Vikramaditya POV:
"Aditya, I want to have a word with you." My father spoke, his eyes still on Meenakshi. The daima was checking on her, as she lay on the bed, her breathing soft and shallow. I looked at him who was looking at me with a furious expression. I nodded wordlessly and followed him as he led our chambers to the corridor.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I looked at him still trying to figure the answer out. Seeing my blank stare, he sighed. "When no one around believed that she would survive, even her very own parents, you were the one who was stubborn about doing everything in your power to bring her back. You did not accept her fate and her destiny unlike everyone around her. But now, it is you who is praying that something shall go bad." I looked at him as if he had become alien to me.
"I never wished anything bad for her Paa." My voice broke as I tried to form words.
"No Aditya, you need not pray for that, but the way you act around her clearly shows what you intend. Instead of thinking of what you can't do without her, why don't you think about what you can do with her by your side? It's not easy to be a woman, and carry a child. And we both know well how much she has suffered, why do you continue to do this to her? Don't make her realis
e that you are no different than her father." My mouth hung open at his insult. I was never like her father and I would never be. I would never sideline her or make my child feel less important.
I gasped at the realization.
I was acting just like that around. My hands flew to my face as I tried to hide my face in mortification. What did I do? Oh my god. No, no, I am not like that.
A soldier came and informed me that daima had called for me. I followed him and found daima instructing something to Meenakshi who was sitting with her back against the headrest. Feeling my presence she gave me a small smile and extended her hand towards me. I quickly grabbed her extended palm and sat beside her, rubbing her palm softly between my palms.
"Maharani fainted due to stress. She is fine now. And the baby is also healthy." Daima spoke, making me and Meenakshi smile at her. She bowed and left us alone with each other.
"I am sorry." I spoke, kissing her palm softly.
"Why?" She asked, caressing my cheeks with her other palm. I leaned into her touch and she gave me a soft smile.
"I am sorry for being scared and scaring you all along. And about your question, no I am not regretting this baby, he or she is the biggest blessing after you, to me." I spoke, moving closer to her and cuddling her. She leaned into my embrace and I hugged her as we sat there in silence our heartbeats syncing with each other.
I pulled apart from our hug and caressed her bump. She placed her palm on mine and smiled at me.
Our baby.
"This won't happen again. I promise." I whispered, kissing her forehead followed by her stomach.
"I know it won't. And I am sorry for scaring you."
"No, you are not to be sorry at all. All of this is my fault and you have nothing to be sorry about."
"Okay how about this, let us stop saying sorry. We can talk about something else." She giggled, clinging onto me and I leaned into her.
"True, how about I love you?" I asked, and a prettiest shade of blush coated her cheeks. Cupping her cheeks I placed a long kiss on her cheek making her smile. She kissed me back, making me smile back at her. We chuckled at each other's childishness and broke out into a hearty laughter.
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"It's good for the baby. Please, just for some time." I pleaded while my wife pouted, shaking her head in a no. "It's good for your health and the baby. I promise we will come back once you are tired. But I won't take a no." I pleaded softly and she agreed reluctantly. I smiled and held my hand out and she held onto it and stood slowly clutching her belly with another.
We slowly walked towards the garden where my father was waiting for us. He smiled on seeing us and handed Meenakshi her favorite sweets. Sour Mango candies, something I didn't know even existed until this pregnancy. She happily accepted it and continued to walk with me slowly around the garden. She winced softly and I stopped walking, making her stop too. "Hey does it hurt, should I send for daima?" I asked, holding her belly.
"No. It's just a small kick. I guess your baby is also active like his papa, kicking me even in the night." She pouted, making her look so adorable that I kissed her pout. She slapped my chest and glared at me.
"Paa is here, he will see us. What will he think?" She scolded me.
"What makes you think he is unaware of our tactics? And what led us here?" I asked, caressing her bump. She blushed and hid away in my embrace, making me chuckle. We continued to walk slowly and then headed to our room.
We changed into something comfortable and headed to bed. Meenakshi leaned by the headrest and I sat by her feet, placing the bowl of oil by the side.
"You don't need to do that." She tried pulling her legs away from my grasp, but I was not having any of it.
"Why? The least I can do is this, when you bear all the pain." She gave in when I began massaging her feet and she moaned in response. "Jaana, now's not the time to put me in misery." I mumbled and she cheekily smiled at me, continuing to make noises, teasing me to no end. "Once the baby is here, I shall see how you continue to escape me." She giggled, making me glare at her.
"Vikram, have you decided on the names for our child?" She asked me and I looked at her.
"I have. Pratiksha or Anushree if it's a daughter. How are they?" I asked, as I told her my choices.
"They are very nice Vikram. What about names for boys?" She asked me.
"I have a feeling that we are going to have a beautiful daughter, just like her mother." I answered.
"But we can also have a son, what will we name him?" She asked me.
"We are going to have a daughter, and I want you to name our son." I kissed her forehead and helped her lie down in a sleeping position. She pulled my cheeks and soon we were off into a deep slumber.
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"No, no, no. Don't kick her too hard, she must be in pain. We both know that we can't see her in pain, baby." I softly kissed her stomach, talking to my over excited baby while Meenakshi was still asleep.
"Yeah, which names did you like? Your Maa was partial with Pratiksha while I liked both. What is your favorite?" I asked, and the baby kicked again. I chuckled softly caressing the spot where the baby kicked, hoping it was not too painful for Meenakshi. I really wanted to kiss my wife senselessly the way she was fast asleep, compensating for all the lost sleep she couldn't get last night.
"By the way, I still like Pratiksha over Anushree." A husky voice spoke followed by a wince. "This baby looks quite eager to be out." Meenakshi muttered and I hovered over her from my sleeping position. Kissing her forehead I got down the bed helping her up from the bed.
"Are you okay?" I asked, finding her frown rubbing her belly slowly.
"Yeah, it just hurts. I'll just use the toilet, I shall be fine." She said, making me nod.
"Vikram!" I rushed upon hearing her scream. Running inside I found her clutching her belly and water pooling at her legs. I lifted her up in my arms and carefully ran outside to the bedroom and placed her carefully on the bed. I barked orders at the soldiers calling for Vaidhji and daima. They quickly ran to fetch them and one of them ran to inform my father.
"Meenakshi, take deep breaths for me Jaana." I sat by her as she twisted in pain, tears rolling down her eyes.
"It hurts Vikram. It hurts badly." She cried, making my insides break. I composed myself and wiped her tears.
"Hey, you are stronger than this Meenakshi, come on Jaana, our baby is going to be here." I wiped her sweat caressing her head. She panted and screamed when another contraction hit her.
"Maharaj, we need you to step out. We need to look after her now." I nodded, my gaze still on my wife. She looked at me and gave me a soft smile before a whimper left her mouth. My father pulled me out and the doors of our room closed.
"She will be fine." My father patted my back as we marched furiously outside the chambers waiting for the Vaidhji and daima.
Meenakshi's screams continued to be heard and then there was a cry. Cry of an infant. Both me and my dad paused in our tracks and looked at each other. Tears sprang in my eyes and they rolled down my cheeks. My father hugged me, making me chuckle in joy. I tried wiping my tears but they seemed to be coming from an unlimited supply.
The doors opened and the midwife came out with a bundle in her arms that was crying. "Congratulations Maharaj, it's a girl." She exclaimed and handed me the baby.
"And Meenakshi?" I mumbled, rocking my daughter in my arms.
"Maharani is fine, Maharaj. She is resting after all of this tiresome journey." I nodded and cooed at the baby in my arms. My baby girl.
"Hey, it's my turn now to hold my granddaughter." He spoke, and I laughed at him. Handing him my little bundle of joy, who wiggled when I handed her to my father. My father cooed, making funny faces at her, trying to entertain her. "She is so precious. She is going to be a perfect replica of her mother and my dear pari, you need to give your father a very hard time. He has troubled us a lot, and now, it's your time to trouble him." He told her in all seriousness and I frowned at him.
"Hey, Paa, you cannot tell her that. You cannot do that, else I won't let you play with her again." I took back my baby from him and walked inside our chambers, where he cannot enter. Smirking at him, I closed the door and walked to Meenakshi.
She was asleep, her face pale and her skin flushed. There was a curtain of cloth covering her to give her privacy from the outside world. I sat by her with our daughter in my arms and I kissed her cheek softly. My daughter decided that this was the right time to cry and wake her mother up and she was successful. Meenakshi opened her eyes and looked at us, and gave us a teary smile. The midwife asked for our permission before she entered the chambers and guided Meenakshi in feeding our daughter.
"I love you. Thank you so much." I kissed her forehead and she leaned into me, careful about the baby and her condition.
"I love you too." She whispered, connecting her forehead with mine.
Our baby let out a cry. "We love you too, Prati." Both of us whispered at the same time and as if she understood us, she went back to sucking on her milk.
And just like that we fell in love with the tiny life we created who remained unknown to the world around her.
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Thank you so much for reading Meenakshi. Here it officially comes to an end. Get me 5k votes and 1k followers, I shall post the bonus chapters here.
Take care lovelies.
See you in Meera, part 1 of my series.