Q/N - "we all come from mommy's tummy silly, no angel leaves us at mamma-papa's doorsteps." my 6 year old niece was 'teaching' her friend and gave me an idea of this chapter. Hope you'll like it:)
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Payal was about 7 months pregnant and everyone was taking utmost care of her. Thankfully her pregnancy was a healthy one and she didn't face much trouble beyond those initial months of morning sickness. The kids of the house were specially instructed to not play around their maa/Payal maasi and especially not have their throw-ball matches in the house.
It was one such a morning when Khushi admonished Kavish who was playing with his favorite tennis ball, although Payal was not nearby.
"Chiku, aap ko kaha tha na, no playing with this ball in the house. Payal maasi aur unke baby ko galti se lag jayegi, baby (you might hurt payal aunt and her baby by mistake)." Khushi said taking the ball out of his hands, although she had felt bad for doing this to him. But they had to be careful too.
Kavish made a sad face. Ever since his payal maasi was going to bring a new baby, his playtime and playing locations were restricted. He was not used to this. Why couldn't Payal maasi just get the baby quickly?
And then a thought came to his mind and he immediately asked khushi, "mamma, Payal maasi has a baby in her tummy right? Do all babies have to come from there?" kavish's innocent question made khushi smile. Although it was not the first time he had asked a question on this line. When Khushi was pregnant with the twins, Arnav and she had done a good job preparing Kavish for his upcoming siblings. As he was barely 3-year-old at that time, he didn't have many questions. He just knew that his baby-sisters or brothers were in his mamma's tummy, and he has to kiss them good night by kissing her tummy, like his papa did. And his nani used to make him and his Piya didi pray for his mamma and siblings.
"Haan beta, all babies come to this world from their mamma's tummy. Aap bhi." Khushi answered ruffling his hair. Arnav who was sitting nearby on the bed also had a light smile playing on his lips at his son's curiosity.
But looked like Kavish was anything but done "But mamma, how did I get in there?" he threw the next question and Khushi fumbled with words. How do you answer your 5-year-old child how he 'got in there'? They were already done with 'babies are left at mamma-papa's house by Devi maiyya explanation. Maybe they could have 'the birds and bees' talk? It was the first time she thought to answer her baby a satisfying one for his age but she needed to talk to Arnav first and prepare for it.
"Good question beta, how about a bed time story about this tonight?" Khushi asked and chiku nodded, already excited for his bedtime story tonight.
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"So we are going to do this ha?" Arnav asked as soon as Kavish was not nearby. He was any-day in favor of educating his kids appropriate to their ages but this time he too felt clueless.
"Yeah I think so" Khushi had turned thoughtful already, "but we can still be careful with the words right?"
and chiku's mamma-papa started brainstorming on how to tell their child, how he was made!
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Later that night,
Arnav pulled Kavish in a bear hug as he settled on his bed, while Pari and Aru lied in Khushi's lap on their princess bed. Khushi was lightly patting their baby-heads as well as running her fingers through their soft hair, and both the sisters were slowly drifting to sleep under their mother's loving touch.
"beta aap ne aaj ek question pucha tha na aapki mamma se, ki aap mamma ki tummy mein kaise aye(you had a question to your mamma today about how you came in your mamma's tummy right)?" Arnav asked kavish, getting his attention.
Kavish looked curious and happy at the same time, as his papa remembered his question and was willing to provide an answer,
"Yes papa, mamma told devi maiyya put me in her tummy. But where did devi maiyya get me from?" oh boy, Kavish's questions sure didn't come easy, thanks to his dad's smart-ass genes!
"We are coming to that Chiku, but for that you will have to listen to a story." Khushi began, as she too came to sit beside him, now that twins were finally asleep.
"Which story?"
"A story about how you, Aru and Pari came to be in mamma's tummy. So do you want to listen?" Arnav adjusted him between himself and Khushi and pulled a comforter on his tiny form.
"yes papa, I want to hear that story. And then I will tell Rucha that I know where I came from. She says Nisha aunty got her from fairyland. I dont believe her." Kavish made a face but his excitement was already evident. And every new thing he learnt he wanted to share with his friends.
Arnav and Khushi both chuckled at their son's excitement. He was such a cute and innocent bundle of joy. Too bad they didn't get as much time to adore him now, since his baby sisters took a lot of their time.
"Ok beta. So, listen, a long time ago, I met your mamma and we realized we love each other." Arnav started with giving a loving glance at Khushi, remembering that golden phase of his life when he realized his love for her.
"but you used to get angry at mamma all the time and mamma used to trouble you so much. I know. Bua nani told me." chiku said, adding his knowledge about his mamma-papa's love story that he had heard from almost all elders of his family.
"chiku aap na bohot badmash ho gaye ho. Do you want to listen to the story or not?" khushi asked with mock anger. Hearing her son recount the times of her and arnav's love story, especially their fights, was a bit embarrassing.
"sorry mamma, batayiye na pls. fir kya hua (what happened then)?" he asked Khushi but Arnav continued from where he had left off.
"Fir, mamma and papa had their beautiful world full of happiness and a lot of love for each other. Their choti si duniya had everyone, nani, mama-mami, akash chachu, payal maasi, aapke lucknow wale nana-nani and bua nani. But someone was missing. They wanted to share their love with some cute, sweet little person." Arnav said remembering the time of their first unplanned pregnancy, subsequent loss and then how they had prayed and planned for Kavish.
"And so, they prayed to devi maiyya to grant them one such a cutie. You know who that cutie is?" Khushi added this time, her mind only remembering the day when she first got a confirmation of her pregnancy during Chiku's time.
"MEEE!" he said grinning proudly.
"Yes, little man, it's you." Arnav said pinching kavish's nose and continued the most technical part they had decided to divulge, "so, the way you came to be was, mamma and papa had to give a special hug to each other and then a little bit of mamma and a little bit of papa made a small baby in mamma's stomach." they had decided to cut the bees-and-flowers theory and tell him as carefully yet as truthfully as they could.
"haww" Kavish said with his mouth forming an 'O' as the story was too amusing to him.
"hehe, yes, exactly. And then that small baby stayed in my tummy until it was ready to come out in the world and meet us. And that, my Chiku, is how you came to be." Phew, there, Arnav and Khushi answered their son's questions as directly and as rightly as they could.
"are all babies made the same way? how do I know when I want a baby?" uh-oh he's not done yet.
"chiku, yes all babies are made the same way. But beta, every mummy-papa have to grow up at a certain age to be ready to be parents. They have to complete their education, become a good person, get a job and then they can be parents. aap abhi bohot chote ho." Khushi rushed to put a full stop at chiku's ideas of becoming a 'papa' :P
"ok mamma. But can we please ask payal maasi to have a baby boy this time? I have 3 sisters, i want a brother now" kavish's cute demand made arnav khushi chuckle.
"It's not in a mamma's hands baby, but you can pray ok? aap so jao abhi." khushi said kissing him on his forehead and he happily drifted off to sleep.
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Khushi and Arnav returned to their bedroom, which was adjoining to the kids bedroom.
"Wow. so that went well ha?" arnav asked her, looking for some praises on his story-telling skill.
"I think so. Good job Mr. Raizada" Khushi said, patting his cheek lightly.
"You mean the job of telling a story to our son or the job of making him?" Arnav was quick to hold her by her waist when she came that closer, making her giggle.
Khushi wrapped her arms around his neck, pecked his lips, and gave an honest answer, "both".
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A/N - this was a tough one to write than I thought. 'The Birds and the bees' talks are no easy lol. Lemme know what you thought of it or if you had a different version :P