Bondita. 

The beat of his heart, was Bondita. 

The soul in his body, was Bondita. 

Being his other half, no, it wasn't as simple as that. She wasn't just his other half, but someone who was immersed in the depths of him, consciously, subconsciously, and well beyond too. 

His life? He had given it to her the day he met her. 

His heart? He had given it to her, before even that. 

His self? Was none other than her... since the conception of space, since the explosion of the big bang, since the infinite particles permeated the vastness of existence, before even time was breathed into life. 

Bondita was the name of the ocean who he had drowned himself in. Bondita was the name of the divinity, who he had surrendered himself to. She was the one who moved him, every which way. Without her life force, no atom in Anirudh Roy Choudhary's body could even vibrate, not in any direction.

For he was the corpse, and she was life. The life force which blessed him with the beauty of existence. 

So when he spent the whole night away from her, letting the situation finally sink in... how could he not run right back into her arms? How could he not run back into the arms of the one who was most precious to him? The one who had the power to not only drive out darkness from his life, but to also gift him with the power of illumination. 

He would only ever go away from her, to come right back to her, sinking himself in the depths of her mind, body, and soul. 

No matter where Anirudh Roy Choudhary went, or how far he went, Bondita was, is, and would always be his Destination. 

She was eternally 'His Destination, His Bondita'. 

Whether he admitted it or not, the truth would not change that she was his. 

Bondita closed her eyes as she felt his loving arms around her, her hands pressed to his chest. His fingers of one hand were running through her wet hair, his other hand, reaching inside her hair and stroking her bare back, sending shivers through her spine. 

When they broke the embrace, Anirudh's clothes were slightly wet from the water droplets that hadn't yet dried from Bondita's naked body. Her eyes landed in his, a ray of hope and positivity in them. 

Anirudh gazed into her eyes, as Bondita asked, "Morning hug?" 

He gave a curt nod, but he also placed a hand on her cheek, caressing it gently, making Bondita shiver with warmth. 

"Morning hug... yes, but also..." he started. 

Bondita continued to lose herself in the depth of his eyes. 

Anirudh took a deep breath, his heart feeling heavy, as he said, "It was a long night, and... I... needed... you." 

A small smile played on her lips when he admitted it, her breathing getting deeper, as she realized that since the initial shock had worn off, he was starting to relax a little. She knew it would take longer for him to completely heal in this matter, and there was a lot he still needed to deal with... but at least now, it wouldn't be as bad for him as yesterday had been. 

Her hand reached to his, which was on her cheek. She stroked it gently, and she asked, "How are you feeling now?" 

Anirudh looked at her, his expression slightly serious, as his heart ached. 

How was he feeling? He still wasn't feeling the greatest. This pregnancy was not something he thought he could feel good about. Impregnating Bondita at this age, ruining her future, compromising with her health... this was not an easy thing to accept or embrace for Anirudh. Especially when he had convinced himself it could have been prevented. 

However, he was still feeling slightly calmer since yesterday. The night had passed, and the emotions were sinking in. He didn't have the best clarity, but things were somewhat beginning to settle. 

Still, he didn't know how to answer her. He could tell her he was feeling fine, which would be a lie... and Bondita would be able to detect that in a heartbeat like she had last night. Or he could tell her the truth, that he still wasn't feeling so well, and make her sad once again. Both possibilities, once again, lead to only Bondita's sadness. 

"I'm feeling better," was all he said. Then he let go of her cheek and he said, changing the subject, "I'll dress you up today." 

Bondita looked at him with surprise and a warm gaze, as he took her shoulders and sat her down on the bed. He wanted to pamper her in every which way, and she could see it. He did this a lot even when she wasn't pregnant, but now that she was, he was making it a point to do everything he could for her. 

Anirudh went to her dressing table and got her alta first, along with her anklets. He sat down on his knees, in front of the bed, and raised one of his knees up, balancing on his other leg in kind of a proposal position, as he gently held her heel and rested it on his thigh. 

Bondita looked at him with a small smile on her lips, as he took a big cotton swab and used it to apply the alta to her feet. After he was done with one foot, he repeated the procedure with her other foot, resting it on his knee as well as he applied the cool red liquid. 

Once he finished with the alta on both her hands and feet, he took her anklets and clasped them around her feet. Anirudh looked at the anklets with a wave of nostalgia. 

There was a point when he used to be afraid of these anklets, fearing that he would ruin her innocence.

Then there was a point where he loved hearing the chime of her anklets, especially in bed when they made love. As the chimes got louder and faster during his thrusts, his heartrate would shoot up, his desire only growing, as he enticed Bondita in many different ways. 

Now as he stared at the anklets, he wondered, whether he should have always let that fear remain. The anklets had always been a symbolism to their close proximity, and now these same anklets were reminding him that perhaps... he really did ruin her innocence after all. 

Bondita noticed him staring at her anklets, and she reached down, burying her hand in his hair, gently running her fingers through it, causing him to look up. 

"You do this opposite always," she teased, "You didn't even dress me up first." 

Anirudh smiled softly, and he gently placed her foot back on the ground. As he looked back up at her, his eyes glanced over her pubic area, once again reminding him of how delicate it was. How soft, and precious she was. Now, that delicate vaginal opening, was going to be a passage. A passage... their...baby... was going to take and completely destroy on the way out. He kept on seeing her pain. In every which way. 

Before he could think about it further and sadden Bondita, he stood up and went to their wardrobe, going through her sarees, and picking out a yellow one. He brought it with its matching blouse and petticoat, along with a pair of her panties to the bed, and laid everything there. 

Bondita looked at Anirudh sadly when he did this. 

Today was a school day. 

And he took out a saree. 

Bondita stood up, as Anirudh held her white cotton panties and got back down on his knees, gently pulling at her leg so that she could slip it on. She held his shoulder for support, as he put the panties on her, sliding it up with his fingers. 

Anirudh didn't say a word to her about school, and Bondita also didn't say anything this time. 

She hadn't given up. No, never. How could she give up on their -- his dream? He may have given up for her sake, but she also wouldn't for his sake. 

Rather, she had decided, that she would let him do what he wanted to do for the time being. When he was in the mood to listen, then she could perhaps slip some sense into him. Right now, he was firm about this, and arguing with someone in a rigid state, would only make them more rigid. 

So she let him dress her up in her saree. 

After he helped her with the petticoat, and tied it gently around her waist, making sure it wasn't too tight around her pelvic area, he reached for her blouse. 

He slipped her arms through that, as Bondita watched him, really feeling like she was a doll right now. 

She didn't mind it when he dressed her up and pampered her. She loved it. But she could sense his extreme care for her. The extreme level of overprotectiveness that was scaring him to even send her to school, for fear of her working too hard and exhausting her body and mind, leading to complications. She was understanding him, even in this state of his. 

Who could understand him better than her, after all? 

After he pinned her blouse, he unfolded her saree, and Bondita helped him slip it inside her petticoat, because his hand was suddenly trembling around her waistline, afraid he might press too hard on her belly. 

Even this made her feel warm inside, because these small acts were only showing her that he cared about their baby. And the fact that he was caring about their baby, was melting her heart. 

Then he helped her make the pleats, using his experience from the days he had become Roopa, and finished up with her saree. 

Finally, he adorned her with gold bangles which joined the shakha pola on her wrists, a necklace, and earrings. 

Then there was her hair. 

He took a comb, and sat her down on the bed, sitting behind her. 

He gently began to comb through her slightly damp locks. When he finished, was when Bondita broke the silence. 

"Pati Babu, do you remember when Thakumaa was going marry me to Chandrachur, I came here the night before and we made love for the first time, instead?" Bondita asked him softly, turning around to face him. 

Anirudh raised his brow slightly, wondering where she was going with this. He put the comb to the side, where he had a small dabba of sindoor waiting. 

"Do you remember, how you had lost all hope? You thought our dreams would shatter... y - you were even willing to leave me, for the sake of my health," she asked, feeling emotional as she remembered his state. She had walked in on him drinking from a bottle of alcohol, looking like a mess, in this very room, and it had made her so sad. 

Bondita reached for his hand, clasping her fingers around it. 

Anirudh looked at her, his heart aching. How could he forget that? He had been a mess. An emotional mess.

Along with the ache in his heart, there was a part that was melting as well, because he still remembered Bondita's determination. She had practically blackmailed him that if he let her marry Chandrachur, she would come back here and have an extramarital affair with him! 

How could he forget that sweet threat of hers, that made his heart beat wildly in his chest even until today?

Bondita gripped his hand even more tightly, and said, "But what did we decide in the end? We decided that we will fight for our love, even if it means we die for it. We were willing to die, Pati Babu... do you remember?"

Anirudh continued to watch her, as the memories of that time resurfaced and sunk inside him, the depth of the situation invading his system. They had really been willing to die, that day when they confronted Thakumaa. 

"So... what I want to ask is... if we were willing to face the worst circumstances back then, then why can't we be prepared to face the worst circumstances now too Pati Babu?" she asked him softly. "We fought for our love back then with smiles on our faces. We can be prepared to face the worst now too, with smiles on our faces again, right?"

He looked at her firmly, finally stating, "But Bondita! This time it's not just about you and me!" 

Bondita couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips as she realized he was talking about their baby.

"So the problem is that you don't want to put our b - baby through that... right Pati Babu? You... care about our baby that much?" she asked him breathlessly, feeling emotional, as tears coated her eyes.

Anirudh looked at her with shock, not even realizing what he had said.

Not answering her, he removed his hand from her grip and reached for the small dabba of sindoor, pinching the vermillion between his fingers and applying it to the parting of her hairline. 

Bondita closed her eyes, as she felt the sindoor dust fall onto the bridge of her nose, a smile reaching her lips. 

Oh how she loved it when he filled her sindoor for her! 

"I care about you too," he told her firmly.

Her heart fluttered, her smile widening, and she opened her eyes, looking at him. He didn't even deny it, and on top of that he used the word too. 

He really loved their baby so much, more than he probably even realized himself. 

Bondita leaned closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder gently. 

Even though she felt like she was responsible for all of this, that if she didn't put pressure on him for sexual intimacy in the first place, this wouldn't have happened... she was very well aware of what she was doing. She knew that he was blaming himself for the same thing... and if she didn't forget about her own guilt to dispel his guilt, then she wasn't the Bondita that he empowered. 

Anirudh looked at her, his eyes widening slightly as she leaned closer to him. 

"B - Bondita..." he started. 

Her other hand rested on his thigh, travelling upwards slightly, making Anirudh gulp nervously. 

"Pati Babu, if I'm not going to school today... your Bondita will be very... bored at home..." she said breathlessly. 

Anirudh looked at her with shock, as she continued. 

"You'll help me... pass time... right?" she asked him softly, quite seductively, her fingers moving further upwards on his thigh. 

Anirudh's eyes were widening even more as she brought her lips very dangerously close to his, her hand very dangerously close to another part of his body as well. 

-- 

I hope you enjoyed this part! 

Any moments that stood out to you/that you enjoyed? 

One part that stood out to me, was the opening of this chapter. I enjoyed writing the poetic narration of their love. ❤️ 

What do you think will happen now? Will Ani let her... 'pass time'? 🤭

Please do leave your comments and press star! 

Will try to update the next one soon!