Saumya's sleep was broken by the long ring of her phone in the middle of the night. Seeing Surbhi's caller ID she grew worried and immediately picked her call.

"Hello," she said groggily.

With silent sobs Surbhi said, "I have... a... prob...lem."

"What is it? Tell me Surbhi. You are making me grow worried. Shhhhhh, stop crying. I am with you. We will solve the problem. Okay... Shhhhh, I am your friend and friends always have each other's back right. It will be alright."

After sometime, the sobbing subsided and taking a deep breath, Surbhi said, "I am pregnant."

"And..." prompted Saumya.

"Akash is in the hospital. I don't know if he is ready or not. What if he doesn't want a baby?"

Smiling, Saumya said, "Ask him if he is ready. See, it's not only about your lives, it's about another life too, right? Relax, listen to music and sleep. Okay? When Akash returns from the hospital tell him. And now if your problem is sorted, can I take a minute to rejoice? Woah I am going to be an aunt. It feels like we are still kids in med school. Oh My God! It's great." With this Saumya let out a small squeal.

"But..."

"Don't worry, okay? It will all be good. Take rest. At least you should know the importance of rest, right? So, have some, alright. Bye," Saumya said and disconnected the call.

She was so happy that her euphoria was inexplicably boundless. Slowly, sleep engulfed her as she lay on her bed.

Saumya woke up to the sound of her alarm. She couldn't help but remember the events of the last night.

He was not only handsome with a well-defined jawline but he was also mature. He was a witty man with great etiquettes. She really wanted to reproach herself for getting all fangirly but somehow a force was stopping her from doing so. Ever since Samar ... No don't remember that douche- she tried to make her heart understand. His memories were enough to trigger her fuming anger so she snapped out of her reminiscent mood.

"Wake up, Pia," Saumya shouted for the umpteenth time an hour later to wake Pia. Even though it was a Saturday, Pia had school because many of the classes had been cancelled for the preparation of the function.

"Princess, please let me sleep," Pia said, while tossing on the bed.

"See, you have had no classes since the last month. Now, you will have to study at least in school. The function got over yesterday and so should your fun mode. Now, turn on the study mode and get up," Saumya said with a tone of finality.

Finally Pia got up pouting.

"Princess, I have so much to tell you about our function," Pia said excitedly.

It was a custom for the sisters to share the events of their day with one another.

"Sure baby, but in the evening since only 45 minutes are left for your bus to arrive."

Contorting her face in a frown Pia spoke, "I am not a baby. I am a big girl, now. Ma'am also said so herself so stop calling me baby."

"Okay, I will not call you baby. I will call you Baby Bear," Saumya said, trying to hold her laughter and pushed Pia inside the bathroom.

After Pia boarded her school bus, Saumya drove to the hospital.

It was lunchtime and Saumya went to the cafeteria to have a cup of coffee. The din of humanity and the stinging smell of crowd and sweat filled the air as Saumya made her way towards their usual table. Even though most doctors preferred to eat in their cabin, she was the total opposite. Sitting here made her feel a sense of belonging to the larger world. Hardly had Saumya set her cup of coffee on the cafe table when Surbhi came with a beaming smile. It was evident that her talk with Akash had gone well.

"So, when are we going shopping for the baby?" Saumya asked.

"Tomorrow since it's Sunday."

"Sure."

"So how did that hot nerd who is the talk of the town land at your place?"

"What do you mean?"

"He is Dr. Akshit Aggarwal. The Akshit Aggarwal. The new Assistant Professor of Child Psychology who has written many books on the topic. The books are world renowned. Do you live in this world Saumya?"

"Of course not Surbhi. As regards your question, his family lived in the house next door. Twelve years ago they shifted to Mumbai. His mom loves me a lot and I have always been her child so yeah we have always been close. Yet, I have met Akshit after 24 years since he used to study in a boarding school."

Surbhi was grinning mischievously.

"Oh please don't mix your match maker instincts with your mood swings. I want a smoothe life not a frenzy," Saumya said with a weary countenance.

It wasn't the first time Surbhi was trying to find her a boyfriend. She was still not over the frenzy though the last guy she met on a "blind date" was a year ago.

"Let's go Surbhi. Lunch is over. Please stop devising plans or I will tell Akash that you are unwell."

That was enough to stop Surbhi since her husband was a very health conscious man. The last time she had a cold she wasn't allowed to go out for more than a week and she hated it. Still, she could never stop him since he cared a lot for her, doing every chore whenever she was sick.

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Akshit was lying on the sofa tired of being home all day. He would join the hospital from Monday. There was still a day and a half left before he could go to work. It was a sunny afternoon and the heat had made him turn on the air conditioner. His legs were sprawled across the centre table. It was good that his mom was resting in her room or he would surely be dead by now. After spending the entire morning drowned in his research work, he needed a break. With his hands tucked behind his head he couldn't help but remember Saumya.

She was a beauty with brain- too bad he had left that road ages ago. However she wasn't as happy as she seemed to be. Was something amiss or was she really not over the incident three years ago- he wondered.

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Saumya left the hospital in the evening. She was happy that she had been relieved earlier than usual so that she could spend time with Pia.

As she pulled the car in the driveway, she was shocked to see that the lights of her home were on. Pia was supposed to be in Savita Aunty's house, so why were the lights on? She cursed her fate since she had no weapon to defend herself against the presumed thief.

Getting out of the car, she reached forward to open the door. Surprisingly enough, the door was unlocked. She picked up the flower vase from the top of the table near the door to arm herself. With bated breath, she moved forward and was shocked by the sight in front of her.

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