Hello Wattys,

It's very delightful to share that "Perfectly Imperfect" has won "Wattpad-South Asia: South Asian Awards" in "Mature" Category. Thank you everyone who took their precious time to nominate the story.

https://www.wattpad.com/1080843981-wattpad-south-asia-south-asian-awards-results

Cheers,

Jo

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In the 9th month of the pregnancy, the Doctor informed Ram & Priya of an approximate delivery date to Ram & Priya. Ram was taking utmost care of Priya in the crucial month of the pregnancy. Priya's bumb was heavy and she had difficulty while getting up or sleeping.

As the baby moved towards the pelvis, she was experiencing flashes of pain every now and then.

Usually, a pregnant woman likes the extra attention, love and care, enjoys being pampered and schedules a countdown of the delivery date. Unfortunately in Priya's case, it was entirely different. Instead of embracing the moments, she was afraid of the days ahead of her.

A plenty of restless thoughts nagged her day and night making her feel anxious.

"Will the Pregnancy go normally or will there be complications?"

"Will Ram allow her to touch her baby?"

"What will happen after delivery?"

"Will she ever be able to hold her baby near to her heart?"

Such questions wandered in her mind without answers. All these feelings caused a hindrance in her.

Priya was having backache and muscle ache continuously from a few days. Ram was unaware of Priya's fears but still he took care of Priya to the best of his abilities.

Knowing that Priya would hesitate asking for help, he himself offered help for giving her a back massage. Priya could not deny him much as she was having difficulty catching some proper sleep.

Priya nodded her head and laid on one-side letting him give massage. As soon as she felt his hands on her body, she closed her eyes and her body trembled. He could sense her body shivering with his touch. Her muscles relaxed after getting a nice back massage from him. After a couple of minutes, she felt her eyelids heavy due to the medication.

Her eyelids shot open as soon as she felt his hands on her feet.

"Wh...What are you doing, Ram?" Priya asked, trying to get up from the bed.

"Relax. Please lie down and sleep." Ram said, taking her feet in his hands gently pressing those swollen feet.

"Please don't touch my feet." Priya tried to pull back her feet from his hold.

"Priya, I know you have swollen feet and difficulty to even walk sometimes." Saying this, he pulled her toe fingers slightly.

"Raam...It's okay. You don't need to do this." Priya pursed her lips.

"This is the least I can do for you. It is nothing in front of the pain you are enduring. Please lie down and try to sleep." Ram said, smiling softly at her.

Priya smiled at him before she made herself comfortable. She too started liking this new side of Ram Kapoor. She never thought that he has a sensible side too. Glad he did!

Within no time, her eyes gave up and drifted into deep slumber.

Once he made sure that she slept peacefully, he gently caressed her bump saying good night to the baby before he retired to his room.

**********

On a specific night,

Priya was sleeping when she suddenly felt a stream of warm liquid which made her bed wet. She shifted from the bed trying to wake up.

"Ram..." a muffled cry escaped from Priya's mouth. She was having difficulty speaking. She balanced herself on her elbow; she reached out for her mobile. Once she got hold of her phone, she dialed Ram's number.

"Ram, come to my room, please. URGENT!!!" asked Priya with utmost difficulty. Ram sensed her discomfort and immediately ran to her room without wasting a second.

"What happened, Priya?" asked Ram nervously and helped her up to sit on the bed.

"Ram, I think my water broke." Priya said while huffing badly.

Ram becomes shocked. "OMG, what to do now?" he panicked.

"I need to go to the hospital." said Priya finally.

***********

Once Raya reached the hospital, they shifted Priya in a stretcher and moved her to the private room. After checking her vital things like the baby's heart rate and contractions, the doctor immediately started giving her drips and gave her pain injection.

Doctor said, "Relax and stay calm. I will come and check you after a while." She then looked at Ram and said "Ram, you have to come with me for some formalities." Ram looked at Priya.

"Don't worry Ram, Priya is fine. Sister is there. She will take care of her." Ram nodded and went with the doctor for the other necessary formalities.

Priya was changed into a hospital gown and laying on the bed staring at the saline bottle which is induced in her right hand and then glancing at her other hand which is induced with some other machine showing her BP and heart rate.

"Instead of the labor room, why did you take Priya to the private room?" asked Ram as he was totally confused.

The doctor smiled and replied "There is no hurry to take Priya to the labor room right away. Priya's labor pain has not yet started. I have given her an injection. When her pain begins then only, we need to take her to the labor room." Ram relaxed a bit after hearing that.

"Some formalities are still to be done. Fill the form and stay with Priya. She would need your support." The doctor continued.

***********

Ram was sitting beside Priya. He was fidgeting with his fingers nervously.

Every five minutes, Priya feels contractions which increase simultaneously.

Hours passed but still Priya was in the same place, but her contractions are now getting stronger and frequent.

Ram became really nervous as the time passed but seeing Priya's pain he felt bad. He forwarded his hand and held her hands tightly for support.

Just then the Doctor came to check on Priya.

"Priya, you need to push harder whenever you get a contraction." The Doctor directed. The doctor then glanced over at the worried Ram. "Don't worry Ram. Everything is going Ok." She spoke.

Hours passed, and finally the moment arrived when Priya started feeling a strong contraction that made Priya screaming in pain. Ram was frightened hearing Priya's screams every now and then.

Soon she was shifted to the labor room. Ram was waiting outside. He was pacing restlessly in front of the door. The only thing he could hear was Priya's shrieks from inside the room.

He soon then called home and informed them about the delivery. When KK and Natasha got the news, they started praying to the god for the wellbeing of the mother and baby.

*************

Inside the labor room, Priya was extremely tired. She was not even able to push hard because she was already exhausted. She was breathing heavily as she closed her eyes, not able to bear the pain. Priya was still tired and was losing energy as the time passed.

The Doctor came out from the labor room. Ram marched towards her as soon as she stepped out of the room.

"Mr. Kapoor, Priya is exhausted. She is not listening. Can you go and talk to her, maybe she will listen to you" Doctor suggested.

"Is everything alright doctor? How is Priya?" Ram asked nervously. His heart was beating fast as he awaited the Doctor's response.

"She is fine right now, but remember that I already warned you about this. Normal delivery is difficult in her case." The doctor said with a serious face. "There is still time left for the baby to arrive. And I don't think that Priya can hold much longer. Mr. Kapoor, you need to do something."

"What should I do?" asked Ram.

"You should go and talk to her Mr. Kapoor." advised the doctor. Ram became hesitant as he heard that. He started to become even more nervous than before.

Priya was not his wife. And he cannot go inside without her permission when she was in the labor room.

As the doctor didn't know about this she frowned and spoke once more grabbing his attention.

"Mr. Kapoor, What are you waiting for? Your wife needs you. Go inside and talk to her." She said angrily disappointed with Ram's ignorant behavior. But she doesn't know the truth.

"I can't go inside without her permission, doctor." Ram said finally with lots of indecisions.

The Doctor is clueless to what Ram was implying.

Taking a deep breath Ram blurts it all out "Priya and I are not married. We had an agreement and according to that, Priya agreed for surrogacy." Ram finally disclosed.

The Doctor gasped sharply out of shock with the new revelation. Now, somewhere she could connect the dots on why Priya was different from other pregnant ladies. She could not understand how to react to the news but she was shaken and outraged too.

"You never mentioned the agreement before." the doctor asked, trying to maintain calmness in her tone.

"That is because I don't want anybody to raise a finger on Priya's character because of this. And I don't want this to affect her future as well." Ram clarified. The doctor crossed her arms.

"What a noble thought!" The Doctor said sarcastically. Ram was getting annoyed by the doctor's constant questions at that tense moment.

"No wonder why Priya is behaving strangely; in my career I have dealt with many different characters of pregnant ladies. Each had a different reaction but all had a hint of their own happiness to express in them. The joy of becoming a mother, the excitement, and their gaze that shows their delight of their future with their babies; I never saw that in Priya. She is different from the others right from the beginning of her pregnancy. I even asked her about her indifferent behavior but she never said anything. She is emotionally weak." told the doctor to pursue her lips.

"What do you think; it is easy to become a mother. You will never understand what physical and mental pressure a woman endures during this process. Priya is not even going to get her baby even after doing all these things. Do you know how painful it is? Can you imagine yourself in her place? That is why she never got attached to the baby. You have scarred her heart." the Doctor said.

"I now understand everything and it's between me and Priya and I don't think I would want you to imply this any further. I don't really appreciate it." said Ram clearly annoyed. He did not like doctors intruding in their personal space.

At the same time, nurse came outside,

"Doctor, the patient is dried out. Please check her." Nurse said in a nervous tone. Doctor nodded and quickly walked inside the labour room.

"She is tired and will not be able to carry this along any further. The labor isn't progressing well either. I think we should go for vacuum extraction" suggested the Doctor. She directed the nurse and the OB tech to organize the arrangements needed.

Ram was waiting outside the door, walking to and fro. He was extremely worried. He fiddled with his fingers to settle his anxiousness.

All the arrangements were made for the Vacuum Extraction. Priya had been going through a lot of difficulty and pain for hours.

Finally, after lots of struggle and bearing pain for more than eight to nine hours the baby's head came out. Doctor pulled out the baby and cut the umbilical cord. As soon as Priya heard the baby's cry, she forgot all the pain she had tolerated so far.

Priya closed her eyes letting those welled up tears spill out of the corner of her eyes.

Outside the labour room, Ram stood frozen to his spot as soon as the baby's cry reached his eardrums. His heart started beating fast against the ribcage. He desperately wanted to see the baby and Priya.

"Priya, it's a baby girl." The Doctor kept the baby near Priya's chest. Her vision blurred with the tears pooling in her tired eyes. She could not hold back herself from seeing the baby and her hands trembled touching her baby for the first time. A member of the health care team attended Priya.

After a few minutes, the nurse came and gently took the baby from Priya's hold.

The nurse came outside holding the baby in her hand announcing the arrival of the baby girl to Ram. Ram felt his heart melt at the sight of his baby.

With shivering hands, he took the baby from the nurse. He could not believe his eyes that he was holding his little soul in his hand. He could not blink his eyes looking at his princess. His eyes filled with tears. His level of happiness rose to ecstatic as he embraced the warmth of his baby. He gently touched the baby's delicate skin. He felt proud. He forgot about everything and lived the moment completely.

Just then a thought crossed his mind changing his reaction. He immediately looked at the nurse and asked "How is Priya?" he asked quickly.

"She is fine." replied Nurse.

"Can I meet Priya?" asked Ram

"Doctor is examining her. We will shift her to the room soon." said Nurse and took the baby for a general check-up. Ram felt a stream of relief when the nurse confirmed Priya was fine.

In the labor room, Priya was asleep where her stitching was still going on. Just then she woke up and noticed her baby was not around her. She panicked and looked around in search of her baby. A chill ran through her spine as fear overwhelmed her.

She became hyper. "Where is my baby?" asked Priya. The Doctor walked towards her. "Don't worry Priya. Your baby is fine. She is in the other room for the check-up." The Doctor replied calmly.

"No. No. I want to see my baby. Doctor, Can I see my baby, please?" Priya pleaded.

"Priya, relax. You will get to see her soon. Just relax for now." The Doctor tried again.

Tears started streaming down as she was panic-stricken.

"No Doctor. You don't understand. I need to see my baby now. Please, one last time. I won't get to see her after this. Please, Doctor. I beg you. I want to touch my baby one last time. Please." Priya folded her hands helplessly.

The Doctor held her hands. "Priya, you need to take a rest. You are still weak and your stitches are still going on."

"I don't care." Priya exclaimed loudly. "Doctor, you don't understand my situation. This might be the last time I get to see or hold my baby."

The doctor sighed looking sympathetically at Priya. "I know Priya. I know everything. And I promise you that you will get to see your baby, no matter what."

But unfortunately, Priya was not in the urge of listening to the Doctor. Priya became anxious and tried to get up, wincing in the pain.

Doctor had no option other than giving Priya a mild injection to put her to sleep. Priya's eyes became heavy. Even with her closed eyes, Priya was mumbling something about the baby.

The Doctor felt pity for her.

In the Doctor's cabin,

The Doctor and Ram were facing each other with utter silence.

"Mr. Kapoor. I have called you here to know your decision." The Doctor started breaking the silence.

Ram didn't say anything.

"As we know, Priya's condition is really dire and her chance of healing from her mental breakdown is really low." The doctor continued before inhaling a deep breath. She looked at Ram in the eye.

"Mr. Kapoor, you have two options." The Doctor said. "You can either take the baby and leave, or you can let Priya see her baby once more."

"I would appreciate it if you let Priya hold your baby once. It's not going to stop her pain but it will help sooth her unstable sentiments. But if you still wish to not let Priya see the baby, then it is going to be very hard on her. We might never know when she will recover from the depression. We are bound by the law, that's why we are having this conversation here, anyways." The Doctor said.

Ram simply looked at the Doctor with no reaction.

When the doctor did not get any response from Ram, she asked again. "What is your decision, Mr. Kapoor?"