MaNan went to the same doctor who had treated nandini when she was ill. She welcomed them in and they informed her about the in-home-pregnancy-test result. She did the necessary check ups and tests and informed them that the result will come by evening. Manik and nandini told her that they will come in the evening to collect the report personally and also asked her to maintain secrecy regarding this matter and then they headed out to their home.

After getting ready for office , they had their breakfast with family. Then manik offered her to drive her to office as in the evening he would come to pick her up to go to collect the report. She agreed and then they drove off.

Manan outfits👇

.......
2 P.M.

Manik just had his lunch so he thought of checking on nandini if she had the same or not. so he made a phone call to her.

"hello, hubby"

"hye sweetheart...i hope i have not disturbed you...i just wanted to know if you had your lunch??"

"naah...you haven't disturbed me...in fact i was thinking about you only...." she spoke softly.

"oh missing me wifey...shall i come there?? And grab a few quick kisses" manik spoke teasingly.

"shut up manik...you are so besharam" she blushed.

"acha ok fine...now tell me...had your lunch??" he asked seriously and she smiled on the other side.

"arey don't ask aaj main kitna confuse ho gyi thi...tumhe pta hai subah maine amma se baat ki thi na toh unhe sayad doubt ho gya ki i am expecting...so aaj unhone appa aur bhai ke sath mera lunch bhi send kar diya...and on the other side mera regular lunch maa ne bhi send kiya..two lunch boxes...both equally tempting yaar...! tum ni jante aaj meri kya haalat hui hai..!" nandini spoke and sighed audibly. Manik was laughing softly on the other side.

"toh tumne dono lunch kha lye??" he asked after controlling his laugh.

"no way!! Pagal ho kya!! Utna khati toh main fir move karne ki condition mein ni rehti...i put half -half of both the lunch in one box and sent it to the watchman through peon. He ate them happily. And i stuffed the rest in my tummy."

Manik was happy and relaxed that she had her lunch and was teasing and romancing with her over the phone, when his landline phone rang.

"hello" manik answered the landline but didn't hung up on nandini and asked her to wait.

"sir MD sir, wants you in his cabin , right now" informed his secretary.

"ok i will be there" manik answered and put the receiver down.

"sorry, jaan , dad has called me ..i have to go now" he apologised to nandini.

"ha ha ok..i have some work too"

"ok then i will be there at 6 at your office...we will go to collect the reports" he informed.

"yeah ok...bye...i love you"

"love you loads! Jaan...bye"

.....

"sir, you called me??" manik asked maan.

"yes, manik...i wanted to discuss something...come have a seat" he offered him to sit on the couch and he too sat comfortably on the opposite couch.

"yes sir??" manik asked him to speak.

"this is informal talk manik...call me dad"

"ok dad" manik said with a grin.

"actually..beta ..this thought crossed my mind today and i wanted to share it with you..." maan began speaking and manik listened carefully " now that you are settled and mukti will get married and leave the house next month, i feel your mother will be left alone and i don't want her to feel lonely. She has sacrificed so much all these years and i have also not given her proper time as i am always busy handling the empire...so i was thinking of taking retirement." Maan paused for manik to react , to hear if he had something to say. Manik was taken by surprise and in his heart he felt helpless. He knew what it meant , if maan retires whole of the burden will come on manik's shoulders. Had nandini not been pregnant, this wouldn't have been that big a problem. Yet he covered up his inner turmoil, and smiled warmly for maan. Manik knew maan needs this retirement. His mom too needs her husband's companionship at this age.

"that's a wonderful decision dad. In fact i was thinking after you retire i would send you and mom on your second honeymoon!" manik said and laughed while maan smacked his head playfully.

"since you agree, the process of my retirement will only start when i acquaint you with this business world. The ministers, politicians, judges, advocates, foreign associates, and many others, you will have to meet them all and establish camaraderie with them. Till now they trusted my name but now they will recognise malhotra empire with your name. So are you ready son??" maan asked enthusiastically. Manik nodded eagerly.

....

Same time on the other side

"ma'm the HR department has mailed you the details which you had asked for" the employee informed nandini.

"ok..i will call you in an hour after going through the mails. You may leave now" she answered and he left.

After studying the performance evaluation report and other personal details nandini called up the same employee.

"send mahi rajput in" she ordered and hung up.

Few minutes later a woman in her late 30's knocked on the door and nandini let her in.

"so mahi, after going through all the details i have selected you to work with me. in the next 3-4 months you will work exclusively with me and learn the art. After that you will get to handle projects independently on my behalf. But i want this information to be between you and me till i tell you otherwise. Do you get it??"

"yes ma'm" mahi answered confidently.

"good!!! your pay package will be reviewed in due course of time" nandini added further "i hope there are no issues. Everything is clear?? "

"yes ma'm" mahi answered.

Hah! Finally problem solved!!

Just then her phone rang,

"hello sweetheart i am waiting outside..come fast we are already late!" manik's voice boomed from the other side.

"yeah yeah i am coming...give me two minutes" nandini spoke hurriedly collecting her phone, charger etc etc and stuffing them in her bag.

"you are not ready?? I thought i am super late and you would be pissed at me for being late" manik said over the phone.

Nandini looked at her wrist watch. It said 7:45. She smiled.

"you are lucky in that case hubby! Because i was busy and didn't pay attention to time"

"thanks to god for that , then!!" he spoke chuckling.

Till then nandini reached till his car and knocked on the glass window. After he saw her, she disconnected the call, while manik still had his phone stuck to his ear. He was looking at her as if lost, she knocked again and this seems to have broken his trance. He immediately undid the central lock of the car and nandini opened the passenger side door and sat down.

Then she bent forward and pecked his lip. He pouted at that and she smiled adorably at him "we are getting late manik!!"

"we are already late! A kiss wouldn't do much wrong!" he complained.

"fine then!!" she said and got up on her seat on her knees and then putting all her weight on him, she placed her lips on him. He held her waist to keep her steady and enjoyed the kiss to the fullest. After a breathless kiss, she pulled apart, but before moving away, she pecked the mole above his lips.

"you know i just love that mole of yours!!" she gushed like a love struck teenager "it is just so.."

"sexy??" he completed for her.

"yes!! Exactly" she exclaimed and he blushed. He was driving now.

"i know i know" he answered.

"how do you know?" she queried.

"i know that you absolutely adore two things about me...i mean you find it sexy about me!" he said it in a i-know-it-all manner. Nandini's eyebrows scrunched up in suspicion because as far as she remembers she has never mentioned it to him. Then it struck her that she had once said to navya that too just before marriage. She was sure now that navya must have told manik!! This girl! I am gonna see her!!

"and what are those??" she asked faking innocence.

"first...is what you just admitted...that you love my mole and the second is that you like the fact that i am left handed...that also seems sexy to you!!" he said with a chuckle and nandini was getting embarrassed so she kept looking down. Leaving the gear, he held her palm.

"i also find many things sexy about you...they appeal to my senses...you want to know??" he asked softly as she looked in his eyes. She just hummed asking him to speak.

"your b***s, they are so soft, in fact unusually soft and i just love them" he said eyeing that spot and nandini's body temperature started rising. "the mole on the right side of your neck...that always catches my eye....and the mole on the left side of your waist, which is so privately located that i guess only your mother and i have had the opportunity to see" as he said that nandini looked at him confused and asked "i have a mole on my waist??"

"yes" he answered smiling.

"how come i never saw it?" she asked.

"probably you should look at your body like i do" he said looking intensely in her eyes. She blushed profusely.

"i could have enumerated a few more things but we have reached the hospital." He said and she looked around.

"come!" he said getting out of the car.
......

"congratulations manik and nandini, you are going to become parents soon. Nandini is pregnant." The doctor announced and MaNan looked at each other happily.

"here are the reports" doctor handed the report "and these are some medicines to maintain the folic acid levels, calcium , iron levels." The doctor informed further. Both listened carefully to the do's and don't.

When the doctor finished speaking manik was confused because she had not mentioned anything about sex life, so he asked her "doctor, i wanted to ask something" , doctor nodded, so he spoke again but a little hesitantly "you didn't mention anything about our conjugal life...i mean...i thought we cannot have intercourse now"

Nandini too looked at the doctor curiously.

The doctor smiled and then began explaining

"It is absolutely safe to make love in the first trimester in a normal pregnancy. However, if you have any problems , you should report to me and after check up i may advise you otherwise. We advise those patients who

• have a history or threat of miscarriage.
• have unexplained bleeding or spotting
• have abdominal pain or cramps
• have a history of cervical weakness
• are pregnant with twins or multiple babies

to not indulge in intercourse. This is just a misconception that you cannot have normal sex life. But yeah once your belly gets bigger, you have to be careful as jerks and push are not advisable, even then you can indulge in soft sex. Rest assured, having sex cannot harm your baby. During intercourse your baby stays cushioned and safe in the amniotic fluid. Also, the cervix is closed and has a mucus plug, which makes it impassable. Your husband will not be able to penetrate deep enough to reach your baby. And although orgasms can trigger uterine contractions, these do not cause any harm and are different from contractions during labour."

The doctor finished speaking and manik looked teasingly at nandini. Nandini knew that look which meant 'that it's not a drought situation, wifey''

The two of them felt enlightened by this knowledge and manik was thankful that he asked the query otherwise unnecessarily they would have wasted these 9 months waiting for the baby to get out.

MaNan collected the report and left from there happily. As they sat in the car and headed home they discussed how they would disclose this information to their families.
.......
Any innovative ideas about how to tell the families, are most welcome.
____________________________________
Credits to the writer-- Manini Mehra