Surprise ! I found time today to finish the 8th part of my story. So I thought that I post it today so that my readers do not have to wait until the weekend.
Raman quickly scanned over the picture again and then it hit him. He was looking at a sonogram picture. Ishita ? Pregnant? No! Impossible! His heart started
racing. He looked down at the picture again, taking in the image before him. Everything was spinning. When he lifted his head he saw Ishita standing on the
stairs. "Ishita ." he said softly as his eyes traveled over her. "You're pregnant."
Ishita descended down the stairs slowly and walked over to where Raman was standing. He never took his eyes off of her the entire time she was walking toward him. A lingering silence filled the room. He watched as she stopped a few feet in front of him. Ishita was glowing, she was positively radiant and he was certain she had never seen look more beautiful. "Hello Raman ." she said softly.
"Ishita " he managed to breath. "You're....Mine...From the night in..." Raman could barely form a thought much less a sentence.
"Yes." she answered.
"Yes." he repeated.
"Yes to all of it." she told him.
"How did this happen "?
"Raman, do I really have to explain that to you "?
"Yes, i mean No... I mean How is this possible ? ... I mean yours, yours ..."
"Miscarriage" she said softly
"Yes, I mean..."
"It is a miracle Raman, a gift from God."
"Wow." he replied, still in shock. "This is certainly the best welcome home gift I've ever received."
Ishita smiled. "Well, I'm glad you like it."
Raman hesitantly reached out to touch her stomach. "May I?" he asked.
She took his hand in hers and guided it to her rounded stomach. "He's gotten really active over the past few weeks." she told him, holding her hand over his. "He was kicking like crazy earlier."
"He?" Raman asked. "You know It's a boy?"
"Well, we don't know.. I think it's a girl,But Ruhi thinks it's a boy."
"You should be sitting." Raman told her. "Come on, sit."
Ishita sat down on the sofa and Raman took a seat beside her. "I'm so glad you're back." she confessed. "I was afraid that you were going to miss everything."
I'm here now." he replied.
"Good." she said softly
Raman looked at her and could not believe it. She was pregnant, he would become a father again.The thoughts raced through his head. He did not know where to start. He had not expected that, but he was looking forward to the baby.
But how should he explain that, to Pihu?
Raman was fascinated by the
life inside. A life that they had created. "So we're what? Six months?"
Ishita inward let in the breath she said been holding. Raman was beyond excited with the news of their baby. She had been hoping for this moment for months.
"Yes." she answered. "25 weeks."
"So when did you find out?" he asked
That was the question that she had been fearing that he'd ask. "Find out what?" she asked.
"When did you find out that you were pregnant?" he clarified. "In July? After I left?"
Ishita 's heart began to race. She had a feeling that what was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty. "No." she answered.
"No?" he asked. "Then when did you find out?"
"June." she answered softly lowering her head.
"When?"
"Early June." she repeated just as softly.
Raman tilted her chin up with his hand. "Ishita , look at me." he demanded. "When did you find out?"
She turned her glance toward him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "June the 1st."
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he absorbed the information.
"So you knew that day at the hall" he stated rather than questioned. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, raising his voice.
Ishita was silent.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he yelled. "I deserved to know."
She jerked out of his grasp and got up from the sofa. "I know you did." she told him. "I should have told you right away." she said as tears began to fall down her face. "I wanted to."
"You wanted to?!"
"Yes!" she yelled. "But I couldn't."
"You couldn't?!" he asked as he got up and walked toward her.
"No!" Ishita answered. "You were leaving again ."
"I would have stayed!" Raman told her. "If you would have told me I would have been here with you the entire time. You know that, Ishita . Please, tell me you know that."
"I do." she cried. "It's just that..."
"What?" he asked. "Please tell me what else."
"You said it was a drunken mistake." she said as she continued to sob. "You said it shouldn't have happened. What was I suppose to say after that Raman ?" she asked. "Something like: You know that night you regret, the night that you wish would have never happened, well I know this is inconvenient for you, but we made a baby." she yelled. "Would that have made you happy Raman ?"
"I never said I regretted it!" he told her. "I said it shouldn't have happened like that, with both of us drunk."
Tears streamed down Ishita 's face. "You said it was a drunken mistake. You said that you want to arrange your life. Because Pihu also deserves to be happy." she cried.
"Ishita ." Raman said softly as he approached her. "You need to calm down. Come on and sit down." he said as he took her hand.
She flinched away from his touch as though she had been burned. "Don't touch me!"
"Ishita " he said again. "Please sit down."
"Don't tell me what to do!" she screamed. "I've been doing..." she trailed off. A look of anguish spread across her face and she immediately clutched her stomach. "Raman , something's wrong."
tbc...
