THE IMPERFECT PERFECTIONS

•Δ61~𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐝

   ☆ .♡ ‧₊ ♡‧₊ ☆ .♡ ☆ .♡‧₊˚ ☆ .♡☆ .♡‧₊˚

"Don't you want to eat something like pizza with chocolate syrup?" Veer asked, glancing up from his phone with hopeful eyes but Taniya didn’t even look at him and just shook her head.

He had been searching for weird food combinations since morning trying to find one combination that Taniya would like to try among the heaps of food combinations that pregnant women supposedly craved but every suggestion had been shot down without mercy.

"Okay, how about ice cream with tomato sauce?" he offered again.

Taniya finally glanced up from her plate and looked at him with narrowed eyes but then suddenly her expression changed.

"You know what's better? Vanilla ice cream with lemon" She said as Veer stared at her like she had grown horns.

"What the fu-" Veer began but caught himself mid-sentence and slapped a hand over his mouth.

"No, Veer. No cursing around the baby," he muttered to himself.

"Waise, bhai ko pata hai aapki in violent tendencies ke baare mein?" Veer asked, squinting at her suspiciously.

"Haan, wahi toh kal raat le aaye the nimbu," Taniya replied with a casual shrug.

"Main hota toh kisi taantrik ko bula leta."Veer said as he leaned back with a deadpan look.

"Aditya, dekhein na, Veer tang kar raha hai," Taniya called out, turning toward Aditya who was already watching her.

"Haa mai gaya tha udhar," he said quietly, reaching out to wipe a tiny smear of sriracha from the corner of her lips—the same sauce she'd been dipping her mangoes in.

“Huh?” Taniya and Veer asked together in confusion.

“Kya?” Aditya blinked, coming back to reality.

“Yeh toh alag hi duniya mai hai,” Veer teased with a smirk while Taniya kept looking at Aditya with an unreadable expression.

"Are you done?" Aditya finally asked, nodding toward her plate where there were still a few slices of mango but she wasn't eating.

"Yeah," she said softly, pushing the plate toward him.

Aditya looked at the plate, then at her and sighed.

He got up from the couch with Taniya as they stepped out of the house. They were walking towards the car when Aditya saw Vivaan coming towards them.

“Any update on when we’ll get the date for the final hearing?” Aditya asked, his voice low but firm.

The last hearing had been postponed due to Mr. Shetty’s attorney falling ill but Aditya couldn’t shake the feeling that Niharika might have said something to her father and that's why it was postponed.

Vivaan gave a small nod to him and said “The lawyer said he’ll inform me as soon as it’s finalized.” He then eyed Aditya and asked,“Where are you headed?”

“Hospital,” Aditya replied.

Vivaan gave a nod of understanding and stepped inside, leaving Aditya and Taniya to head towards the car.

It was one of their regular check-ups that  had become an important part of their lives for the past four months.

They reached the hospital and after parking the car, made their way inside. The clinical scent of antiseptic and the quiet hum of machines surrounded them as they entered the examination room.