Epilogue:
"Maan!" she yelled, with her mouth stuffed with black olives, her latest pregnancy craving. Since the time Maan knew Geet was pregnant with his child, he was elated. Geet was nearing her full-term and as the day passed her back pain as well as kicking of the baby was becoming more painful. Maan had made sure she was relaxed all the time and shifted his office temporarily to his house to keep an eye on her. In her last pregnancy he was forced to attend a series of important meetings as a merger was going on. He had cursed himself for the timing of the merger for he wanted to stay with her. But for this pregnancy he made sure this time he had no other things to attend to than his wife.
This pregnancy had in fact cost him much more effort than her first. Her cravings changed every few months, and the back pain had recurred quite often to her dismay. Although morning sickness was bearable this time, she felt nauseous all through morning making her skip breakfast. Maan literally ran behind her feeding her like a little child while she threw tantrums. Even his children had made fun of him for running behind their mom but he didn't mind as long as his Geetulu ate her breakfast.
"Maan!" she screamed again, hearing no response from Maan.
"Haan, aa raha hoon," Maan said half walking, half sprinting towards their room with Radhika in his hands. He reached their room panicking her water break, or something worse to find Geet intently looking at herself in the mirror.
"Geet! Kya hua? Kyun chilla rahi thi?" he asked puzzled at her current calm posture.
"Maan I was just wondering if I have gained too much weight than my previous pregnancy," she said worriedly.
"Geet, if this was the reason you screamed then let me tell you madam that you shall pay heavily for making me drop all the things I was doing and come running to you," he said sternly. Seeing him nonchalantly brush away her concern, Geet began to get teary.
"Maan I knew it, you are least bothered about my concern. Meera humesha kehti thi, men change after marriage, and they change for the worse after the birth of their children. Aapko yaad hai, during college you used to rush to console me even for the slightest scratch on my hand, aur haan voh ribbon vaala incident, yaad karoon aapko?" she said angrily.
Maan afraid of ticking her off and not wanting to embarrass himself before his own children about the ribbon incident bent down and let Radhika down. "Radhi, why don't you go find Daadima to help you with the book. I have to take care of Mamma," he said smiling.
"Of course Pappa," she said before running off to find Daadima.
Maan looked back at his wife, her face red with anger and hot stream of tears flowed from her beautiful eyes. He smiled at her childishness and cursed her hormonal mood swings for making Geet so emotional. He strode towards her and held her cheeks lovingly and gave a flying kiss. She turned her face away from him and crossed her arms, still angry about his lack of concern.
"Jaan, maine kab kaha that I am not concerned about your issue. Of course, every single thing that bothers you deeply impacts me. And if your current concern is about your weight, then I would say you should not be bothered too much Geetulu," he said wiping away her tears with his thumb.
"Maan you don't understand," she whined. "If I gain too much baby fat, then its really tough for me to get back in shape. Aapko dekho ek dum fit and sexy, aur main, itni unfit aur out of shape, yuck," she said making a disgusting face.
"Jaan, tumhe pata hai you look damn sexy to me no matter what, aur khaas kar tab you are carrying my child," he said looking deep into her eyes, conveying the depth of his words. He bent on his knees and placed a soft kiss on her stomach, "bujji mee ammaki cheppu (sweetheart, tell your mother) that she looks damn sexy and that I would devour her this very minute if not for your presence. Aap jaldi aajayiye taaki main dikha sakoon how she turns me on," he said and then looked at her and winked naughtily at her.
Geet, unsatisfied with his reply, huffed, "baate banana koi aapse seekhe Maan!" Suddenly she closed her eyes tightly and held her stomach, in pain.
Maan was startled by the sudden change and panicked. "Geet, kya hua?" he fretted.
"Maan, nowadays, meri bacchi is kicking too much. Bahut dard ho raha hai," she said clutching her stomach and tears welled up in her eyes. For the past 2 months Geet had been complaining of increase in baby's movement, especially at night, that had caused her lot of uneasiness and sleeplessness. The doctors had assured there was nothing to worry about, just that the baby was very active.
During the night, Maan patiently used to sit down beside her and caress her tummy and talk to the baby all night. This had dramatically calmed the baby down letting Geet sleep peacefully. As Geet neared her full-term the 'kicks' had increased even during the day, not allowing her to do any work. He made sure she stayed in bed all the time so that she wasn't too stressed about anything.
Maan carefully led Geet to the bed and made her lie down comfortably. He pulled up a chair beside her and held her hands in one hand while he slowly massaged her stomach.
"Oi hero, maa ko kyun tang kar rahe ho? Main hoon na yahan. Hum baat karte hai, teekhai?" he said kissing her stomach ever so lightly. Geet couldn't help but smile through her tears at Maan. She had never imagined she would be blessed with such a concerned, helpful, caring, wait, dashing husband too. She saw him talk away animatedly as though the kid was right in front of them. She kissed her fingers and placed them on Maan's cheek. In the midst of his talking he looked up to see her fingers lingering on his cheeks and then looked at her with a questioning look. She shook her head in the negative and smiled wide.
"Kya hua jaan, aaj toh aap badi romantic mood mein hain," he winked.
Geet became aware of the atmosphere Maan was creating and fearing he would start becoming naughty she denied his statement. "Nahi bas man kar raha tha, and please don't get any ideas haan?" she said disinterestedly.
"Maine aisi todi na kaha ki I am getting ideas? Main toh sirf pooch raha hoon, ki enti ammayi chaala sexy moodlo undi muddhulu pettutundhe ani I mean naaku telusu my presence is so irresistible (that you are in sexy mood and even giving kisses, I know)," he said haughtily, "but at aleast humare bacche ke samne kuch toh sharam karo." Geet was at loss for words. She was overwhelmed by his cute talks that she had let her fingers kiss his cheeks but he was making fun of her. Well, if Maan Singh Khurana wanted to play, then she was up for a fight. Since they were blessed with a boy and girl, they wanted to keep the gender of this one as a surprise so they had informed the doctor to not tell them about it. And always they ended up fighting about it.
"Mr. Khurana, I was just trying to stop all that boys talk. Aap hamari bacchi ki saat rugby kyun kelenge? She would be my princess, and I shall never let her play all those gandha gandha games. Samjhe aap?" she said feigning anger. "She would learn music, definitely some classical dancing too, aur'"
"Ms Geet, ladka kyun gaana vaana seekhega, mera baccha champion hoga, har sports mein, har subject mein, aur har ladki ka rajkumar, just like me," he said smiling smugly.
"Maan ladki hi hogi, mujhe sirf ladki chahiye jo meri naam roshan karegi. Apni beti ko dekha hai aapne? A female version of you!" she said appalled. "Jab dekho aise aankhon dikhake ghoomti phirti hai jaisi har koi gunekaar ho," she said imitating Maan's intimidating look.
"Geet, mujhe pata hai ladka hi hone wala hai. Apna beta ko dekha hai, bilkul tumhari tarah, a big chatterbox. Uff Geet, mujhe bas beta hi chayihe jo mere tarah strong ho, controlled, ho'"
"Povaiyya (Go man)! Sirf beti beti beti!" she interrupting his line of thoughts.
"Beta, beta, beta," he chanted.
Before Geet could oppose Maan, she felt a shooting pain. This time it was worse than the previous ones. "Maan!" she screeched and inhaling a deep breath, "Maan I think my water broke," she said biting her lower lip.
Maan immediately lifted her in her arms and ran to the car while shouting, "Daadima, Geet's water broke, I am running to the hospital. Aap please bacchon ko sambhaliyen."
Daadima rushed outside hearing Maan scream. "Teekhe beta, please sambhal ke," she said with concern
Maan dashed out of the door and ordered the driver to rush to the hospital while he cradled Geet in his arms in the back seat. All through the drive Geet was writhing in pain and held his hand so tightly that blood began to ooze. But he was intent on trying to calm her and soothe her pain as he rubbed her hands and kissed them, trying to distract from her pain. He kept wiping her sweat from her forehead and assured that everything would be fine.
As soon as they reached Kalyani Hospital, Maan quickly lifted Geet in his arms again and ran inside shouting for medical attention. The nurses and the doctors rushed in with a stretcher for Geet.
"Maan, please come with me," Geet cried while Maan held her hand tightly. He looked at the doctor for approval. The doctor assented and he ran to wear a sterile coat and cap before running into the operation theater.
Geet was continuously screaming in pain and Maan tried his best to soothe her, but all in vain. His heart tore out in pain seeing her in such a havoc but he didn't want to lose hope, else how could he soothe her. Finally after two long hours of lot of soothing, crying, and pushing, the new life was welcomed into this world.
The labor pain as well as exhaustion overtook Geet as she slumped into the bed tiredly. Maan's happiness knew no bounds. He hugged Geet tightly and kissed her forehead before she slept from the exhaustion. Half hour later, the doctors cleared up the baby and brought it in a neatly wrapped woolen quilt.
"Congratulations Mr. Khurana, it's a boy!" the doctor beamed before handing the newly born into Maan's hands. He carefully took the delicate little thing in his hands and smiled a wide smile. His eyes reflected his supreme happiness as though he was on top of this world. He softly kissed his champ's forehead, thanking his stars for for making him the happiest person on earth. He cradled his life of joy in his hands and tears of joy danced in his eyes. He looked to see if Geet was awake, but found her soundly sleeping. Since he didn't want to disturb her, he quietly sat on the chair beside the bed.
"Hey buddy," Maan whispered bringing his son closer to him. "Main aapke pappa, remember me? Hum dono har roz baat karte the." The baby slightly stirred in response as if recognizing the voice he used to hear every night. Maan's eyes twinkled in joy and he once again gave a feather-light kiss to his son. He kept whispering until he saw Geet wake up.
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