She had slept uncomfortably the whole night. Tossing and turning, whimpering and whining. Sidharth knew exactly what had been wrong and so even though she slept fitfully, he held her in his arms, almost the whole night, pressing soft, gentle kisses on her face when she woke up in the middle of the night and shushed her back to sleep, patient and understanding. The next morning, she had woken up with a face as white as a ghost and rushed into the washroom. 

Sidharth rushed in after her, catching her in his arms as she collapsed in front of the toilet and started puking. 

She hissed, nudging at Sidharth. 

"It's okay, baby.." He whispered to her as he rubbed her back. "It's okay, I'm right here."

Her menstrual days were never easy on her, but they had gotten especially hard now since she could hardly rest in her busy schedule. So, the pain that was a constant struggle for her had now turned into a demon of sorts. "You're going to be okay, Naaz. You'll get through this."

"I know, but this is horrible." She whined, leaning against him. "I'm so tired.."

"I know, bunny." He sighed. 

"I have to go to work.. I don't want to.." She cribbed. 

Sidharth helped her to her feet and bent over to join his forehead with hers. "Let's make a trade, you go to work today and do a great job and I'll get you a big box of chocolates that's all yours." 

"You would do that either way." She mumbled. "You always bring me chocolates when I'm on my period."

Sidharth chuckled. "Okay, that's fair."

Shehnaaz smiled, pecking his lips softly. "Tu sabse accha hai. Mujhe kitna jhelta hai, kitna pakaati hoon mai tujhe. Phir bhi tu mujhe itna pyaar karta hai."

"That's because you're the most important. Tu jaan hai meri. Jaan toh sabko pyari hoti hai na? Mujhe bhi bahut pyari hai." He said softly. 

"Tu mujhe set pe lene aayega shoot ke baad?" She asked innocently. 

"Ek shart pe.. tu poora dinn smile karti rahegi, khushi khushi kaam karegi." He offered. 

"Promise."

***

Sidharth walked into the room with his arms full. Shehnaaz was sitting on the couch, curled up against herself. Sidharth frowned at her playfully, raising his eyebrow as he walked over to her side. Shehnaaz pouted, hugging herself a little tighter. 

He forwarded a small pastry to her and smiled at her. "Eat." Shehnaaz shook her head, her pout growing all the more prominent and adorable. 

"Thoda kuch kha le, meri jaan. Tabhi toh dawai dunga." He said patiently, producing a leaf of tablets in front of her. "Khali pait dawai lenge toh aur bura haal hoga." 

Rita Maa, who was sitting across from her, smiled at Shehnaaz in a manner of assurance as Shehnaaz took a small, tentative bite of her sweet. "Shabaash.." She cheered, making Shehnaaz let out a small giggle.

Sidharth ruffled her hair affectionately and sat next to her. "Good girl. Ab thodi si der me dawai, okay?" 

Shehnaaz leaned over to his side and slammed her face gently into his shoulder making the occupants of the room chuckle.

Sidharth on the other hand kissed her head gently. "Tu toh mera strong baby hai na, bunny? Kuch nahi hota. Abhi dawai lenge, aur dard theek ho jaayega." 

"I missed you." She groaned into his shoulder. He patted her head fondly. 

"I missed you too, bunny."

"Where were we?" Preeti asked no one in particular, attracting everyone's attention towards the discussion that was left hanging. Shehnaaz looked up, successfully distracted from her horrible period pain.

"We were talking about your travel plans for Dheer and Mishka's wedding ceremony." Shehnaaz reminded them. "Aap next week nahi ja sakte!" 

"Kyon?"

"Kyonki next week Sidharth ka award ceremony hai, aur aap sab invited ho. We want everyone to be able to attend." She explained. 

Preeti smiled. "Arrey, haan. Yaad tha mujhe." 

"Jhoothi.." Sidharth scoffed. 

Preeti frowned. "Mai kyon jhoothi?" 

"Kyonki tu bhool gayi thi aur agar Naaz yaad nahi karaati toh tu shaadi ke liye taiyyari kar ke baith gayi hoti." Sidharth deadpanned. 

Preeti scoffed at him playfully. "Aisa kucch nahi hai. I always remember your important days. Ask Raj, didn't I say we'll leave after his awards night?" She turned to her husband with a raised eyebrow. 

"She did." Raj agreed. 

"I don't believe you.." Sidharth huffed. "Tu situation ko ghuma rahi hai bas!" 

Rita Maa laughed, "Tum dono chote bacche ho?" She asked rhetorically. 

Sidharth pouted. "Mai aapka chota baccha hi to hoon." 

Rita Maa shook her head. "Ab tu chota nahi raha, ab toh yeh meri pyari bacchi hai."

"Tu sabki laadli kaise hai Shehnaaz?" He asked her. 

Shehnaaz shrugged. 

Sidharth chuckled, looking at Shehnaaz who was smiling softly, visibly still in pain. Her pastry was half-eaten and ready to be abandoned but he didn't exactly blame her for that. If he was bleeding the way she was and cramping even half as bad, he would have locked himself into his room for the remainder of the week to recover from just one day and refused every bit of food or even human contact. 

Here she was handling both her work and family like a boss without so much as a word of protest. Of course she cribbed and whined in front of him, but only because she knew she'd get affection and pampering from him afterwards.

There was a reason why he respected the ladies in his life with every fiber of their being. They were stronger. They were so much better than he could ever have been. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 

"Yeh toh hai hi mera accha baccha." He said fondly.

Half an hour later, in the middle of another budding argument, Sidharth felt  a gentle thud on his shoulder and found Shehnaaz— drowsy from the pain medication and barely awake— trying to find a spot conformable enough to fall asleep. 

"Sidharth—" She whimpered, attracting the attention of not only the man in question but also the rest of the family gathered around them. Sidharth's sister, her husband and Rita Maa all shook their heads at the familiar sight. 

"Right here, bunny." He smiled fondly, shifting closer and patted her head gently. 

"Sidharth—"

"Haan meri jaan.. kya hua?" He asked softly, as she tried, blindly to hug him.

His smile grew slightly bigger at the gesture. He pulled Shehnaaz gently towards himself. "Hug chahiye mere bacche ko?" 

Shehnaaz opened her eyes a little and peeked at him, pouting adorably. 

"So ja, bunny. Mai  hoon yaheen pe." He said gently, guiding her head back on his shoulder. 

"Kissie kar.."

Sidharth smiled, obeying her wish without a thought and kissed her forehead gently. "Aur kuch?" 

Shehnaaz didn't respond, but snuggled into him.

He kissed her forehead again, removing loose hair out of her face. He had seen this coming, his cranky and sick baby finally crashing on his shoulder, majorly fuelled by pain medication. 

He continued to talk, while running his fingers through her hair gently. In the months— years that he had spent with her, he had gotten used to such moments. She'd just crash— hard on him— after a long and/or frustrating day at work and he'd just simply take it in stride and begin to cuddle her or start to run his fingers through her hair as she slept. 

The family, at first teased him about it, but eventually they came to realize that he was her safe haven. She could just.. let go of everything with him.

He on the other hand was slightly more— aware of where he was falling asleep. Usually, it was Shehnaaz's lap but whoever said he was any less of a child than her when it came to receiving his share of pampering from her? 

But right now, it was her turn. 

"Preeti, blanket laake de na please." Sidharth told his sister quietly, a few minutes later. "Yeh toh gayi." 

Preeti laughed. "Ek minute."

Sidharth mouthed a 'thank you'. 

Preeti shook her head. "As if we don't know, har baar jab yeh bimaar hoti hai, tujhse hi toh chipki rehti hai." 

Sidharth smiled, looking down at her sleeping figure fondly. 

"I'll be right back." She said softly, 

Preeti returned with a blanket and a pillow, the latter of which was promptly thrown away. "Yeh nahi lagega abhi.."

Preeti frowned, "She'll have a sore neck, Sidharth. Kya kar raha hai tu?" 

Sidharth scoffed, pulling slightly away from Shehnaaz and both the siblings saw her face change. Sidharth looked up knowingly while adjusting himself and pulling her back in. 

"3½ years—" He scoffed playfully as Shehnaaz resettled into her almost interrupted slumber, "and this is how well you know her. As if she'll care about the sore neck!"

"I'm not her husband." Preeti shrugged. 

"True— but then don't go around bringing pillows between us." He laughed. "The world knows they get thrown away."

"You're both idiots."

"I know." 

***

heyyitscherry here's your prompt. I finally got around to writing this. I was slammed with work the last few weeks, little to no time for writing new stuff, that's a struggle.

I hope you like this one!

Everyone, do let me know what you think in the comments section.

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