Isha’s arrival had made a huge difference to the lives of the inmates of Mehra Mansion. Everyone of them wanted their slice of time with her and fought amongst themselves to get to her. Feeding time was the only time Pragya could exclusively spend with her daughter. The rest of the time which included playing time, sleeping time, even nappy changing time was shared by Abhi, Baba, Bua and even Ramu kaka. Every day Baba kept finding innovative ways to entertain in his little grand daughter. He also sang her lullabies in his deep baritone voice to put her to sleep. His doctor was amazed that his blood pressure which was always on the higher side was well within normal limits and advised him to stop taking his BP pills as his grand daughter seemed to be a better medicine.
Bua, who kept saying that she will leave after Pragya’s delivery, was reluctant to return to her home. In the pretext of helping the new mother she found an excuse to spend time with her little grand niece. She took it upon herself to prepare all the herbal remedies to take care of normal complaints that little babies may have like tummy upsets or colic pain or constipation. Pragya tried to expain to her that as long as she was feeding the baby, she need not worry about these things but she wouldn’t listen to her. She also showed Pragya how to bathe the baby but even after Pragya learnt the art, she never let her bathe Isha, insisting on doing it herself. Every morning she massaged the baby’s body with ghee and wheat flour balls saying that it would improve her grand niece’s complexion. Abhi overheard this and expressed his annoyance at Bua’s remark. How could she even consider his daughter’s complexion needed improvement in the first place, he asked her and had to be reassured that she thought that Isha was the most beautiful baby in the world.
Ramu kaka too found his unique way of spending time with the baby. He made different instruments in natural matter such as bamboo, coconut shell, sticks etc and played them for his little guddi, making her gurgle in laughter.
Abhi’s efficiency at work had nearly quadrupled as he was keen to get back home as early as possible and whisk ‘his’ daughter away from the prying eyes and hands of his relatives. Once he was around, the rest of the family could not as much as lay a finger on her. He completely monopolised all the time. He sang perfectly off-key songs to her; he played with her; he burped her; he changed her diapers; he even read bed-time fairy tales to her although the poor little baby could not comprehend a single word he said. Sahana too took a fondness to her dad. She recognised his face around the time she recognised her mother’s face, i.e., in a month’s time. She seemed to absolutely adore his ever trimmed beard and his hair, for as soon as he lifts her up her tiny hands would invariably extend to them, pulling and tugging at them.
Although Pragya got to spend less time with her baby, her cup of joy was just overflowing seeing all the love and care her daughter was getting. Not only was her baby being taken care of but she too was receiving a lot of loving care. Bua kept a hawk like eye on what Ramu kaka was serving her. Her diet was modified to help in lactation. Bua also showed her how to tie her tummy up with a band to push the sagging flesh in and soon her body returned back in shape, a fact that did not escape the keen eye of her admiring and doting husband, although she herself was unaware of the effect her shapely figure had on his senses.
Isha was a relatively easy baby to handle and did not wake up more than twice every night. Not wanting to disturb Abhi’s sleep, Pragya kept the baby’s cradle close to her so that as soon as she made the smallest whimper, she woke up to feed her or change her nappies. Although Abhi was aware of Pragya’s night vigil he did not let her know he was awake, for he knew she will feel guilty for troubling him.
Their relationship had reached a stage where although they continued to hesitate in expressing their love for each other vocally, the awkwardness that they felt in displaying their physical attraction towards each other was slowly disappearing. Pragya did not feel the need to cover herself up whenever Abhi walked in on one of her feeding sessions. Abhi did not hesitate to change his clothes in front of her. They were behaving like any normal couple although they had not taken their marital relationship to its logical conclusion. There were several times when Abhi nearly blurted out to Pragya how much he loved her but there was something that was always holding him back. Just what it was, he could not say.
Abhi’s relationship with Isha was something Pragya wondered a lot. She still remembered one incident which made her respect for him tenfolds more.
Ten days after Isha’s birth
After coming from office Abhi will be found only in Isha’s room that is their room sitting near her cradle admiring her or playing with her or singing songs for her. Ultimately Abhi spent almost all his time with Isha. Pragya thought he is not taking care of Himself being with Isha so she told him in stern tome to wash his hands and freshen up himself before touching Isha whilst she thought he will have some rest time. But what happened was surprising for Pragya.
Abhi freshened up from office when she asked about washing his hands. He told that he did it already. When she was folding his clothes the other day she saw a hand sanitizer, wet wipes and few more cleaning items with him.
That night when Abhi come after eating his dinner. He saw Pragya feeding Isha. After feeding her, Abhi took Isha in his hands holding her protectively before Pragya when he held her by neck to burp her Abhi gasped loudly. He quickly burped her and laid her in her cradle. Pragya worried and touched Isha and came to know she was burning with high fever. Abhi took his phone quickly and made phone to his doctor ordering him to come quick as soon as possible and he will pay whatever he want. He saw Pragya looking worried went near her and consoled near her. The doctor came after fifteen minutes this fifteen minutes abhi was more restless more than Pragya. He checked Isha ten seconds once. He took her in his bear hands and rocked her endlessly God knows for how many times.
The doc checked her and said that it may be from dust infection he told that he will put an injection. Abhi shouted at him that how can he hurt his little girl by giving the cruel weapon. Pragya chuckled even at that situation seeing his childish antics. The doc assured him that it is for his princess’s health. When the doctor was giving her injection Abhi held Pragya’s hands so tight as if he was feeling the pain as soon as the doctor took the injection out he picked Isha the next moment and rubbed the place before she could feel the pain. It took three days for Pragya the hand marks to vanish which abhi gave her. He later shouted at the poor servants for not keeping their room clean as it affected his princess health. He also warned them that if they do not keep their room clean they will be going to home. The next day itself the room was made clean with bottles and bottles of dettol and Abhi itself supervised the cleaning session every two days which made Pragya to wonder how much this gentle giant will do for them.
Days turned into weeks and weeks, into months. Soon Isha was nearly five months old. It was the day before their unforgettable first meeting in the train a year ago. Milind decided there could not be a better occasion than the anniversary of their first meeting to bare his heart to his wife and tell her how much he really loved her. He planned to make elaborate arrangements for the grand confession the following day.
Hii all thank you so so much for your comments i am feeling blessed by your love. I don’t have any words but I am so sorry I don’t have much time as in my hostel there is specific time for phone usage sorry for not replying you all hope u all forgive me and do give your comments in this episode. I dint know how it is I am sorry if I disappointed you all
Love u guys stay blessed and bye bye..