Her Pregnancy-#2 -Chapter 16 pg 141 upd 01/08 - Page 54

Thanks for the PM. The doctor is right. It is a big decision and should be discussed with Khushi. Nice update.

omg this is sad part on one hand khushi wants to have a baby soon and on the other wants to save her from this pain so going for vasectomy... hope he says this to her soon.. she would be broken 😭 awesome update

Armav better not do it...and that's how you spell vasectomy

i want pm... i loved to read ur stories...its soo goioddd <3 <3<3

yeaa i lke the protectiveness of arnav..yeaa ths is wht he is...
i jst loved ur stry... will uu please send me pmzz??????? plzzz
i am egrly waitng fr it??? 👏🥺

is he still going to go ahead with it? now he knows what she wants...hope he thinks about it again and at least tells her before he does

I loved it! Please please please continue soon!

you bring the characters to life..beautiful piece of wwriting please continue

India Forums is going crazy over my formatting 😡

Chapter 14

"Khushi, it's nothing. I don't want you getting worried unnecessary. I'll deal with the office stuff"

Arnav felt himself relax under her firm touch on his muscles, his body slaking as tension ebbed out of his strained limbs.

"But it's nice to tell someone when things get too overwhelming. When I get worried over something I'd always tell it to jiji or Amma. It really helps to talk to someone even if that person can't help you with your problems." he heard her smiling as she bent over and gave a swift chaste kiss on the side of his neck.

He thought for a moment and shrugged. "I'm not a very verbal guy Khushi. You know that. I keep most of the things to myself. It's a habit from a small age."

"So there was no one who'd listen to you even when you were young? You never spoke about your troubles? Just kept them inside you?" he heard a small note of sympathy disguised in her voice and felt her hands tighten around him; stoic, even protective.

Come to think of it, his adolescence had been a maze of rush and worry. He had been highly competitive as a teenager and after his parents' death he had dived head long into studies and work, effectively keeping everyone away from his personal life, looking after his family and their comforts but never really thinking much about his own welfare. Did he ever really miss the colourful adolescent life? Not really. He always had higher ideals and as an ambitions young man, living life to the fullest was never an option. He might have been lonely although he didn't even know that it was loneliness he felt then. But then he had work to accompany him in his hour of need.

"I was alright. I had work to keep me going. Didn't really have time to worry about much. Besides people around me had their own problems. I didn't want to trouble them with mine."

"Oh" he heard her murmur, her hands caressing his shoulders comfortingly. "Well now that I'm here, you can tell me everything!" Khushi chirped happily as she draped her arms around him and looked over his shoulder at his blank face. "Khushi.." he began but she cut him short. "Tell me about what's bothering you. That's what I'm here for, to take care of you and help you. Or am I just a trophy wife?"

Arnav sighed. She's not going to let it go is she?

"Well you heard about the little incident two days back. There was a mishap with the shipment and our chief designer..." he dived into the story realising as he related the details, that he did feel better talking about his work problems. He hadn't really realised he had so much of tension built inside him. The release of it felt wonderful. Khushi egged him on, encouraging him with an occasional 'hmm' or a nod or 'why' and was undoubtedly paying close attention, drinking in the details even though she might not understand most of them. Yet she didn't seem to find it boring.

Only when he paused for a drink of water, did she finally talk. "Don't you think you should talk to Mr Mehta about it?"

He kept the glass aside as he surveyed her; his brow furrowed wondering for a while what she said.

"I mean I know he is at fault but then this is a big decision and he's entitled to know about it. It's not right to keep him away from something that's obviously under his responsibility. Poor man. Give him a chance. At least tell him about what you're going to do." Khushi's voice was soft, gentle and coaxing.

---

Khushi was curled comfortably in the recliner out beside the pool side, a book in her hand. She had started on a new hobby to keep herself occupied. In her initial enthusiasm to learn about pregnancy related matters, she had started to read books albeit slowly at first but then as she got more and more accustomed to the flow of various styles of writing and difference of language, she had gotten fond of reading. She found it fascinating and intriguing the way writers played around with words and weaved different pictures inside her head.

Arnav had a small library at home but not being much of a reader of novels; it was filled with his old collage text books, his daily subscriptions of various business magazines and Readers' Digest magazines. Arnav seemed to have been an avid fan of Readers' Digest seeing that he had a good fifteen years worth of copies with him. Going through a few copies with a dictionary in her hand, she had instantly liked them. The writing was simple and they were filled with neat little articles about current trending topics, life stories of successful people, new scientific explorations, discoveries and interesting events happening around the world. Reading them was like opening a whole new world of possibilities and perceptions.

But the conversation with Arnav the other day had left her with the realisation that she couldn't keep up with him because she had absolutely no idea of Business or Management. She couldn't fuel the conversation or ask any reasonable questions. She needed a ground base to improve her knowledge, to start somewhere and what better way than to read some of his subscriptions. Harvard Business Review, Fortune Magazine, The Economist, Forbes, BussinessWeek; the amount of magazines he collected was staggering. But one look at them and she realised she didn't even know half the words of some of the articles.

"Well why not ask things you don't understand from the man himself" a voice answered her.

Khushi pondered over this thought. True. And he'd love to explain anything related to business and Khushi was never afraid of asking questions. She had already made up her mind to plough though the magazines. Besides she liked reading.

It was a beautiful day, warm and crisp with the tell tale tang of rain in the afternoon. Khushi has given a rest to Business magazines for the time being and was treating herself in another one of Readers' Digest and gave a start as she heard Payal's voice calling to her.

"I'm here jiji!"

A few moments later her sister appeared near the door with a plate of freshly fried Pakoras in her hand and a teasing smile on her face.

"Jiji!!" Khushi screamed in delight at seeing one of her favourite foods in the hands of her sister.

"Oh I predicted that reaction" Payla grinned as she handed her the plate and sat down on the recliner beside her as she watched Khushi stuffing down Pakoras into her mouth. Khushi frowned with her mouth full as she watched jiji staring at her as if scrutinizing a particularly soft material of laundry.

"Jiji what's wrong?"

Payal blinked and shook her head as she reached for one of Khushi's hands, now greasy with the oiliness from Pakoras and squeezed it, staring into her eyes as if to dive into them.

"Khushi, you're alright aren't you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You hide things from me. You hid the truth about your marriage. I'm not going to trust you again when you say you're fine"

Khushi stared at her in astonishment. "Jiji you know about the circumstances that lead to it. I had no choice. How can you say that?"

"Tell me truthfully, you are alright after the..the miscarriage. Aren't you?"

Khushi gulped as she stared at her earnest face. The truth was she wasn't. She's suspecting that she'll never be alright, that a part of her will always weep for her lost child and that part will be hidden inside her in a deep corner of her heart where she will barricade herself from venturing too close. Why did she randomly break into tears when she saw babies with their mothers? Why did she spend so much of her time in the orphanage playing with children when she knew there was a ton of work at home?

"Khushi?" Payal's voice interrupted her thoughts as she stared at her with concerned filled eyes.

Khushi hastily plastered a smile to her face. "I'm fine jiji. Really."

Payal narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to protest, no doubt seeing through her pretence but before she could start Hari Prakash interrupted them.

"Khushi babi, there's a call for you" he said as he handed her the phone.

"jiji I have to take this" Khushi hurriedly seized the phone, relieved of the timely diversion and rushed inside the room to answer the call.

"Hello?"

---

Arnav sat down on the park bench as merry walkers drifted to a blur. This was one of his favourite haunts when he needed time for himself. The surrounding trees, the insignificance of the world around him, the happy chatter of people, calmed him down in a way he had always enjoyed. It only came second to Khushi's massage therapies.

He found it refreshing when he wasn't the centre of attention at all times, be it home or at work. It was a place of retrospection and gathering of scattered thoughts, a place to think deeply and reflect on what's happening in his life.

Work problems, Khushi... he needed time to think.

He followed his gaze as a couple walked by with a small child on the father's arms.

"Yes Arnav, every woman dream of becoming a mother one day"

He felt like screaming his heart out. He was so utterly confused that he had absolutely no clue what to do. The conversation with the man from the gynaecologist clinic slithered in to his head, a conversation he relived in his sleep every single night. He knew he was being irrational but Khushi's health and safety always took over the rational part of his mind. Medical field is highly competent but there is always a risk and just like that man's wife, Khushi could be next.

He knew he was being paranoid, utterly absurd and unbelievably irrational to take such a decision but he can't help himself. The initial phase of complications in their relationship had reduced him to this over protective, nervous wreck. Bottom line he didn't want to take any kind of risk that has even the remotest possibility of endangering her life. The insecurity also spurred from a certain sense of guilt that he hadn't been able shake off himself. From the time he realised how very wrong he was and how much she had to go though in the hands of him, this was his reaction to almost everything concerning her

But on the other hand if he did go through with the procedure, he's effectively going to shatter her dreams yet again and he won't be able to bear to see her pain. The truth would come out someday and she'd never forgive him. Worse she might blame herself because she couldn't conceive.

But he didn't want to take any risks with her life!

He wished the inner voice would shut up, but he can't turn deaf to the voice of reason.

'She might even leave you when she finds out'

NO!

"You know she can. She'd done it before. And can you blame her if she did it again?"

---

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