"How's it going for you new mama," Payal asked Seema.
"Tiring," Seema said as she collapsed down onto the bed. "Lately he's been fussy at night and stays awake, and no matter how hard we try to get Shaurya to fall asleep, he refuses."
"I'm sure it's just a phase," Khushi smiled softly.
"I hope so. The pooping and the burping I can deal with, but a non-sleepy baby while I'm sleep deprived, I cannot."
"Well if it helps, maybe try to keep him up a little longer in the day so that he sleeps more at night. And swaddling should help as well, or so I've heard Arnav say."
"Let me guess - baby book?"
"One of many," Khushi grinned, rolling her eyes.
"Same here with NK, he just won't drop it," Seema rolled her eyes.
"I might have a solution," Payal said."
I'll do anything!"
"Just have him give the books to Akash."
"Give them to Akash? But why would he-?
"Khushi's eyes widened and so did Lavanya's.
"Shut the fuck up," Lavanya grinned.
Khushi placed her hand over Payal's. "You really mean...?"
Payal nodded. "I'm pregnant."
The room erupted with squeals of joy and all of the ladies hugged Payal, Payal unable to help herself, getting emotional.
"Oh my gosh congratulations," Khushi exclaimed.
"I'm so happy for you," Seema grinned.
"Another baby is joining the family, oh fuck yeah," Lavanya exclaimed.
The others rolled their eyes at Lavanya's choice of words, but they had to agree that it was true.
"This is going to be amazing! I can't wait to get a grip on Akash Bhai-"
"You can't," Payal cried out.
Everyone looked at Payal in confusion.
"What the-? Why," Khushi asked.
"I... I haven't told him...."
"Why not," Seema asked.
"Well... I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous."
"How come," Lavanya frowned.
"Did Akash say something," Khushi asked. "As far as I know, he's been wanting a child. That even seemed to be the case when you all came over to our place last time."
"No, it's nothing like that," Payal said, shaking her head. "It's just... I don't know, I'm just so nervous myself and I'm still processing it. I mean... it's been quite some time since Akash and I got married and...."
"And what," Khushi asked softly.
Payal let out a sigh. "People started saying things," she said very softly.
"What do you mean," Lavanya frowned.
"I didn't notice it at first but... the first time I ever heard anyone say anything was at work, some time ago. Some of the ladies were wondering how come even after being married for so long that there was no news of anything. At first I didn't let it get it to me, because the truth is we weren't even trying - we were only trying to live our lives and have fun. But eventually..." Payal let out another sigh. "People were just getting more and more cruel, and we had started trying for a moment, but then we kinda stopped because of things getting hectic at work for Akash, but even then nothing had worked so.... Some women sure can be nasty."
"What did they say," Khushi asked, her jaw tense.
"What else would they say," she scoffed sarcastically. "That I couldn't get pregnant, that something was wrong with me, or something was wrong with Akash-"
"Those bitches," Lavanya scowled.
"Harpies," Seema sneered.
"Whatever they are... I slowly started to believe them. For a moment I really thought that maybe something was wrong with me-"
Payal's voice cracked and she looked down, tears coming to her eyes. Khushi reached out and held her hand Seema holding her other hand, while Lavanya placed a hand over her knee.
"Hey, don't cry," Khushi soothed. "Obviously that's not true, and they're just bitter and jealous of you, that's all, forget them."
"Yeah, they're just a bunch of jealous whores," Lavanya said.
"I second that," Seema said.
Payal couldn't help her chuckle at her sister in law's words. "They are," and she wiped a tear away that had escaped. "But... it just really sucked that Ma had to hear things from other people as well. All those aunties...."
"Fuck them, they're just villains like in TV dramas," Lavanya said, rolling her eyes, and the other ladies chuckled.
Khushi turned back to Payal. "Have you been to the doctors?"
Payal nodded. "I went earlier today. I did intend on going as soon as I could, once I saw the 5 positive pregnancy tests but... I just couldn't believe it."
"How far along are you," Seema asked.
"Six weeks."
"Oh my gosh," the three ladies gushed.
"I know and... when I heard the heartbeat I just... I still can't believe this is really happening, I just...."
Khushi squeezed her hand lightly. "Well trust me, if you don't believe it now, you sure as heck will when your tummy starts getting big and round and you're waddling around everywhere like a penguin," she teased lightly.
Payal couldn't help her laugh, a few more tears escaping. "Holy crap, this is really happening, isn't it? And why am I getting so emotional for," she tried to chuckle off as she wiped away a few more tears.
"That's pregnancy for you," Khushi shrugged with a smile.
"You're pregnant?"
All the ladies looked up in surprise at the sound of Akash's voice, finding not only him at the door, but Arnav, NK, and Aman as well. All of the men looked absolutely surprised, but Akash looked completely stunned. Payal looked back at the other ladies and they nodded, reassuring her. Feeling a bit more positive, Payal got up and went over to Akash, his eyes still wide and on her.
"I'm pregnant," she lightly laughed. "I found out last week after taking a few tests, but I couldn't believe it myself, so I finally went to the doctors this morning and it really is true. I know I should've told you earlier but I just-"
But Payal was immediately cut off as Akash caressed her cheeks and kissed her. The others cheered and whooped with joy as Akash let go of her lips and rested his forehead against hers.
"You're not mad at me," Payal asked softly.
"Not at all baby, I'm so happy," and Akash hugged her.
Lavanya began clapping. "Eep! Oh my gosh, we have to go tell the parents, they're going to be so excited!"
Without a word, Lavanya rushed out of the room and everyone followed after her. They all joined the adults downstairs, causing the elders to get curious when they saw them. But as soon as Akash and Payal announced the great news, everyone was ecstatic, especially Manorama. She showered Payal and Akash with hugs and kisses and she couldn't believe that she was actually going to become a grandmother!
"Ugh, this is all just so exciting," Lavanya gushed, gripping onto Aman's arm.
"Yeah, I don't think I can top this at all," Aman said.
Lavanya looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean? And wait, I thought we were meeting tomorrow since I had this thing going on with the family tonight."
"Yeah but um, I was told to come since I'm a part of the family, or at least, hopefully will be."
"What do you mean?"
Aman released his arm and reached into his pocket as he bent down on one knee. Lavanya gaped at him in shock, the other members of the family also looking at them in shock.
"Aman," Lavanya gasped, but she couldn't say anything else.
"I, um... well it was quite the process to get here. Not only did I ask your father for your hand in marriage, but I went through your brothers as well..."
Lavanya looked at them, each of the men looking at her with a confident yet gentle smile.
"And they all gave me their blessing quite easily actually...."
The Raizada ladies looked at the husbands in shock, surprised that they didn't make things difficult on Aman. But then again, they had known Aman for quite some time now, so it did also make sense why they didn't.
"So since I have their blessing... Lavanya Raizada, will you marry me?"
"Are you fricking kidding me, yes," Lavanya exclaimed.
Lavanya's tears flowed free as Aman placed the ring on her finger, and as Aman stood up, he picked Lavanya up into his arms and swung her around with joy, everyone else either clapping, or clapping while shedding a few tears. They congratulated them and everyone was beyond happy! Luckily for the infants, who had been asleep, taking their nap, had decided to wake up then and join the festivities.
As the family all sat down together for dinner, Khushi couldn't help but to look around at everyone. Aman and Lavanya were wrapped up in their love bubble, absolutely happy, Lavanya admiring her ring. NK and Seema were cooing at their little one as NK fed Shaurya his bottle. Akash and Payal were very happy, however it seemed that her devar was already getting very protective, fussing about what she should eat and what she shouldn't eat. Looking at the elders, she could see that Kaki Ma was over the moon, excited for her coming grandchild, although she seemed to be on Payal's side, thinking that Akash was going way beyond protective, Bade Papa also seeming to agree with his wife. As for Choti Ma, she looked very happy, her and Chote Papa smiling at NK, Seema, and their grandson, as well as at Lavanya and their future son in-law. As for her Ammu and Papa, she saw the way they were doting over Ahana, and she couldn't be more happier for them.
"Khushi?"
Khushi snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Arnav, who had his eyebrow arched. She simply shook her head to gesture that it was nothing and sighed, looking down her bump and placing her hand over it before turning her attention to Aarav, who was having fun in his father's lap while toying with his father's phone. She couldn't help her smile and kissed the little one on his head.
Aryan picked up his glass and stood up. "I think a toast is in requirement here, we have many things to celebrate."
Everyone nodded and held their glasses up.
"To Aman and Lavanya - Aman, we've known you for quite some time now and have already considered you as part of the family, but we look forward to officially making you a part of it.
"To Nandkishore and Seema - I, like everyone else, am very proud of you two and am really happy for the bundle of joy you have brought into the universe, and I know it can be hard dealing with a newborn and there may be some points where you will feel very sleep deprived, but I know that in the end you two will do very well and raise Shaurya to be a strong, wonderful man.
"To Akash and Payal - we are all very happy for you two and thank you for not only the wonderful news, but for helping to make this family grow. I understand that society hasn't always been nice to you two, as I've heard some of the nasty things people had to say, and no one took it nicely - not any of us elders and I'm sure neither of you. But you two didn't let that bring you down and now here we are! We all look forward to meeting your little one and congratulations.
"To my son, Arnav, and my beautiful daughter Khushi - Khushi, you truly are the embodiment of happiness. Ever since you came into our lives, there has been nothing but happiness. Yes, there were those few dark moments, but you didn't let that take over, you helped to fight it. You not only fought it, but brought light in as well. You brought my light back, my Shalini back, allowing for me to experience fatherhood again. Not only did you bring Shalini back and help me get Ahana, but you've given me a wonderful grandson, and soon, a granddaughter, and I cannot wait to meet her. You truly are, not only the best thing to happen to Chote, but to all of us. Thank you."
Khushi couldn't help her tears, Arnav reaching over and giving her hand a light squeeze.
"To family!"
"To family," everyone echoed and they cheered, everyone completely in joy.
*~*
As time went on, Khushi becoming more and more heavily pregnant, her relief was somewhat relieved. As Arnav had said, he had gotten a private investigator to look into Abhay, and what Abhay had said to his parents was true. Abhay was absolutely harmless, living his life and never wanting to associate with anything his mother had to do with. It took a moment for Arnav to come terms with this, as he was very on guard and protective of his family, but he eventually relaxed and came to the terms that Abhay was never going to be a problem. Their family was safe and they no longer had any worries to trouble them....
For now.
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