39. The New Member #2
Their daughter had woken up.
Rakshit wiped the remaining tears from his face and immediately stood up.
"I'll get her."
Shivika smiled as she watched him walk towards their little princess.
The same man who had been terrified of losing control of his emotions a moment ago was now completely focused on the tiniest person in the room.
"Good morning, princess," Rakshit whispered, looking down at the tiny girl in his arms.
She silently staring up at him.
Rakshit knew her vision was still blurry, but the fact that her tiny eyes seemed to be searching for him was enough to make his heart melt.
"Aksh, come here na, with her. Or are you planning to keep standing there forever?" Shivika complained from the bed. "I also want to look at her properly."
She sighed.
"She just cries whenever she comes near me."
Shivika hadn't even been able to properly see her daughter's eyes yet. Every time the baby came into her arms, she would start crying, and then the moment Shivika began feeding her, she would settle down and fall asleep.
Rakshit smiled and walked back towards the bed.
He carefully sat beside Shivika, their daughter still cradled securely in his arms.
Shivika immediately leaned closer.
"Aksh..."
Her eyes widened.
"Blue eyes!"
She grinned excitedly.
Rakshit hummed proudly.
"Hmm."
He looked down at his daughter and leaned closer, pressing another gentle kiss to her forehead.
And just like that, the baby smiled.
Shivika gasped.
"Aksh! She smiled!"
"Yes," Rakshit said, smiling. "I saw it earlier too. She smiles every time I kiss her forehead."
"Really?"
Shivika looked at him in disbelief.
Rakshit nodded.
"Try kissing her cheek."
He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his daughter's tiny cheek.
Almost immediately, she smiled again.
Both of them froze for a second.
Then their faces lit up at the same time.
"Aww..."
Shivika's eyes softened as she looked at her daughter.
"Now let me try."
She carefully leaned towards the baby and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
They waited.
But nothing happened.
The baby simply blinked at her.
Shivika's expression fell.
She looked at Rakshit with an adorable pout.
"She didn't smile."
Rakshit couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"Do it once again."
"Are you sure?"
"Hmm. Again."
Shivika leaned forward and kissed their daughter's forehead once more.
This time, a tiny smile appeared on the baby's face.
Shivika's eyes immediately widened.
"Aww..."
She gently offered her finger, and the baby's tiny fingers curled around it.
"Her smile is so cute."
"Just like yours," Rakshit said softly.
Shivika looked up at him.
Her cheeks immediately turned pink.
"Aksh..."
Rakshit only smiled, looking between his wife and daughter.
His two favourite smiles in the entire world.
Just then, Rakshit's phone rang.
He carefully handed their daughter to Shivika before pulling his phone out of his pocket.
The moment he saw the name flashing on the screen, he realized his mistake.
Paulo.
He had completely forgotten to ask Shivika about him.
Rakshit quickly answered the call, but before he could even say hello, Paulo's questions came rushing from the other end.
"When are you even going to inform me, Rakshit? Do you know how desperately I'm waiting here?"
Rakshit closed his eyes for a second.
"Just give me two minutes. Stay on the line," Rakshit said before muting the call.
He turned towards Shivika.
"Ika..."
She hummed and looked at him.
"Actually, I have a business partner, Mr. Paulo Barbose. But he isn't just a business partner to me."
Rakshit paused for a moment.
"He was there during some of my toughest times and supported me a lot. He had come to India for a project, and when I told him about you and the baby, he wanted to meet both of you."
He glanced at their daughter resting peacefully in Shivika's arms.
"He wants to come here and meet you. But if you're not comfortable meeting him at the hospital, we can always ask him to come home later."
Shivika smiled.
"No, Aksh. I don't have any problem with that. You can call him."
She looked at him warmly.
"If you've told him about me and our princess, then he must be someone important to you."
Rakshit smiled.
"Paulo?"
"Finally!" Paulo immediately exclaimed.
"I was starting to think you forgot about me."
Rakshit chuckled.
"Shivika said you can come and meet us."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then Paulo's excited voice came through again.
"Really? I'm coming!"
Rakshit laughed.
"Relax. You can come after you freshen up."
"I'm already ready!"
"Of course you are."
Paulo laughed.
"I'll be there soon. I can't wait to meet my sister-in-law and my little niece."
Rakshit smiled and glanced at Shivika and their daughter.
"See you soon, Paulo."
"See you, brother."
The call ended.
Rakshit slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked at Shivika.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For trusting me."
Shivika smiled.
"I always will."
Shivika and the baby were both fast asleep when Rakshit decided to freshen up.
As he come out from washroom, the nurse came over and gave him a few instructions.
"For the next two or three days, make sure she eats light food. Less spicy, preferably more liquid-based food. It will be easier for her to digest and will also be good while she is feeding the baby."
Rakshit nodded attentively.
"Okay."
He immediately took note of everything.
He wanted to take care of it himself, but he didn't want to leave Shivika and the baby alone, even for a short while.
So he called Jhanvi and explained all the instructions to her, making sure she understood exactly what the nurse had said.
After ending the call, Rakshit glanced towards the baby.
She was still sleeping peacefully.
His eyes then moved towards Shivika.
The scarf that was covering her ears had shifted slightly, so he walked over and carefully adjusted it, making sure she was comfortable.
He had nothing particular to do now.
So instead of leaving, he simply sat beside the bed.
His eyes moved between his wife and daughter as his thoughts wandered.
A soft knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Rakshit immediately stood up.
Paulo stepped inside, a large bouquet in his hands.
"Hey, man. Long time."
Rakshit smiled and walked towards him.
"Yeah."
The two men exchanged a warm hug.
"Congratulations, new father!"
Paulo handed him the bouquet.
Rakshit accepted it with a smile.
"Thank you so much. But there was no need for this."
"What do you mean, no need?" Paulo scoffed. "I've already bought so many things. I'll send everything directly to your house."
Rakshit couldn't help but chuckle.
"You haven't even met the baby yet, and you've already started shopping for her?"
"Of course."
Paulo glanced towards the bed.
His eyes fell on Shivika, who was sleeping peacefully.
He lowered his voice.
"I'll meet them some other time. They're sleeping."
Rakshit shook his head.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to disturb their sleep."
He placed the bouquet carefully on the side table.
"But Shivika needs to wake up for her medicine anyway. I'll just wake her up, and you can meet her."
Paulo nodded, visibly relieved.
"Okay."
Rakshit walked towards the bed and leaned down beside Shivika.
"Ika... baccha."
He gently cupped her cheek.
"Get up. You need to take your medicine."
Shivika frowned sleepily, barely opening her eyes.
"Get up," he whispered again.
Her eyes slowly focused on him.
The moment she saw him, a sleepy smile appeared on her lips.
Without even thinking properly, she reached for his collar, clearly intending to pull him closer.
Rakshit immediately realized what she was about to do.
Before she could pull him down, he whispered,
"Paulo is in the room."
Shivika froze.
Her eyes widened.
She instantly let go of his collar and pulled her hand back as if she had been caught doing something terribly embarrassing.
Rakshit pressed his lips together, trying desperately not to laugh.
Shivika glared at him sleepily.
"You should have told me before waking me up."
"I tried."
"When?"
"Right before you tried to pull me down."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Aksh..."
Rakshit finally chuckled.
"Come on. Sit up. Your medicine is waiting."
Shivika slowly sat up, fixing her hair and adjusting her scarf while Rakshit stood beside her, still hiding his smile.
Paulo, who had been respectfully looking away, finally turned towards them.
Rakshit gestured towards him.
"Ika, this is Paulo."
Shivika looked towards the man standing beside Rakshit.
The moment his face registered in her mind, her smile disappeared.
She knew him.
But she quickly composed herself, making sure none of her recognition showed on her face.
"Hi," she said politely.
Paulo smiled and stepped closer.
"Hello, sister-in-law. Nice to meet you."
He extended his hand towards her.
Shivika briefly looked at Rakshit.
He smiled reassuringly at her.
She returned the smile before shaking Paulo's hand.
"I never thought this man would actually get married," Paulo said, glancing at Rakshit with an amused smile. "But after looking at you, I can understand why my brother didn't want to lose such a gem."
Rakshit chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.
Shivika immediately lowered her gaze, her cheeks turning pink.
Rakshit noticed but said nothing.
He picked up the medicine and handed it to her along with a glass of water.
"Take this."
Shivika nodded and swallowed the medicine before taking a sip of water.
Paulo watched her for a moment before asking concernedly,
"You both are doing fine, right? Any problem? Is there anything I can help with?"
His eyes moved from Shivika to Rakshit.
"Everything is fine," Rakshit assured him. "And stop worrying about everything."
He slipped an arm around Paulo's shoulders.
"Come. I'll introduce you to my daughter."
Only Rakshit knew how much happiness he felt every time he said those words.