The Second Bloom • 18+

9. Malini's bad health (Varun's POV)

A week passed by.

Everything was going smoothly, except the extra baggage I had for the fulfillment of loan that my brother has taken before passing away.

I got more involved in work, gave Malini lesser time, spent more less time with my parents. Malini understood. She always does.

I don't know how and why destiny landed me with her, but it's so beautiful. Our newly growing bond.

We sleep in each other's arms, every night. Atleast I'm sharing fifty percent of what I had expected to share with my wife someday with her.

But I can gladly say that she is hundred and fifty percent of the kind of wife I had imagined to marry in my life.

She is beautiful, inside and out.

She is so supportive.

She never... never replies back to my mother although I know how uncontrollable of anger she must be feeling from inside sometimes when my mother taunts her without any reason.

It's okay when I'm there at home, but when I'm not? She doesn't even tell me about if anything as such happened in my absence.

She is such a good cook.

She is such a brilliant of a wife.

What else do I need?

Her health isn't good from last few days. She had fever and chill initially, but it's not going away like normal common cold. It's there.

Persistent.

I help her a lot in household work when I'm there, but when I'm not there, she is too reluctant to listen to my words and follow my instructions of not entering inside the kitchen.

It was a good day today, I paid off all the loan amount finally and thankfully otherwise I was hardly burdened by it.

Currently, I'm returning back to my home early today. It's still evening, and I would love to spend some quality time with my wife and help her with her health problems.

After a few minutes of walk, I reach my home and step inside, closing the door behind me.

I can hear few murmurs from inside as if some guests are here.

Ignoring them, I head towards my own room.

I'm left surprised when I find the door of our room wide open and the voice of murmurs is coming from there.

I enter inside, hesitantly, and find my mother and two more ladies sitting on the edge of the bed while my wife is resting on the centre of the bed, body covered with blanket.

"Maa?" I speak in a low voice.

She looked up at me, and the other two pairs of eyes snapped towards me too. Malini's eyes were closed, probably she was in sleep.

"Beta? Itni jaldi aa gaye?" Maa asked, standing up from the bed.

I smiled, "Ji, kaam Kam tha aaj thoda."

The other two ladies stood up too, passing me a smile, and walking outside the room silently.

"Hum unhe chhor kar aate hai bahar tak, theek hai?" Maa said to which I nodded my head.

She moved outside of the room, leaving me alone with my sleeping wife.

I sat on the edge of the bed, leaned down, and slowly brushed her hair off her face,

"Malini?"

She didn't respond.

I leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her temple,

"Malini? Thodi der uth jaiye."

This time she moved a little, slowly opening her eyes.

When her eyes found me, the colour of her face automatically changed.

I frowned, touching her face,

"Kya hua, tabiyet thik hai aapki?"

She moved a little back, trying to get up, but I held her arm gently,

"Koi baat nahi, uthne ki zaroorat nahi hai, Malini. Aaram kijiye."

Her eyes suddenly turned a little red. No. They were already red when she opened her eyes.

I shifted a little closer, "Kya hua? Kisi ne kuch kaha?"

She shook her head, trying to sit up slowly on the bed when Maa entered inside our room again,

"Arey... Utho mat Malini. Aaram karo. Tumhe aaram ki zaroorat hai abhi."

I looked at Malini and then at Maa.

"Jyada tabiyet bigar gayi kya Maa, Malini ki?"

Unlikely.

Very unlikely, she smiled.

She smiled widely, came forward, and cupped my cheeks, announcing happily and excitedly,

"Mubarak ho beta, tum baap banne wale ho !"

I frowned. My body stilled. But she moved.

She moved towards Malini on the bed, hugging her close,

"Malini pet se hai."

Suddenly, it felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room.

All I could hear was the sudden thudding of my own heartbeat.

Pregnant?

But how?

We... we had never...

I glanced at Malini, lying in the center of the bed, looking down, her eyes slightly wet.

"Hume Shaq hua, Dai-maa ko bulwaya humne. Dai-Maa ne jaanch kar bataya ki Malini Maa banne wali hai, Varun. Kitni Khushi ki b........"

My mother was still speaking, her voice full of joy and excitement, talking about grandchildren, but my mind couldn't catch up with the moment.

She didn't know.

She didn't know that nothing had happened between Malini and me.

Not even once.

A strange heat surged through me—part confusion, part disbelief, and maybe even anger, though I wasn't sure where to direct it.

I felt trapped in my own silence, unable to say anything in front of my mother.

Should I be relieved that she was happy?

Should I feel angry that maybe this news is fake?

I couldn't understand how I was supposed to feel.

I turned my eyes back to Malini, wondering how she could keep something like this from me.

Or maybe... maybe she didn't even know until now.

A hundred questions rushed through my mind, but I couldn't ask a single one.

All I could do was sit there, numb, while my mother continued to celebrate the news that shattered everything I thought I knew about the bond we had just started forming.

For the first time since Malini had come into my life, I felt completely lost.

I interrupted suddenly, "Maa... hume Malini ko aaram karne Dena chahiye na?"

Maa stood up from the bed, "Haan beta, Dai-Maa keh rahi thi bahut najuk hai abhi Malini... Aaram ki bahut zaroorat hai."

I forcefully smiled.

She patted my shoulder twice, smiling, and walked out of the room, leaving three of us alone — Malini, me, and my emotional rageful turmoil. 

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