" Do you miss him already ?" her sister's teasing voice,  made Swara blush as she realized it was harder to hide anything from someone,  who knew you like the back of their hand.

And it was true ,she missed him because he went  to work without waking her up, and she dozed off well into the day due to jet lag and was relieved when she woke to find her sister and her nephew stayed behind till she was awake.

" He will be home soon, do you really like him that much ," her sister continued her teasing , at her silence,  as once again Swara eyes drifted towards the door .

And she froze to see two familiar faces walking inside the house , her mother and her bade maa . Swara had planned to visit her parents with Sanskar ,but she hadn't expected them to visit her soon.

If it was just her mother , Swara probably would have run straight into her embrace ,because in spite of the difference of opinion between them . She missed her mother ,but because her aunt was with her mother ,she held herself back from doing anything rash.

After the warm greeting ,her aunt asked after Ragini . And since Swara didn't want to her aunt to find fault with her daughter ,she was quick to explain that Ragini was resting in her room because she had an headache. 

Because for her aunt ,nothing is more important than greeting guests in person and she would blame Ragini for not being around even when her poor cousin was indeed ill.

And once her aunt made her way to her cousin room , Swara was glad to have her mother's full attention as she basked in her questions and answered them with a smile , as she fondly remembered the trip.

Soon Sanskar's aunt who had went to visit her friend returned and took over the conversation,  as she spoke about her trip with Uttara ,by the time her bade maa came down , Swara realized something was wrong.

" Ragini is sick ,the poor girl had been throwing up and yet no one cared to notice,  " her bade maa accusation made her flinch as she if it had been her fault when she had checked on her cousin just few minutes ago .

Yes ,she knew Ragini was sick not that kind that was alarming but rather good news and so was surprised by her bade maa lack of happiness , her cousin had only confided in her sister last night and hadn't gotten a chance to tell her yet because last night they hadn't a moment of privacy.

And today Swara slept for so long, her sister told Swara that Ragini is yet to share the news with Laksh ,as she was worried if he would find the news alarming as they had planned to wait for few years .

That she had been hoping to get to talk to Sanskar about it when he returns and so was surprised when Ragini decided to not share the news with her mother ,because Swara knew her mother can be intrusive with her questions and Ragini can't keep a secret from her .

" Poor girl ,it was the travel that got her sick.  I will go and check on her , " Sanskar's aunt answered back as she marched to Ragini's room  while her sister went to the guest room once her son's cries reached her ,as he woke up leaving Swara alone with her mother and her aunt. 

" I had hoped it was a pleasant news ,but the girl insists that not the case . You know how hard it had been for me to get pregnant and I want to ask her to get herself checked up first but she refuses to do so without talking with her husband,  " her bade maa spoke up, and Swara understood she must have been waiting for the news of her grandchild already. 

" It will happen in time bhabhi ,dont worry, " her mother was quick to reassure her sister in law .

And Swara was stuck in between their conversation as they ranged from everything about Ragini lack of good news to her uncle working longer hours in office.

" I asked Ragini to make her husband move to our company, since he has no real power in the Maheshwari industries even if it had been his father who had been the last CEO , but she doesn't listen to my advise insisting Laksh likes his job ," her aunt spoke up next , as if she blamed Sanskar for being the CEO instead. 

Swara wanted to defend how it had been his hard work that got him the position and also remind her aunt that ,Sanskar's father was the CEO first as well but held back as she didn't want  to cause any unpleasantness between them. 

And so had been relieved when her sister joined then with a smiling Rahul that her mother attention tuned towards her grand child ,and Swara used the opportunity to escape them and walked to check on Ragini.

" You can't keep the news a secret for long beta, " she heard Sanskar aunt speaking to Ragini as she walked inside the room

" I will tell Lakash first then my mother , " Ragini answered back looking worried that her husband won't take the news with happiness.

" If my son said anything except how happy he is with the news ,then send him to me and I will set him straight , he may have decided to wait for a child Ragini ,but he would love the kid and getting him married didn't make him grew up ,maybe becoming a father will work, " Sanskar's aunt words were filled with humour as well as support that Ragini briefly smiled back until she spotted her and her face lost the smile .

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

Swara looked happy for her ,in her excitement of holding Rahul ,she had confided in Pari di last night and wondered if she made a mistake, but her cousin had been supportive and she intended to tell Swara soon but had been too sick to find strength to walk to her room and have the talk .

And today her mother's visit , filled her with remorse as her words left a deep regret in her.  She always knew her mother hated them but never expected her to push Ragini to be someone else because of it

" All the time in Venice and you caught flu instead of being pregnant , do you know how important it is to have the first child in this house and do you know your cousin seemed to be so happy earlier that she might best you again ,and your husband and you can forget holding any power in this house .

Stop deluding yourself and get a reality check ,the sooner you get pregnant, the sooner you can wield any real power in the house , do you want your kid to be under the shadow of her kids as well? " her mother talked non stop uncaring she was too ill to respond

Maybe it was the reason ,she kept the news to herself because telling her mother she was pregnant should be an happy occasion not something that  will be tainted by her ,thirst for control and power. 

" Laksh ,will understand Ragini , you just tell him once he comes back home ," Swara ,her cousin spoke up , at Ragini continued silence and she can't help but wonder why her mother only see her as a threat but never as someone who cares so much about Ragini happiness.

" I will tell him , " Ragini answered back , because in spite of her fears ,she still hoped her husband would be happy for them .

            ********************"

By the time Swara returned down ,her aunt had left much to her relief but her sister was having an argument with their mother ,she couldn't hear it from the stairs and they both stopped talking once she reached them .

Swara picked Rahul into her hands and waited for them to tell her on their own , but they both refused to say a word until she lost her patience and demanded from them the truth ,not realizing how shattered she would feel on its wake .

" Shona , come sit beside me for a moment , " her mother spoke up , and waited for Swara to sit first .

" Your sister is just being hard on me for no reason , I just only wanted to tell you to wait till Ragini has a child before getting pregnant , you know how hard it had been on your aunt when I was pregnant with Pari and  she is concerned that Ragini would be hurt as well ,if you got pregnant first "her mother spoke up surprising her yet again by her words.

" I am sorry Shona ,I just can't believe she told you that even when I told her that it was the most horrible thing to do to your own daughter,  " Pari di spoke up , in her defence when Swara had been too numb to react.  

" I am not asking her to not have kids ,just wait till Ragini gives birth.  And you do know , Sanskar is a stranger to her and it would be right to wait few years before having a child while Ragini and Laksh are in love with each other, " her mother kept talking , but Swara had enough. 

" If I said ,I love Sanskar then can I go and get pregnant right now , because for once I want to hurt you back for taking away my choices over and over again . How much more do you expect me to give up, just to satisfy your sister in law and your brother. 

And I am done giving up my life and my choices for you , " Swara spoke up,  as she walked away from her mother before she said far worse because right now she believed that she was capable of telling her mother that she hates her and it would be the truth .

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

Sanskar was too tired by the time he drove back home , her aunt had called to tell Laksh that Ragini was sick which made his cousin dash out home soon and he had to stay behind later than he expected ,he had missed his wife and yet didn't call her or text her as he was trying to keep the distance between them.

So when he walked inside the room ,he expected her to be angry or upset at his absence for long ,instead he found her curled up in the bed with tear stained face that he got worried about her.

He didn't know why she cried herself to sleep but he couldn't wake her up as well ,so he freshened up and fell asleep beside her,  wondering all the while what had gotten his wife upset .

And when he woke up the next day ,she had been missing beside him. It had been too early even for him and her tears bothered him last night as he marched outside his room and found her in his mother's music room

He had used the time of their honey moon to redecorate the room and make it into Swara dance room ,it had been a surprise he planned to show her when they returned but it looked like she found it on her own .

And she was dancing to the music totally unaware of the fact she had an audience and by the time her eyes locked with his ,he was blown over by her ability to dance. 

He expected a smile or an affectionate good morning instead she burst into tears , making him stride to her in few steps as she walked into his embrace and broke down.

He couldn't hear any reason for her breakdown,  but he could feel her pain when she cried with heart wrenching sobs , as he held her closer ,he wondered what gotten her so upset.

" It hurts sanskar, it still hurts me so much, I thought I won't care once I grew up, but I still get upset , get hurt and get angry all over again ,   "  she spoke up , a long time later ,still in his embrace , making Sanskar hurt as well because he needed to find out what happened in less than a day that broke down his wife . 

P.S :" That it for now , let me know your thoughts and feedback . Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid