Shape of the Sun

Morning

It only took an extra week for everything to go to shit. Manmeet and Rajkumar had their second fight and it was one like no other. Things that weren't meant to go wrong went wrong at the last minute and they both knew it because the morning had started pleasant.

Actually, that point of view was subjective, because Rajkumar had woken up to suffocation, literally. Sometime that he had been sleeping, Manmeet had crawled into his bed and laid atop him so that he was hugging her in a semi-confused manner.

The first time this had happened, it had been joy, literal bliss. Rajkumar loved hugging her, his body, his mind noticing all the changes in her body due to the pregnancy, so that his heart felt full. He had thought there was nothing that could top this on earth - for the first few days. It was chill until it wasn't.

Rajkumar would be roused from sleep in such a similar manner, Manmeet attached to him for long hours on end that his joint felt stiff, limbs in an ache. She was changing, her body firmer and oh, how he loved it, except when he felt like there was a heavy weight pressed against his body so tight that he couldn't sleep, eyes staring wide at the ceiling, or at the door, or at the damn cabinet when they were meant to be tight shut. More than often, he ditched the bed for the chair anticipating her arrival, but like telepathy, Manmeet would never arrive until the moment his back hit the bed.

Goodness. The woman was killing him. He loved her and she was killing him, assisted by a symbol of their union. It was so bittersweet that his head hurt just from taking it all in, along with his body which now had to accommodate all of Manmeet's new sleeping poses.

That was right.

Manmeet had taken to latching onto him like he was something, anything. He could be a footstool one day, and a pillow the next. The previous night unto this morning, he was a teddy bear, so that her full upper body was against his, head crossing over to his right shoulder. There was nothing romantic here, the woman literally dumped herself on him. Rajkumar didn't know how their love got to this so fast.

The rom-coms were freaking liars.

"Manmeet." he tapped her back with all urgency, "Manmeet, please let me go." Let me live to see the child grow to ten at least.

"Mmmn." That was it. She yawned and snuggled closer to him, so that Rajkumar felt like one ton was now two. His bones at risk of cracking were the scales.

He quickly glanced at the clock on the bed stand and then at the natural light that now filled the room, escaping their long, grey curtains. It was 8am and he needed to be at work by ten for an early meeting. How Manmeet could sleep in for so long hours was above him, but the puzzlement didn't, couldn't stop the faint trace of displeasure in his heart.

Rajkumar didn't really like this anymore, not one bit. He was unhappy.

"Manmeet, it's 8am and I need to go to work. There's no way you don't know that."

No reply.

He tapped her right arm. "Manmeet Chatterjee."

Still no reply.

And then, Rajkumar went silent, only to feel the body atop his slowly shift to the side so that he was now free. He didn't say anything, even more upset, and made to stand up when a hand held his and pulled him back down.

Sigh.

"Manmeet Chatterjee? Seriously Raj?"

The face looking at him had no trace of sleepiness on it, as bright as day. Rajkumar thought he'd hit a brick wall if he kept looking at it. He would if he as much spoke, so he didn't and opted to inspect imaginary dirt underneath his fingernails. But of course, there was no way Manmeet could let him be, not in this state.

She scooted over to his side and placed his arms around her waist. Manmeet stroked his beard with graceful, slender fingers. It had grown a bit, the result of many weeks of remote work and the induced domesticity that she knew that she had a hand in.

"I'm sorry, Raj. I was just joking with you. Don't be mad."

He looked her in the eyes.

"Oh yeah? Just joking with me?"

"Yeah. Don't be mad at me. I'm the one carrying your baby."

Ha.

Rajkumar sighed, one of many, a hand going up to rub the bridge of his nose. It was a habit at this point.

"You are killing me, Manmeet." There. He said it. But Manmeet was having none of it.

"I am killing you? Me?" she pointed at herself, face expressing shock like she was hearing blasphemy, "I am loving you, Rajkumar Reddy, which you should be grateful for. Without me, you would be sleeping alone, freezing in an apartment in London."

"Oh really?" She had no idea.

"Yes really, Raj."

"Okay fine. Then, I miss freezing."

Huh? Manmeet couldn't believe her ears.

"What?"

"You heard me, Manmeet." he raised up a finger, "I miss freezing because at least then, I wasn't rushing to the market for all varieties of ice cream only to come back and make dinner when a certain someone didn't feel like it anymore. Let's not even forget that I have to work too, that's not optional. And then I can't even sleep properly? My whole body freaking hurts!"

Upset, he had raised his voice, stunning Manmeet. The mood turned awkward especially for Rajkumar when he noticed her flinch. He blamed himself and his poor mood, instant regret flooding his heart. Couldn't he just have held on for a little bit more?

Rajkumar reached for her hand, an apology on the tip of his tongue.

"Manmeet..."

"I'm sorry."

He was surprised when she dodged his hand, opting to hug him.

"I'm sorry, Raj. I didn't mean to upset you." she withdrew a bit, looking into his charcoal eyes, "I want you to know that I don't take you and all that you do for granted. I love you. I love you."

Haa. Rajkumar was in a position where his foul mood was suddenly snatched from him, a feeling called shyness put in its place. He paused for a moment to look at her, could only pull her towards him, close enough to kiss her hard on the mouth, so that she was breathless, helpless. When he released Manmeet, her eyes were shining, full of light. His were the same way too, their owner feeling more alive than ever from just one kiss, the rush that the other person made him feel overtaking all fatigue.

Their foreheads were touching, noses brushing against each other so that when one talked, the other could feel the warmth of their breath caress their skin. Rajkumar gave Manmeet that warmth when he opened his mouth, a rich, husky voice coming out from there.

"You are such a shameless woman."

"Mmmn, I know." She agreed.

"You promise to stop crashing atop me." He added, "You will stay in the space beside me."

"I will."

"And you love me so much that it's crazy. So terribly that you are scared." Was he the only one feeling this way too?

He wasn't.

"It's true. I do. I do." She did, too.

Still, it couldn't stop what was coming.