Pregnant with Ex-husband's baby

Chapter 2

Nithila

“What do think about that boy, Nithi?”

The small piece of dosa that I swallow returns back to my throat when my dad indirectly mentions him. I was prepared for this question since the minute we sat down to have dinner but it still comes as a surprise to me.

I stifle the cough by clearing my throat. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of my siblings who I am sure are expecting me to do the exact same. “He’s okay, appa..”

“What do you mean by okay, di?” My mom barges in from the kitchen balancing the newly made dosa on a spatula before she flips in on my brother’s place. “He’s not a dress that you can say ‘okay’ to. This is your life, we want you to be more precise in your answers..”

“How would I know amma, we spent like ten minutes together so, how do you expect me to say anything more than ‘okay’?” I don't allow my eyes to stray away from my plate.

I am not angry or upset with her. She is the funniest person I know on this planet and she loves us all so much. I know she is only curious to know my opinion about her possible son-in-law.

Yes, I know this certainly that in her head, she already considers Kavin her son-in-law otherwise, she wouldn’t have persuaded my dad to let his family visit us. Before him, she had rejected at least a dozen guys who wanted to come to us with a marriage proposal.

“She’s right, amma..” There comes my savior, my beloved brother. There is a reason I love this guy above everyone else in this whole damn world. “It’s too soon for her to make a decision..”

I flashed him a grateful smile and mouthed a ‘thanks’.

“Okay, at least tell us what you two talked..” My mom pries and I have no option but to tell her what we talked about. Our plates are empty at this point but no one makes a move to get out of their seats.

“He sounds decent to me..” My mom remarks but looks slightly disappointed at Kavin for some reason. And my guess is she didn’t like the fact that he didn’t try to get my number without my sister having to literally force him to do it in front of our families.

I can’t blame her completely. Boys jump at the first chance to get a girl’s number and it sows a seed of suspicion in my head but I push the thoughts aside.

“Fine, so let’s wait for his parents to call us and let us know what they think. If everything works out then we can proceed with the marriage talks. What do say, Nithi?” My dad asks.

"It's okay with me if it's okay with you all.." I blanch when I realize what I just told them but I think this is what every Indian parent wants to hear from their kids.

And with that, we leave the dining table to help our mom to clean the kitchen with Ilayaraja’s melodies being played in the background. It’s our daily routine and we all love doing it.

**

“Come on, Akka, tell me more about what you guys talked..” Nadhiya nudges my arm as we walk to our room.

“I told you everything..” I am quick to answer her as we both flop on our joined beds. We are still wearing the clothes from earlier and I am so lazy to change out of them.

“You mean, what you told in front of appa and amma?” She widens her eyes dramatically and rolls over on her tummy to stare down at me, “I am sure there’s got to be something cheesier that you couldn’t share with our parents. But I’m your sister, you can tell me anything and your secret would still be safe. Come on, Please..”

“Kadavule, Nadhiya..” I give her a slight shove to show my annoyance towards her, “All we got was ten minutes and I swear we couldn’t talk anything cheesier in those ten minutes..” I air-quoted the word.

“But you wanted him to, right?” She looks like a kid who’s got her first Barbie.

“No..” That’s not completely true but she doesn’t have to know it.

“Okay, tell me just one thing..” She sits up cross-legged on the bed, “Do you like him?”

I feel my cheeks warm up instantly. What’s there to not like about him? I sigh internally.

“He's okay..” I shrug, trying to look level-headed. I mentally slap myself for using the same 'okay' which got my mom so pissed earlier.

“Okay?” A screech flies out of her mouth, “Just okay? He’s athletic, tall, broad, sexy and smoking hot and you call him okay?”

“Do you want me to tell Karthik of all the adjectives that you used to describe another male?” I remind her of her boyfriend who was going to become her husband next year or so.

As much as she isn’t saying it aloud, I know my sister wants me to get married soon.

Karthik’s been our neighbor since the time he was roaming around in diapers. He is a great guy and a good friend. Being only a couple of months older than Nadhiya, they are inseparable and it didn’t come as a surprise to any one of us when they told us that they love each other and want to spend their life together. My parents straight away approved of their relationship.

He is now planning to move to the US but his parents want them married before that happens. I am literally the only hindrance to their marriage since the younger girl in the family cannot get married before the elder one.

I have tried to convince my parents about it but the answer is always a big ‘NO, that’s not going to happen. She will get married only after you. Karthik can go marry whoever he wants if he can’t wait a little longer..”

As much as I want to get married to the first guy who likes me, I also do not want to make any hasty decisions. This is my life, we are talking about.

My sister snorts sassily and that breaks my chain of thoughts, “What? Just because I am committed doesn’t mean I can praise other men..”

I shake my head with a short laugh and turn to lie on my back to stare at the ceiling, “I cannot deny the fact that he is good-looking but he also sounded too arrogant to me. Not to mention the disinterest he showed towards me..”

“Good-looking men are always arrogant, Akka..”

I toss her a look that clearly says how disappointed I am with her suggestion, “And is that even an acceptable trait in a man? You should really stop reading those arrogant, bad-boy billionaire novels. They are messing with your head..” I slam a book that’s lying on her side of the bed with a similar kind of title.

Falling for the bad boy.

The most heart-breaking thing is women are the ones who write such novels where the female lead is bullied, tortured, and suppressed yet she falls in love with her tormentor. Books like those should be banned in my opinion.

"I don't care if he isn't interested in me. It's not like I am dying to marry him or anything. There are so many guys out there like him.."

"Oh really, name one of them for me, please?" She challenges me with a smirk and my hands itch to slap that annoying smirk out of her face.

"Right, there isn't a man so handsome like Kavin.." She answers when I remain quiet, "..expect for Karthik, obviously.." She adds and we both begin to giggle like school girls.

“Akka, you think too low of yourself. Have you seen yourself? If Kavin is good-looking then you are beyond gorgeous and he will be the luckiest guy in the world to have you as his wife.." Even though she annoys me so much at times she knows how to warm my heart with just a flick of her finger.

"Just imagine..” Now she can’t still on the bed and keeps bouncing with excitement. “He’s going to be a famous cricketer soon and if you marry him, you will be all over the internet and newspapers. I cannot wait to see that day. Do you even know how amazing it would be to introduce myself as Mrs. Nithila Kavin's sister?”

“I can become famous without having to marry him. You are hurting the feminist in me..” I shove her and turn away to lie on my side so that I don’t have to face her anymore.

“I know. I know. I am just kidding. God, you and that feminist that resides within you..” I am sure she is rolling her big brown eyes. “Don’t think too much about it, Akka. I will kick anyone’s ass who tries to hurt you, I don’t care how good-looking or world-famous he is..”

That makes me smile to myself before I close my eyes.