doctor then said, and turned to leave.
"Doctor," Sanyukta said, breaking free from Randhir's embrace and turning to face his retreating figure. "Is there any way we can do the bone marrow transplant while I'm still pregnant?"
"I'm afraid not," the doctor said, turning to face her again. "We have to wait for the birth of the child."
"T - thanks," Sanyukta whispered, and then felt her knees give way as she fell to the ground.
Randhir fell on his knees in front of her and engulfed her in another hug. She leaned into him and cried.
"Please Sanyukta, please relax," he begged. "This much pressure isn't good. You know that. You need to give birth to this baby at any cost... for Shraddha."
Sanyukta nodded and held his shirt tightly, trying to control her tears, but failing.
How was she supposed to relax when her small daughter was fighting between life and death?
Later that night, the two of them took Shraddha to Parth's house. Sanyukta started to pack hers and Shraddha's belongings right away, ready to leave the place.
It still hurt that Parth was the one behind her separation with Randhir.
Randhir helped her pack Shraddha's belongings.
"There's two bedrooms where I live," Randhir explained. "One for us, and one for Shraddha."
"No," Sanyukta denied. "One for you, and one for me and Shraddha. She can't sleep properly without me."
Randhir nodded.
"Shraddha's first. Always," he told her softly.
"And Randhir, I'll give you rent money," she told him.
"Are you crazy?" he asked her, looking at her like she was out of her mind.
"We aren't married yet, are we?" she asked him.
"So? That's outrageous," he told her. "What's mine is yours. You don't need to pay me."
"Okay," Sanyukta mumbled. "Thank you so much for all of this."
Randhir shook his head.
"You don't need to thank me either. We aren't separate. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for myself," he told her simply.
Sanyukta smiled sadly.
"We'll get married soon right? For Shraddha's sake?" she asked him.
"Of course," he told her. "We'll speak to an astrologer and get married as soon as possible."
Shraddha then ran into the room with a large sheet of paper in her hands.
"Remember this daddy? It has your handprint and mine!" Shraddha exclaimed excitedly. "Only mommy's is missing."
She rushed up to them and Sanyukta took the sheet of paper with the handprints and folded the piece of paper, packing it in Shraddha's bag.
"We're all done," Sanyukta said. "Time to go."
"Mommy will you ever complete the picture?" Shraddha asked her mom curiously. "It's just missing your handprint you know. I know paint is messy but please do it!"
Sanyukta nodded, her eyes filling with tears again.
"Of course I'll complete it," she told her daughter softly.
"Do it before I die okay?" Shraddha asked lightly.
The colour drained from Sanyukta's face when Shraddha said that.
"Don't talk like that Shraddha," Randhir intervened.
"I'm just saying what I feel," Shraddha said with a shrug.
Shraddha then held Randhir's hand, making his tense body a bit more relaxed.
"Daddy I love holding your hand," she told him, trying to change the subject.
It always was about daddy's hands.
Edited by ilovepyaar - 9 years ago
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