two stories of marriage

epilogue

A few months later...

It was 2 am and from afar it seemed that just like everyone in the house, ishyant were sleeping peacefully. But ishita's rising discomfort was making it harder for her to just ignore it. dushyant, being someone who couldn't be awaken from his sleep even if his house was on fire, was blissfully unaware. It was only after a matter of few seconds though, that ishita would realise why her discomfort wasn't going away.

'Dushyant! Dushyant!' screamed ishita as she shook her husband to wake him up.

'arre ghode kya, tabela hi bechkar so gaye ho kya, utho! Dushyant!' yelled ishita loudly, as she tried to control her pain.

'chilla kyun rahi ho...' remarked a sleepy dushyant, as he turned to her, gaining slight consciousness.

'my water just broke..' replied ishita.

'oh, ok...' he said, still half asleep, as ishita just rolled her eyes.

'wait, what!' exclaimed dushyant, who was now, fully, awake.

'hospital jana hoga humein!' yelled ishita, as the pain got harder.

'oh god..uhmm...' fumbled dushyant, trying to stay calm, this was it.

'bhagwan ke liye, chaloge ya nahi!' scolded ishita in annoyance, as dushyant got up to take her, only for kavi to come, who were anyways awake because of their daughter.

'kya hua?' asked kavin as they entered.

'sab thik hai?' asked purvi right after that.

'my water broke...' informed ishita, in a relatively calmer tone.

As now kavi just stood there in shock.

'arre, shakal kya dekh raha hai, gaadi nikal!' yelled dushyant, who was now starting to get tensed.

'oh, yeah, of course..' said kavin, as he hit his forehead, cursing himself for standing like a statue and now quickly taking action.

Ishita was being escorted by purvi as dushyant now went after kavin.

                                                         ***

'woh so gayi na?' asked purvi to the mrs khanna at home on the other end of the call.

'haan beta, woh bilkul thik hai, tum chinta mat karo. Wahan kya chal raha hai?' asked mrs khanna, as kavin offered purvi some coffee and seated himself next to her.

'pata nahi mummy ji, itna time lag raha hai di ko, i hope sab thik hoon.' Informed purvi, as kavin just gave her an assuring gaze as if saying everything will be alright.

'dushyant zyada pareshaan toh nahi hai na?' asked mrs khanna, as purvi looked up to dushyant pacing back and forth.

'bhai ka toh itni der se parikrama chalo hai, rukne ka naam le hi nahi raha hai..' replied purvi, as she averted her gaze at kavin, signalling him to do something, as he just raised a hand in question while sipping his coffee. But purvi's stern gaze was enough to make him get up and do what she said, or signalled in this case.

Kavin came in front of dushyant's way, as he just gave him a puzzled look.

'aap chahte ho aapko chakkar aa jaye?' asked kavin, as dushyant just got more puzzled.

'yeh kya bakwaas kar raha hai!' exclaimed dushyant in annoyance.

'arre pendulum ki tarah aise ghoom to rahoge na right to left, left to right, toh chakkar hi aayenge.' Replied kavin.

'bhai, ab baith jaiye na thodi der...' suggested purvi.

'arre nahi baitha jaa raha yaar, main...'

'pareshan ho? Phat rahi hai?' interrupted kavin, as dushyant just sighed helpless, knowing his brother was right.

'meri bhi exactly yahi halat thi, but trust me, yeh sab bhool jaoge aap, because any moment from now, aap apne bache ko pehli baar dekhoge aur woh aisi khushi hogi na, joh aap kabhi imagine bhi nahi kar sakte the...' explained kavin, as dushyant somehow felt a little better than he did before. The magic in the words or the thought of the moment, made him wonder of the magic of actually living it.

'doctor, sab thik hai na?' said purvi as she jumped up from her seat and dushyant and kavin followed her.

'Congratulations, it's a girl!' informed the doctor before she exited, as dushyant, overwhelmed by his emotions, just seated himself, as he tried to keep all of them in.

It really was a magical feeling...

                                                                   ***

'arre, kar kya rahe ho aap! You are impossible!' remarked a frustrated kavin at dushyant, who was unable to change the diaper properly.

'yaar, mujhse nahi ho raha hai, main...main na bahaut bura baap hoon! Mujhe pata tha, mujhse nahi hoga!' replied dushyant.

'bhai, aisa mat kaho...' consoled kavin, understanding where his brother was coming from.

'mujhse ek diaper toh change hota nahi, aur ishita, woh toh aisa lagta hai, bacha hi chahiye tha, maa toh pehle se hi thi...' said dushyant, as he sighed in disappointment.

'arre, toh, sabse thodi hota hai yeh sab naturally, pata hai purvi ko kitna time laga tha diaper dhang se lagana?' explained kavin.

'haan, par tujhse toh lagana...' said dushyant, vulnerable with raw insecurity.

'aur aapse bhi lagega. Come on, let's try again!' said kavin as he pulled an unenthusiastic dushyant up.

'arre, last time, ab lageya toh lageya, warna na hi sahi, par ek aakhri baar try karlo?' said kavin, as for a moment dushyant just glanced at him, before getting up for his final shot.

'ho gaya!' exclaimed dushyant in victory as he picked his daughter up.

'see, i knew you could do it!' said kavin as they both shared a high five.

'of course, no problem, mil jaayega aapko kal tak, ji..' said ishita on the phone as she entered the room and hung up.

'ishita, i did it!' proclaimed dushyant excitedly, as she looked at her daughter, diapered properly.

'yeh aapne kiya?' confirmed ishita, as dushyant nodded in agreement, only for her to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Kavin, trying his best to hide his laughter, looking at dushyant's face.

'acha joke tha, but seriously, kisne kiya yeh?' asked ishita as she looked up at dushyant and realised, he was telling the truth.

'oh my god, you are not lying! Seriously!' said ishita as she walked up to him.

'inhone neha ka diaper change kiya and it actually stays on?' asked ishita to kavin for confirmation, who nodded while still giggling, and received dushyant's glare for it.

Ishita just shook her head in disbelief, only for kavin to feel like there was something on his leg, almost just below his knee, he looked down to find ridhima, who had taken her first steps towards him.

He couldn't believe his eyes as he bent down, only for the little girl's tiny hand to wrap around his finger.

While purvi, who had been following her, just stood there, completely wonderstruck.

Kavin looked up to her, as their eyes filled with joy and shock and excitement, met each other's sight.

Purvi too joined as she bent down and sat on her knee, grabbing her little bundle of joy's hand, only for her to utter a word to send their happiness to the moon,

'papa!'

Kavin looked at purvi as she looked at him, as if saying did she just say that.

'beta, kya bola aapne?' asked purvi.

'papa!' replied the smart little girl, making her parents teary eyed, as ishyant watched this, dushyant looked up to his wife with their daughter in her arms, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

It was a truly happy family indeed.

THE END!