NOTE: Please don't skip the author's note in the end
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Aahir
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"I think we should propose this idea."
"Nathan, your idea is good but I believe it still needs to be improvised. How about you merge both of of the notions, the previous and the new one."
"I can try but I am not sure yet if it's feasible." Nathan was confused and I was in a hurry. I needed the meeting to finish in a flash as I had to head out. I had planned something for the day and I didn't want to waste any single moment.
"No issues. Besides, you have ample amount of time since the deadline has been extended." Right when I assumed I should leave, another staff member decided to make things taxing for me.
He brought up a topic about some other work as he said, "Mr.Arya, the product launch date meeting has...."
I had to horn in then.
"Guys, I will be leaving early today. Sorry." Turning to my assistant who was on my right I queried, "Lia, the appointments have been handled right?"
"Yes, Mr. Arya, rest assured."
"Thanks."
I had to revert to around ten emails before leaving so I commenced working on that. When I reached my cabin, In a hurry, I started typing. It was something Lia couldn't handle alone otherwise I would have involved her.
I kept checking time as being late that day wasn't even an option. I did not want to mess up.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and thought it would be either Reyansh or Arvik but when I heard the voice I couldn't stop myself from instantly looking at the source.
"You seem so disturbed. Is everything okay?" She seemed concerned for me.
"You startled me." I was in fright not because of her sudden arrival but because of her being out that day. She was supposed to be at home, getting decked up.
"I thought you would be happy seeing me." She wrapped her hands around my torso and kept her head on my chest. Reyansh was behind her. She came with him and when I eyed him he gestured to me that the surprise plan was still intact.
She still was heedless of my plan.
I almost got a heart attack presuming the skeleton was out of the closet.
"Of course, I am happy." I kissed her lips softly when she lovingly looked up at me. She was being so needy for the past few days, needy for my attention and love. In my opinion, it was because of work stress. She was back to being what she loved, being a journalist, and starting all over again was tedious. Though I was confident she would bounce back.
"Guys, seriously." Reyansh was annoyed, of course with us kissing in front of him but none of us mind.
"You should have closed your eyes." Reyansh rolled his eyes whilst Aditi was in fits of laughter after my remark.
Reyansh took a seat on the couch with his eyes closed but it immediately got opened when an enraged Arvik entered my cabin, mumbling, "What does she think of herself?"
He took three long strides, got hold of the glass of water kept on my table, and gulped it. Reyansh, Aditi, and I exchanged glances at each other, not getting what he was mumbling.
When he sat beside Reyansh, Aditi and I too went to give them company.
"Who?" I asked and in reply, we heard the obvious, "I am going insane."
"Calm down. Tell us what's wrong." Aditi was perturbed except for Reyansh and me. We got a chance to poke fun at him, finally.
"Someone is getting under Arvik's nerves it seems," Reyansh commented before he and I burst into laughter.
"Guys can we please not talk about her. Aahir, I am done with my part. You will have to recheck the venue pictures."
"Venue Pictures? What for?" Fortunately, I was already up for any such blunder that Arvik caused by bringing up the topic of venue.
"We have to attend a seminar, remember?" She nodded and fortunately she didn't pay heed.
"We are leaving." Reyansh and Arvik left to check things for one last time.
"Let's go, we have to be there on time." I got up but Aditi held my hand, pouted at me like a kid.
"No, stay here with me." I sighed and sat again. She snuggled to me and I grasped something weird about her behaviour.
"Is everything okay with you?" I stroked her hair lightly but all she did was hummed in response.
"Aditi, what's wrong?"
"I missed you a lot."
"We practically were together in the morning. You and I were apart only for three hours."
"Seemed like three days to me." I had become exceptionally concerned for her.
"Are you okay? Do you have a fever? You want to go see a doc?" I palmed her cheeks, inspected her temperature but she seemed fine, still, too lethargic.
"I am fine." She smiled so sweetly that my worries started to jump out of the window.
"I have a surprise planned for you. Still, you don't want us to leave?" She scrunched her nose like a baby. I never fancied kids but her acting like one had my whole heart.
"What's with you being so adorable today, huh?" I pulled her cheeks and her response coerced me to kiss her as she said, "I don't know. Maybe I want to be adored by my husband."
After a tender kiss, I finally got up and extended my hand for her to take, "Let's go. Come on, I will lift your mood. Trust me."
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Author
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Whilst Aahir was taking out his car from the parking lot, Aditi received a call from Dhriti.
"Hello, Ady. Did you check?" Instantly picking up the call the first thing Dhriti did was shoot a salient question for her friend.
"No, not yet." Aditi was sombre and jittery.
"You are being so unusual and not yourself. I am certain it's..." Interrupting her friend in her desolate tone Aditi said, "Stop there. Don't scare me."
"I thought you would be happy...."
"To be honest, I have no idea how I should feel. I feel like crying. I don't want to hurt Aahir. I love him so much." The fact she was hiding something from Aahir disturbed her and she commenced to sniff.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Ady, take a deep breath." Dhriti's all efforts were a waste.
"I can't."
Aahir ran to his wife when he found her crying. He instantly seized her phone and pulled her in his arms.
"Hello."
"Hello, Aahir." Aahir recognized Dhriti's voice.
"What happened? Why is she crying? Did you guys fight?"
"No, she would never cry because of that. She is just missing us. Please take care of her." Dhriti lied, not wanting to upset her already distressed best friend.
"Okay, I will. Don't worry. Need to head out home now, talk to you later. "
Aahir placed Aditi in the car but her cries hadn't subsided. It was unwonted of Aditi to behave that way. Aahir pulled her on his lap and stayed with her in complete quietude.
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Aahir
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It's only been three months since Aditi last saw her best friends. I would have focused on her state but to take out the truth from her I had to behave normally so I went on with the lie that I hadn't grasped she was hiding something.
I pacified her and took her to an ice cream store. Upon getting an ice cream she even forgot she was crying a while ago. Something was odd about her that I couldn't pinpoint.
When we reached home, I went to dress up while I asked Aditi to take a rest for a while. During her nap, I even packed our clothes since we were going out on a short vacation which she wasn't aware of.
"You aren't wearing this," I said about the dress she had taken out subsequent to getting up. For her, we were going to attend a seminar but it was all a lie.
"Why not?"
"Here is your dress for the night." I handed her over the one I bought for her.
"It's not like it's something special tonight."She mumbled, stroking the silky fabric of the cloth. I could tell she loved it without her confessing.
"That shouldn't stop you from stealing the thunder." She grinned at me and went to get ready.
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I was tying the knot of the tie when Aditi walked in and stood behind me. My eyes met hers first when I glanced at her reflection in the mirror kept in my front. When I scrutinized her appearance, I was awestruck. She looked exactly how I had thought.
She looked expeditiously gorgeous in the sea-green fish-cut dress. The dress was dazzling but not more than her smile. She appeared jubilant and walked to me, leaving me breathless.
For a split second, I did get the notion to cancel every plan and relish our time together, without any disturbance. She came to me and started to help with the knot.
She loved doing that for me. Moreover, it was me who loved that. I snaked my hands behind her waist and pulled her closer.
"Should we cancel our plan?" I queried admiring my beauty.
"Do I look that good?"
"Hmmm. More than that. You might be making things difficult for me tonight." I bit her earlobe, receiving a glare from her. I knew she would lose control but couldn't stop myself from doing that.
"You look handsome as if it's your event." She complimented me.
"Maybe we both would be in the spotlight." I kissed her nose.
"Everyone will get jealous." Her hands were entangled behind my neck.
"Do I look like I care?" and she shook her head.
"Come, let's go." Our stuff was already placed inside the trunk so there wasn't anything to worry about.
"Damien," I called when Aditi sat in the car.
"All done." He replied.
******
"What are we doing here?" Aditi eyed the huge rides. She was a fan of them. She loved being on top and I had to fulfill her wish. I had arranged a small fair only for us. It was too cliche, but I was doing something for the first time. I didn't know what else to do except for doing things she loved and being on such rides was one of them.
"You love these, don't you?"
Aditi appeared to be hesitant. She panicked all of a sudden. Her face started to turn pale as if she saw a ghost.
"What's wrong?"
"I need to use the restroom."
"Okay," I asked a female staff member to guide Aditi. Halfway on the way and she came back.
"I need my bag too."
"I took out her bag from the car and handed it to her." She was in a haste and I was oblivious to why her behaviour was eccentric. She came back after around five minutes. She was rubbing her hands as if was feeling cold. I held her hands which were indeed freezing.
"Aditi, tell me right away, what the hell are you hiding from me?" I couldn't take it anymore. It was fine until she wasn't distressed but something was eating her up, disturbing her peace. She looked over at the rides and then turned to me.
"I am sorry." Her eyes filled with tears and I couldn't get what she was even apologizing for.
"I am sorry for ruining things. I am sorry for failing to handle me. I am sorry for being so messed up. I am sorry for being vulnerable at the moment when all you need is my company. I am so sorry." I was numb to even say a word. She continued babbling that didn't make sense to me.
"But that's how I have become, Aahir. I have become scared. I am scared now. I have no idea how I am going to deal with this." she added further.
I cupped her cheeks and indignantly questioned, "What's bothering you? What's hurting you? Tell me."
"I am pregnant." It was my time to be frozen.
She took a deep breath before she said, "I checked it right now. I had a hunch but wasn't sure so I bought five kits. It all turned out to be positive."
That question wasn't supposed to come in the exam. How was I supposed to answer? I made a distance from Aditi. I had no idea what to say. My throat had gone dry whilst Aditi stared at me in disbelief. I was certain she would take it in the wrong way so I did what I felt was right to keep her mind away from any evil thoughts.
I held her hand, took her back into the car, and drove off. We hadn't said anything to each other. My heartbeats were frantic. I was freaking out. Aditi only peeked at me thrice but when no response was received from my side she started looking out, rubbing her hands.
I parked my car at the stranded side of the beach and asked her to get out. After we were out, I took her to the beach and still prolonged the duration of distance from her. I needed to breathe, to think.
I was behaving like a student who had the challenge to answer the question, the topic of which was never taught. I raked my hair and looked at Aditi whose eyes were only at the sea. I could see her getting enraged. My behaviour was irking her, that was for sure.
When I took a lot of time, more than what Aditi might have expected she sauntered towards me.
"I told you something. I told you that I am pregnant and that's how you behave." I had to calm her. Her fury wasn't going to solve anything. Instead, it was going to make things worse for both.
"Aahir, you need to...." I pressed my lips to hers to stop her. I pulled back in a few seconds but my hands were still on her cheeks. She confoundedly stared at me.
"I heard you for the first time. I am still processing the news." She didn't like my answer.
"How many months?" I conjoined our foreheads. Our eyes lost into each others'
"How would I know? I checked just now." It was probably weeks and not months. I didn't know the symptoms could be apparent that early.
"Are you happy?" I asked.
"I don't know. What about you?"
"I don't know." There we laughed. We had no idea why but we just did. It felt right. I was never quite cordial with kids, but I still laughed. I was too clueless and so was she.
"See over there." I pointed my finger in the extreme right direction. A hot air balloon was waiting for both of us.
"What if you couldn't get on the ride? This is safe." She was enthralled and the fact was I was too. But I had to be more cautious than I was before. The air balloon was the second last part of the plan before going to the resort I had booked. But that wasn't happening anymore.
Right after we got on the air balloon and it kicked off to be up in the air. I played music on my phone, the same we had danced on, at the masquerade.
We swooned to the tunes with her head on my chest. I was holding her firm and protectively.
"Remember the masquerade charity ball." I brought up the topic. When I had told her about it she couldn't believe behind the mask was me in front of whom she had prattled.
"Of Course. I didn't know the man I irritated with my nonsensical talks would fall for me." She raised her head and smiled sheepishly.
"I couldn't help but drown in those mesmerizing hazel eyes," I confessed.
"Thank You." She thanked me out of nowhere.
"For?"
"For being mine. For loving only me. For me being your first love and last too." She went silent and then her words went off base which was, "And I am sorry you were never my first."
"Doesn't matter. You are with me, bound till eternity, what else do I need?" I kissed her forehead before embracing her.
We were up in the air, right above the sea. Aditi was gazing out and I back hugged her. I kept my hands on her abdomen, felt weird when I realized someone was residing there, someone who would call her mom and me dad.
It made me somewhat skittish.
"I thought only two would be here, never imagined there would be three," I murmured. She pressed her back and held my hands.
"Now, that explains you criticizing my breakfast," I remembered how she was picky over breakfast in the morning. There was nothing wrong with it, but she was being extremely selective.
It might or not be the effects of pregnancy but I wanted to tease her.
"I am sorry." She kissed my left cheek and then nuzzled her nose on my chest.
"I wasn't even upset."
"I can't believe I will be a father." I was still not able to process it entirely. That was one hell of a truth that had a tremendous amount of weight tied to it.
"How do you think the boys would behave?" Aditi queried for my friends and Aarav.
"They will be scared shit, after all, they are going to be uncles now." We chuckled imagining their scared faces.
"And what about your friends?"
"They will go crazy." She replied grinning.
"I am happy, Aditi. I never confessed about being elated but I am now. I am extremely happy and I want us to be like this forever, happy and content." Those words just left my mouth automatically. I confessed right under the moon, her favourite thing to witness every night. It appeared we were closer to it and I felt it smiling at us from above.
Aditi turned in my hold, moonlight illuminated her face more.
"I am happy too."
That was the one purest confession I guess we have made that we were happy. Though we were in love and it didn't need to be said, but, we like others always fail to express our happiness but there we said it out loud with the moon and our child as a witness.
''We were extremely happy and knew we would always be, together forever.'
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A/N:
Hello, Lovelies,
I am really grateful if you stumbled upon this book by any means. I am really overwhelmed because you all were a part of Aditi and Aahir's journey. 🤗
I know there were certain mistakes in the book and not everything was up to the mark but this was my first try with something unconventional, something out of the box. 😁
Hope this book and my writing style didn't disappoint you all. And even if it did, please do share your thoughts and opinions so that I can get better. It would mean a lot. ☺️
This would be the only request I make to the readers of this book, to please leave a review. I will gladly take it a positive way. ❤️
Also, do let me know what kind of story you guys expect of Reyansh & Naisha and Arvik & Avya.
P.S -> Avya is a new character I haven't introduced yet.
Lots of love to you all. ❤️
Thanks,
Shrishtee