O Saathi Rey

Chapter 4

"Negative."

Raavi waved the pregnancy test in the air, as the three people surrounding her sighed. She didn't show it, but she was quite a bit disappointed when it came negative.

"Koi baat nahi. Aage dekh lenge kya karna hai" Dhara caressed Raavi's head, as Gaumbi offered her a soft smile, and left their room.

She stared at the door for a few seconds, before she heard his voice behind her. "Ab kaddu ki tarah muh mat fula."

Raavi turned around to glare at him, but ended up giving him a weird blank stare. But Shiva knew, her expressions were right there, plastered like a MISSING PERSON poster.

"Soch lenge kuch aur. Zyaada se zyaada kya hoga, tu mami ke kangan bech de. Mai churake aata hu, aur tu bech dena, theek hai?" Shiva tried to crack a joke.

And it worked. Raavi chuckled at his stupid joke and gave him a tapli as a return gift.

Speaking of mami, she remembered the first time Maasi got to know about the surrogacy plan. Precisely 24 hours after D-day.

"AYE RAAVI!" Prafulla came yelling into the Pandya house, frantically looking for her baccha.

Raavi had just stepped out of the washroom when she heard her maasi. "Kya hua, Maasi? Aise kyu cheekh rahe ho?"

"Tujhe laga tu mujhse ye baat chupayegi aur mujhe pata bhi nahi chalega? HAAN?!" Prafulla shrieked, which made Raavi cover her ears.

"Maasi, aap meri baat-"

"Nahi, mai kuch nahi sunungi, ghar chal. ABHI!" She held onto Raavi's wrist and proceeded to drag her out of the Pandya House, but stopped when she heard the infamous "AYE KAAGDI!"

Suman stared down at Prafulla, who did not back down under fear this time.

"Kaha leke jaa rahi hai usse? Raavi ko araam ki zaroorat hai, tu khamaka usse sh-tress mat de!"

"Aye suman ben, mai jaanti hu, meri bacchi ko behla fusla ke, emotional atyachar karke haa karwaya hai aap logo ne." Prafulla complained.

Raavi took advantage of her distraction and freed her hands from her clutches, and grabbed onto her Maasi's wrist instead.

"Aap chalo mere saath andar. Idhar koi behes mat karna."

Raavi sat down Prafulla in her bedroom, and explained everything in detail, answering every what, why and when.

"Humse maang leti paise. Ye karne ki kya zaroorat thi."

"Maasi, mausapa retire ho gaye hai. Unke savings se kitne saal ghar chalaaoge aap. Anita di ko kitna kaha maine ki woh koi job dhundh le, lekin sunti nahi hai mera. Aur aap, aapke ye kangan bechke kya hoga? Isse emergency jaise use kar lo ghar ke liye."

"Raavi par-"

"Aap meri tension mat lo. Ye bas ek choti si speed breaker hai. Picture ka climax toh aap bhi jaante ho, ek baar meri naukri lag jaaye toh aap logo ko tension lene ki zaroorat nahi hai."

Prafulla teared up at her words. When did Raavi grow up fast? She caressed her head, blessing her with every prayer she had always reserved for Raavi.

"Tu bas khush reh. Tu jo chahti hai, woh hi hoga. Bas. Lekin tera saath kaun dega, tere paas kaun rahega?" Prafulla frowned.

"Shiva." Raavi stated, as-a-matter-of-factly