Published on 8th July 2022.

__________________________

Timeline. October. Two years to their wedding.

♡ Nothin' to say

When everything gets in the way

Seems you cannot be replaced

And I'm the one who will stay, oh ♡

– S H R U T I –

Warmth.

I loved the warmth I had now.

Snuggling more into the warmth of person beside me, I took a deep sigh and held his arm which was around my naked waist. My shirt had ridden up last night because of his hand, and remained so till now, causing all of the cool air in room to hug me.

His uneven breath hit my neck and his hand crawled upwards beneath my shirt. I knew he was up. His right leg which was by the time over mine, drew back and I felt his front tightly pressed onto my bottom. He was hard.

I knew he loves morning sex –I love it too– but what I don't understand is how he gets charged so quickly. We had a couple of rounds a few hours ago and his stamina goes over my head.

Talking about last night, it was nothing unusual until the midnight. I remember I was too sleepy last night and the long schedule for next day compelled us to take the bed early. It wasn't until midnight when I heard Rishabh's voice near my ears as he stood beside me with a cake in his hands. It was the best cake ever, for he made it.

Our second anniversary's cake it was!

Celebrating birthdays and anniversaries at midnight was something I could never understand. But if he loved it, I did too.

I pounced upon him and kissed him to show how much I loved his surprise. Tears found their way through my eyes as I felt his love for me and the next thing I knew was us hitting our paradise.

As his hand fondled my left bosom, my mind drifted back to present. With his constant breath falling below my ear and his hips grinding with mine, I couldn't think straight.

"I love you so much..." His husky voice hit my ear as he pulled my butt in his direction to help his case. He could've pulled my panties down and had his way with me but he chose the other way. My husband is sometimes dimwit in such matters!

With my trousers up, and his too maybe, he grinded me as slowly as he could and paused when I rolled my ass around his hardness. His hand's hold on my hips loosened and crawled to my hand. He fondled the back of my hand while drawing patterns over it.

"You're up?"

"Hmm... Good morning." I mumbled while trying to open my eyes and adjust them to sunlight. I pressed my body on his, intending to leave no space between us.

Damn.

My man smells so great!

"Morning."

I held the hem of my pants and pulled them down along with my undies. My head leaned back to see him and my fingers grazed his face. "I love you." Everything was perfect about him. His eyes, his nose, his eyes, his cheeks, his jawline — everything was so perfect. The way he treats me is so perfect.

He smiled as his hands slowly travelled down my curves, fondling them until they reached my ass. His fingers escaped between my legs and stroked my weak spot. A moan escaped my mouth as he fingered my sex, making it wetter. With addition of two more long fingers of his inside me, I moaned loudly. He palmed my mouth tightly and his eyes grew wide.

"Everyone's home Shruti. Keep your voice low."

"Just fuck me already Rishu." He chuckled and cupped my face before pressing his lips on mine.

I never thought that I could be so outspoken with him.

Maybe, that's how it's supposed to be.

"Gladly... But try to keep your voice low. I don't want to receive everyone's wierd glances." I nodded and turned my back to him while he positioned himself on my tract. Ofcourse, I shout a lot when we make love. We sometimes received weird looks from his parents when we went out after our morning sessions.

He rubbed his erection all over my wetness, mixing our juices together. My insides twitched to engulf him fully when he slipped his hardened shaft inside my vagina. I loved the way it felt.

And then, the strangest thing happened.

A sensation to puke.

Pushing his tight hold away, I got up from the bed and rushed to bathroom with my hand covering my mouth. As the sink came in my faded view, my knees bent and shoulders hung down. The only thing I could feel was my body getting lighter.

"Shruti, you're fine?" Rishabh's voice hit my ears as I crawled down on the floor after washing my mouth. I moved my head slightly and leaned it against the wall.

It felt as if I was relieved from all the stress.

When something cold touched my lips, I opened my eyes and saw Rishabh holding a glass of water in front of me. He kneeled down beside me and made me drink it sip by sip.

I calmed and wrapped my arm around his neck as he picked me up to go back to room. "Did you eat something bad? But we had the same food yesterday. How could it happen?"

I wanted to laugh aloud after hearing his logic but didn't have much strength to do it.

As I felt the mattress touch my back, I held his hand firmly and asked him to sit beside me. I just needed him by my side, nothing else.

"I've told you so many times to take care of your health. My workouts are not gonna help you. You need to exercise to be healthy. I know how you are in such matters. I'm going to fix your diet and cut everything that's unhealthy-"

Sometimes I feel like he's not my husband but mother!

"You eat the same unhealthy food with me." I opened my eyes after it felt better and spoke. "You're going to stop eating them?"

"I will, if it concerns you."

"We'll see."

He seemed pissed off.

"We will... Do you remember how heavy you bled the last time you had your periods? And don't forget the cramps-"

"Sex helped." I said and he glared, "I mean, it reduces cramps." My hands crawled to my face to tuck the strands of flowing locks behind ear when I found that my hairs were already tied up in a pony. I woke up with my hairs open, probably Rishabh did it when I was busy vomiting.

"Shruti, you don't rely on it just because it helped you treat cramps. It's always the second choice. The first is staying healthy and modifying your diet. It would automatically cure all your issues."

Periods and sight of blood seemed so foreign to me now. It felt like I haven't seen them for weeks.

Wait!

When was the last time I had my periods?

I got up from the bed and kept my feet down on the floor. "Shruti, where are you going? You'll fall again. Wait." Rishabh tried to stop me as I rushed into the wardrobe to get what I wanted. I bent down and opened the cabinet which was in extreme south.

Seeing numerous pregnancy testing kits inside it, I sighed and picked up two of them. They were here from past one year and I had no nerve to use them after receiving all failures in past. I wanted to avoid the sadness, that's the reason I decided to keep them away and not to use them this entire year.

But I wanted to test it now.

It just felt right.

I closed the drawer and walked out. On the way my gaze met Rishabh's. "Shru-" He tried to stop me but my focus was not him now. "No..." I closed the door of bathroom on my way back and took a breath of sigh after leaning against the door. "Shruti, you're sure you want to use it?" I heard his voice from the other side and hummed.

He didn't want me to use the test and get sad later. I knew he cares for me, but my gut feeling didn't want to listen to him now.

I read the instructions written on pack carefully and used them precisely. Although I had used the kit multiple times in past and had much experience, I couldn't dare to follow it blindly. I wanted to have perfect results this time.

If it's negative, I'm fine with it.

I have no high hopes from the results.

I don't expect much.

My hands shook as I leaned my back against the slab and waited for results to come out. I didn't want an error to happen in results because of my movements, so I kept the stick on slab and closed my eyes.

"Shruti, is it done?"

"Two more minutes Rishu." My voice echoed in the bathroom. I opened my eyes when it felt like time was up and picked the stick in my hand. My eyes shut again as my heartbeat rose for the upcoming results. This was just... so difficult.

With heavy heart, I opened my right eye and gazed the small screen on pregnancy stick. As soon as the word 'pregnant' hit my eye, I looked at it closely and felt my eyes widening.

No..... way!

This wasn't real.

My legs felt weak. I palmed my mouth and kneeled down while gazing the result. This couldn't be true. If this was a dream I didn't want it to end. Never.

"Shruti..." I quickly stood up when I heard Rishabh's voice and walked out with the stick in my hand. All my previous tests ended in the bin and Rishabh never got to see them because there was nothing good to show. This was the first time I accompanied it out with me. As soon as my gaze met Rishabh's, my eyes watered. I couldn't control it, I wanted to but couldn't. "It's okay. Don't worry."

He opened his arms wide for me and I immediately ran into his embrace. "Rishu... I-"

"What was the need to run inside to take this test? There's no point in discussing it, you already ran it. But, please, don't stress over it. I can't see you like this. This won't affect you, promise me. You-"

I looked up into his eyes and smiled when I saw his lips moving in unnecessary blabbering. "I'm pregnant." He nodded and pecked my forehead before hugging me tightly, hiding me in his chest.

This man!

I leaned my head back again and cupped his face, "The result is positive. I think I'm pregnant." His face paused in the way it was as my voice struck his ears. When I felt no motion from him I frowned. He looked at me without any emotion, all rigid, no words came out of his mouth.

Was he not happy with the news?

"Rishabh..." I shook his arm and he blinked.

"Pardon?"

"I'm pregnant. I don't know if it's hundred percent right but the test is positive. Are-"

"You're what?"

"Rishu..." I wanted to cry so bad. Why was he doing that? I handed the stick to him and sat on the edge of bed with my head down. Wasn't the news good for him?

A loud scream reached my ears and made me look up in surprise. "You're pregnant. I'm gonna be a father. Damn!" A series of smile reached his face as he broke in a fit of giggles. "We're going to be parents." He nearly jumped over me and pecked my temple. I wrapped my arms around his neck before he could step away from me and clung onto him tightly while controlling my sob.

How could I even think bad about him?

"Hey, what's the matter with you? It's a good news. Why are you crying?" His fingers slipped into my locks and ruffled them as he spoke. I shook my head and hid my face in his neck. "Baby, are you ready for this?"

"Hmm, I am." I nuzzled my nose in his neck but jerked back when something poked my belly. Looking down, I saw his modesty being in vain. Why the hell was he roaming around without any clothes? "Rishu, your clothes!"

He followed my gaze and scratched his neck. "You are naked too." He gave me a sheepish smile and I narrowed my eyes. I was naked, but just from the downside. I only had a shirt on which belonged to him. I never got time to wear my pants in all this fiasco. But he could've wore his clothes, atleast boxers. "I can see you clearly through this shirt. It hides nothing much from my imagination."

"You're going to be a father. You need to stop roaming around naked."

"How do you think I got this child inside you? With clothes?" He chuckled and I hit his chest. A gasp escaped my mouth as he picked me up in his arms. My legs wrapped around his torso unconsciously while my arms settled around his chest and neck.

"Rishu, let's go to hospital and run a blood test. Home tests are not hundred percent effective." I didn't want to do the same mistake Aditi did. He nodded and pressed his nose onto mine.

"You know, this smell of yours drives me crazy. I want to take you right here. But, no, I won't." He mumbled against my lips while I sighed. It was all because of me. I left him hanging even before we could start anything, which caused his current painful condition. "You're not well. Rest tight. We have a busy day."

"But-"

"I'll take a cold shower."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah... Let's go and bath. It's almost seven." My eyes widened as I looked over his neck at wall clock to recheck time while he walked towards bathroom with me. Shit! We were on the way to get late.

✨

"Aww." A sigh of wonder left my mouth as Anika gave me a ten toothed smile. She just mumbled the word 'mami' and I could find no bound to my happiness. She was about to turn two in a month and was becoming cuter day by day.

I squated down to her level and pecked her cheeks. In turn, she leaned forward, held my face with her little hands and showered a kiss on my cheek. Catching her off guard, I picked her up and stood up with her. Her lips turned down and eyes were on the verge of watering.

She hated being picked up in arms!

She just learnt to walk properly and didn't need anyone's help.

Since then, the house has been a mess.

"Anika, laddu?" I quickly picked a laddu and showed it too her. I had no heart to see the little girl cry. Her eyes sparkled and she grinned before snatching the sweet from my hands. I jerked back a little when I felt something touching my feet. When my gaze went down I saw Rishabh kneeling down in front of me. "What are you doing Rishu?"

Anika too followed my gaze and mumbled incoherent words when she saw Rishabh. "Just helping you." I looked down towards his hands and saw him pulling the pleats of my saari down which had ridden up and had a crease.

"You didn't have to do this. I could've done it myself."

"Nothing much. Stop stressing." He forwarded his arms to Anika to pick her up but she turned her head around and hid it in my neck. I laughed at her denial for him and saw him narrowing his eyes. "There's nothing to laugh."

I'm Anika's favourite person here. Whenever she accompanies her parents here, I'm the first one she looks for. I mean ofcourse, I make sweet dishes for her. Her not going to Rishabh was bound to happen.

"Shruti, go to our room and get some rest."

"But guests-"

"I'm here. I'll handle them." This didn't seem right. Everyone was here to wish us for our anniversary. Me being absent from the sight wasn't right. "They've already met you once. You don't need to give them all your attention."

He was right in his own way. I mean, we had a long havan in the morning and then went straight for a blood test. Guests weren't letting us go as they wanted to spend time with us. We were the centre of attention today. It took us a lot of time and irrelevant reasons to get out.

We couldn't tell anyone about our visit to hospital and the reason. We didn't want to crush our parents' heart by giving them a hope that there's a good news. We wanted to be sure about it first.

There were only a few guests left and Rishabh could take care of them until they departed.

I nodded and walked upstairs to our room with Radhika's daughter dangling on my shoulders. I put her on the bed and after quickly changing into something comfortable, I sat beside her. The same little hands which were busy in eating laddu a few minutes ago were now crushing my pillow.

I couldn't see that happening to my pillow.

I need them clean all the time.

I let the pillow be with her as I couldn't clean them now. Anika wasn't as notorious as I had handled before. Adit was way more hard to take care of. His cries at midnight and the way he made mess of the house made me prone to such situations.

I was left alone to take care of Anika. Her parents had an appointment with doctor today. Radhika is four months into her pregnancy and has wierder cravings than the last time, when she was carrying Anika. Ma and papa were tired after the commotions of entire day and had to take rest. And, Rishi was bidding bye to guests.

By the time I waited for Rishabh, Anika fell in sleep while sucking her thumb. She was tired after running around through every corner of the house. With care, I pulled her little thumb out of her mouth and sighed in relief when she didn't wake up.

"You're still up?" I jerked up from sleep when I heard Rishabh's voice. I hummed and gazed his back as he walked into the wardrobe. My eyes shut on their own and opened when I felt his lips on my forehead as he settled beside me. "Feeling better?"

"Hmm..." I leaned back and hid my face in his chest. His arms readily wrapped around me and held me closely. "When will the reports come out?"

"In a day or two. Don't think about it much. It will be what it is."

"I know."

"I'm glad. You know, you looked hot in that saree. I wish we didn't have people at home today. I wish I could take that piece of cloth off you and ravish you all I want to." His warm breath hit my neck, causing all those tiny hair on my skin to rise.

My gaze went towards the clock and I sighed. Noon just ended and there was still a lot of time for Radhika and Ansh to be back.

"Rishi, stop it. Anika is right beside us."

"She's too young to understand what we're upto."

I wanted to cry.

We had a child just beside us who was enjoying her sleep. For God's sake, I didn't want to taint her innocent mind.

"Is this how you're gonna be dad in future?"

"I don't know about dad, but I can be your daddy. You would love it." I pulled myself out of his arms and turned around to look at him. I glared at him and he shrugged his shoulders in defence. "I'm not joking. You'll love it."

I wanted to push him back till the time we were not alone in our room. But my gut feeling said something else. His intimidating eyes drew me close to them and forced me to forget about everything else.

"Rishi, I-"

"You don't want to?"

"I'd love to, but not until she's here. What if she wakes up? I don't want to haunt her with such a memory." He smiled and pulled me closer. Before my mind could tell me to move away from him, he wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me on his lap.

"I love you." I smiled as he mumbled those words against my mouth, torturing me with those soft grazes of his lips. As his warm breath fell on my cheeks, my breath rose in anticipation. I leaned my head forward to mingle our breaths together and heard him giggle in joy. "I'll do all the work, don't worry."

We could continue it in the wardrobe or bathroom, right?

My frustration had grown to another level with what happened in the morning.

I shook my head and smiled when his hand slipped inside my shirt and caressed my bare back. His hands settled beneath my bottoms and picked me up firmly. My fingers roamed freely through his locks and encircled around his neck as his tongue teased the weak spot on my neck.

He stood up and started stepping away from the bed as if he knew what I was thinking of. I laughed when he steadied the pace towards wardrobe and his mouth covered mine in an instant. "She'll get up!" I nodded vigorously while controlling my voice. Before we could step inside the smaller room, we heard a shriek cry.

Great!