Part 37: Confrontation
Angad paced back and forth in his room with an unsettling feeling in his heart. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake off the joyous feeling he'd felt ever since the baby had first kicked. He had tried music, movies, work, and reading but nothing had helped.
An entire week passed by with that lingering feeling. In that week, every time he saw Kripa, he felt light at heart and cheerful. He'd wanted to go to her and feel the baby kicking again. He had started to avoid her in order to control his thoughts.
He was ready to tip-toe through the living room on a Friday night after work but his plans were foiled. Kripa and Naina sat on the living room couch at 1 a.m in the morning. Kripa raised a handkerchief to her face and dabbed at her cheeks. Angad frowned.
Kripa leaned her head on Naina's shoulder and sobbed freely. Angad rushed over to them, worried.
"What happened? Why are you crying?" He demanded urgently.
Kripa sniffed and continued to sob as she lifted her hand and pointed at something behind Angad. Angad looked over his shoulder and frowned. The climax scene of the movie 'Baghban' was playing on the TV. Angad turned back to look at Kripa, his eyes slightly wide.
She sniffed one more time before getting up. "I'm going to go to sleep. Good night mom. Good night Angad."
Angad stared at her as she made her way up the stairs.
"Don't worry Angad. She really was crying because of the movie." Naina reassured him.
"Like that? I understand if she got tearful but breaking down like that for a movie?" Angad retorted.
Naina shook her head. "It happens during pregnancy Angad. Every emotion, every mood is amplified. Joy, sadness, anger, frustration...whatever she's feeling gets amplified and exaggerated. Don't worry. She'll be fine. But you won't be. What is this Angad? I've noticed that you've been working really late the past week or so."
"Yeah...things have been a bit busy at the office." Angad lied.
"Keeping away from her won't help you ignore the connection you felt with your baby, Angad." Naina said smugly.
Angad looked at her, shocked. How did she know about that?
"Kripa doesn't call me 'mom' just for the sake of it. She shares everything with me. She told me that you felt the baby kick. And I've noticed that since then, you've been staying at the office late."
"It's nothing like that, mom. We're just trying to get a new project underway, that's why." Angad lied again.
"Try to spend more time with her. You know you want to. I think it will really help you figure things out." Naina said as if Angad hadn't spoken.
He just looked at her blankly. She patted his shoulder and headed off to her bedroom. Angad sighed and made his way to his bedroom too.
*
Riddhima opened her eyes early in the morning and lay wrapped in Armaan's arms. Every time she woke up early, she thought about her journey with Armaan. From the day their marriage was arranged till the present. She regretted all the bitter words she said to him, appreciated all the love he'd given her, and decided that she would love him unconditionally till her last breath.
She turned around to face him and his arms automatically adjusted to fit around her. She looked at the innocence and peace on his face as he slept like a baby. She noticed the red marks on his cheeks and love bites on his neck that she'd made mere hours ago and blood rushed to her cheeks, giving them a scarlet tint. She smiled to herself and touched the tips of her fingers lightly to his cheek.
"I love you, Armaan." She whispered lightly.
"Mmm. I love you too." He murmured back.
Riddhima gasped. He opened his eyes slightly and smiled at her before rolling her over so that she was lying on top of him. She rested her head in the groove of his neck and inhaled his masculine scent.
One of his arms was draped around her waist while the other rested on her upper back where his fingers drew small patterns.
"Do you know how wonderful it is waking up with you this way, Riddhima? Ever since we've gotten married, I've dreamt of this perfect morning. In the beginning, I'd stopping hoping that this would ever work out. But I'm so glad that we're past all that now. I never want to lose this, Riddhima. I never want to be apart from you."
Riddhima lifted her head to look at his face which now looked slightly worried. She smiled and kissed the tip of his nose.
"I know I was wrong Armaan. I can't fix the past but I promise you that we'll always be together in our future. You'll never lose this. We'll never lose this. We're never going to be apart from each other Armaan. I've realized what you mean in my life and I'm never going to let you go."
Armaan smiled and pulled her closer. She kissed his lips lightly and tried to get up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Armaan tightened his grip.
"To take a shower...Kripa's appointment is today...I told her I would go with her." Riddhima smiled.
Armaan let go of her, much to her disappointment. She had expected him to protest or continue holding her but he had let her go so easy. She frowned slightly and made a face, confusing Armaan.
She rolled out of the bed, holding the sheet around her and stomped her way to the bathroom door. Armaan flinched when she slammed the bathroom door.
"Women and their mood swings." He rolled his eyes before grabbing his shorts from the floor.
He put them on and made his way to the bathroom door. He knocked on it lightly twice.
"What?!" She snapped.
Armaan smiled. "Nothing...I was just wondering...are you getting bored in there? Because if you are, I could come and give you company."
"That's alright." She said curtly.
Armaan shook his head and just smiled at Riddhima's cute anger. He walked back to the bed and started folding the blankets. He'd just finished setting the bed when the bathroom door opened. He looked up and saw Riddhima's face appear in the small gap. She held his gaze for a couple of seconds and then gestured him to come in.
He just stared at her as her cheeks turned red, her eyes lowered and she disappeared back into the bathroom. With a mischievous grin on his face, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
*
After her shower, she sent a quick message to Kripa:
I know I said I would come over and give you company but can I please take a rain-check. Armaan has plans.
Kripa saw the text, smiled and sent her reply:
It's all good. You have a nice date. <3
Kripa put her phone down and sighed when Dilip took a seat next to her.
"Where is Riddhima? I thought she was coming over to give you company."
"She was but she's got a date with Armaan. I know she would skip it but I don't want her to. I don't want to be the reason she has to cancel her date."
"Okay. We'll stay back. I'll tell Naina."
"No! You have plans with her too! Don't you dare cancel them?" Kripa pointed a finger at him.
Just then, Dilip saw Angad passing by. "Angad!" Dilip waited until Angad walked over. "Arnav and Khushi are out for the day. I have plans with your mother...I would cancel them but Kripa has threatened that I'm not allowed to. Originally, Riddhima was supposed to give her company but she's busy with Armaan. I don't want to leave Kripa alone. Can you give her company? Cancel any appointments you have."
Angad looked at Kripa and Kripa began to protest but Dilip would not hear it. "You either stay with Angad or I'm cancelling my plans with Naina."
"But what if he's busy'" Kripa began but Angad interrupted.
"I'm not. I'll stay. Don't worry dad. You have a good time." Angad smiled.
Kripa pouted at Dilip but in vain. Soon, Angad and Kripa were left alone in the living room. After a few minutes, Kripa's stomach growled. She looked at Angad sheepishly while he tried to control his laughter.
"I'm eating for two...I get hungry more often." She justified.
"Let go out for lunch. We'll go to your favourite restaurant." He suggested.
She gasped. "Really? Oh my god! I haven't been there in a long time! Wait, I'll be right back." And with that she got off the couch and headed to her room. In minutes she came back, changed into a cute maternity dress.
In half an hour, the two were at the restaurant, seated, and waiting for their food to arrive. Kripa caught him staring at her seriously.
"What?" She said, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.
Angad shook his head. The waiter brought their food and Kripa dug in right away. After having a three course meal, and an extra desert, Kripa sat back in her seat and sighed contentedly. Angad smiled at her.
"That was the best meal I've had in a long time!" She looked at him. He stared back, without answering. Feeling self-conscious again, she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
"Why do you keep staring like that?" She demanded.
"I miss this. Just the two of us, a spontaneous decision to go out for lunch or dinner." He reached across the table and took her hands in his. "Why are we on separate paths, Kripa? I never thought we'd end up this way. Life would have been so much simpler for us if the baby wasn't there."
"But the baby is there, Angad. I know we didn't plan it but it happened. I didn't think that we'd end up on separate paths either but we are..." Kripa said painfully.
"But you had a choice Kripa. It didn't have to be this way."
"I know but you had a choice too, right?" Kripa countered.
"But Kripa...If I wasn't ready then, I might have been ready later in life. We wouldn't have had this problem. At least if you'd chosen otherwise, we would have been together...and we would have kids later in life, too."
"Yeah but this is our first. Any kids after this would have been second, third, and so on. Never the first."
"But now, it's the first, and that's all. You're not completely happy, I'm not happy. Don't you think we would have been happier if you'd had the abortion? There's still a way Kripa. We can still be together but it's a choice you have to make." Angad hadn't planned for these questions to come up.
Kripa withdrew her hands, hurt by his words. She couldn't understand why he couldn't understand her position. She crossed her arms.
"Fine. We can be together. I'll have the abortion. But on one condition. I'll go for the abortion and in turn, you have to kill your mother." Kripa's words were like a whiplash to him.
"What nonsense! Why would you ask me to do that? Why would you even think that I would do that? I love you, Kripa, no doubt, but I love my mother too! I can't kill her." Angad was angry and offended.
"Fine. Don't kill your mother. You see that woman sitting there, in the black dress. Kill her instead." Kripa said flatly.
"What's wrong with you Kripa? I don't even know her! Why would I kill her?!" He was even angrier now.
Kripa put her hands on the table and leaned towards him. "You can't kill a stranger to be with me but you expect me to kill my baby to be with you. You can't kill your mother to be with me but you expect a mother to kill her own child."
Angad's anger left him and a cloak of guilt surrounded him. He blinked at her blankly, not knowing what to say.
"And like you said, Angad...I love you too but I love my baby just as much. I can't kill him just to be with you! This baby is a part of you too Angad...I can't kill him. I'm sorry I had to put such a drastic analogy in front of you but you didn't seem to understand my decision. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to choose. I've fought with my parents to protect our child! I've decided to not be with you to protect something that is a symbol of our love! And you can't even look past the fact that we're not together!" Kripa's eyes were filled with tears of frustration.
His head was swimming in space where there was no sense of time, no sense of words, and no sense of feelings. He didn't even realize when she stood up and left.
When he'd finally managed to get himself home, Kripa was sitting with Armaan and Riddhima. Before he could go to her, Armaan took him out of the house again. Armaan didn't talk to Angad about the topic. In fact, he avoided the 'baby' topic altogether. This made it clear to Angad that Armaan and Riddhima knew about his conversation with Kripa.
That night when he returned home, Kripa was already asleep in her room. He walked into her room and sat on the bed next to her. He saw her clutching a photo frame to her chest which he recognized right away. He didn't have to take the photo and turn it over to see whose picture it was but he did anyway. It was a picture of them.
He put the picture aside and turned to her. He moved the strands of hair from her face gently before kissing her forehead.
"I'm sorry, Kripa." Angad whispered. "I wish I'd understood you like you understood me. I'm really sorry."
Angad pulled up the blanket a little higher and walked out of her room. Kripa opened her eyes and smiled to herself. He was forgiven.
The next morning, Angad and Arnav walked down the stairs together and reached the dining table for breakfast. Arnav kissed Khushi's forehead before sitting next to her while Angad took a seat on the opposite side. He immediately noticed that Kripa wasn't at the table.
"She's in the kitchen." Khushi told him before he could question.
Angad nodded sheepishly and pretended to be interested in his food. He pushed the food around with his fork until everyone was busy with their breakfast or involved in conversations. He entered the kitchen and stopped in the doorway.
All the cupboards were open and Kripa was sitting on the floor with a tub of ice cream in her lap. He couldn't help but smile as she scraped the last bit of the ice cream, swallowed it down and stood up. She started looking around the already searched cupboards and make annoyed sounds when she didn't find something she wanted.
"Because it would be so hard to have some chocolate in the kitchen..." she murmured.
Angad suppressed a giggle and went to his room. He pulled out a chocolate bar from a drawer in his desk and walked back to the kitchen. Kripa was still searching for chocolate when he returned. Angad cleared his throat, holding up the chocolate bar. She turned to face him with a frown but her face lit up like the sun when she saw the chocolate bar. She cradled her tummy with one hand and rushed towards him. She took the chocolate bar out of his hand, ripped the wrapper apart and bit into it. She moaned with satisfaction and took another bite.
"Thank you." She said to him with her mouth full of chocolate.
Angad smiled at her innocence. "Anytime. Now will you please have your breakfast?"
Kripa nodded childishly and started walking out of the kitchen with him. He casually put his arm around her shoulders, out of habit. He ignored the look Khushi gave him as the two sat down at the table. Angad pushed her plate towards her. Kripa looked at the plate and made a face.
"You have to finish that Kripa. Come on." Angad said authoritatively.
Kripa pouted but started chewing her breakfast. Naina looked at the two and smiled at Dilip. Dilip gestured for her to walk away to give them some time alone. Naina passed the gesture to Khushi and Arnav. Khushi made a stubborn face and refused to go but Arnav pulled her away.
Kripa finished her breakfast and showed her plate to Angad like a child showing a winning price to his parent. Angad smiled at her and put a glass of milk in front of her.
"I can't have milk." Kripa said calmly. Angad opened his mouth to argue but Kripa didn't let him speak. "I know I should but it makes me sick. I can't have raw milk or cheese. They've been making me nauseous lately. I'll have the orange juice instead."
"But you've always loved milk..." Angad raised an eyebrow.
"I know. But you don't. I guess the baby has taken after you for that...ever since my 5th month, milk makes me nauseous." Kripa smiled at him.
Angad's eyes involuntarily moved down to her stomach. The fact that he had something common with the baby growing in her womb gave him a warm feeling that he couldn't understand. Kripa caught him looking at her stomach. The frown on his face, however, confused her.
"Are you alright?" She questioned.
Angad snapped back to reality and looked at her, a little rattled. "Um...does...does he...I mean...she...he? I mean...does the baby still...kick?"
Kripa's mouth formed a small 'o' as his words sank in. She put a hand to her stomach affectionately, still looking at Angad. When she felt the baby give a nice kick, she smiled at him.
"Yeah...the baby still kicks. Especially when Khushi's talking or when you're around." Kripa looked away when a mix of surprise and pain was expressed by his handsome face.
The two of the sat still, without a word for a couple minutes. Both were unaware that their small interaction was being observed by the entire family, including Armaan and Riddhima.
"Can I...can I feel it?" Angad said suddenly, in a quiet voice.
After a few seconds, Kripa stood up around the table towards him. Seeing this, he stood up and walked towards her. When they were in front of each other, Angad stood there like a statue, unsure of what to do next. Kripa smiled and shook her head at his awkwardness.
She reached out and took his hand confidently. She placed it over the area of the stomach where the baby's kick could be felt. Angad's heart thudded in his ears the next few seconds as he waited for the baby to kick.
When he felt the small nudge on his palm, a big smile swept across his face. He put the second hand to her stomach too while Kripa placed a hand on his shoulder for support. The smile remained constant on his face for the next minute or so while the baby kicked and punched frequently.
"Wow...it's like she...I mean he...I mean the baby is training to be either a boxer or a soccer player." Angad stated.
"I think he just gets very excited when you're around. He normally doesn't move this much...just when Khushi's blabbering and when you're around." Kripa's voice was awed.
"He?" Angad questioned.
"Oh! I don't know the gender of the baby. I want it to be a surprise but I like to think that it's a boy...I want him to be exactly like you." Kripa smiled.
Angad's smile, however, disappeared at her statement and he withdrew his hands. "Don't wish for him to be like me. You don't need another person like me in your life. You don't need someone who is going to hurt you the way I have."
He looked at her meaningfully and started walking away.
"Angad..." Kripa tried to stop him but in vain.
"Angad?" Naina's voice made him stop.
Both him and Kripa turned and were surprised to see everyone standing there. Riddhima and Khushi plastered fake smiles on their faces which were not missed by Kripa. She knew right away that everyone had seen everything that happened.
"Good thing we caught you here. Arnav and Khushi have something they want to share." Naina said.
Angad and Kripa exchanged a look. They were sure that Naina was going to yell at Angad.
Arnav stepped forward. "And we have something big to share with you guys."
He took Khushi's hand in his and entwined their fingers. Riddhima and Kripa's jaws dropped. They knew exactly what Arnav would say next.
"We decided we've been engaged long enough...it's time we finally got married!" He smiled.
Kripa, Riddhima, and Naina squealed and headed to them, engulfing them in a hug. The men also took turns to congratulate the couple.
"Before you guys carried away...I want to tell you that I want my entire family there for my wedding! That means that my niece or nephew needs to be there." Khushi smiled at Kripa. "So Arnav and I decided that we'll get married two months after the baby is born."
Kripa put a hand to her stomach. "Do you hear that?? You better be on time or else your aunt's wedding will be delayed!"
"It's a four month wait...considering that the baby is born on the due date which is two months from today. Man, Arnav...you're very patient. I couldn't wait to get married once it was all finalized." Armaan patted Arnav's shoulders.
Arnav shrugged. "I don't really have a family...Khushi's family is my family and I agree with her. I want my entire family to be there for my wedding."
"This is a lot of pressure on you Kripa." Riddhima teased. "Their wedding plans depend on how soon you deliver."
"I can't do anything. All of you need to bribe the baby with love...get him to come on time." Kripa beamed at them all.
A few minutes later, Naina pulled Angad away from the celebrations. She sat him down and sat next to him, with his hand in hers.
"You can't lie to me this time, Angad. We all saw what happened at the table with you and Kripa. It's very evident that she still loves you and you still love her. Moreover, you love the baby."
"Mom...it's..." Angad started but Naina interrupted.
"No Angad. No excuses. You're amused by the whole pregnancy. You're amused by the baby's movements. You like feeling it kick. It makes you happy to know that the baby kicks more when you're around. You can't deny you feel a connection." Naina explained calmly.
Angad sighed. "I do." He admitted. "It makes me happy. When the baby kicks, I want to sit there and feel its little kicks on my hand all day."
"It's natural Angad. You don't have to feel guilty. You're the father of that child and it's only natural that there is a bond between you two."
"But I'm not ready to be a father." Angad stated.
"But you are a father. You may not be ready to be a dad but you're already a biological father to that baby, Angad." Dilip said, walking into the room and joining the conversation.
"He's right. And it's known that a woman becomes a mother when she finds out she's pregnant...her maternal instincts kick in as soon as she finds out that she's carrying another life in her womb." Naina said.
"But us men...we become fathers when we first hold the baby." Dilip decided to finish the rest of the explanation. "We're weird creatures. We need something to be physical before it gets emotional. Just like when you're in a relationship...we need the physical connection before we feel the emotional attachment." Dilip paused when Angad looked at him.
Angad knew that to some extent, Dilip was right. Angad had been attracted to Kripa's looks before he found out how wonderful she was as a person. He realized that he was in love with her when he was making love to her. He confessed his feelings to her after they'd made love another time. He understood what Dilip meant about the theory.
"Just like that...this whole pregnancy and fatherhood idea was mysterious and unreal to you...until you felt your baby kick for the first time. You started feeling a connection from then, right?" Dilip probed. Angad nodded and that was Dilip's cue to go on with the conversation. "That connection will only feel stronger the more you feel the baby growing and kicking. When the baby is born and you hold him...or her in your arms for the first time...you'll automatically become a dad then."
His parents smiled at him. Dilip slapped his shoulder encouragingly while Naina kissed his forehead. The two left him with his thoughts.
Hey guys! There you go! Part 37 after a long time! I was going to update this a few days ago but then I realized that I would have to open and new topic and such and I didnt have time! Finally, on a Sunday night, I'm able to do this! Hope I've still got all my awesome readers! Love ya!
Katie <3
Edited by love_iqbal_khan - 12 years ago
Bindi
Udne Ki Aasha
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
35