Chapter 60 In too good times and too bad times, sleep evaded #2
“Oh I know very well.” His eyes narrowed, smacking his mouth over hers. “And I am going to use this time to set processes in place in HDP for it to start running independently like KDP. That way, my home will be with you in Srinagar.”
“You don’t want to keep this Shimla house?”
“We can come here whenever you want, or if I have work. But if we are planning kids immediately, which I think we should because both our ages are more than conducive…”
“Ok, Daaxsaab.” She rolled her eyes to keep her heating skin cool.
“Then we won’t be able to travel as much.”
“Pregnant women travel, women with kids travel, look at Iram…”
“My pregnant wife will not travel.”
“Samar…”
“Amaal. We don’t know how it will be but I am too aware of the things that can go wrong so unless your pregnancy is normal and travelling is comfortable enough and with me by your side, you are not going anywhere…”
“I am not even your wife yet, or pregnant.”
“Not for long.” He smirked. Her heart was hit.
“Warn before going adult on me.” She looked away, hoping her skin wasn’t red.
His palm grabbed the base of her chin and raised her face, his finger poking into the dimple she didn’t even know had dipped. “I am working to become healthy for our baby, why wouldn’t I tell you that?”
“Fine, ok,” she couldn’t meet his eyes. “We will plan a baby immediately after we are married.”
“Don’t rush on my behalf.” He laughed quietly. She snarled, hiding her face in his chest. And his arms came around her again.
“This feels so good… being held like this by you.”
“I wish I could hold you like this every day for the next six months, too.”
“Just six months. They will pass in a blink.”
“Like the last so many have passed?”
“Exactly.”
He hummed. “Nothing and nobody is found before time.”
“Hmm?” She peered at him.
“Begumjaan told me this long ago. It makes sense now.”
“Begumjaan always makes sense,” Amaal sputtered. “Just not at the moment when she tells you that.”
His chest vibrated behind her.
“We will have to start preparing for the wedding early on then. Look at it like this,” he pointed. “We have a good amount of time to prepare, book the venue and catering and all of that.”
“Actually…” Amaal gave him a look. “I just want to get married to you with you and me there.”
He paused.
He checked her forehead with the back of his hand. She slapped it away.
“You not wanting your entire clan and their plus ones and booze and dance and all that?”
“Yes, just you and me. I am so tired of being in the noise that I just want to marry you quietly and retire for at least a year with nothing to do.”
He grinned — “You’ve just made my life a whole lot easier. But I regret to inform you that we cannot marry among the two of us without at least one officer and two witnesses.”
“Mom and Dad will obviously be there.”
“Wait, you are serious?” He straightened. “You don’t want anyone?”
She shook her head.
“Not even Atharva and Iram? Adil, Fahad, your media friends from KDP, your Logistics friends, old roommates, Begumjaan, Zorji, Qureshi, Sarah, Dani, Maha…”
“We can have a reception party for them later… but not for at least a month after the wedding. I want to go to a place, shut inside a house with you and not come out until I am utterly and completely frustrated with you.”
“Careful, you are again raising my hopes.”
“It will keep you on your toes for the next six months.”
“But if we don’t invite any of these people then how will we tell them that we are getting married?”
“We won’t. How weird will it look if we tell them, ‘Hey guys, we are getting married but don’t show up there.’”
“Hmm…”
“What?” She checked his forehead with the back of her hand. “You want people there?”
He let out an amused scoff — “Just you and me works fine for me.”
“Then it’s a date.” She held out her hand. “Our first official one.”
He shook it. “The first of many to come.” His arm tugged hers until her mouth was captured by his. Amaal moaned, letting his tongue in. Before she could respond to his tongue, he had pulled out and pressed his mouth to her forehead. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Remember that after we are married and in our old couple phase. We have lived it once already.”
His face softened. “This time it will be different, I promise.”
Amaal blinked. “Don’t let anything go wrong in these six months.” She voiced her greatest fear aloud.
“Like what?”
“Like anything.” She pushed, gripping his knee. “Just don’t.”
“I promise.”
Her head fell on his knee. “You are making too many promises.”
“You know I will keep them.” He palmed the top of her head. The gentle tugging of his caressing fingers did things to her. Amaal inhaled.
“Don’t do that.” His warning voice made her sit up.
“What?” She swallowed.
“Don’t need me tonight.” His gaze darkened. “There was so much I wanted to do tonight but now can’t.”
“Your surprises?”
His eyes began to shine — “That’s different.”
“Give me a hint!!”
“Quiet,” he warned. “He is sleeping.”
She winced, glancing at the door to the observatory. Sorry.
“I heard you both talking right now, you know?”
Samar smiled self-consciously. “I don’t know what Atharva was thinking telling me to not disturb him.”
“You didn’t enjoy with Arth?”
“I did, surprisingly a lot.” His eyes came to her. “But I am still at a loss as to what to censor from him. I haven’t talked to children unattended.”
“From what little I heard, I think you censored well.”
“Hmm?” He tugged a lock of her hair. “Always eavesdropping on my conversations, Amaal.”
“You come and have them outside my window, what do you expect?”
“Today you came up to my tower.”
“Because you left the door open for me.”
“And why is that?”
“Why?”
“Because you breached me, you damn Trojan Horse.” He grabbed her head, tilted it and stamped his mouth on her neck.
She giggled, pushing her fingers into his hair.
Bolstered by her sounds, he nipped at the skin, holding his palm over her mouth.
Amaal sputtered on his skin but also felt heightened, through every sense.
Her hand went to palm him when a sound upstairs broke them apart.
“Amaal…” Yathaarth’s sleepy voice preceded his tiny frame, dragging a blanket behind him. “This boys seepover…”
She began to rise to go and get him but Samar was already on his toes, taking the steps two at a time and picking him up before he stepped on a stair with one eye closed.
“Back to sleep…” Samar began to turn.
“No… Amaal!” He strained to come down. Samar turned, debated for a second, then climbed down to settle beside her, wrapping the blanket around Yathaarth’s body. He cosied up on Samar’s chest and squinty grey eyes frowned at her. Amaal kissed his pudgy little chin — “Oh, baby, who woke you up?”
“Dis guy.” He pointed up. They burst out laughing.
“This guy, huh?” She nuzzled his nose, making his sleepy mouth smile. “This guy disturbs everyone.”
“You can’t tell your Baba, but.”
“Samar.” She glared at him.
What? He mouthed.
“He is a baby.” She held back her laughter, looking down at Yathaarth, who was already half asleep again, dozing on Samar’s chest. “And asleep.” Samar pushed his chin down and followed her gaze.
A line of drool fell down the side of his mouth and into Samar’s kurta.
And Amaal knew she was marrying the father of her baby when he used the hem of that kurta to gently wipe the rest of the drool off his mouth and lay him in his lap.
She lay her head on the open side of his chest, and found his arm wrap around her neck and squeeze.
“I hope we have this.” She whispered.
“We will.”