They say when you really desire something from your heart and soul, all the universe conspires you to achieve it.
And maybe....just maybe....The universe did conspire to Reyansh's yearning when he saw his tiny wish sleeping beside her mother, wrapped up in a silk violet blanket.
He caressed her soft pink cheeks. Gazing at the little creation, his heart felt elated.
Becoming a father......it was a strange feeling, yet so pleasant.
He was feeling so mushy and warm and his insides were creating a havoc to just hide his daughter and protect her from all unpleasant things of the world.
He gently picked herr up, rocking side by side lest he disturbs her sleep.
She felt like feather.
So delicate and so gentle.
Reyansh glanced back at his sleeping wife, who looked so worn out due to the labor hours.
A small cooing sound brought his attention back to their daughter.
Reyansh looked at her carefully.
Her small cheeks, arms and legs were slightly wrinkled and she had little to no neck.
But she was cute.
Right? Right.
She looked cute.
"My little baby. Dadda is so happy to have you. "
He pecked her small cheeks.
"Reyansh?!? "
Arya's hoarse voice called out.
"Hey hey, no need to get up yourself. "
He carefully kept the baby in the crib and attended his wife, helping her to sit.
"Are you feeling fine? Do you need any painkillers? Should I call you a doctor? Of course I should. You must be in pain. Wait here. "
Arya grabbed his hand before he could run off calling a doc.
"Where is she? "
Reyansh once again gently picked her up again stooped down, handling him to Arya.
"She's so pink! "
Arya murmured, tracing her tiny hands.
"And so tiny. "
He added.
Arya was in a trance. She couldn't stop looking at her.
The pain of all previous hours vanished in thin air for all could she care about was her.
"Thank you so much. "
Reyansh leaned down and placed a soft kiss.
However this quiet moment was broken when a loud cry reverberated inside the room.
"You are on night duties. "
"Of course M'lady. "
A ten months Reva/Reya old was creating a ruckus for her father.
Crawling everywhere around the house rather than having her food seemed more entertaining for the little baby.
A tired Reyansh walked after her with a bowl of cerelac and a drool towel carelessly hanging on his shoulder.
Arya had an important presentation today and Reyansh happily took his father duties.
How hard will it be to handle a 10 month old baby, right?
He did it every time all day with Arya.
But this time he was going to do it all alone.
He shouldn't have underestimated his daughter.
Right now, she was giving him a hard time.
Even though Arya prepared everything for his ease, nothing was happening accordingly.
The food she was supposed to eat two hours earlier was now being fed to her, courtesy of Reyansh who fell asleep midway listening to a lullaby for the baby.
"Eat it Reya."
However little Reya pushed the spoon away.
"Ma....mummaa. "
"Yes yes she'll be home soon. I want mumma too. "
"Mummaaaaa...."
She wailed loudly.
Shaking her little table and chair.
"Hush hush. Don't cry Reya. Look I'm calling mumma. "
He wiped the tears and grabbed his phone which ultimately was taken away by her.
The device looked huge in her small hands.
"You want to talk to her? Here let me call her. "
Just as he was about to press dial, the phone rang and Arya's name popped up.
She was video calling them.
"Hey! We were just about to call you. "
Reyansh picked her up so that they both could be in the frame.
"Good thing I called then. What are you both upto? "
"We were just having food. "
He showed her a bowl filled with baby food.
"Now? It's two hours past her eating time. "
She glanced at the clock.
"Yeah! We slept off. "
Reyansh lied smoothly, partially blaming his daughter who was quietly listening to and seeing her mother.
"It's okay. I'll be home in another hour or so. Take care of him and yourself too okay. Mumma will be back soon Vivi. "
The little baby let out a small laugh seeing her mother calling her name.
Soon after the call was cut, Reya happily ate her food after making her father miserable for another half an hour.
It took more than an hour for Arya to come home.
The meeting went longer since they had so many things to discuss which couldn't happen when she worked from home.
Arya was exhausted now.
Ringing the bell, she waited for Reyansh to open the door.
However, after a few minutes, when it didn't open, she unlocked it through the key.
'Maybe they are in the bath.'
When she switched on the light, she was met the cutest sight of Reva sleeping on her father, drooling all over his t-shirt and the messiest room.
Reva's tiny little fist clutching on his shirt and Reyansh lightly patting her back even in his sleep.
The moment seemed too adorable to be disturbed.
She silently snapped a few photos and went inside to get a blanket for them.
After covering them and getting fresh and changed she went and sat beside them, gazing them with a smile on her face.
Reva looked too cute in her bear onesie that Reyansh bought.
Looking at them, she remembered the incident when they were supposed to name their daughter.
Reyansh was stuck with Reya while Arya liked Reva more.
Reya was half of Reyansh and there was no signs of her name.
Even when he pestered Arya that Reya did have both of their names, Arya stubbornly remained with Reva.
They finally came to an agreement that whichever name their daughter liked will become her official name and the other one..... Err her nickname.
(Which name do you like?)
(FYI, Reva is actually a Gujarati name 😯)
"Ma...maaa. "
Arya's attention got back to Reva as she made grabby hands to finally get to her mother.
"My cutest Vivi. What did you do today? Did you have fun with your papa?"
And in response, she waved her hands and babbled something followed by a gurgling sound.
She then tried to sit up on her father, tapping his face to wake him up.
Reyansh woke up when he felt something light constantly hitting his nose.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Reya sitting upclose to his face and Arya watching her.
"You're back!"
He exclaimed in a raspy voice.
"Yes. "
Arya softly pecked him.
"You hungry? I made some rice. Take her. I'll get them for you. "
Gently giving Reya to her, he made his way to the kitchen, warming up the food and came back to the living room.
"She didn't trouble you that much, did she?"
"Oh you have no idea. She never showed this much resistance while having her food. And let's not talk about the diapers I had to change today. I'm still traumatized with the smell. "
Reyansh made a disgusted expression.
"You should get used to it by now. You've been inhaling it for the past months. "
Arya laughed.
"Oh I'll never get used to such things. And don't talk about it while you're eating. "
"Okay okay. "
She raised her spoon as a sign of withdrawal.
"But it was fun. The only thing missing was you. "
"Ah! That was so smooth. What should I do with you? "
She chuckled at his flirting.
"Stay with us forever. "
He kept Reya on his lap who was so focused on the food Arya was eating.
"Oh god! That was so- "
Before she could complete, the rest of the words were dissolved into a sweet kiss.
Meanwhile Reya finally grabbed some food she had been eyeing since forever.
That's it folks.
In A Heartbeat (Main story + Snippets) is officially finished.
It has been a long journey and my heartfelt thanks to all of you who were there.
The support and love you've shown to IAH (No matter how cringey the story was.)is so much appreciated and valued
🥺🥺♥️♥️
However I may drop some chapters here in future.
Requests are welcome too.
Coming back to the story there were several things that I changed several times.
For instance, they were supposed to have a boy, the name conflict and much more which honestly I don't remember right now.
Anyways , I hope you liked the chapter.
Press the star icon and comment down your thoughts.
Stay safe people.
See you soon