Muhafiz-E-Khan (Tere Bin MeeraSim FF)

Epilouge 49 : Overdue

A/N: Probably inaccurate. I wrote the chapter for fun. Enjoy.

After Meerab's online shopping spree for maternity clothes, she wore exclusively cashmere knit sets that were sumptuously soft, perfect for the cooler winter months. Much to Murtasim's pleasure, she was extra cuddly on every hold, but there were many of them since she felt so overstimulated.

On the bright side, the baby kicks turned into a nightly treat for the soon-to-be parents, as if energised after the dinner intake!

It was late night, now 6 days past Meerab's due date and their fourth week in London, their longest stay yet. The house was crowded in the best way.

A part of her had come to reluctantly accept that her body had developed in a way she didn't like, but the baby felt tangibly real; she imagined cuddling her little baby boy endlessly, brushing the soles of her baby's delicate feet against her lips, basking in his coos and exhales, his soon-to-be furled up body in her arms. Her heart was impatient, and so was Murtasim's as he meld his thumbs into the base of her swollen feet that were in his lap. Meerab received daily foot massages before bed, legs massages too if achy, and sometimes even a scalp massage, but she was freshly showered today.

''Are you ready to have sleepless nights?'' Meerab teased, resting back onto supporting pillows in the calm retreat of their bedroom. The baby's weight caused constant pressure on her pelvis and lower spine so she struggled to get comfortable.

The floor lengths curtains were mostly drawn, the mock fire place illuminating the room in the amber glowing of flames.

Murtasim looked to the huge maternity pillow sprawled on their queen-sized bed beside her. ''Araam ki neend kya hoti hai, Nawabzaadi?'' He asked, voice dry. Murtasim hadn't known quality sleep for the past two months, the poor soul; he had been on self-determined exile to the chaise, first in Hyderabad, a couple days in Karachi and now in London too.

Meerab moved around so much on their bed, turning and kicking that he had just simply given up stealing cuddles at midnight, finding that stuffy little couch to be comfier than her side because there was no chance of being suffocated or pushed off the bed, especially when rendered unable to argue back because of the bump.

''Well, baby cries are coming,'' she warned playfully, never being so excited for racket and screechy wails. She had been having sporadic and weak contractions for days, that stole her breath and made her shudder through the pain. Then they disappeared. Except for this evening where they begun to arrive every two hours, first during dinner and then in the shower.

''I haven't had a full night sleep in ages to be honest,'' Meerab added to herself. She peed so bloody often. It was a conscious pressure that nagged her. But then she glanced over to the Moses basket set up in the corner of her room, a soft blue blanket draped over the edge, and it washed away any whines. There was an entire nursery set up too that she had painstakingly curated with a designer.

''Will you miss this?'' Murtasim asked. It felt like the last moments before grand change. His hands closed around the arch of her warm foot and squeezed tighty.

Meerab's hands automatically drifted to her stomach for rest, reliving tickles spreading from her feet to her spine. As much as she complained, a relief-filled whisper left her lips now, ''A little.'' The bump was kinda cute. ''It's the calm before the storm, haina?''

Murtasim now called her 'adorable' aswell as 'sexy'. She had come to accept the burdens of late pregnancy as a fleeting stage of life, one that she cherished with Murtasim. The weight, and everyday's struggle, was a constant reminder of their baby; her life revolved around the bump since it was constantly in her way. She got to wrap her arms around it, knowing that her body nurtured their family, a token of pure magic, in her womb.