New FF -Bonded by the Baby ch 5 pg 30 - Page 18

The prince's final words "sweet dreams" stayed wid her all night. seeing him again had caused an adrenaline rush she cud not shut off. She awakened earlier than usual to get ready, knowing shagun's mother wud ask a lot of questions.

Ishita had always dressed up for work. Since the law firm of ashok khanna catered to higher class clientele, the senior partner had impressed upon her and everyone else who worked there the need to look fashionable. Though her heart was not in it this morning , she took her anti nausea pill wid breakfast and forced herself to go through the chores.

Everyone knew she was the daughter of the chief of security for the palace, so no one questioned the royal limo bringing her to and from work. Except for her boss and mihika, her co workers were clueless abt her situation of being a surrogate. That's the way things needed to remain until she took a leave from office for her delivery.

After the delivery, the palace wud issue a formal statement that a surrogate mother had successfully carried the baby of their prince , the new heir who wud be second in line to the throne. At that time ishita wud disappear. but it wud not be for a while.

Raman had been a part of her life for so long, she cud not imagine the time coming when she had no longer see him. Once the baby was born, she wud live in another part of the city and get on wid her life as a full time attorney. How strange that was going to be.

From the time she had moved here with her family, he had been around to show her everything the tourists never got to see. He had taken her horseback riding on the grounds, or let her come with him when he took out his small sailboat. Raman had taught her seamanship. There was nothing she loved more than sitting out in the middle of the sea while they fished out and ate sweets from the palace kitchen. He had the run of the palace and let her be his shadow.

Ishita's friends from school had come over to her parent's apartment and sometimes she had gone to their houses. but she much preferred being wid raman and had never missed an opportunity to tag along. Unlike the big brothers of a couple of her friends who did not want the younger girls around, raman had always seemed to enjoy her company and invited her to accompany him when he had free time.

Memories flooded her mind as she walked over to the closet and pulled out one of her favorite dresses. When ishita had gone shopping wid mihika they had both agreed this one had the most luscious yellow print design on the body of the dress.

The tiny beige print on the crapped sleeves and hem formed the contrast. Part of the beige print also drew the material that made tucks at the waist. Her friend had cried that it was stunning on ishita, with her black hair color. Ishita had decided to wear it while she still could. The way she was growing she wud need to buy loose fitting clothes this weekend.

After arranging her hair back in a simple low chignon with the 3 pins, she put on her makeup , slipped on matching yellow shoes and started out of the bedroom. But she only made it to the hallway wid her bone colored handbag when her landline rang. Presuming it was her father calling to see how she was doing, she walked into the den to pick up and say hello.

"u are wanted in the drawing room...are u ready?" she was asked.

Her hand gripped the receiver tighter. It sounded urgent. During the night she had worried about this meeting. It was only natural shagun's mother wud want to meet the woman who wud be giving birth to her grandchild. But something abt the look in raman's eyes had given her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"yes I will be there" she replied.

"then I will inform his highness and meet u in main corridor." The phone voice said.

"thank u" she replied.

Becoz of raman , ishita was familiar with every part of the palace except the royal apartments . he had taken her to the main drawing room, where the king met with the heads of state, several times. Raman had gotten a kick out of watching her reaction as he related stories about foreign dignitaries that were not public knowledge.

But her smile faded as she made her way across the magnificent edifice to meet shagun's mother. She knew the queen was grieving. Mihir met her in the main hallway and said-"follow me plz."

They went down the hall past frescos and paintings, to another section where they turned a corner. She spied the flag of their highness draped outside and ornate pair of floor to ceiling doors. Mihir knocked on one of the panels and was told to enter her. He opened the door, indicating that she shld go in.

The tall vaulted ceiling of the room was a living museum to the history of the palace and lineage. But ishita's gaze fell on raman, who was wearing a somber midnight blue suit. Opposite him sat shagun's mother stylish 65 year old mother , who was dignified like her daughter. She had dressed in black with a matching clutch, and sat on the brocade chair.

"come in ishita..i wud like u to meet my mother-inlaw poornima maheshwari, queen of Udaipur. Ishita knew Udaipur was also a huge kingdom wid a long past.

She moved toward them and curtsied the way she had been taught as a child after coming to the palace. "ur majesty ..i mean rani saa aap se milkar bohot khushi hui, I am honored to meet u but my heart has been bleeding for u and the prince. I cared for for ur daughter very much."

The lady's eyes were a darker brown than shagun's more snapping. She gave what passed for a nod before raman told ishita to be seated on the seat on the other side of the coffee table. Once she was comfortable he said-" agar tumhe yaad hai toh main aur shagun Udaipur gaye the mom ko batane ki hum expect kar rahe hain."

"haan Mujhe yaad hai", ishita said.

"par ab mere saamne kuch shocking sachchai aayi hai..it seems ki shagun never told mom or her family about our pregnancy. Aur isiliye yeh baat mom ko bhi shock ki tarah pata lagi hai."

"what??" ishita cud not help asking.

She continued saying-" u mean ur daughter never told u what she and prince were thinking abt or doing?" ishita asked poornima.

"no" came the answer through her wooden lips.

Aghast ishita averted her eyes not knowing what to think. She just said-" I...I am really sorry ur majesty."

"we are all sorry becoz the queen and shagun argued" raman explained. "Unfortunately before they cud talk again, the accident happened. The queen wud like to take this opportunity to hear from the woman who has dared to go against nature to perform a service for which she gets nothing in return." Raman said calmly leaving silence in the room.

precap- the encounter gets messy.

so how is it? waiting

Love❤️

Shivangi