AUTHOR'S POV -

Another day in the lock down and not being able to play proper cricket had annoyed Virat to a great extent and he was being very moody.

"I feel like a bird in a cage, an animal in the zoo, am I even a human?" Virat asked looking up from his phone to see Anushka busy on her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Virat asked in an annoyed tone.

"Shhushh, I am in a meeting." Anushka said softly.

"Thats what I was thinking, why are you wearing a formal top and make up and shorts down" Virat said.

"If you know everything then you should also know that I am busy now and I dont want the people in the meeting to think that my husband is overly annoying, though he really is." Anushka said rolling her eyes.

"Everyone thinks I am annoying, bye I dont like you also." Virat said and went out.

"Bahar jaa hi rahe ho toh fir jaadu pocha laga dena, I will be busy till late." Anushka said.

"It was your turn today." Virat said.

"Vi please do it na, I have two back to back meetings because of the web series and I am already feeling tired." Anushka said.

"I know you are an actress, acting tired wont help, I wont do the jaadu pocha today also." Virat said.

"I will make up by doing the dishes Vi, please." Anushka said.

"Doing dishes is easier than jaadu pocha on top of that, you keep the cooler right in front of you when you are doing dishes so you dont even feel hot while doing them, so I cant let you get away with the no sweat work, you also need to work out properly." Virat said.

"Cricketer tum ho ki main?" Anushka asked.

"Main." Virat said.

"So who needs to be more fit? You or me?" Anushka asked.

"Me." Virat said.

"Who thinks that jaadu pocha is like a mini workout? You or me?" Anushka asked.

"Me." Virat said.

"Then who will do the jaadu pocha ? The one who needs to be fit or the one who doesnt?" Anushka asked.

"The one who needs to be more fit" Virat said.

"And who needs to be more fit? You or me?" Anushka asked.

"Me." Virat said.

"Good now go." Anushka said

"Umm, go where exactly?" Virat asked.

"To the storeroom where the mop and broom is kept, use the vaccum on the sofas, intense cleaning today so clean the fans as well." Anushka said.

"I got trapped again." Virat said and dragged himself out without any more protests.

Virat went out and started the cleaning but eventually left things half way for Anushka to complete and then he took his phone and sat on the sofa.

"Virat beta, why did you do the cleaning today?" Anushka's mom asked.

"Mom, Nushki had some meeting" Virat said.

"Oh but she would have done it later, dont spoil her, she is anyways stubborn." her mom said.

"I know thats why only I cleaned only half the hall." Virat said.

"Great now we will make her do all the work." her mom said and then they sat and teamed up on how they will make Anushka do the cleaning all weak long.

"Mom, my phone is beeping way too much, let me check what it is, can you make me something nice please." Virat said making puppy eyes.

"Yes I will what do you want?" her mom asked.

"Anything, mumma ka call aaya tha kel, she said that she made rajma chawal." Virat said indirectly asking for rajma chawal.

"Samajh gayi, I will make rajma chawal only for lunch today, I know you are missing Saroj ji a lot but you got stuck in Mumbai and you havent met her since long before that also due to yyour schedule. I will do this, I will ask her for her recipe and follow it." Anushka's mom said.

"Thank you mom, you are the best." Virat said.

"I toh dont exist only, no one asks me what I want to eat only." Anushka screamed from inside.

"Aapki beti ke kaan ka kuch karna padega." Virat said and they laughed.

Virat then checked his phone and saw Hardik's post where he had announced that he is going to be a dad and the team's group chat was filled with those chats.

"Yeh toh thoda zyaada hi fast nikala." Virat murmured and immediately joined the group meeting where the whole team was still talking about how they cant believe that Hardik is going to be a dad.

After virtually thrashing Hardik for not informing them before hand and then telling him how his marriage and everything is not valid until the team India is present in it and then planning a virtual baby shower they were made to end the meeting by MSD who brought to their notice that they have been in the meeting since the past 2 hours.

"Virat beta, Nushkie bacha, come now lunch ready hain." Anushka's mom called.

"Yes mom, I came first so I get more." Virat said.

"Phir workout zyaada karma padega." Anushka said pointing at the half cleaned house.

"Mera yeh beta hi kyun cleaning karega?" Anushka's mom took Virat's side and he smirked.

"Maa, I have another meeting to discuss the upcoming productions and I am busy and bhai is busy with other meetings so I will only have to handle everything." Anushka said taking her plate and then putting enormous servings of rice and rajma in her plate, looking at which Virat's eyes widened.

"Pure ghar ke liye hain yeh sirf tere liye nahi." Virat said.

"I dont want to eat only." Anushka said and went in.

"I shouldnt have said that." Virat said.

"Koi nahi, she is also getting moody staying at home all day, you eat, she will come out after some time." Anushka's mom said and everyone else had their lunch.

Even after that Anushka didnt come out to eat, Virat now felt a little guilty so he kept food aside for Anushka, did the dishes and even cleaned the house unwillingly, after cleaning the whole house only his and Anushka's room was left so he opened it to see Anushka sleeping.

"Weird, she just said that she had meetings and is busy and now she is sleeping, she never skips or cancels meetings either." Virat thought to himself.

Anushka had her head on the head rest of the bed and her legs under the blanket and her laptop was still on her lap, it looked like she fell asleep during the meeting.

Virat went slowly and kept the laptop on the side and made her sleep properly. Her laptop was still on, he thought of shutting it down but something on the laptop caught his eyes, she was not in a meeting.

He saw a lot of tabs opened on her laptop but none of them had a meeting in progress or showed that she was in a meeting. Multiple google tabs were open and he what he saw shocked him.

How do you know that you are pregnant?

Signs that you are pregnant

Does missing a period mean I am pregnant?

Where can I buy a pregnancy kit in lockdown?

How to tell your husband that you are pregnant?

How do cricketers react when they come to know that their wife is pregnant?

How to make your pregnancy announcement special?

These were the questions open on various google tabs.

"What is this?" Virat asked himself and then looked at Anushka.

He first thought if it is any way related to Hardik announcing that he is going to be a dad, but the he thought that why would she search so many questions for that, and all these questions were for women and she didnt know Natasa that well either and she is already a few months pregnant so Natasa wont ask her for any of this.

His dumb brain then clicked a tube light and he asked, "Is this for herself?"

Virat jumped out of no where and Anushka stirred on the bed slightly so he calmed down because he didnt know if it was true yet, he was just guessing.

Virat took her laptop and sat on the table so he doesnt disturb anushka.

He opened all the tabs and saw that she had ordered a pregnancy kit a few days back, he then remembered, the morning incident.

The bell of the house was ringing numerous times, but everyone was in deep slumber so no one bothered to wake up and assumed that it is their alarms.

"Who is it?" Virat mumbled turning on the bed and then he shook Anushka.

"What is it Vi?" Anushka asked.

"Baby, someone's alarm is ringing" Virat said.

"You must have set one, I am not going to wake up early and do any workout Virat, my sleep cycle is already so messed up because of the lockdown and you still want me to wake up so early with you." Anushka said.

Virat slightly got up to check his phone but it was not his phone that was ringing nor was it an alarm, he then checked Anushka's phone and it was on silent.

"Its only six and someone is ringing the bell." Virat said after a lot of thinking.

"Bell? You mean house bell?" Anushka asked getting up with a jolt.

She ran out and checked from the key hole and it was an Amazon delivery man with a package, she slightly opened the door and collected the parcel and closed the door before being asked for a selfie, on normal cases she wouldnt mind giving one, but right noe she had to keep the parcel hidden and it was just six in the morning.

"Who was it?" Virat asked.

"Amazon." Anushka said.

"From when did they start delivery so early? Give me the box, it might be the shoes I ordered" Virat said.

"No it isnt." Anushka said.

"Why are you hiding it from me?" Virat asked and ran around to catch her and the parcel but she went into the room and entered the bathroom.

"Why are you being so secretive?" Virat asked.

"Its the body wash we ordered for the both of us but ow its only mine and I want to use it first." Anushka said and didnt open the door.

Virat felt something was wrong but he ignored it and went back to sleep thinking that he will order two more body washes and he will keep them to himself.

"Was that the pregnancy kit?" Virat asked himself.

After the she even searched how to announce it and all, so is she?, he thought again.

Virat went into the washroom immediately to see if she left the kit anywhere there after the testing, he searched for it everywhere and at last found it hidden below a few of Anushka's face washes and scrubs.

He saw two lines on the test and he had already read from Anushka's research that two ines meant pregnant, he jumped in joy and didnt know how to react.

"I am going to be a dad?" he asked himself looking at the mirror.

He went out slowly with the kit after a few seconds, he checked Anushka's laptop again and understood that she was searching on how she can tell this to him and how she can make it special.

He then realized that, she was behaving oddly since morning because of this, he understood that she didnt know how to react and break it out to him and she refused to do the cleaning also because of that, and he knew that Anushka takes a lot of food in one serving only when she is stressed out and she was taking a lot of food because she wanted to stress eat because she didnt know how he would react to it, she then might have slept of because she woke up early to collect the parcel and they slept really late and her mind probably needed a break. Virat understood and decoded the reason for Anushka's behavior and then he closed the laptop and went out.

"Did she agree to eat?" Anushka's dad asked.

"She is sleeping, mom I need help, do we have balloons and chart paper in the house?" Virat who knew nothing about what will be where he asked.

"Let me check the store room, but why do you need them?" her mom asked.

"I need them, I am planning something for Nushki." Virat said.

"Khana nahi khaya usmein balloons kyun chahiye? Sab bigad raho ho usse" her mom said.

"Ab toh aur bigado ga usse." Virat said.

He found a few things in the storeroom and he filled them in a box and went to the living room.

"Mom dad, go to the room, I will call you out later, Dad please schedule a zoom meeting for an hour later and mom inform maa about that and send the link to them and tell them to join on time." Virat said and after he made sure the living room is empty he started his work.

He put up many balloons and then did something creative but hid it.

After sometime he called Anushka's parents outside and even set up the zoom meeting with his family, everyone was confused because Virat had covered the main thing.

Virat went into the room and started making a lot of noise with the vaccum and cleaning materials.

"Virat" Anushka mumbled and Virat made more noise which made Anushka get up, Virat ran out as soon as she woke up. She saw no one in the room and so she came out after washing her face and saw balloons all over the hall and was shocked.

Virat then removed the covered part on the wall and screamed, " We are going to be parents."

(THIS WAS STUCK ON THE WALL, IGNORE THE ULTRASOUND AND IMAGINE THE PREGNANCY KIT WITH TWO LINES STUCK THERE.)

Virat had also taken print outs of their baby pictures and stuck Anushka's at one side and his at another and he wrote, JUNIOR ANUSHKA OR JUNIOR VIRAT.

Anushka was shocked that he came to know and ran upto him and hugged him, their families were equally surprised and delighted the very next moment.

"How did you find out?" Anushka asked.

"You cant hide anything from me." Virat said.

"I wanted to surprise you." Anushka said.

"I surprised you instead. Kya farak padta hain? We are one life." Virat said.

After celebrating the news with their families, a special dinner was being made with all of Anushka's favorites, after dinner and more celebrations, they both went in their rooms.

"Are you happy?" Virat asked Anushka.

"More than I could ever be." Anushka said.

"Why didnt you tell me before then?" Virat asked.

"I came to know this morning and I didnt know how you would react." Anushka said.

"Why?" Virat asked.

"Your first priority is and should be cricket, I know that you love me and you also love kids, I have seen your bond with Ziva, Zora, Sammy, you just love kids but then you have to manage your cricket as well so I was confused about your reaction, I want our baby to get all the love in the world - " Anushka said.

"Cricket is there and always will be but I can handle both, I always wanted my own daughter or son but I didnt know the right time, you were busy with your career and I was with mine, but this time seems perfect, I will be able to atleast be with you till cricket resumes which is a lot more time later and even after it does you and our baby will come before anything else to me I already love you my baby." Virat said.

"I know but I still want cricket to be your first point of focus and then us." Anushka said.

"You are the one because of whose support I have grown everywhere, you go along with cricket and we will very well handle everything together." Virat said.

"I love you." Anushka said and hugged Virat.

"I love you two." Virat said and hugged her and then kissed her on her belly.

"We wont tell anyone else about this now." Virat said immediately.

"What? Why? Like okay we wont tell the media and all, I want my child to live peacefully in my womb but why not your team and like that." Anushka said.

"Today we all teased Harry that we cant believe that he will be a dad even after seeing the pictures, if I tell them that you are pregnant they wont believe it and will think its a prank until your belly shows out" Virat said and Anushka laughed

"As you wish, I hope the baby makes you sensible now." Anushka said.

"I always am sensible." Virat said.

"And makes you responsible also hopefully." Anushka added.

"You mean I am not responsible?" Virat asked.

"Too tired to answer, now you will do cleaning everyday." Anushka said.

"Yes ma'am, do you want a foot massage now?" Virat asked dramatically.

"Extra paisa nah dungi." Anushka said and laughed after two seconds.

"Its May and 9 months so May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, so I will get to see you in Jan ha baby?" Virat asked.

"The baby needs to grow a little bit more to hear you." Anushka said.

"Our baby will be the rainbow after the storm 2020 has brought about." Virat said.

"Yes in January our baby will be the start of a new life for us as well." Anushka said.

"Arriving in 2021, so much time." Virat mumbled.