Part 36
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The newspapers all over Mumbai had in the headlines that Jai Walia's estranged nephew was the one behind the kidnapping and the whole city was disturbed. After all, who would dare go against the head of Walia Industries!
Through this ordeal, Bani knew that the best way to keep her strength and her faith alive was to keep busy as the search continued. This was a stress that she had never experienced before, and it was difficult enough to keep her mind busy, but with the baby on the way she was hoping it would be easier to focus on that. She would have liked to help search for Raashi, but Jai refused, as did the rest of the family. She too understood that she was in no condition to run around the city at all hours of the night.
Bani walked to her room and began to take out Jai's clothes for the next day. While deciding on which suit he should wear, she felt a little funny and immediately her hand dropped down to her stomach. The feeling faded, so she began putting searching through his closet once again to find him a shirt to match his suit.
Jai walked into the room quietly and sat on the bed with the morning paper. He was disappointed to read the headlines of the paper, and even more disappointed that they hadn't found Raashi yet. It had been days since she had gone missing, and each day was harder than the next. There was no telling how she was. Jai had already received several phone calls from Ranvijay Chopra, each more threatening than the next, but even combining their resources had proved to be hopeless.
Bani looked at Jai sitting on the bed staring at the headlines of the paper. She held on his hand. "Jai.." He continued to stare at the paper, not evening flinching at her touch or the sound of his voice. "Jai..Hello?"
"Oh sorry. Pata nahin main kaha kho gaya tha. Yeh paper bhi na.." Jai looked angrily at the paper. He took the paper and threw it to the side, rather forcefully. "Yeh journalists bhi.. pata nahin yeh sab khabar chapke kya hasil karenge. Headlines ke chakkar mein kuch bhi karne ko tayyar hain, aur paise lekar kuch bhi likhte hain.." Jai sounded frustrated and angered.
Bani was taken by his sudden outburst. Jai glanced at Bani and noticed her expression. He frowned apologetically. "Sorry Bani. I didn't mean to…"
"Its ok. I am frustrated too. Meri bhi yahin chinta hai ke-" Bani stopped. The feeling she had before had returned and again her hand dropped down to her stomach. Jai looked at her strangely for stopping in the middle of her sentence, and noted the pensive expression on her face.
"Bani? Are you ok?" Jai raised an eyebrow as Bani was concentrating quite hard on something.
"Huh? Haan, I'm fine." The sensation faded away once again, and she could not pinpoint exactly what it was. She decided to shrug the feeling off.
"Tum kuch keh rahi thi?" Jai looked at her curiously.
"Oh.. main to yeh keh rahi thi ke mujhe bhi Raashi ki chinta hain. Yeh sari journalists ki aadat ki aise hain, aur Walia naam ki koi bhi khabar wo hamesha chapne ke liye tayyar hain, aur wo bhi front page par."
"I know. Par pata nahin kyun iss baar mujhe bahut gussa aa raha hain. Main jaanta hoon ke-" Jai saw that Bani's expression had changed once again to a more serious look, and her hand was once again resting on her stomach. He put his hand on her arm. "Bani, are you sure ke tum teekh ho?"
"I think… I think it moved." Bani said slowly. She had an amused look on her face. It was a strange feeling that she had, but her look of amusement slowly transformed into a smile at the realization of what she was experiencing.
"What moved?" Jai eyed her, unsure of what she was talking about.
"Humara baccha." She looked up at him to see his eyes look at her curious and surprised. As the thought of their child sunk in, his worried expression changed into a smile. Her hand remained on her stomach as if she was tring to feel for it again.
"Kya?" Jai finally revealed the smile that had been hiding since Raashi disappeared. "Humara baccha? Can I..?"
She smiled at him and nodded, but warned him that it was such a faint feeling and that most likely he wouldn't feel anything at all. He smiled anyways and concentrated on trying to feel his child move, with his hand on her stomach and her hand on top of his. He couldn't feel anything, and the smile slowly began to fade.
"Don't worry. Maine apni pregnancy kitaab mein yeh pada ke yeh normal hain. You will be able to feel it, par toda waqt lagega." Bani smiled at him reassuringly.
"Ajeeb hain na? Mujhe khushi honi chahiye ke humara baccha iss duniya mein aanewala hain, magar kisi aur ka baccha meri zimmedari mein gayab ho gayi."
"Apne aap ko doshi maat rakhna. Aur himmat se kaam lo, hum Raashi ko zaroor dhoondlenge. I promise. Main jaanti hoon ke aap ne raat k teekh se nahi soya. Aap araam kijiye, main neeche jaake toda kaam karti hoon."
"Kaisa kaam?"
"Tony ko market ki list dena hain, na? Kuch samaan chahiye tha"
"To Masi hain na, Tony ki list banane ke liye."
"Actually, mujhe kuch samaan chahiye, jo Masi ko nahin pata.. iss liye"
"Kaisa samaan?" Jai looked at her curiously.
"Jai..wo.. mujhe bhindi khaane ko mann kar raha hain. Do din se khana chahti thi, par maine kuch nahin kaha.. khane ka mann abhi bhi hain iss liye. Agar main aaj mangwaloo to kal main dinner ke liye bana doongi" Bani turned red. She knew Jai would laugh at her, but she couldn't help it. It was what her she and her child wanted.
Jai let out a small laugh, and then conceded. "Bhindi? Teekh hain.. tum jao.."
As Jai went to lie down, Bani left the room, shutting the door behind her. She really prayed that they would be able to find Raashi as soon as possible.
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Enjoy!!!! Comments welcomed as always!
Cricket
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