Anjali beamed at her three day old niece as she finished the aarti and let her brother and sister-in-law in the house. Garima hurried to take her grand-daughter from Khushi's arms and cooed down at her. As the rest of the family moved away, Khushi sighed and let herself lean into her husband's side while he wrapped his arm around her.
"To? Tumne kya naam socha hai?" he whispered in her ear. (So? What name have you thought about?)
She giggled, looking up at him. "Hum kyun bataaein?" He frowned, making her laugh again. "Aapne bhi to nahin bataaya! Hum nahin bataane wale!" (Why should I tell you? You didn't tell me! I won't tell!)
Her gaze went to her daughter and she smiled fondly, seeing Payal and Akaash jiggle a rattle over her head. They were going to be parents soon too. Akaash had just told Arnav but they wanted to wait a bit more before telling everyone.
***
"She's sleeping?" he murmured, afraid to make the least noise that could disturb and awake his daughter. Khushi smiled and nodded as she got up to gently place the baby in the crib that was at the foot of their bed. She had insisted on transferring it in their room so that her baby would be closer to her. Arnav could not disagree on this.
They both stood by the crib for a while, watching their daughter breathe, her eyes closed, her thick and long, black eyelashes fanning on her rosy cheeks while her little red fists were curled under her chin. He smiled and hugged his wife from behind, leaning to kiss her cheek.
"Ab sirf ek cheez ki kami hai," Khushi told him. (There's just one thing we're missing.)
Arnav furrowed his brow. What could she miss now? Everything was perfect. She was perfect, their daughter was perfect, they were all happy and together. What could she want more?
"Sanka Governor," she grinned. But her husband's frown only deepened. "Kya hua?" (...What happened?)
He shook his head and lead her to the bed so that he could make her sit down while he kneeled before her.
"Arnavji-"
"Khushi... You really want another baby?"
Her lips parted and the tears that immediately glazed her eyes stabbed him with guilt. "Kyun? Aap khush nahin hain?" (Why? Aren't you happy?)
He flinched. The hurt was tangible in her voice. It seems he had not expressed himself correctly again. And damn those hormones. Why had they not packed up yet?
"Khushi, I didn't mean that..." he said softly, holding her hands tight in her lap. "Main bohot khush houn, in fact, isse bhi kayi zyaada. But Khushi, jo... Do you think you can go through that pain again?" (... I'm very happy, in fact, more than that. But Khushi, what...)
She stared at him in mute confusion and he sighed embarrassedly.
"Because you know... main abhi bhoola nahin..." he looked down at the rug as those images flashed in front of his eyes again. "You were screaming... It was hurting so much, I... I felt what you were going through... It's just so hard..." (... I have not yet forgotten...)
He felt her lift his hand to her lips and when he turned his gaze onto her, she was smiling. "Yeh Laad Governor bhi, na!" she laughed. Her hand cupped his cheek fondly and he bent to brush her lips against his forehead. Arnav closed his eyes.
"Humein apna Sanka Governor chaahiye! Varna humse boora koyi nahin hoga!" she told him firmly. (I want my Sanka Governor! Or else I won't be happy!)
He grimaced. "Sure? Tum mujhe koyi dosh nahin dogi, na, baad mein?" (... You won't blame me for anything later, will you?)
"Bilkul!" she giggled. (Sure!)
Her enthusiasm made him grin wolfishly at her. "You want to start now?"
Khushi's eyes widened and she punched him in the shoulder. "Arnavji! Abhi nahin! Hum soch rahe the shaayad kuchh chaar-paanch saal baad?" (Arnavji! Not now! I was thinking about four or five years later?)
She saw the relief flowing back in his eyes. "Oh!" he sighed. "Thanks! Vaise, main bhi mazaak kar rah atha, okay? I don't want to see you suffering like that again so soon... but itna vakt kaafi hai." (...By the way, I was joking, okay? [...] but with time I'll be fine.)
He got to his feet and pulled her up too, dragging her to bed. "Chalo, you must be tired, aur humaari Laad Devi ko bhi uthne mein zyaada der nahin lagegi!" (Come, [...] and our Laad Devi won't take long to wake up again!)
***
He yawned shamelessly, causing the panditji to glare at him. He shrugged and glanced at Khushi, who sat, her eyes closed like everyone else, concentrating on the prayer. He was damn tired. He loved his daughter more that life, but this was just not how he had expected things to be. Was that even a life?
His Laad Devi was like fitted with an alarm clock. How else could she manage to wake up every three hours every single day? And she woke up exactly three hours after she had been put to sleep. He had checked that several times! Apparently, that came from Khushi. Garima had told them about it. Khushi would be more demanding though. She awoke every two hours, wailing so loudly that she would annoy the neighbours too. And she would only give her Amma-Bauji ten minutes to bring her milk. If they were a second late, she would obstinately refuse to drink the least drop and continue crying until she fell asleep, too tired to cry more!
That's exactly why he had not liked children before. So small people could so annoying! But this was his daughter, how could he not love her? He gazed down at her and noted, to his great surprise, that she had woken up. But she didn't cry. Her wide, brown eyes were fixated on her mother, making Arnav smile. He reached down to place his finger in her left hand and she grabbed it readily and tight, her eyes dancing to find him. He smirked proudly when she looked his way. She yawned toothlessly and once again, he felt his heart shatter with contentment. Her eyelids fell closed and she was back to sleeping.
He left his finger still in her hand and looked around. Khushi was looking at him with an odd expression. He frowned slightly as if to ask what she was thinking but she only shook her head with bliss in her eyes.
***
They stared at each other uncertainly. They had discussed this the previous night, when their daughter had woken up for the n-th time. He nodded once at her, indicating that she should pronounce it herself. Khushi smiled and looked at their bundle of joy.
"Kavni Arni Singh Raizada," she said before turning back to Arnav who watched the two of them affectionately.
He had been thinking about Kavni for months, having found it on Google. It seemed to be a nice amalgam of Arnav and Khushi and it meant poem. And truth to be told, his daughter was even more beautiful than a poem. Last night, he had coaxed her into telling him what she had thought of. It had necessitated some romance and bribing her with his own suggestion; then only, she had told him she wanted to call their daughter Arni, after him. It meant the sun. And wasn't their daughter the sun of their lives?
So they had decided to give her both names. It could sound a bit strange, but it meant a lot for them...
Khushi raised her child to kiss her head while the priest concluded the Naamkaran Sanskaar...
Anupamaa
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