'Mama!'
Ihaan stood up on the bed excitedly on seeing her, and began jumping up and down.

Rohit sat up, looking a bit sheepish.
'Sona! Tum kab aayin?'

'Jab tum hamare betay ko rishwat de rahe thay apne liye..'

'Aray, Sona! Mein to mazaq..'

'Han, han, sab samajhti hun mein..tumhara mazaq bhi, or tumhe bhi!'
Sonakshi rolled her eyes.

'Mama, Ihaan ikeem khaye!!'
Arihaan told her excitedly, clapping his hands, while jumping.

Rohit put a hand over his face in a gesture of being caught out.
'Mera monkey..yeh hamara secret tha..'
He whispered loudly, and tackled him back on the bed, making Arihaan giggle.

Sonakshi stood there and  smiled at them, as father and son began playing the tickling game together, before going to shower and change.

                **********

'Rohit!'

'Hmmmm...'

'What hmmm..it's been 10 minutes, and that's all the answer you have given me! Aakhir kar kya rahe ho aisa?'

Rohit had been on his laptop for the better part of an hour, ever since they had come back upstairs after dinner.
Arihaan was also still up, and playing with his toy cars and trucks.
Sonakshi was sitting on the sofa, watching him.

'Rohittt!'

'Han, Sona! Kuch keh rahi ho?'
Rohit asked without turning his face away from the screen.

'Keh rahi nahin hun..keh rahi thi..'
Sonakshi fumed silently.

'What?'
Rohit finally looked up from the screen, at her.
'I'm sorry..woh mein..'

'Han, han! Kar lo jo kar rahe ho..it's not like as if I care..'
Sonakshi turned her full attention to Arihaan, looking annoyed.
'Arihaan! Ajao, Mama paas!'

'Wroom, wroom! Mama, pum pum aayi..wroom, wroom!'
Arihaan ran his car towards her, up the sofa, then over her big tummy, making her chuckle.
'Baby aao..pum pum khelen..'
As he ran the car over her protruded stomach.

'Arihaan! Baby pehle hi andar football khel raha hai..car se to bahar aa ke hi khelega.'
Sonakshi grinned at him.

'Sona..bas do minute..ek kaam kar raha hun..'
Rohit looked her way again.

'Han, to karo na..kis ne roka hai..I have better company any ways..'
She ignored him, and continued playing with her son.

Rohit knew she was annoyed with him, but he had been doing some important work.

I hope this works out well and I can give Sona the good news.

He quickly finished sending the mails, and took a look at his fan pages, and social media handles.
There were several notifications and he quickly glanced through them, like he did almost every day.
His show had taken a turn where some misunderstanding had taken place between his character Zain and his wife Roshni, and they were separated. So all his notifications were filled with when they would come back together.

Some fans were online and began messaging him, so he messaged them back.
He was so lost in replying, that he didn't see Sonakshi get up, and come his way. It was only when she shut the cover of the laptop on his fingers, that he realised.
He yelped out loud.

'What the..'
He stopped when he saw Sonakshi looking down at him, her eight months pregnant belly looking bigger, hands on her hips.
'Sona..woh mein bas aa hi raha tha..'

Sonakshi narrowed her eyes at him, and turned to go. Rohit quickly freed his hands and caught hers.
'Sona..woh kuch fans ke messages ka reply dene laga..sorry..'

'Please continue..mein ja rahi hun..I am sorry beech mein disturb kiya..'
Sonakshi turned away again, but this time he stood up, and didn't let her.

'Acha na..bola to sorry..'
He put his arms around her and pulled her close, as much as he could.

'Mujhe nahin sun na..I have other things to do..chorro mujhe..'
Sonakshi pouted, and looked everywhere but at him.

'Chorrne ke liye to kabhi pakra hi nahin tha..'
He teased, as he spread his palms over her back.

Sonakshi closed her eyes, as a shiver ran down her at his touch.
It had been a while since they had been so close, hardly having had either the time, or the energy.
Rohit noticed, and began to stroke her back slowly.
'Khafa kyun ho? Mujhe miss kar rahi thi?'
His tone changed, as he saw the longing in her eyes.

Sonakshi saw the look in his eyes, and her pupils dilated.
'Rohit..'

'Hmm..mein..or sirf mein..'
He leaned over to kiss her neck, and her pulse quickened.

'You are so mean to me..'
Sonakshi whispered, shifting her neck to let him plant kisses on the pulse beating at her neck.

'Is this being mean?'
He asked, as she pushed her swollen breasts against his chest.

'Ofcourse! You hardly even touch me any more. Is it because you can't stand to see me like this? Do you really not find me attractive anymore?'
Sonakshi had had her eyes closed, but she opened them, when Rohit moved his lips away from the junction between her neck and shoulder.

'What?'
As she saw a weird expression enter his eyes, and he shifted back.
'Rohit?'

'I won't even deem that with an answer!'
Rohit moved back further, so that he was no longer touching her.

'But..'

He turned around and walked away to where Arihaan was beginning to look sleepy, sitting between his toys.
Sonakshi stared at his back, wondering what she had done to make him react that way.

'Arihaan! Ninni arahi hai?'
Rohit knelt down on the floor to lift him up in his arms.

'Ihaan khele..pum pum..'
Arihaan pointed back to his toys on the carpet, his voice sleepy.

'Kal khelenge, okay? Abhi ninni karte hain..'
Rohit carried him to his cot.

'Rohit..baat to karo..kya hogaya..I was just saying..'
Sonakshi came behind him, but he ignored her.
Sonakshi frowned, as he continued changing Arihaan's diaper without looking at her.

Yeh to naraaz hi hogaya..Good job, Sona!

Sonakshi mentally slapped herself, as Rohit put Arihaan down to sleep. He made to move, as Arihaan went out like a light.
Sonakshi caught his hand, as he walked past.

'Rohit! Kya hogaya? Aise kyun behave kar rahe ho?'

Rohit looked at her hand on his arm, pointedly. Sonakshi held on to it.

'I don't know..maybe because I don't find you attractive?'
He removed her hand from his, and went back to his laptop, opening the screen again.

Uh oh!

'Aray..iss baat pe naraaz kyun hona tha..'

'Meri marzi! Jao rest kar lo tum. Thak gayi hogi..'

'Aise kaise rest kar lun? Tumhara mood off hogaya na..'

'To tumhe kya? Rohit Sippy to hai hi pagal!'
He fumed, as he began typing something.

'Rohit! Acha, I'm sorry! Aisa nahin bolna chahiye tha..woh bas..'
She stopped as he looked up. She held his gaze.
'Itne din baad tumne aise chuaa mujhe, to bas..I..I kind of lost myself..nikal gaya mun se..'

Rohit stared at her for a couple of seconds, before turning back to the screen.
'Mujhe thora kaam hai..tum so jao..'

Sonakshi's heart felt a bit heavy, as he ignored her, even though she stood there for several minutes.
Sighing, she turned towards the bathroom, and shut the door.
Rohit looked up and shook his head.

Not find her attractive! Not wanting to touch her! As if I could ever feel that way! Crazy, crazy woman! A woman I can never live without!

Sonakshi came back out wearing her pajamas, her t-shirt announcing 'I'M NOT FAT, I'M PREGNANT!'
Rohit hid a smile, as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
She stood there looking sad, but he kept his eyes on the screen.

'Rohit..'
She tried.

'Sojao, Sona!'
He called again, without looking at her.

Sonakshi made a face, as she moved towards Arihaan's cot to check up on him. She then picked up his toys from the sofa and put them in his toy chest. She moved around the room restlessly, all the while glancing at Rohit after every few minutes.
He knew what she was trying to do, but he stopped himself from saying or doing  anything.
After shutting off the main lights, she knew there was nothing else left to do. Sighing loudly, she headed towards her side of the bed, passing Rohit on his side.
She kept looking at him, waiting to see him give her a even a glance, so she could see what he was thinking.

'OUCH!'

'SONA!!!'
Rohit screamed.

To be continued...