Once Upon A Mr. Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 42 - part 2

The shrill ring of a phone call woke me up at 8 AM. Grumbling, I rubbed my eyes, feeling a dull headache form at the back of my head. I cursed the caller who had woken me up from the best slumber I had in weeks. I frowned, blindly reaching for my phone on the side table. 

"Hello?" I answered curtly, wincing at how horrible my voice sounded in the morning. Some were blessed with that hot, scorching deep voice when they woke up in the morning, and then there were people like me, who sounded hoarse and ugly. 

"Oh...really...yes, yes I'll be there," I sat up straighter in my bed with a jolt, my voice taking an excited tone. It was Nita's husband on the other end, informing me about the baby they had last night. The frown left my face, giving way to a wide smile. A baby girl! They had called me at 11 AM to meet the baby and Nita. I jumped out of the bed after cutting the call, my hands frantic as I made my bed. I was still high from the excitement of the decision I had made at night, but I decided to not pay any attention to it for a while. The start of the day had been fabulous. I hoped the rest of the day would go by just the same. 

I hadn't forgotten my decision of last night. And I planned to stick by it. And then there was the plan of proposing to Abeer. Now, in the clear daylight, the thought of a flash mob and proposal felt horribly cliche, and I visibly cringed as I thought of it. But then, Abeer liked cliche things. And this was about him. It was an apology of sorts from my side, and a promise of lifelong commitment to him. I shook my head, a silly smile on my face as I hurried to get ready. As I was about to leave the house, my mind went to the clothes and toys Abeer and I had shopped for the baby. I went back to get those precious little outfits and ran out of the door. Nita had been in a relationship with a German guy when she had gone to Germany for her masters, and had decided to marry him, much to the chagrin of her parents and relatives. 

They had not talked to her since. In a way, their friends were their family. 

I whistled as I got to the hospital, eager to see the new life. I had been wondering maniacally about her eye and hair color. Surely having a European father would have given her colorful eyes or hair, or perhaps both? After all, brown and black were ruthlessly common and boring for the Asians. The ping of the elevator brought me back to earth, and I dashed forward, my eyes glowing with happiness. 

When I got to Nita's room, the sight I saw through glass door before me halted me in my tracks, my eyes fixated on the brown, curly head I had missed so much. But it wasn't him per say that had me rooted to the ground, it was the bundle of joy he was cuddling in his arms that had me arrested. 

A beautiful, cherubic little girl, wrapped in a purple blanket was staring up at Abeer with wonder and glee, chortling as he tickled her chin and smiled that melting smile of his. And then he flicked her cute little nose with his nose. An unimaginable emotion gripped my heart as I stared at them, the picture wholesome in every sense of the word. I had seen the Taj Mahal, I had seen the snowy Himalayas in the middle of winter, I had seen nature at its best, but nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the moment playing before me - pure, pristine, exquisite. And the only moment rivaling this would be him holding our baby in his arms. Mine and his. Now, more than ever, I could do anything to make that happen, I won't ever be content with anything less or anything else.

I blinked back the tears that had pooled in my eyes as my legs sprung to action. The flash mob could wait. The platinum ring I had planned to buy for Abeer could wait. What couldn't wait was the proposal. An unknown urgency gripped my heart as I frantically looked everywhere, trying to find something... anything. My eyes widened with a idea as I saw a nurse take a plate full of bandages into a room. I hunted for the spare band-aid I kept in my purse (Indian moms always keep you prepared), tore the cover haphazardly and was trying to get it into a circle when I heard him walk towards me, calling my name.