SAHANA'S BIRTHDAY

It is been a week since Steve moved in. He has been like a dead man alive since then. He spent his time in his room always, meeting us only during time for food, but he still remains silent during that time. Only a few words slip out of his mouth nonchalantly only when it is necessary. He mopes all the time. The only thing which makes me feel a little better is. He sometimes spends his time speaking to the babies inside me about his childhood, student life, and even about his love life. He was so attached to them and he also once said to them that after their birth he will take the best care of them. Every time he speaks to them, I always hoped that he would speak like that with us also.

I still remember how he came home drunk yesterday, the way he accused us of his sadness, his loneliness and how he cried in front of us, and the way he asked why we didn't arrange bail for Akhil. The way he called Akash was the reason for taking away his happiness. And called him disturbing names for the way he used him to make Akhil confess everything.

I was sitting in my dark bedroom of mine. When I heard the door creak open, it must be Krish I presumed. I pull my hair into a bun and turned on the lights. It was quite a trick to make him believe that I am not having stupid thoughts running inside my head. I heard his footsteps as walked near me and sat next to me.

"Megha", he said his voice very tender. I looked at his face, forced a smile, and said, "Hello"

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I...", I couldn't immediately come up with a lie, so managed the situation with a smile. He moved closer and my eyelids closed themselves. His hand pushed me towards his chest and sniff and kissed my hair. After a couple of his came up to my chin and lift it up, forcing me to meet his eyes. Then it slid to my cheek, and the way he looked at me with concern pushed me to the edge of revealing to him everything that is running in my head.

"Megha, what happened?", he asked me again

"Nothing"

"Megha"

"Trust me it is nothing"

"For the one last time, What happened?"

"I was thinking about Steve", I said, "I can't see him like that Krish, he is hurting himself as well as others", I added after a pause. His hand cupped my face and kissed my forehead. Then attached his forehead to mine, he closed his eyes and so did I. With the silence and tender touch of Krish, I was melting into his touch and forgot every other element disturbing me. Then he pulled back, moved a step away from me, and I opened my eyes with the feeling of missing his touch. He looked worried, his lips in a tight line as though he is trying to not say something that he might regret.

"Spill it out, Krish", I said.

"This is not yours or anyone else's fault. If someone has to be blamed and then it is Akhil only. If he hadn't committed a murder, then probably all of us would have been happy and Steve wouldn't have been suffering like this. Just let it go Megha.", he said

"He is Steve's boyfriend, that means he is our family and we should be trying to get him out"

"Have you lost your senses Megha? If he had ever considered you as a family then he would have confessed his mistakes the day you were framed for Rohit's murder. He didn't right. So better stop caring about him and, about Steve we will find a way.", he said

I just leaned forward and hid my face in his neck, hugging him tightly. The only way to forget the outside world is this, this comforting embrace of him. His hand made its way to my back and I pressed myself more into the crook of his neck. The mixture of his perfume and his sweat was soothing me for some reason. His hand roamed around my back while I gripped his perfectly ironed shirt and made it wrinkled. I stayed in that position for a while and only pulled back after he cleared his throat.

"I am sure, Sahana will be angry with you.", he said

"Why?" I asked

"Because her favorite aunt forgot her birthday", he said.

Yes, it is Sahana's birthday today and I forgot about it. It is already 2 in the afternoon which means she will be back home in 2 hours and we should arrange everything for the birthday party before she returns.

"We are running out of time, Krish. How did I forget my niece's birthday", I said and ran my fingers through my hair while he chuckled cutely.

I immediately grabbed his wrist and he turned to me. "Come let's start setting things up for the party tonight," I said and he stood up. My hands hugged his arm and we made our way out of our room.

For the next hour, all the people living in this room spent our time blowing balloons, baking cake, decorating the room, etc. I was damn tired so sat on the couch. Steve handed me a glass of juice with a slight smile. It was good to see him decorating for his niece's birthday and communicating with us. It was quite a change in him.

"I'm sorry for yesterday", he said fidgeting his fingers.

"It's fine, I know you are going through a lot", I said patting his back.

"I just can't still accept the fact"

"It is okay. Take your time."

"Thank you for understanding me.", he said and I felt one of the babies inside me kick me.

"One of them just kicked me", I said pointing to my tummy.

"Really", his face lightens up in a fraction of a second.

"Yes"

"Can I feel them?"

"Oh my god, Steve are you just asking permission to touch someone else's wife"

"Don't overact Megha."

"Okay fine, come here", I said and he moved a little closer to me. He placed his shaking hand on my stomach and then they kicked again.

"This is so amazing", he said.

Sahana was back home. She was shocked seeing the decoration and happy that she is at last back home. She rushed into her room and came out wearing her birthday dress. She looked like a fallen angel in her purple gown. Her hair was tied into a cute bun and her mother had done an amazing job on her makeup. She was the apple of all our eyes. After the cake-cutting ceremony, she eagerly opens all the presents. She had different facial expressions for every gift.

Then, she spared some time to send off her friends and hurried back to us for family movie time. We were sitting for hours together watching different animation movies. It was boring after some time but the stubborn Sahana didn't allow us to move from there until she was satisfied.

The day was spent on a very good note. Everyone was happy and Steve was moving on.