Flashback,

Ram and Priya were shifting to Pune from Mumbai. Priya was feeling restless at heart, as she was moving away from her family and friends. An unknowing fear creeps into her brain.

Priya looked around the new place she was going to stay in. It was a calm and a poised neighborhood with detached villa houses.

Their car moved inside the main gate and stopped at the main entrance. As they walked inside the house, Priya noticed the central hallway, picturesque walls, and the house was decorated with antique items and beautiful paintings.

Ram introduced her to the house staff.

"Till your delivery, this will be your home." Ram spoke sitting on the sofa.

Priya, who had been ignoring him for a long time finally looked at him.

"You can stay here the way you want. Let me know if you need anything, I will be there next to your room or you can ask the house helpers." Ram stretched his legs, relaxing after a long trip.

"I am tired. I want to rest for a while." Priya looked disinterest to have a conversation.

"Are you okay?" Ram asked.

Priya simply nodded her head and moved inside her room once Ram showed her room.

**********

Days passed, Priya eventually adjusted to the new surroundings. As per the saying, an empty brain is the devil's den, sitting idle at home the whole time and doing nothing inviting negative thoughts in Priya's brain.

Priya was facing depression and anxiety lately.

Priya was not the one who shared her feelings with anyone easily. She was bottling up her feelings to herself, this was hard for Ram to build up trust or cordial relationship with her.

Ram tried his best to make Priya feel better. Ram also made sure he doesn't need to travel abroad like he used to do but working from Pune on a daily basis was hard for him to manage his empire. So he had to travel to Mumbai on a regular interval to finish his work.

Sometimes Ram had to stay in Mumbai for over a week or so. During this period of time, he arranged everything for Priya and got in touch with her frequently. There was no significant progress in Priya's mental state.

Priya thought of doing a job to keep herself away from depression. At first, Ram was not ready to agree with her decision but gave up when Priya was adamant to go ahead with her decision.

Ram was irked by her stubbornness but kept quiet convincing himself that keeping herself busy with work could do some help to Priya's state of mind.

As soon as she cracked the interview and started working, Ram could also notice positive changes in her.

*********

On the day of Priya's appointment with the doctor,

Doctor has conducted a check up on Priya.

After going through Priya's reports, the doctor put down the file on the table facing Ram and Priya who were waiting for the doctor to talk.

"Get ready for your first sonography test." Doctor said with a soft smile.

Priya and Ram looked at each other with mixed emotions. Both are nervous and excited at the same time.

"Nurse, please take her inside and get her ready for the process." Doctor told the nurse.

Priya followed the nurse in the room inside.

Doctor then turned to look at Ram. "Mr. Kapoor, you can also accompany your wife to the sonography." said the Doctor. Ram's eyes widened with shock as soon as the Doctor mentioned Priya as his wife. He quickly changed his shocking expression to a forced smile as soon as he realized that the current Doctor was not aware of this surrogacy process.

"Are you sure doctor? Can I join too?" asked Ram unsure of whether he can join or not. Ram was delighted to see his child in the sonography but not sure how Priya would react to this.

The Doctor asked "Yes, Mr. Kapoor, don't you want to see your baby?"

For the first time Ram was going to see his baby. He felt an overwhelming Ecstasy. Ram without wasting a moment entered the room and saw Priya lying on the table. Priya was not expecting Ram inside the room. She felt a little awkward around him.

Ram pleaded with her through eyes to let him watch the baby on the screen. Priya could not deny him as by now she understood how much he wanted this baby and how excited he was.

Priya did not oppose him and remained quiet.

Once a gel applied on Priya's belly, Doctor moved the transducer on the gel making a different pattern. Priya felt a little awkward to get the process done in front of Ram.

It was an unexplainable feeling for Ram when he could see the baby movements on the screen. Priya was somehow not ready to look at the screen.

The Doctor felt odd about Priya's behavior but shrugged off and continued showing the baby's movement on the screen.

Ram felt a sensation he never felt before. Unintentionally he held Priya's hand in his tight grip entwining fingers with her. Priya looked at him to find how ecstatic he was feeling looking at the ultrasound result on the screen. Priya looked at him blankly as his eyes were glued to the screen. She wanted to look at the screen to have a look at the baby inside her womb but she wanted to be strong as she knew that she had no right on this baby and she might not be able to spend time with this baby.

She was trying really hard not to develop any emotional feelings about this child but it was becoming difficult for her day by day.

Once done, the Doctor sent Ram outside. Priya was cleaning and correcting her dress when the doctor started the conversation with her.

"Mrs. Kapoor, are you happy with your pregnancy?" the doctor asked all of the sudden.

Hearing Mrs. Kapoor, Priya became alarmed looking at the doctor blankly. She was hesitant to reply to her.

"Is anything bothering you, Mrs. Kapoor?" asked the doctor suspiciously.

Whenever the doctor called her Mrs. Kapoor, Priya felt mystified.

"No doctor. Nothing wrong." said Priya in a low voice stealing glances from the Doctor. The doctor slightly frowned at her.

"Priya, I am in this profession from last 15 years and I met many different types of couples but for the first time it happened to be that the mother is not even looking at the baby on the first ultrasound session." The Doctor said apprehensively.

Priya gulped a lump down her throat. Her heart felt heavy with the ongoing emotions. She tried to talk but words failed to come out of her mouth.

With much difficulty she said "There's nothing like that doctor." Priya was not meeting her eyes with the doctor.

Doctor felt she should not rush and ask more questions. "Ok, but Priya, I just want to say that you are going to be a mother and you are going to develop a strong bond with the baby. No one can tear this string because mother is the only one who understands the child even with the silence." Doctor told Priya who was looking blankly at her.

Priya simply nodded her head, her heart felt heavy and she did not have the strength to speak a word.

"Come outside when you are done." Saying this Doctor walked outside of the room and Priya followed her within a couple of minutes.

In the Doctor's cabin,

"Mother and baby are completely fine. Baby is growing well." Said the doctor giving positive feedback.

Ram thanked the Doctor.

"Yes, there is one thing, Mrs. Kapoor's BP is really low. It is a normal thing during pregnancy. There is no reason to worry." Doctor assured.

Raya was feeling odd whenever the doctor referred to them as Mr & Mrs. Kapoor. Both looked at each other passing an awkward look.

"No stress, eat food properly, do light exercises, get enough sleep and yes both of you can lead a normal married life." the doctor told them casually. Ram felt little uncomfortable hearing the doctor say as they were not a married couple.

Turning towards Ram, the doctor said. "You should take care of your wife and just make sure she has a proper diet and sleep."

"Don't worry doctor, I will take care of her". Ram assured the doctor. The doctor smiled at them warmly.

"Continue the medicine I have prescribed. The next appointment will be in the coming month. If there are any issues or problems, call me." Concluded the doctor with further instructions.

Priya was disturbed after the appointment with the Doctor. Whatever the Doctor told her was correct, a mother and child share a strong bond between each other. She felt miserable at her situation that she would end up getting hurt and heartbroken. She was trying not to have any emotional bond with the child growing inside her womb but she knew it would be very difficult for her to do so.

*********

Ram went to check on Priya when she did not come out of the room for quite some time. Ram tiptoed into her room when he did not get any response from Priya. He saw her sleeping on the bed.

Ram hesitatingly tapped on Priya's shoulder to wake her up. Priya slowly opened her eyes.

"Priya, are you alright?" asked Ram out of concern seeing her pale face.

"Hmm." Priya sat quietly resting her back on headrest.

Ram's hand involuntarily moved towards her forehead. Priya closed her eyes when the coldness of his hand touched her burning forehead.

"You are having a fever, Priya." Ram exclaimed.

"I think so." Priya groaned trying to adjust the pillow behind her back. Ram helped her adjust the pillow.

"Are you okay? Should we go to the hospital?" Ram asked worriedly. Priya shook her head in negation.

"No, I'll be fine." Responded Priya with a low voice.

"At least let me call the Doctor home." Ram pulled out his mobile from the pant pocket and started dialing on mobile.

"No need. I will be fine after some time." Priya stopped him before he called the Doctor.

"Let's go down. Let's have some tea and snacks. You will feel good." Said Ram.

"I'll come down after I freshen up." Replied Priya. Ram nodded and left.

After a while, Priya came down. Ram offered her tea and snacks even after she declined.

Priya had a sip and barely ate any snacks. Suddenly she felt nausea and rushed to the washroom. Ram startled and followed her to help.

He rubbed her back and helped her while she was having discomfort. He took her to the sofa and let her settle down comfortably.

"I am having a bad head-ache." Said Priya, closing her eyes tightly. Ram quickly went inside his room and came back in a minute.

"Let me apply some balm on your forehead." Ram said while opening the lid of the balm.

"No, it's okay Mr. Kapoor. You don't need to do this." Priya denied Ram's help.

"I insist, please." Ram wanted to help her genuinely. Priya could not resist much as she was also not in a state to talk much.

Priya felt jittery when his fingers touched her forehead to apply balm.

"Mr Kapoor, you don't need to..." Priya tried to say.

"Sshh! Close your eyes." Ram said as he started massaging her forehead from behind.

Priya let out a sigh of relief when he massaged her temples. Within a few minutes, her pain subsided.

Ram did not leave her side and took good care of her genuinely.

**********

After dinner Raya retired to their respective rooms. Ram was doing his work till late night whereas Priya dozed off while reading a book.

Ram finished his work and went to check on Priya as the lights are still on in her room.

He peeked inside her room as the room was slightly open. He saw her sleeping still holding the book on her chest.

Ram felt himself dragged towards her unknowingly. He touched her forehead and sighed in relief as the temperature was normal.

When he pulled the book from her hand, Priya stirred from her sleep. Ram quickly moved backwards without making any sound.

Priya adjusted her sleeping position not knowing Ram's presence in the room. Ram then smiled at the way she was sleeping peacefully. She looked cuter when she's sleeping.

Slowly, his gaze fell on the bulge on her stomach. He desperately wanted to touch the bulge but restricted himself from doing it.

Suddenly, he felt surprised by his own self when he came out of the trance.

Covering her with a blanket, he stepped out of the room after switching off the lights. He felt different with his own behavior today.

"Was he getting attracted to Priya?" He questioned himself several times before his eyes gave up to sleep.

*********

As the days passed, Ram and Priya actually started talking normally. Though they did not open up to each other completely but they share a cordial relationship with each other after all they live in the same house.

Ram started noticing her daily routine and her food habits and Priya does the same thing. Now they started making fun of each other's habits.

Ram started liking the way she talked, the way she countered him. He used to get pissed off with her very behavior whenever she used to fight with him. But surprisingly, both of them started enjoying the banter they share on every topic.

Ram and Priya were the two opposite persons who had completely different ideologies. It became a daily routine for them to mock each other at least once in a day otherwise their day felt incomplete to them.

Priya let him join her morning and evening walk whenever he is at home. Unlike before, they wish each other in the morning, have their meals together and chitchat on a few random topics before they sleep. This has become their daily routine these days. Unknowingly to their utter surprise, they started liking each other's company.