Infinite

Chapter 4

Warning: Reader discretion advised. I have also changed the rating for the story.

Khushi lay curled up on the recliner in their bedroom, watching the play of receding sunlight on the poolside water. Some things never change, she thought wryly. This man especially, the man every woman wanted but only she claimed rights to, who was so important to her survival, that her entire world revolved around him. That one minor spat with him could make her feel as if everything was crashing down to nothingness. No, she couldn't blame it on her hormones. She had been like this all along.

Her mind replayed the conversation they had in the car after her mother had disconnected.

"What was that?" He asked all calmness as if there was no underlying storm.

"What?"

"Don't play innocent, Khushi. I saw what you did there disconnecting the call in a hurry. What was your mother talking about?"

"Voh, Amma wanted me to talk to our doctor about—

"I heard that part," he gritted. "Tell me the part I apparently don't know."

"Oh that. Arnavji, you know it is tradition for women to go to their mayka for childbirth—

"Khushi, you know what I feel about this tradition nonsense, right?"

Khushi looked taken aback. It had been a long time since he said things like that. He always, always indulged every little tradition that she liked to follow. He hadn't been like this in years.

"Arnavji, you cannot blame her for thinking so. It has been years since I even spent a week with them. But this... They're my parents after all and Amma and Babuji seem to be really excited that I'll be coming home in a few days and that too for months at long. But I have decided—

"It's not your decision to make. Tum kahin nahi jaogi."

Khushi had stopped talking after that. There was no point trying when he was being irrational and overbearing.

He had been frowning ever since. The only time he had so much as smiled after that was when they heard their baby's heartbeat during her checkup but never at her. He had briefly come home to change and hadn't even had lunch before leaving with a clipped, "I may need to drive down to Noida for a meeting. I don't know when I'll be back," to no one in particular.

She had been sitting with the family then who had wanted to know every single word the doctor said and no doubt found it odd that her Arnavji was suddenly being ASR. She had told them that it was nothing but they knew him too much to believe her. They had still tried not to pry. And then her mom had called Nani to talk about her godh bharai and stuff and Khushi had had to tell them.

That was 8 hours ago and since then there wasn't so much as a message from him, which was new because he was always in touch even when he was busy.

When the door to their room opened again, she had the urge to quickly hide. She didn't want to talk to anyone and hear them sympathize with her and comment about how she was right and Arnav was not.

"Chote aise kyun hai?" Nani said.

"He is never going to agree." Mami sighed sadly.

When she got home from office and heard of it, Payal quirked her brows and said, "of course, he's going to agree. Khushi he will agree when he knows you're hurt. We all know how it goes. And again, they're your parents. And trust me, this time you'll spend with them will never come back so don't think too much. Don't let him have his way."