Sonakshi stood up from where she had been sitting on the bed.

'Rohit!'

'Tum yahan ho? Mein har jagah tumhe dhoond raha hun kab se..' he didn't sound too happy.

'Woh..mein to Arihaan ko lene..'

He scooped up Arihaan, who had already reached him, and was lifting his arms for Baba.

'Come..mujhe kuch baat karni hai tumse..'

Sonakshi swallowed.
'Han, chalo..thanks, Pari! You are always such a big help.'

'My pleasure, Di! Bye, bye, Arihaan!'
She gave him a flying kiss.
'Goodnight, Jiju!'

They all filed out of the room. Rohit was quiet till they reached their room, and he deposited Arihaan in his playpen.

Sonakshi turned to go.

'Hold it! Tum kahan ja rahi ho?'
He raised an eyebrow, and folded his arms across his chest.

'Woh, mein to..bathroom..'

'Fine..hurry up..'

Sonakshi hurried inside and shut the door.

He's mad at me..bas control kiye hua hai..

She quickly hurried out, to see him changing Arihaan. But he wasn't as playful as he usually was with his son.

'Baba! Ballll!'

'Hmm..Arihaan ko ninni aarahi hai?'

'Ninni..ninni!'

Rohit turned, as he saw Sonakshi looking at them. He gave her a look and went to fix Arihaan his bottle for the night.

'Rohit..'

'Just wait..'
His tone was neither happy nor upset.
Sonakshi bit her lip, and went to sit on the bed, while Rohit gave Arihaan his bottle.

Every minute was becoming heavy for Sonakshi, as she waited for him to vent out at her.
Finally, Arihaan slept, and Rohit went to put his feeder in the steriliser.

'Rohit! Please! Kuch to bolo..aise silent treatment..'

'Kya bolun? You seem to have made all the decisions, to mein kon hota hun roknay wala?'

Sonakshi's mouth hung open. Of all the things she had expected him to say, that hadn't been one of them. He was too calm.

'Mun band kar lo..'
Sonakshi did just that, in surprise.
'Or yeh batao kab jaana hai Pune?'

'Tumhe kaise..tum..woh mein..'
Sonakshi skipped over her words, at his calmness. She had really expected him to blow his top.

'Mom ne bataya..ke pooray  din ka kaam hai..'

'Woh, Pune mein hamare hospital ki dispensary hai. Uss ka contract khatam horaha hai to I need to go sign the documents. I really tried, but no one else can go on my behalf.'

'Sona! I didn't ask you the reason. I know you wouldn't, if you absolutely didn't have to.'

He sounded matter of fact, but Sonakshi was still surprised.

'So, you don't have a problem? Phir itna ghussay mein kyun lag rahe thay? That silent treatment, that scowling face?'

'Mein koi jallaad husband hun kya, jo tantrum throw karega? You thought I'll scream and shout?'
He frowned.

Sonakshi's expression told him, that it was exactly what she had thought.

'I'm sorry, but tumhara jo record raha hai..uss se or kya sochti..'
Sonakshi scrunched her nose at him.

Rohit actually chuckled at that, leaving her eyes widened.

'Aaj tabyat to theek hai na tumhari?'
Sonakshi gave him a funny look.

'Kyun?'
He tilted his head.

'Nahin..woh aaj apne character se hatt ke baaten kar rahe ho, to socha pooch lun.'

'Ha! Ha! Very smart! Chalo, ab batao to, ke jaana kab hai tumhe?'

Rohit turned off the main lights, gave Arihaan a glance, and came to sit on the bed. He patted the bed next to him, and Sonakshi got up to join him.

'Day after tomorrow..'

'Okay..or kab jaana hai?'

'I guess early morning..3 hours ki to drive hai..han, baba..driver ko leke jaungi..'
As he opened his mouth to speak.

Rohit laid down, taking her with him, so that her head rested on his arm.

'Tumhe sab pata hota hai na?'

'Ofcourse..'
Sonakshi smiled, flinging her leg over his.
Her foot touched his, and he jerked.

'Sona! Why are your feet so cold?'
He lifted his head to see.

'Kahan cold hain? Theek to hain..'

'Tumhe sab kuch bhi pata nahin hota, it seems..'
He sat up and touched her feet.
'Yes! They are cold. Or aaj to olive oil..'

'It's okay, Rohit! Blanket daal lungi pairon pe..woh AC..'

Rohit got off the bed, moving to get the oil, and also switching off the air-conditioning.

'Aray! Band kyun? Tumhe to kitni garmi lagti hai..'

'To? Meri biwi comfortable na ho, or mein rahun? I'll be fine..'

He quickly massaged her feet, so she could rest and go to sleep.

                ***********

'Kya hua, Sona? Soyi nahin?'
Rohit saw her in the midst of lying down on the bed.

'Uff..yeh raat ki bladder calls..'
Sonakshi sounded really sleepy, as she settled on her pillow.

'Kahin neend mein gir na jao..mujhe utha..'

'Oh, come on, Rohit! Ab washroom jaane ke liye bhi tumhe uthaungi?'
She sounded a bit irritated.

'Han, agar neend mein chakkar..'

'Kisi din girnay lagungi, to I'll call you..'
She said sarcastically, but he didn't get it.

'Aray! Jab tak pukaaro gi or mein wahan pohnchunga, to pata nahin kya..'

'Rohit! Go back to sleep, you crazy man!'
Sonakshi turned on the other side, showing him her back.

'But, Sona..'

'I'm not even listening..'
She covered her ear with a cushion.

'Okay, okay..value hi nahin hai koi, pyaar karne wale husband ki..'
He mumbled to himself, bringing a grin to Sonakshi's face, as she drifted back off to sleep.

              ************

The day before Sonakshi was to go to Pune, her schedule went haywire.
She had planned it such, that she would spend extra time with Arihaan, so that even if she got in late, she wouldn't miss him that much.
The more Sonakshi was getting tired these days, the more active Arihaan was becoming. He wanted to play, play and play some more. She couldn't refuse him, so, no matter how much she felt like easing her frequent backaches by lying down, she would bear it and play with Arihaan.

But as she was finishing up her clinic, ready to leave, two accident cases arrived.
It was apparently a husband and wife, whose car a truck driver had hit. They were both injured, and immediate surgery was required if they were to be saved. Sonakshi had open abdominal wounds to deal with, and she quickly scrubbed, as soon as she heard.

The surgeries took up her whole day.
She had to ask Tulsi to call Rohit to inform him. She knew he would be worried if she didn't make it home on time, when she had said she would.
Veena had called herself,  and been told what happened.

It was almost after 10 in the night, when Sonakshi reached back home.
She had to travel in the morning, and she hadn't even done any preparations.

As she opened the door of her bedroom, she saw that father and son were both out for the count.
Arihaan was in his playpen, and Rohit was barechested, sitting against the headboard on the bed, but asleep. The television was on, and she saw a rerun of KYPH coming. He had probably fallen asleep watching.

Damn! I so wanted to spend some time with them both..ab kal poora din kitna miss karungi dono ko..

Sighing, she rushed to the bathroom first, and came out dressed in her pajamas. She looked around for the television remote, then spotted it near Rohit's hand. Getting in beside him, she tried to remove it, from where half of it was covered by his hand, without waking him up.
But she was unsuccessful, because Rohit stirred, and opened his eyes, looking disoriented.

'Sona..'
His voice was husky with sleep.
'Tum kab aayin? I was waiting..'

'I'm so sorry..I woke you up..aaj der hogayi..'

'Aray, nahin..woh, mein or Arihaan tumhara wait kar rahe thay na..to bas..'
Rohit moved to hug her, as she lay down.

'I know..I so wanted to be here, too. Magar aise woh emergency cases chorr ke nahin aa sakti thi na..'

'I know, Sona! And I do understand..bas bachay ko kon samjhaye..he was fussing a lot.'

'Hmm..aajkal thora active zyada hogaya hai na..'
She smiled in the low lights.

'Chalo, ab sojao, warna subah aankh nahin khulegi..'
He tucked his arm beneath her head, snuggling up to her.

'Hmm..'
To his surprise, she dozed off as she spoke.

Rohit smiled, and placed a kiss over her cheek, as he himself also slept.

            ***************

'Mera beta! Mama jitna jaldi ho ga aa jayegi, okay? Be a good boy for Dadi, theek hai?'

Sonakshi brushed his soft hair, as she got him ready for the day.
Arihaan nodded, as if he had understood every word.
Giving him a kiss, she stood up, in time to see Rohit come out of the bathroom.

'Waise, Rohit! Tum aaj itni jaldi kyun uth gaye?'
Sonakshi picked up her handbag.

'Meri biwi ja rahi hai, or mein sota rahun? I wanted to  get that loving kiss too, jo abhi tumne Arihaan ko diya.'
His eyes twinkled.

Sonakshi smiled, as she walked up to him. Rohit opened his mouth to say something, but Sonakshi covered his lips with hers.
He kissed her back, holding her close.
He looked at her, as the kiss ended.

'Wow! Didn't expect that!'
He grinned.

'Didn't hear you complain, either!'
She moved, but he didn't let her, putting a hand over her back.

'Surprised hun, paagal thori!'

'Bas, bas..'
Sonakshi pushed at him, as his lips travelled to her neck.

He made a sound, but let her go.
'I know..this is not a good time..par socha chance lene mein kya jaata hai..' he chuckled.

'Rohit! Chalo..chorro..niklna hai mujhe.'

'Hmm..pehle kuch khaa lo..'

Sonakshi made a face.
'Abhi bilkul nahin dil kar raha..'

'No ways! Empty stomach you are not leaving..'

They all went downstairs, where Veena was waiting. She even had a tiffin packed for Sonakshi.

'Aray, Mom!'
Sonakshi protested.

'Bilkul nahin..you need to keep eating na beta.'

'Okay, thankyou!'
Sonakshi gave her a hug, and Arihaan too, before she left.

'Yeh Rohit kahan gaya? Bye bhi nahin bola..'
Sonakshi frowned, as she reached the car, where the driver was already seated, and waiting.

Sonakshi kept looking towards the house, as she opened the back door to get in.

'Oh, hello, madam! Maana driver hun, magar husband bhi to hun! Udhar kahan?'

To be continued..