28. I Am Not Sick

"I filed for a divorce."

"What?" I was shocked to the core.

"We were never happy together. He forced me to stay with him so that his reputation wouldn't be ruined. I thought I would have no one even if I left him. Both my children hated me and my father would tell me to make it work somehow. I had nowhere to go. But now I do." she said with a small, sad smile.

"When?"  I said.

"A week ago. I have signed and sent the documents to your father. I am not going back. I will look for a job here and an apartment. I can do this, I don't want to be dependent on anyone now." she said and a tear escaped her eyes.

"Oh, mom. It will be okay." I assured her. "But do you really think he will agree to the divorce?"

"Not exactly. Your uncle is a lawyer and he knows I am not happy with him so I know he will do something. Meanwhile, I have to look for a job and a place to stay." she sighed.

"You can stay here." I said. "This place will be empty once the babies are here and Shiv's mom moves out. I don't know about Sanjana but there will be two rooms empty."

"You really think I should stay here?" she asked and I nodded. "Thank you so much."

She hugged me.

"Oh, it is nothing. The place is in our name anyway." I told her. She was my mom, the place was her property if it was mine.

"No, thank you for everything Naina, I was never there for you and now that I need you you are still helping me so much. Thank you." she said and hugged me, my eyes filled up with tears.

We pulled away and wiped our tears.

"I need to talk to dad, though." I told her. "I don't really want to."

"It is upto you. I know you are mad at him but you need to let off your anger. He is your father." she said. She was right, I would've had to face him sometime.

"I know. But what do I tell him? That I am in love with someone else and am currently pregnant with his babies? I don't think he will like that." I said.

"Ask him how he is and just talk as you did to him before." she said.

"I guess I could do that."

.

"Hey dad. How are you?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hello, sweetie. I am just fine. How are you?" his voice was oddly calm.

"I am great." I said. "Um...listen, dad. Mom told me about the divorce."

"Oh, she told you?" he asked with uncertainty.

"Yes. Are you fine with that?"

"I guess. We were never really in love, it will be better for your mom to move on." he said in a low voice.

"I am surprised you said that. What about your reputation and all the things you used to say?" he always did everything either for business or his reputation.

"I don't care about that now. What will be of our happiness if we keep thinking what others will say?" he said wisely.

"That is great."

"When are you coming for the wedding?" he asked.

Shit.

"I am busy for another 10 months. I guess I will be back a month before the wedding." I informed him. I couldn't go back when the babies are new born, I would've had to feed them and I wouldn't be able to do that there and there were a lot more complications.

"Okay. We are working on all of the functions and everything. It is going to be grand!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Okay dad. But do you think we could tone it down a little? I don't want a fancy and expensive wedding. Something simple would be better." I didn't want him to waste his money on a meaningless marriage.

"Okay, if that is what you want." he said.

That is different. I thought.

"Okay then I will call you later." I said, waiting to hang up the phone.

"Love you. Bye."

I hung up.

.

Shiv's POV-

I would be lying if I said I wasn't freaking out.

There was just a month left. Only a single month.

I will be a dad. I thought.

I was nervous and excited and also more nervous and a little more nervous.

It didn't hit me through all the 8 months before that but the more I thought about it, the more anxious I got.

I was happy too. I would have a family, an actual, functioning family. With Naina, the girl I loved and the two babies of our own. My mom, my dad, her mom.

Everyone was with us and I was utterly surprised how.

I never thought that my father would be bringing flowers for my mom and making her smile. I never thought he would bring toys and clothes for the babies. I never thought Naina would give  him as an example to me when he handed mom the flowers.

"Learn something." she said and rolled her eyes.

"Baby, I have already given you two gifts. They are just taking a little time to arrive." I said with a smile, referring to the babies.

"You didn't do that purposely. We all know you wouldn't have done that intentionally. Bringing flowers is intentional." she said and smacked my head before walking into the kitchen.

"Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Just felt like it." she said with a shrug.

I walked over to her and hugged her from behind as she stood in front of the stove to make pancakes for breakfast. I rested my head on her shoulder and she slightly leaned into me.

"Can you cook? I feel sick from the smell." she said.

"Okay." I said and she moved away from the kitchen. "What do you want to eat then?"

"I feel like eating a whole pizza by myself." she already did that a day before.

"Will you stop feeding junk to my children, woman?"

"They are craving for it." she smirked.

"They or you?" I asked her, raising one of my eyebrows.

"Same thing."

"You can't have a pizza for breakfast." I said to her.

"Are you challenging me?" she narrowed her eyes.

"No, I am not." I raised my hands up to surrender.

"Because if you are, I will kill you. I want pizza." she said trying to look intimidating but instead she looked like a cute little baby. I didn't even realise and a smile spread across my face.

"Why are you smiling? Are you trying to make fun of me?" she narrowed her eyes again.

"No. You are cute." I said with a smile and pulled her cheeks.

"Really?" she exclaimed with a big, toothy grin.

"Yes, really." I said and she hugged me tightly.

"I love you."

"I love you more than anything." I said truthfully.

Her mood swings were horrible. She went from happy to sad to angry in matters of seconds. It was scary, to be honest. I got used to it as months passed but they were still pretty much annoying.

The rest of the day went on as usual. I dreaded the next morning because I had to go to work, on a Monday. I couldn't even make the excuse of being with Naina because she was pregnant and needed care, there were a lot of people around for that. My mom and dad, her mom, Vivan, Ashwin, Sanjana. The house was filled with people, it wasn't possible for me to be alone with Naina for more that two minutes.

At night, we went to bed and she fell asleep at once, not giving me any chance to talk. Her arms snaked around my torso and her head rested on my chest. I felt comfortable and fell into a deep slumber.

.

Naina's POV-

I woke up and felt a lot of heat near me. It was December and the heat was on just enough to keep us away from the cold. I looked at Shiv and felt his body warming up more than the usual body temperature. His forehead had sweat beads.

I carefully got up and walked to the bathroom and took out the thermometer. I walked back and pushed it into his mouth. I waited for a few seconds and checked it.

He had a 105 degrees fever.I had told him a thousand times not to sleep shirtless during winters but he never listened.

His eyelashes fluttered and he clenched his eyes shut before opening them.

"Good morning." he said in his raspy morning voice which sounded a lot more raspier.

"You are sick." I said.

"What did I do now?" he asked, panicking slightly.

"No, I mean you are literally sick." I said and showed him the thermometer.

"No, I am not. I don't get sick." he said and sneezed.

"Whatever you say." I said and smirked.

"I am not sick." he said again.

"Okay." I said, knowing he would complain about something or the other in a few minutes.

He went into the bathroom to get ready for work. There was no way I was letting him go to work with a cold and fever.

He came out of the shower only in a towel around his hips.

"I have a headache." he whined.

"Okay." I said and sat down on the bed, scrolling through my phone. I was not going to say anything till he admitted that he was sick.

"Whatever. I am totally fine."

"Okay."

"Where are my pants?"

"Okay."

"So you are not goin-" he started but finished with a series of three sneezes.

"You definitely aren't sick." I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, I am not." he said and got dressed.

I walked out of the room and saw his mom sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

"Good morning." I greeted her and she returned it.

"Where is Shiv?" she asked me.

"He is very sick. He has a high fever and a cold but he's denying it and wants to go to work." I told her.

"I am not sick!" he yelled in a nasally voice from the kitchen.

"He always denies it. Trust me, when he feels weird, he will admit it." she whispered to me.

"I know, I am ignoring him till he admits that he is sick."

I heard a lot of sneezing from the kitchen.

"Why do I keep sneezing!?" he yelled.

"I don't know. I don't think you are sick." I said sarcastically.

"Okay, fine. I admit it. I am sick." he said and rolled his eyes while wiping his nose with a tissue paper and throwing it in the bin.

"Thank God! You finally admitted. How many times have I told you not to sleep shirtless? I always keep saying but you never listen. You have to drink cold water from the refrigerator even when it is snowing outside. When will you learn?" I scolded him.

"I don't need three moms. Okay? I am still expecting the other two to scold me." he said while pointing to the couch where his mom was sitting and was joined by mine.

"Fine. Go and get changed into something warmer. I will bring some medicines." I said pointing out to his grey suit.

He rolled his eyes and walked back into our room.

I walked to the medicine cabinet in the kitchen and picked up the bottles for cold and headache. There was one for fever but I checked the date and it was expired.

"Mom? Do you have a remedy or something for fever? The medicine is expired and it is snowing outside so I don't think anyone should go outside right now." I walked over to the living room.

"Make him sleep and sweat out as much as possible. It reduces the fever and don't let him out of the room or he will spread the cold everywhere." my mom said.

"Okay. Anything else?"

"I can make some soup for him." his mom said.

"Thank you." I said and walked back in the room with the medicines and a glass of water.

.

"I hate this." he groaned and pushed away the blanket.

"You are such a drama queen. Just sweat it out. We ran out of the medicine. Do you want me to go out in the snow?" I tried to blackmail him. I knew he would never let me go out alone when it was snowing.

"No, stay here." he pouted and pulled his body back into the blanket.

"That's it. Now go back to sleep and you will be better after you wake up." I said and kissed his hand lightly.

"Okay." he said.

"We also have to redecorate the guest room. We totally forgot about it." I reminded him.

"Okay, we will start tomorrow."

"We will start when you get better." I corrected him.

"Fine." he said and rolled his eyes before going back to sleep.