Pregnant with Ex-husband's baby

Chapter 5

The silence inside the car is nerve-wracking and I do everything to come up with something to start a conversation but luckily Kavin beats me at it. “This is so weird, right?”

“What is weird?” I twist my head to him and furrow my brow.

“All our lives our parents told us not to go out with the opposite s*x and do the whole dating thing but now suddenly they are throwing us together. Why can’t middle-class Indian parents be out-going like westerners?”

“Because this is our culture and maybe we will do the same thing when it comes to our kids..” I mentally slap myself for saying the last part. By our kids, I don’t mean his and my kids. What I mean is, never mind. Anyway, I am glad he didn’t seem to notice that part.

“You mean to say this is perfectly okay for you?” His question makes me bristle.

“Our parents want to safeguard us in every possible way and give the best for us. What’s wrong with any of this?”

“Nothing..” He shrugs, “I am just wondering how this is even going to work when we hardly know each other..”

“That is why we are here out today..” I pause then say, “to get to know each other and I am sure our parents won’t force us to marry each other if we don’t work out.”

It stings a little to know that he thinks that it’s not going to work between us but I quickly scold myself about it. I don’t want to expect anything from him and end up being heartbroken if we don’t get along well and decide to not get married.

No, heartbroken is too big a word, maybe I would end up being disappointed but definitely not heartbroken.

Since his house is close to the beach, we reach in a matter of minutes. After parking the car, we slowly walk on the soft sand and let me tell you, it’s an excruciatingly long walk to the shore.

Walking on the beach sand wrapped in a saree, I suddenly feel like I am a bit overdressed to be on the beach.

“So, tell me about yourself..” Kavin says and for the time being, I forget about my discomfort.

“Uhmm.. I was born in Pondicherry and moved to Chennai when I was twelve years old. I have lived here since then and now I am doing my residency in gynecology..”

“Pondicherry?” For the first time, I see a smile appear on his face and the dimple that I saw in that picture is really present. I was beginning to think it was photoshopped or something. “It’s a really nice place..”

“Have you been there before?”

“Many times, with my friends..” His answering grin speeds up my pulse. God, he’s got a beautiful smile. Slightly crooked but every time he flashes it, his eyes twinkle playfully and that heart-throbbing dimple jumps up.

“What are your hobbies?” He questions again, sitting on the beach sand and patting the space beside him.

I sit next to him, maintaining a decent distance between our bodies but the heat emanating from his body is like a blast from the furnace. I suddenly remember Nadhiya saying he's hot but what I think is, he's not just physically hot but also temperature-wise hot. Focusing on our conversation, I try to reply to him, “I read books and sketch when I am free. What about you?”

“I play cricket, that’s it..” He offers a little shrug. “Do you watch cricket?”

His gaze travels over me, causing the hair on my skin to stand up. “About that..” I drag nervously, “I am not a big fan of cricket..”

“What? Are you serious?” I watch as his eyes grow round like a ball.

I know. I know. I wonder the same thing as him. How crazy it is to be an Indian and not like cricket and on top of that you might get married to a cricketer.

“Yeah, actually my brother’s a football fanatic, and my sister and I got used to watching only football matches..” I shrug to lighten the air.

“Great!!” This time there’s no doubt that I hadn’t made an impression on him but I am not here to impress him. If we are to get married and live together, we need to learn to respect our differences.

We both fall into a deep silence after that. It’s only five in the evening and still very bright. My eyes are fixed on the waves that are crashing on the shore but my mind is somewhere else, focused fully on the guy beside me.

Kavin’s a lot bigger than I thought with impossibly broad shoulders, muscular chest and legs stretching out for miles in front of him.

I clear my throat when I a question shows up in my head, “Do you have or had any girlfriends?”

No matter how hard I try to fight it, the thought of him having a potential girlfriend brings a bitter taste to my tongue.

“No. Never got the chance to mingle with girls..” He answers keeping his eyes on the setting sun.

I am not surprised by his answer because the boys here are like that. Take my brother for instance. He ducks out and stays in his room whenever a friend of mine visits me. He becomes the shiest person on this planet.

“What about you?”

I laugh, “None..”

And I see a lop-sided grin. “At least we have something common in us..” He remarks under his breath.

Right then, a boy of around ten years comes by, holding a large metal can in his hands and even before he could say anything, we know what’s in there.

Sundal.

Its boiled chickpeas garnished with mustard seeds, curry leaves, sliced raw mango and grated carrots. The heavenly tasting delicacy is served in newspaper rolled into a cone. I know they aren’t cooked in a very hygienic condition but they are worth dying for.

“You want some?” Kavin asks, pointing a finger at the boy's can.

“Sure..” Who in their right mind can say no to beach Sundal?

“Give us two, da thambi..” He hands the boy a twenty rupees note.

“Anna, sorry it almost got over. There’s only as much for one.” The boy gives him only one cone in return.

“Do you mind sharing it?” Kavin asks me and I see the hesitation in his eyes.

“No..” I answer him, “One is fine..”

When the kid leaves, Kavin stretches it to me and I dip my fingers in to take a small amount from it and he does the same after me.

“How do you feel about marrying an amateur cricketer like me?” He sighs as he pops another batch into his mouth. “What if I don’t make it to the Indian cricket team and just end up playing on the streets? Aren’t you worried about your future with me?”

“Maybe?” It’s my turn to sigh, “Honesty I haven’t given so much thought about it but in case, if you don’t make it big, I would never think that it’s the end to our future. I mean, if not cricket, there must be something else for you..”

He chuckles, “You are way too optimistic..”

“Yeah, I am..” I laugh and when I am about to take some of the delicious snacks, our fingers brush and I feel a small bolt of electricity radiating from the touch and pass through me. His gaze darts to me and a shy smile makes its way on my lips. I force myself to look away from his gorgeous face and quickly withdraw my hand back.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to be near him and not get intimidated. I’m still nervous as hell but I must also say that something about Kavin puts me at ease, like a sense of belonging.

He hasn’t made me uncomfortable in any way and I want to give myself a reward for successfully passing this evening with a complete stranger. I have been to this place at least a hundred times before but coming here with Kavin gives me a totally different feel, a good different feel.

By the end of the evening, I get to know about his favorite kind of music, food, place, color, his best friends’ names and everything that I could think of asking him. He too had a lot of questions to ask me and I would say that overall ‘our getting to know each other outing’ turned out to be fruitful so far.

I don’t know what he thinks about it, though and I am in no way planning to ask him because I know our moms would do it for us.

When we go back to Kavin’s place, it’s past dinner time and my parents are already waiting for us outside.

“How did it go?” Kavin’s mom asks even before I could get out of the car.

Kavin walks around and comes to stand next to me but doesn’t mind answering his mom so, I guess I have to do it.

“It was good, Aunty..” I say and push my hair behind my ear.

“That’s nice..” She hugs me before my dad reminds us that it’s time to go home.

“Thanks for having us here..” My mom holds her hands with a wide grin.

“I wish you all stayed for dinner..” She muses with a slight pout.

“Some other time, now that we are all going to keep meeting often..” My mom speaks and I think she is trying to hint to everyone that this marriage might actually happen.

My heart rate quickens when Kavin turns to me and even manages a casual smile. “It was nice getting to know you, Nithila..”

This was the first time he spoke my name and boy did it feel amazing coming from his lips.

“Same here..” My cheeks hurt as I fight against the blush on them and when I lose the battle, I use my hand to cover them with an excuse to tuck my hair away.

“Goodnight then..” He pushes his hands into his pant pockets and they all walk us to our car.

“Goodnight..” I bid farewell to everyone, ignoring the equal dose of disappointment and heaviness in my heart to think of going back home.

Kavin opens the car door for me and waits for me to get in, “Text me once you reach home..”

Just like that his words make my heart flutter, “Uhmm yeah. Sure bye..”

And the next moment, he’s gone leaving me feeling empty and yearning, for I don’t know what.

“Well?” Nadhiya speaks to me in a whisper. She was seated in between me and our mom in the back seat while Nilay was driving the car and our dad was in the passenger seat, admiring how friendly Kavin’s parents are.

“What?” I give her a shrug to look oblivious to what she meant.

“What do you think of him now?”

I bite my lip, “I don’t know for sure but I think I might like him..”

“Appa, amma. Did you hear what she said? She likes him..” Nadhiya screams to my parents and I hear echoes of laughter within the car. “Yeh! My sister is getting married!!” He hugs the life out of me.

I can’t be mad at her when she’s being so annoyingly cute and I giggle in secrecy.