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.
