It was hard to say who was more stunned. Veena and Suman, Sonakshi, or Rohit himself.
Mouths agape, they looked on as Rohit's expression changed to that of someone having been well and truly busted.

'ROHIT!'
Veena and Suman said in unison.

Several people were now in the audience, whispering and giggling amongst themselves.

'Uhmm..woh..'
Rohit now stood facing Veena and Suman, his back to Sonakshi.

'Kya hua, Mom? Aap chillaye..'
Pari came running, and halted, as she took in the scene. She burst out laughing.
'Jiju?? By, God!! Kya lag rahe hain aap!'

'Pari!'
Suman chided her.

'Sorry Ma, but...oh my God! Jiju aap to chaa gaye! Di!'
Pari turned, to see Sonakshi already standing behind her.

Sonakshi looked worried.
'Woh, Mom..'

'Yehi hai tumhari patient, Ritu? Hai na?'
Suman gave Sonakshi a glare.

Rohit came forward, shuffling in his lehnga, as Sonakshi nodded.
'Sona ka qusoor nahin hai..woh mein hi..'
He stopped, as Suman turned her glare on him.

'Tum to chup kharay raho. Bilkul. Yeh ghalat harkat jo tum ne ki hai..larki ban ke hi aagaye!'

'Yeh kya ho raha hai yahan? Suman ji, iss larki ko kyun...what the?'
Naren stopped in shock, as he saw who the 'larki' was.
'Rohit! Tum!'

Naren and the other men had come out with the kids, on hearing the commotion in the hall.
Ajit, who had Arihaan in his arms, began to laugh, but stopped when Veena and Suman glared at him.

'Naren! Dekhen na! Kya harkat ki hai Rohit ne! Yun chup ke, bhes badal ke hi agaya! Aap ko pata nahin chala?'

'Veena! Sach mein! Mujhe nahin pata chala yeh kab wahan se chala gaya..'
Naren tried defending himself, but Veena stood there, hands crossed over her chest, looking highly upset.

'Anil! Aap bhi to baray thay! Rok nahin sakte thay?'
Suman looked at her husband, who just stood there shaking his head.

There was laughter from some girls who had come with their mothers. Veena looked around, to see quite a lot of the guests enjoying the show.

Sonakshi stood there looking helpless, unable to save her husband.

'Arihaan! Yeh dekho, Baba!'
Ajit pointed to Rohit, but Arihaan kept looking here and there.

'Baba? Kah hain?'

'There! See?'
Ajit pointed again, but Arihaan didn't believe him.

'Baba? No! No!'
He moved his finger to and fro, negating it.

'Lo, bhaee! Bete ne bhi Baba ko pehchaan ne se inkaar kar diya!'
Ajit and Rohan giggled, while Suman and Veena glared at them too.

'Do teen ghantay biwi se door nahin raha gaya tum se? Abhi guests chale jaate to aa hi jaate..aisi kya besabri thi?'
Veena slapped her forehead in embarrassment.

'Mom! Mujhe bas function ka hissa ban na tha..'
Rohit spoke again.

'Aise? Larki ban ke? And I can't believe ke humain pata bhi nahin chala..magar Sona..'
Veena turned to Sonakshi, who stood there with a mortified expression.
'Tum se to woh chipak ke bethi thi..matlab tha..tumhe nahin pata chala?'

'Woh, Mom maine koshish ki thi..'

'Mom! Sona ko to pata bhi nahin tha ke mein aane wala hun..aap uss ko kyun bol rahi hain..'
Rohit tried again, but Veena shut him up with a look.

'Naren! Aap kuch bolenge apne bete ko, ke nahin?'

Naren straightened his back, now that Veena had stopped blaming him. He walked over to Rohit, who was looking at Sonakshi.
'Rohit!'

Rohit turned to look, as Naren reached his side, looking stern. He lifted a hand, as if he was going to pull his ears. Rohit scrunched his nose, and closed his eyes, waiting for the assault. But he was surprised, when it didn't come. He opened his eyes, and was surprised to see what looked like mirth, in his father's eyes. As he watched, Naren leaned over and hugged him.

Everyone looked a bit stumped at his action, including Veena, and Rohit.

'Rohit! I'm proud of you, son! Tum ne woh kar dikhaya jo kisi Sippy male ne iss family mein kabhi nahin kiya! You gatecrashed your wife's goad bharai, or woh bhi iss tarha! Baray guts chahiye hotay hain, and I always knew you had them. Good going, son!'
Naren patted Rohit's back, and Rohit grinned from ear to ear.

'Thankyou, Papa! You are the best!'

Ajit and Rohan began to laugh and clap, and so did Arihaan and Soham watching them.
'Way to go, big bro!'

Veena hmphed at Naren, with a 'aap-ko-to-mein-baad-mein-dekh-lungi' wali look. Naren swallowed.

Everyone began to laugh and talk at once, now seeing the funny side of the whole situation, except for Veena and Suman.
Rohit looked at Sonakshi, but she stood a bit apart from the others.
Frowning, he made to move towards her, his triumph lessening. As he watched, she swayed, and her whole body leaned over to the side.

'Sona!!'
He shouted, reaching her in a flash, and catching her in his arms.

Everyone turned to look and began to worry.

'Sona! Sona! Kya hua?'
Rohit patted her cheek.
'Tum theek to ho?'

Sonakshi nodded her head, as she clutched at Rohit.
'I'm fine! Mein theek hun..'

'Yeah, right!'
Rohit quickly led her to the settee and made her sit down, while Veena and Suman began to hover over her.

'Pari! Paani le ke aao!'
Suman called out.
'Sona! Tum theek ho?'

'Ji, Ma! Woh bas, zara sa chakkar..'

'Zara sa chakkar? You almost fell..mein nahin hota to..'
Rohit took the glass from Pari and put it to her lips.

'Tum kyun nahin hotay?'
Sonakshi smiled at him, taking a sip of the water.

'Yeh tumhara makeup wala chehra dekh ke agaya ho ga chakkar! Sab se pehle to isse dho ke aao! Mujhe tum Rohit nahin, kuch or hi lag rahi ho!'
Suman raised her eyebrows at Rohit.

'Woh, beautiful..aap..'
Rohit began.

'Ab kya tumhe bhi issi naam se pukaarna parega?'
Suman retorted, again.

'Woh, mein..woh, Sona..'

'I'm fine, Rohit..'
Sonakshi assured him.

'Han, she's fine! Or hum sab hain yahan..akeli nahin hai woh..'
Suman still hadn't forgiven him for his act, it seemed.

Rohit glanced at Sonakshi and she nodded at him, reassuringly. He finally got up, and picking up his lehenga, quickly climbed up the stairs.
Sonakshi's eyes followed him, but she was startled when she heard her mother laugh.

'Ma! Aap hans rahi ho? I thought aap uss se ghussa ho!'
She looked at her incredulously.

'To! Or kya karun! Cartoon lag raha tha poora ka poora tumhara Rohit! Ab agar thori der yahan uss ke laal honth, or eyeshadow wali aankhen dekhti na, to ussi ke saamne hans hans ke paagal hojaati!'

Sonakshi couldn't believe it, as Veena and Suman did a high five, cracking up into peals of laughter.

'Mom! Aap bhi?'
Sonakshi's eyes widened.

Veena turned to her.
'Ab kya karen. Mazaa to bohot aaya..kya lag raha tha..'

Rohit returned, all scrubbed and clean, in time to hear them, and stopped. Suman and Veena saw him too, and stopped laughing.

'Achaa..to yahan peeth peechay betay ka mazaq urraya ja raha hai. Ab ruk kyun gayin..'

Seeing the pout on his face, they cracked up again.

'Ma! Mom! Bas bhi kar den.'
Sonakshi tried to defend Rohit.

'Oh ho, begum sahiba to naraaz hogayin! Unke husband ki band jo bajj gayi!'
Suman teased.

'Chalo, chalo, bas karo ab tum log..kitna sataoge bachon ko.'
Naren chided the women.
'Humain koi khaane ko poochega bhi, ya hansi se hi pait bhar len?'

Finally, the women subsided, and got up to see to the arrangements. Guests had started to filter out, and only a few relatives remained, who were also on the verge of leaving.
Sonakshi got up to help, but Rohit sat her back down.

'Don't even think it! Yahin bethi raho chup chaap!'

'But, Rohit..'
She protested.

'No buts and ifs! I'll just be back..'
Rohit hurried over to the dining table.

Within a few minutes, he was back with a plate filled with food.

'Maana mein do ke liye kha rahi hun, par yeh to kuch zyada hogaya, nahin?'
Sonakshi giggled.

'Ha! Ha! Funny tha? Iss mein mera bhi hai..ab araam se betho, or bas mun kholo..'
Rohit fed her a bite, as she did, just that.

'Thankyou, Rohit!'
Sonakshi kept looking at him, as he took another bite from the plate.

'Khana khilaane ke liye?'
As he fed her again.

'No! For all the effort you put in today..the get up, the dance, the gatecrashing. All of it!'
Rohit gave her a look, wondering if she was serious.
'I found it all very cute! Aisa husband kahan ho ga jo iss hadd tak jaaye..only my Rohit can do that! So, thankyou!'

'Anything for you, you know that.'
Sonakshi smiled, nodding.

She picked up the spoon, and fed him, too. They looked at each other, love evident in their gazes.

'Mama! Ihaan ko Dadi khilaye..'
Arihaan came running up to her to tell her that important piece of information.

'Good boy! Aap jaldi se kha lo..'

Arihaan ran back to Veena, but came back after almost every bite, to show Rohit and Sonakshi.

Sonakshi held her stomach, as she shifted position, trying to be comfortable, when Arihaan came back.

'Baby! Baby! Aao! Ihaan bhai paas ajao!'
He touched Sonakshi's tummy and leaned over to listen.

The adults looked stunned at his actions.

'Sona, tum ne sikhaya?'
Veena looked at them.

'No, Mom..maine to nahin..'
Sonakshi denied.

'Arihaan! Beta, yeh aap ne kahan se seekha? Aisa kon karta hai?'
Veena asked Arihaan.

'Baba!'
Arihaan pointed to Rohit, making Rohit flush.
'Baba baby ko aao aao. Ihaan bhai banay!'
He continued, innocently, unaware of the effect it was having on his parents.

Both Sonakshi and Rohit flushed, as everyone started teasing them about it.

'Kya bachay hain aajkal ke..saare raaz khol dete hain..'
Rohit said under his breath, and Sonakshi giggled.
'Han, tum bhi hans lo..sab hi aaj hans rahe hain tumhare Rohit pe..'

'To mere Rohit ne aaj kiya bhi to hai hasaane wala kaam..'
Sonakshi entwined her fingers with his, as he pouted dramatically.
'Magar mere Rohit jaisa bhi to koi nahin hai na..tum sab se alag, sab se juda jo ho..'
Rohit touched his forehead to hers.

'Aisi baaten kar ke dil baar baar le leti ho..'
He tugged on her hand, as they smiled at each other, content in the moment.

            **************

Rohit stirred, as he felt someone shaking him.

His eyes still closed in sleep, he turned over.
It was a nice dream he was having about Sonakshi, Arihaan and the baby.
They were all on the beach, playing in the waves, being a happy family.

'Rohit!'

'Han, Sona! Tum bhi aao na paani mein..'

'Iss waqt?'

'To or kon sa waqt ayega? Samandar to abhi hai na saamne..'

'Samandar? Hamare bedroom mein?'
Sonakshi gave him a weird look, as she shook him again.
'Rohit!'

Rohit realised he was being shaken awake by Sonakshi.

'Rohit! Utho! The baby is..'

His eyes shot open, and he sat up, stunned.

'THE BABY IS COMING? NOW?'

To be continued...