Dark Paradise Chapter Forty Four

Khushi sat around downstairs waiting for Arnav, recently he'd been working so hard that she never saw him, he always came home late, told her to go to sleep and she had been doing so to avoid him getting worried about her health. But enough was enough, she missed spending time with him and seeing him, he should give some time to his wife! She sat at the dinner table, it was reaching eleven 'o' clock in the evening and Khushi's eyes felt heavy, her body was becoming slack and the drowsiness was taking over.
"Ouch!" Khushi said as her hands automatically went to her bump, the baby had kicked her extremely hard. "Lagta hai ek hor laad governer aane-wala hai, don't worry baby I'm going to spend time with pappa no matter what. Tumhe mujhe marne ki zuroorat nahi, I'll stay awake." She said to her bump, she grabbed some water from her glass and splashed it on her face to keep her awake. Everyone had told her again and again to go to bed, it wasn't good for the baby etc etc. But Khushi was adamant, the past few days Arnav came in when she was asleep and left before she woke up and this was not how Khushi wanted it to be. Arnav came in and began to undo his tie, he was exhausted, everyone he seemed to be working with was incompetent and lazy. Everyone always was in awe over how he rose to the top at such a young age when really it was very simple he worked hard and wasn't an idiot, that's all there was to it in his opinion. He walked towards the dining room to go warm up his food when he was startled by the sight of Khushi. Khushi who was impatiently tapping her spoon on her plate and staring off into the distance. Arnav smiled as he realised she was waiting for him but then grew angry as he realised she must have stayed angry this whole time. He cleared his throat which drew Khushi's attention towards him. She smiled and then frowned.
"Is this a time to be coming home?" She asked him angrily and Arnav looked at her with shock.
"Excuse me?" He asked and Khushi gave him a disgruntled look.
"I have been waiting for hours to spend a little time with you, aur tum, gyaara vaaje aaye. Okay work is work but what's the point in work if you can't even live?" She asked and Arnav rolled his eyes.
"I think I'm the one who should be lecturing you here. I didn't ask you to stay up this late and by doing so you've not only made yourself cranky but also deprived our baby in the process." He said, Khushi realised he had her there and smiled at him.
"Chorro na, mein khaana laga deti hoon." She said sweetly as she went to heat up the dinner.

Arnav smiled to himself, she had a habit of changing the subject when she was losing a fight, completely dismissing it, he pulled the chair out and sat down. Khushi came in with the food and they both sat down and began to eat. At first neither spoke because they were both too busy trying to satiate their hunger. After a while Arnav broke the silence.
"So what did I miss today?" He asked and Khushi smiled as she finished off her food, she wiped her hands and face and then began.
"Well we started to plan Di's godh barhaai today, it got me thinking about mine, it'll come up soon wont it so obviously I started thinking about it. Then I thought about you at work and how you miss out on everything." She said bitterly and Arnav gave her a reproachful look. "Anyway then I thought that what will happen when I go into labour." She said and Arnav looked confused.
"You have the baby, what else do you expect to happen?" He asked wandering why she was saying such stupid things.
"No I mean, you will be at work. What happens if you get stuck in traffic or you don't get my calls, I can't have this baby alone. I wont have this baby alone. If I have to go through all that pain you have to be there too." She said and Arnav looked at her with slight worry. She had a point, traffic in Delhi was always nightmare-ish and there was no way he could justify taking all this time off.
"Khushi don't worry I'll be there." Arnav said with conviction but Khushi was not convinced.
"Arnav! You are not God that if you say something it will happen. What happens if you're not there and you miss it? Or what if...what if something goes wrong?" Khushi asked, fear clear in her voice. Arnav looked at her, her lips trembling and her face pale. He quickly wiped his hands and face and walked over to Khushi, he knelt down beside her and clasped her hand into his own, with the other hand he guided her face gently to look at his.
"Khushi, there is no way anything bad is going to happen to you or our baby and as for me missing it. There isn't a force in heaven or hell that could stop me from being there." He said with such honesty that even Khushi couldn't challenge him. He smiled at her and tilted his head.
"Chale? I'm really tired Khushi." He said, Khushi noted the dark circles and the weariness on his face, she was sure her worries weren't helping him right now. She nodded, he helped her get up, giving her both his hands and then wrapping one hand around her waist just so his hand touched the growing bump and the other hand held one of hers. Arnav smiled.
"What?" Khushi asked as they made their way upstairs.
"If you carry on like this you can forget me ever lifting or catching you again." He said as he began to laugh, Khushi hit him playfully, he was being mean but he had laughed and as much as she hated it she loved his laugh and would even let herself be made ridicule just to hear it.

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