"No!"
Arjun jumped and dropped the stack of chairs he was carrying around the Whitestone Manor's backyard. He turned to see his wife storming towards him, a look of pure disgust on her face.
"You can't be doing chairs right now!" she chastised him. "You're supposed to be picking your family up at the airport."
"Neil called and said he just called a car," he replied. "Take a deep breath, sweety. We're already married. Even if everything goes to hell on Saturday, it changes nothing about us."
"But I want it to be perfect," she complained. "And I know everyone thinks I'm doing this all for me, but I'm not. This is your wedding, too."
He took her hands in his. "Shruti, I don't care about flower arrangements or a seating chart. I care about you being happy because I stole this day away from you five years ago by asking you to be married secretly in court. You did that for me, so I will do whatever I have to for you."
Shruti swiped at the tears in her eyes. "Bappa, If I cry at this, what will Saturday be like?"
He chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Come hell or high water, we'll be married just like we've been. For five years."
She swatted at his chest. "Okay, okay, you're right. Thank you for helping to set up the chairs. I'm just really stressed out because we have this, a brief honeymoon, and then we're back to Mumbai so you can go into the studio."
"Yes, but having the whole summer in Mumbai will mean we have plenty of time to try for a baby," he smirked, pulling her back to him. "You know we'll probably need a lot of practice."
"I do like the sound of that," she smiled, kissing him softly.
"Can you two stop that?" Shanaya called from the backroom, having just arrived with the rest of Arjun's family. "We have two days to finish everything and this area is still a disaster area."
"And just like that, my stress is back," Shruti grumbled. "I'll send Rishabh and Shivam down to help you. Neil is going with Arohi to pick up sherwanis and lehengas from the cleaner."
"What would you like me to do when we're finished down here?" he asked, trying to alleviate some of her anxiety.
"Call the DJ and make sure his list matches ours in terms of what songs have to be played at the reception," she requested.
"Done", he agreed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Tell Shanaya that this isn't her wedding, so she doesn't get to make demands and boss you around."
Shruti scoffed as she began backing away toward the house. "Yeah, as if that's ever worked with her before."
Two hours later, while the men were downstairs setting up tables in the hall for the reception, and while Shanaya was on the phone with the florist, Shruti sat in Navjot Verma's private bathroom with Arohi, staring at the box on the sink in front of her.
"I can't," she breathed. "There's no way."
"Shruti, you're pregnant," Arohi stated firmly. "Your breasts are bigger than mine now, and that doesn't just happen overnight without a reason. I can't believe Arjun hasn't noticed."
"He's more of an ass man," Shruti muttered. "I'm scared."
Arohi furrowed her brow. "Why? You two have been talking about this. You want to have kids now."
"I know, but we weren't trying yet," Shruti explained.
"Okay, but we're you actively not trying?" Arohi countered. "You guys are married, so surely protection is not a high priority for you anymore."
"It isn't, but I do take the pill," she replied. "I don't think I've forgotten recently."
"Well, you went to Groix what, seven weeks ago?" Arohi asked. "Can you honestly say that while there, on a private island with your husband—your first ever solo vacation together—you remembered your birth control every day? They say missing one day is all it takes."
Shruti groaned in frustration. "I don't know! I can't remember, Aru." She sat down on the toilet seat. "What if I don't fit into my lehenga on Saturday?"
"You had your last fitting Tuesday," Arohi reminded her. "It fits you like a glove, so if you are pregnant—which you so are—it will be fine." She knelt in front of her best friend. "And if you're worried about Arjun, he's going to be thrilled. You have no idea how many times I've overheard him talking to Neil about wanting kids. With you. So, take the test and be sure."
"I need him here," Shruti whispered. "I love you, Arohi, but I need my husband here for this."
Arohi stood up. "I'll go find him." She pressed a rare kiss to the top of Shruti's head before exiting the bathroom and heading downstairs.
"Hey, have you seen Shruti?" Shanaya asked as the brunette passed her in the hallway.
"No," Arohi lied. "She mentioned running over to her mom's house for something though."
"Ugh," Shanaya groaned as she stalked off. "This is a terrible time for her to disappear."
Arohi found Arjun in the kitchen with Shivam and Neil. She made eye contact with him and nodded for him to join her in the stairwell.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Shruti needs you," she explained, his expression instantly softening. "She's up in Navjot Verma's bathroom."
Without another word, Arjun took off up the steps in search of his wife while Arohi joined her husband and brother-in-law. Neil, who'd been with her when she purchased the pregnancy test, simply smiled at her while Shivam wasn't looking; she winked in return.
"Sweety?" Arjun called out as he made his way through the master bedroom to the bathroom. He knocked. "May I come in?"
"Yes," she answered softly.
When Arjun opened the door, he found Shruti sitting on the toilet seat, the test in her hands. He closed the door behind him and locked it before kneeling in front of her. "Shruti?"
"I know that we weren't trying, and this will put a real wrench into our honeymoon plans if I am, but Arohi said my breasts are huge and that I'm more irritable and cranky lately. I tried to pass it off as being wedding-related, but she said breasts don't just grow overnight from stress." She looked up at him. "Are you mad?"
"Mad?" he breathed in disbelief. "How could I be mad? This is what we've been wanting for a year now, love. If you're pregnant, you'll make me the happiest man on the planet. Are you okay?" he wanted to know, cupping her face between his hands.
She nodded. "Yes, but I didn't want to take it without you."
"I'm glad," he smiled, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth before standing. "I'll turn away because I know you hate the idea of me seeing you use the toilet."
Shruti chuckled as she opened the box to remove the test. When she finished, she stood up, set the test on a stack of tissues, and washed her hands.
"And now, we wait," she told him.
Arjun took her hands and sat down against the palatial bathtub, pulling her to sit between his legs.
"Have you thought of any names?" he wondered, absently toying with a strand of her hair.
"Not seriously, because I thought we'd have a bit longer," she said. "I like Aranya for a girl,"
"It's pretty," he agreed. "I like Yash for a boy."
She made a face. "He would be confused with his name until school. That seems unfair. And guitar tech Yash will assume we named our child after him, so no."
"All right," he smirked. "What names do you like for a boy?"
"I want a girl, so I don't know," she laughed lightly. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"You know that if we have a baby, Shanaya will race to have one, as well," he pointed out. "She hates being beaten to the punch on anything, and we already got married before her."
"That's okay," Shruti shrugged. "I'll want him or her to have cousins close in age, and I'm not sure Arohi and Neil will ever have kids."
"Hmm, I wouldn't count them out just yet," Arjun declared. "I think he would like to, and I think seeing you with one will make Aru want one, as well."
"You never call her to that to her face anymore," she realized. "Why?"
"It causes a fight, because only Neil can call her that, and you end up in the middle," he said. "That isn't fair to you, so I just stopped."
She turned slightly to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he whispered, tracing the key on her wrist. "Remember when we got these?"
"Separately, of course," she nodded, flipping over his wrist to look at the matching lock. "We thought we were so cool and sneaky for getting them like it was a secret 'fuck you' to the world."
Arjun laughed. "We did, huh? I still like them. They're permanent, whereas the rings we'll exchange tomorrow could be lost."
"True," she reasoned. "I love them, too. Even though the world knows we're married, very few people know about these, so they're still our little secret."
Before he could say anything else, the timer on his phone went off, indicating the test was complete.
Shruti took a deep breath and crawled to retrieve the test from the countertop. She held it upside down until she settled back between his legs. "Ready?"
"More than," he confirmed.
She nervously flipped the test over and beamed at the sight of the clear-as-day pink plus sign on the small screen.
"We're having a baby," she breathed.
They stood up and he held her in his arms tightly as tears filled his eyes. "Thank you, Shruti, for giving me everything I could ever want."
She gripped him tighter as her tears fell. "I'd say 'you're welcome,' but you've given me the same."
Arjun pulled back just enough to kiss her and then rest a hand on her still-flat stomach. For a long moment, they just stared at each other, words completely unnecessary. She reached up to kiss him again after a minute or so and then wiped away his tears with her thumbs.
"I think we should wait to announce anything to our families until a doctor confirms it," he finally said. "I want to ensure you and the baby are healthy first."
"Agreed," she nodded. "Arohi knows though, or at least highly suspected, and I won't be able to keep the truth from her."
"Which means Neil knows, as well," he added. "That's fine; they're the two who should know first. What about your parents?"
"Well, I can see if we can sneak away early tomorrow morning to meet with Dr. Nandani," she shrugged. "She was my mom's OB/GYN, but she still practices."
"Let's do that," he said as they went back to the bedroom. "Any guesses on how far along?"
"Well, I'm pretty meticulous about taking my birth control, but I can't remember if I was so routine while we were in Groix, so maybe then. That would put me at about seven weeks," she grinned.
Arjun smiled again. "We're having a baby."
"I'm really glad you're so happy," she told him. "I was nervous about telling you."
"Don't ever be nervous to tell me anything," he requested, cupping her cheeks. "I love you so much, Shruti."
She closed her eyes and smiled back at him. "I love you, too, Arjun." She sighed. "We should probably go back downstairs before everyone starts to wonder."
"Okay," he grumbled, taking her hand and leading her to the hallway. "Let's return to reality."
The following morning, the couple woke up at six in their room at the Kapadia house—where only Vishal and Akshara lived now—and got dressed quickly before sneaking out.
"Are you all right?" Arjun asked as they sat in the waiting room of Dr. Nandani's office; she'd made a special exception to see Shruti so early.
"What if I'm not pregnant?" she wondered nervously. "Pregnancy tests have been wrong before."
He took her hand. "I don't think it's wrong, but if it is, it will be okay. This was unplanned, so when we start trying again, it will happen. I know it."
She smiled. "Thank you for being you."
"No one else I'd rather be," he smirked.
Shruti elbowed him gently as Dr. Nandani stuck her head out of her office.
"You guys can come on in," she told them.
They stood up and walked into the room.
"You look quite a bit different than the last time I saw you," Dr. Nandani joked as Shruti sat on the bed and Arjun sat in the chair beside her. "It's good to see you again, Shruti."
"You, too," Shruti nodded. "This is my husband, Arjun ."
Arjun shook the doctor's hand. "A pleasure."
"So, you took just one test, correct?" Dr. Nandani asked, looking over her notes. "And it was positive?"
"Yeah," Shruti confirmed. "We've been talking about having a baby, but we're finally having a wedding ceremony tomorrow, so we'd planned to wait until after our honeymoon. This sort of just happened, but we're really happy about it."
Dr. Nandani smiled. "I like your confidence, so if you're ready, let's confirm this pregnancy."
In high school, Shruti had organized multiple blood drives, so giving blood was easy for her, but she still held her husband's hand to calm her nerves. Dr. Nandani took the sample away as soon as she was finished.
"More waiting," Arjun stated. "You still good?"
"Yes," Shruti breathed. "I'm excited."
"Me, too," he told her. "I thought more about boy names last night. How would you feel about Kiaan, Veer, or Amardeep? They're fairly Punjabi names, but they aren't too trendy or cute."
"Hmm," Shruti considered. "I like all three, but I think I like Kiaan best. But we don't have to decide anything yet."
When Dr. Nandani returned, she had a chart in front of her, which Shruti took as a good sign.
"Well, congratulations," the doctor grinned. "You're certainly pregnant. Based on your last menstrual cycle, I'd estimate you're just at seven weeks, making your due date around January 23."
Arjun looked up at his wife and smiled at the tears that filled her eyes at hearing confirmation of their child.
"Thank you, doctor," he spoke up.
"From here, you'll need to find a doctor you like in Mumbai," Dr. Nandani recommended. She looked at Arjun. "Will you be touring anytime soon?"
"No, I just finished," he answered. "We're in Mumbai for at least the next ten months."
"Good," Dr. Nandani said. "When you find a doctor there, he or she will walk you through your next steps and set up your first ultrasound."
"Okay," Shruti nodded. "Thank you."
When they finished up at the office, the couple made their way back to the boarding house to begin the day's work on the wedding. They'd decided to only tell close friends and family for now, as Shruti was fairly superstitious and didn't want to make any big announcements until she'd hit her second trimester.
"Well?" Arohi demanded as soon as she'd cornered her best friend in the dining room under the pretense of last-minute checks for tomorrow's reception.
"Pregnant," Shruti whispered, "but don't react. We'll announce it tonight after Sangeet, and you can freak out then. If you do anything now, everyone will know you knew first—,"
"As I should," Arohi scoffed.
"—And it isn't worth dealing with Shanaya's wrath," Shruti glared, hating to be interrupted. "So keep your mouth shut."
"Yeah, yeah," Arohi rolled her eyes. "What's on the agenda for today?"
Before Shruti could respond, the front door swung open and Mauli walked inside, followed closely by Ishaan Sarnaik and his wife, Avantika. Their daughter, Anu, brought up the rear, her eyes glued to her cell phone.
"Hi, Daddy!" Shruti cried, rushing to hug him.
"Shruti," Ishaan smiled, holding her tightly. "How are you feeling baccha?"
"I'm good," she said. "I'm so happy you're finally here." She moved to hug her stepmother. "Hi, Avantika."
"Shruti," Avantika greeted her warmly. "Anu put your phone away and say hi to your sister."
Anu sighed and tucked her phone into her purse before giving Shruti an obligatory hug. "Hey."
Shruti just chuckled; she remembered being thirteen all too well. "What are you guys doing here? I didn't think we'd see you until the Sangeet ceremony tonight."
"I wanted to see the space," Avantika, an interior designer, explained. "I've only seen photos."
"And I just wanted to see you," Ishaan added. "It's been too long."
"It has," Shruti nodded. "Well, I'm going to eat breakfast first, but you guys are welcome to rest for a bit while I eat. Arjun is around somewhere. Arjun?!"
"Hi, Aru," Avantika smiled upon noticing Arohi in the next room.
"Avantika," she said by way of greeting. "You look thin."
"Pilates," she replied.
Ishaan hugged Arohi. "Aru, How are you?"
"Still here, keeping everyone in line," she joked.
"I don't doubt that, "he laughed.
Arjun appeared then, followed by Neil and Rishabh. He greeted Shruti's father and Avantika while she made her way to the kitchen for something to eat.
"Morning," Shivam mumbled from his place at the small kitchen table. "Where did you two sneak off so early?"
"We had some stuff to get for the honeymoon," she lied smoothly. "Where's Ananya?"
"Still asleep," he answered. "I just came down for some coffee, but I'm going back up. She's not feeling well, so she wants to take it easy to be good for tomorrow."
"Okay," Shruti said as she found a bowl of cereal. "Tell her I hope she feels better."
"Sure," Shivam nodded as he stood up. "Should I tell her you're pregnant, too, or would you prefer to?"
"What?" she breathed, looking up at him like a deer in headlights.
"Darling, you know I know your bra size," he smirked, making his way towards the stairs. "Don't worry, your secret is safe...for now."
Shruti groaned and pressed her forehead against the refrigerator.
"Ah, Shivam's been here," Neil spoke up as he joined her to refill his teacup.
"Mm-hmm," was all she said. "He knows."
Neil filled his cup and leaned against the counter to face her. "As daunting as that seems, he's surprisingly good at keeping secrets. He knew before anyone when I was going to propose to Arohi, and he kept quiet for two weeks. This time, he only has to stay quiet for less than half a day."
"You're right," she sighed.
"And Shruti?" he said, causing her to look at him as he walked towards the living room. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," she smiled.