Desire ✔️

Part 71: Suspicious Minds

Three months later
20 June 2016
Bhalla House - 8.00pm

Adi had just finished his dinner when the phone rang. He picked it up and heard his fathers tentative hello, so unlike his usual confident tones.

"Hello papa, kahan ho aap? It's almost 8pm"
(Hello papa where are you? It's almost 8pm)

"Adi beta, is it safe for me to come home?"

"Aacha you're asking about Ishima? Woh yahi hai, apne room mein. Phone doon kya?"
(I see, you're asking about Ishima? Should I give her the phone? She's in her room)

"Adi, kyun marwana chahta hai yaar? Abhi bhi ro rahi hai kya?"
(Adi, do you want to get me killed? Is she still crying?)

"Ro nahi rahi hai papa. Sirf room mein se nahi aa rahi aur kehti hai ki dinner nahi karegi. Wardrobe bhi tidy kar rahi hai. Accha papa, dadi aap se baat karna chahti hai."
(She isn't crying papa. Just won't come out of her room and says she won't have dinner either. And she's tidying her wardrobe. Ok papa, dadi wants to talk to you)

"Adi, no... hello, mummy"

"Raman, tu ne aisa kya keh diya bahu ko? Woh toh khaana khaane se inkar kar rahi hai. Bas roti hai ki woh moti ho gayi hai, tum ab usko pasand nahi karte, tumhe uski zaroorat nahi. Tumhe lunch time sar par ice karne gayi thi tumhaare office, phir kya hua. "
(Raman, what did you say to my daughter in law? She's refusing to eat. Just cries that she's gotten too fat, you don't find her attractive any more, you don't need her. She went to your office at lunchtime to surprise you, so what happened?)

"Ma, aisa kuch nahi..."
(Mum, it's nothing like that...)

"Mujhe kuch nahi sunna Raman. Yeh bacche ke liye theek nahi hai. Ghar aaja. Abhi."
(I don't want to listen to any excuses Raman. This isn't good for the child. Come home now)

Sighing loudly, Raman switched off his phone and then gingerly unfurled his frame from his car seat. He had been sitting inside his parked car, outside their building hoping to confirm that his wife had recovered from the fiasco at lunchtime, but obviously that was not the case. He needed to go in and face the music.

"Tum ghar jao Joseph" he sighed to the driver. "Ab toh mujhe bhi ghar jaana hi padega."
(You go home Joseph. I have no choice but to go home too now)

**************************************
A few hours before
Raman Bhalla's office - 1.05 pm

Raman sat back in his chair with a sigh. He had just finished another demanding telephone conference with his Singapore clients, and while the lucrative account meant he needed to give his personal attention to the various issues which had come up with the campaign, the fact that he was hardly getting any sleep due to the wildly fluctuating moods of his very pregnant wife meant that he was operating on the verge of exhaustion.

He did not blame his Ishita.

She was very apologetic, but every time she burst into hormone induced tears, he felt as if his heart would break into pieces. So even after she would drift off to sleep, he would lie awake, gazing at her, cradling her in his arms, stroking her burgeoning stomach where their babies tussled for dominance. He could feel their kicks and his heart would burst with pride, just as it had done for Adi and Ruhi.

And it was Adi and Ruhi that her tears were mostly for.

"What if I can't give them the same love once the babies come Raman? What if I treat my children differently? What if everything that people say about step mothers is correct? What if...?'