Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 79 - Panic!

The legions of Di's new admirers were put out of Arnav's mind that week. He had been hovering anxiously around his sister – her due date was inching closer, and he wanted to be there when she had to be taken to the hospital.

But she was exasperating when he tried to stop her from going out to meet some women to talk about the orphanage.

"Isn't it better if you stay at home until the baby is born?" He had said, and his usually kind but now obviously hormonal sister had to lose it.

"Chotay, it is better if you went to work and left me alone!" She snapped. He gaped at her, because pregnant or not, Di never snapped at him. She gaped back.

"Sorry, Chotay. You're being so annoying, and I'm getting this horrible pain in my side—"

They looked at each other with wide eyes.

"What pain? Are you going into labour?"

"Oh my god, Chotay I'm going into labour!"

'Nani!!!" He yelled, panicking like he had never panicked in his life before. "Khushi!!!"

He hopped around the room, trying to lead Di out, but no, she needed things to take along! What things?

Luckily Khushi came barreling into the room, and clocked what was happening at once.

"Arnav ji, call Mohan ji, he will drive Di, I'll go with her. Naniji!" she exclaimed seeing his grandmother come up the stairs, "Di is going to have the baby! You and I can go with her!"

She picked up a luggage bag from the corner of the room, and turned to Arnav. "Call Mohan ji!"

"Huh?" Arnav snapped out of his immobility and dialed. "Then call Jijaji. Can you drive?" Khushi squinted at him. "Bring Mamaji and Mami and Payal. Nanheji!" The last she screeched, as NK ran up the steps, followed by Lavanya.

"Nanheji, you go pick up Aarav from school. You and Lavanya ji, stay with Aarav. We will call you later!"

They piled into cars, Arnav following Mohan to the hospital. Mohan drove far too slowly.

But it was fine. They were at the hospital, Di was escorted to a room, and a doctor was looking at her.

"Did you call Jijaji?"

"Huh? Oh," Arnav began to dial but Payal stopped him. "I spoke to him. He's on his way."

He sat on a chair outside the cabin, shaken. Damn, he hadn't thought he would panic like that. Khushi, meanwhile was awhirl with activity — clearly emergencies made her a madwoman.

She was organizing tea for the whole family, checking on NK to see if he had picked up Aarav, speaking to Aarav to tell him everything was fine, and flitting between nurses and doctors to find out when the baby would be born.

"Someone needs to stop her," Arnav said, looking up at Payal, who had come to stand beside him. She nodded, and pulled Khushi to where Arnav was sitting, and forced her to sit down too.

"You're making Di anxious," Payal said in her calm way. "Everything is done, Khushi. We just have to wait now."

For all the panicking, it was six hours before the baby was born. Akash had come with flowers and balloons, and Aman.

Buaji came by with some food for everyone which she briskly deposited with Payal, and took Mohan along to take more food to Shantivan for NK, Lavanya and Aarav.

Aman sat beside Arnav, biting his nails.

Khushi and Nani were the ones who went inside the labour room, while everyone else waited outside. Arnav braced himself for the screams of pain, but it was all quiet. He got up, and Aman leapt from his seat, following him, and then sat back down when he realized Arnav was just pacing around.

He leapt back up again, when the door of the labour room opened. Khushi peeked out, her face a bright red, wearing a huge grin. "It's a girl!"

Everyone exclaimed. Arnav sat back down in relief, and noticed Aman sink back on a seat beside him.

Finally, they moved Di and the baby to the cabin, and everyone trooped in.

She looked fine. Tired, but happy. Arnav went to his sister, and put his arm around her, gazing at the tiny red face of the baby in her arms.

"Ratna," Di said softly, smiling at him. He felt his throat tighten. "R-ratna?" his eyes dampened. "Ratna," he repeated, looking at the wiggling, wrinkly and bright red little creature. "Hi Ratna. I am your Kans Mama!"

"Hello hi bye bye!" Mami said, overhearing. "Kans is not the good Mama, Arnav bitwa..."

Arnav grinned at his Di, and she giggled back.

—

"You're hovering too much, Chotay!"

"What do you mean? I'm just checking in on you and the baby!"

"Don't you have a wedding coming up? And work! You said you won't be able to do any work when you're getting married, and wanted to get it all done now. What happened to that?"

"Fine. I'll stay away. I'll call you once a week to find out how my niece is doing. Or is that too much—"

Di tutted. "Why don't you set up a camp here, in my room? You and Khushiji both."

Khushi looked unrepentant. "I've got everything done for the wedding, I don't have anywhere to go."

The wedding was in four days. Khushi really had got everything done. There turned out to be a thousand things people did to get properly married. Arnav couldn't believe his family had accepted their first one, which had barely lasted an hour.

This one ran for three days: Puja and Haldi, Mehendi and Sangeet, and then the big wedding day and a reception.

A series of parties where he would have to get dressed in shiny Sherwanis and be surrounded by people at all times. Excellent. But that's what Khushi wanted, and all of this was for her. If she could forgive everything he had done to her, he could sit through days of pujas and talk to guests and relatives and wear scratchy clothes.

"You better stay out of the wedding, Di. Don't overexert yourself. Don't bring the baby down at all, all these people hovering around will make her sick. And—"

"I'll be fine, Chotay," Di said, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Aman ji told me you asked him to find a nurse. As if I can't change my own daughter's diapers. I guess it will help during the wedding. But I don't want a nurse after that, I can handle it."

His ears perked up at the mention of Aman. Why's Aman talking to you, he wanted to ask. But they did used to talk, even before this whole Shyam thing happened. He saw Khushi watching him, and rolled his eyes. Yeah, yeah, he wasn't going to be the thorn on their side if they actually liked each other. The bastard, going after his sister, of all the people on earth.

Aman had been suspiciously frequent at the house since the birth, showing up to bring Di this and that, as if she was his boss. Which technically she was, which made this whole thing even more inappropriate, if anyone bothered to ask him.

Dubey has shown up a couple of times too, unannounced as usual, the first time to congratulate Di, carrying a big bouquet of flowers, and the second time to let him know that it was likely for Sashi uncle to be summoned to court for his testimony anytime next week. He could have called to give him that information, Arnav thought grumpily. It would have been funny to see the coldness with which Aman treated the policeman, if it hadn't been because they were freaking competing for the affections of his sister.

"Arnav ji, we should go," Khushi said, pausing on her way out to kiss Aarav, who had bounded in to play with the baby.

She was quick to reprimand him as soon as they were far enough away from Di's room.

"Your face is so transparent, one mention of Aman ji and you look like you're going to explode!" She said.

"Excuse me? Di didn't think anything, you just watch me too closely."

She opened her mouth to retort, and closed it again. "Stop being Akroo Laad Governor!" she said, finally.

"Stop calling me that!"