𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲

𝗌𝗂𝗑𝗍𝗒-𝗌𝗂𝗑

A frustrated Nandini climbed down the stairs, a hand resting on her bump. Nandini moved forward, mindlessly without looking up, only to bump into a tall figure.

Looking up, Nandini met with Rishab's goofy smile. "Careful now." Rishab held Nandini's shoulders, preventing her from tripping. Nandini looked up, passing him a grateful smile. "So..sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Nandini bit her lip. "Which I can tell. Why do you look so frustrated?" Rishab asked, her expressions clearly giving it away.

"Because of this baby. It always craves for something new every thirty minutes." Nandini pouted. This pregnancy was taking a huge toll on her and she didn't know how to handle herself, especially her cravings. "Ah, I see. Just like Divya. But don't worry, tell me what you are craving and I'll get it for you." Nandini's eyes lit up at his words. "Really?" Rishab nodded, smiling at her cuteness.

"Well, I'm craving some spicy gol gappe right now. But we don't have any at home." Nandini had rummaged through the kitchen many times in the past week since she had been back. Sunita bought everything and anything Nandini could possibly crave but she wanted gol gappe, and that to, from a stall.

In this past one week, not much had happened. Armaan did anything it took to get Nandini to talk to him but Nandini was a tough nut to crack. She wouldn't agree to any of his words and would give him a hard time. But who was he to complain. He had gotten himself into this and now he had to get himself out.

The day after she had came back, her brother and father had came to meet her and to her surprise, they weren't angry at her. They were just pissed she hadn't informed them. They were hella mad at Armaan though. Armaan was going to get beaten up by Jai again if Nandini hadn't stopped him. Armaan was thankful Nandini was there or else he wouldn't have been able to bear Jai's anger.

"Then what's the problem. I'll take you to a restaurant right now and get you some." Nandini's smile dropped at restaurant. "No, I want it from a stall." Rishab immediately shook his head. "That's very unhygienic Nandini. Especially for the baby." Nandini's lips turned into a pout. "Either you get me them from a stall or I won't eat them." Nandini crossed her arms against her chest, her cheeks blowing up.

Rishab seemed terrified, seeing her hormones rising. He knew he'd die if he didn't agree, having had already experienced this with Divya. "Okay meri maa, chalo phir." Nandini's pout turned into a full blown smile. "I love you bhai. Let me just inform maa." Rishab nodded, smiling after seeing her excitement.

• • • • •

Gulping down a gol gappa, Nandini's taste buds lit up as she felt satisfied. Seeing her huge grin, Rishab felt happy to have had brought her here. Nandini was to busy in eating down her gol gappe that she didn't even realize why Rishab was here in the first place.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask this before because of my cravings, but was there anything important at home?" Nandini asked, waiting for her other one to get ready. "I just came to check in on you. I know everything must be so confusing and hard on you right now." Nandini gave him a grateful smile, thinking about how she had missed this for five months.

Rishab ate one along with Nandini, doing a toast. Nandini was focused on her gol gappe and didn't notice how happy Rishab was to spend time with her. Nandini looked up and found a sympathetic look in his eyes, which she immediately looked away from. "Nandini, this must be so hard right now. Deciding on to forgive Armaan or not. Thinking about the future of the baby." Nandini gulped back, trying not to let any tears form today.

"It is bhai. So hard. Like I don't know if I should forgive him or not. Sometimes I think we are meant to be together but other times I am afraid if something again happens like that. And if it does, I won't be able to bear it this time. Especially since the child will have to go through this with us." Nandini voiced out all her fears. She felt safe talking to Rishab about this, knowing he was very great at emotionally supporting her.