MAHI

“ Did you talk to Aditya about this?” Emma Aunty asked, looking at my reports again.

Did I talk to him?

No

Because I know his answer would be a No.

As far as i know him, he would never let me undergo something painful just to bring happiness to his son.

Aditya isn't someone who would like to ask favors. He is a straightforward person who does what he wants, he doesn't like it when someone advises him.

And here we are talking about his son. It took me a lot to convince him to marry me and now if i tell him about this — he might just break our alliance.

“ No, but I will Tell him, once I feel it's the right time. I will.” I say to Aunty. Emma Aunty lifted her head up from the file and glanced at me.

“ Mahi…” she started, her voice soft but firm.

“ The thing you are about to undergo isn't something you can hide forever. In a few days, your symptoms will be obvious. You will be able to see changes in your body. It will be very obvious and he might get mad.”

True.

I can't hide this forever. Inducing lactation is something which I can't hide, even if I want to.

My symptoms will be obvious, my body will change—I will change.

And if I want to feed Ivaan in peace, in front of him or anyone then i have to tell him.

I inhaled a deep breath and nodded.

“ Don't worry Aunty. I will talk to him once I get time.” I said, making Aunty nod.

“ You better.” Emma Aunty smiled and handed me my reports.

“ Thursday, 12:00 pm. Make sure you drink milk and avoid eating oily food that day.” she warned.

I smiled and bowed my head. “ Yes, mam.”

With that I walked out of Emma Aunty’s cabin.

Emma Aunty has been a big support to us.

Us means me and Shivalika. She was the one who delivered Ryan, Six years ago and Aunty helped us keep Ryan's birth a secret too.

And today i came to her, knowing she would help me too just like back then.

Back then, when Shivalika was pregnant, I was scared what if someone from the hospital told her parents about her pregnancy but Emma Aunty helped us to keep it a secret.

She even threatened the hospital staff to keep it a secret.

To Shivalika Emma Aunty was a mother figure, who stood with her in her difficult pregnancy phase. Aunty stood with her like a mother would have, she took care of my Shivu like her own daughter.

It's a pity that she didn't have a daughter and only had three sons.

Thanks to her, those nine months were the happiest for Shivalika.

*

“ Make sure that we don't make any mistakes.” I said to my Employee's And team leader’s, who nodded with a quiet determination in their eyes which made me smile.

“ Thi isn't our first time presenting in front of Indian investors but this is our first ever show in India. So make sure it will be perfect.” I said firmly.

They nodded.

“ Dismissed.” All of them picked up their ipads and other things and left one by one leaving me and my assistant, June West.

“ June, are there any meetings for the afternoon?” I asked, checking the final design's in my own ipad.

“ No mam, you are free.” I heard her saying.

I nodded. “ What about the New York branch? Is there any problem ?”

“ No, Looks like Brigitee is doing a good job.”

I nodded again.

“ I know that choosing her will be good. Afterall she is a rare talent.”

“ Yeah, I have observed her too, she is a dedicated one.”

I glanced at June and saw her still standing. I signed, “ you know there is no one around, you can sit June.”

June smiled, her eyes flickering with something I couldn't name.

“ You have done a lot for me, mam. At least I can do is respect you and honour you. So please let me do it.” I shook my head at her. She is a stubborn one.

June West, the daughter of a drunkard, who used to beat her every time he got drunk.

June is a beautiful girl with her brown hair and light grey eyes.. But despite being beautiful she covers her face with a mask to hide the purple marks she got from her Father beatings.

Once i saw her on the streets getting beaten by her father, I was filled with rage seeing her drunkard father who is a total Asshole. That man don't deserve to live, he was beating a fourteen year-old with a pipe.

That night I called the cops and got him arrested and rescued our little June.

And I still remember what that fourteen year-old said to me.

“ My mother always tried to save me from my father and died in his hands one day. After she left I thought there would be no one to save me. People always saw me getting beaten by him and no one ever tried to stop him but — today you did. You saved me.”

“ You saved me from the hell— one I thought I would never be able to escape. Thanks to you, I am able to escape it. I believe my mother must have sent you to save me. So in return I submit all my life to you and become the person you want me to be.”

Those are the words, a fourteen year-old said to me. After hearing her, I realised how much she must have been through, how much she was wishing to escape it. It must have been very hard for her to go through the same hell everyday.

So that day I decided to take her under my wing. And that day I took her to my apartment where I was living with Shivalika at that time.

And from that day June has become a family to me but this girl always sees me as her owner not a sister.

Ouch, that hurts.

“ June, call me sister.” I demand. June smiled and shook her head lightly before saying with a smile that melted my heart.

“ I'm sorry I can't do that.” she said politely.

I got rejected, again.

ouch, that hurts.

I pouted and looked away, “ Go away miss West. I don't want to talk to you.” i Said playfully.

From the corner of my eye, I saw June’s eyes widened, as she quickly lunged forward towards me.

“ I'm sorry, if I Hurted you mam, that wasn't my intention.” She said, her eyes shimmering with tears. Oh man, I feel bad now.

“ It's just I can't call you that. You are my owner, my boss and I am just an employee Who stays in your house and works in your company. I don't deserve to be your sister.” she said, her voice getting lower with every word.

I hate it.

I hate the fact she thinks of herself so small in front of everyone, even if it's me she isn't trying to get her walls down.

I turned to her fully and looked into her eyes.

“ How dare you think like that ?” I asked her, my voice firm.

“ No one is smaller in front of no one. And you my dear June you are my sister not by blood but by heart just like Shivalika. Don't ever think that you have no one.” I said, my voice softer now as I took her hand in mine.

“ Because you have me, Shivalika, Krish and Ryan. Now Ivaan will be joining too. Don't ever think like that. You have a family too, June. A family means, it isn't necessary to have the same blood. Connected through the heart is enough sometimes, it's also called family too.”

By the time I finished, tears welled up in her tears and she closed her eyes letting them fall down. I pulled a chair from the side and made her sit.

“ But I still can't call you Sister.” She said, battling her cute eyelashes.

Man, I don't think there is someone who gets rejected after saying that many emotional words.

I huffed at her, “ you know you are the second one to reject me.”

June looked at me confused, “ you got rejected before?” She asked with her soft voice.

I nodded.

Yeah June, thought it wasn't physical as i never confessed to him but the day he started loving Minal, I was rejected. And honestly, it hurted like hell. I don't know if it would be the same if I got rejected in person but it to hurted more in silence.

It has been years, yet it hurts.

People might think I'm crazy for loving someone who wasn't mine in the first place.

The thing they don't know is, I tried, I tried so hard to move on but i couldn't.

I just couldn't.

It was like my heart was struck with him.

It never let me move on from him and in return I suffered seeing him with that one girl who I never wanted him to be with.

Suddenly, my heart was heavy. I know I love him but for him my feelings are nothing.

Just like this marriage.

We are getting married because of Ivaan, if it weren't for that child, he would never have looked at my face in the first place.

“ Why are you doing this? Knowing you would get hurt?” she asked, looking at me with concern.

I came out of my thoughts hearing June.

I smiled, a smile that says how vulnerable I am when I am in love.

“ Because I love him, June. And I love everything that is connected to him. I know it would hurt, maybe it would hurt more than I thought but I can't let that little child suffer.” I say, my voice turned low with pain.

“ We don't know what will happen in the future. We just know Minal died but what if she didn't?

I know her, June. She can do anything if she wants to get her revenge and killing a child… would be a piece of cake to her.”

June kept her hand on mine, “ but we didn't have a solid proof that she is alive, I remember Krish saying that he himself saw her body burning on her funeral.” She said,

I shook my head, “ you don't know her, June. Faking a death? It is a piece of cake to her. She can do many more things.”

“ Okay. But what are you scared of? I haven't seen someone as strong as you and Shivalika.”

“ Because there is something, I myself isn't sure of. There is something which I can't even Overstep.”

*

Days passed in a blur and now it's just a week left for the marriage. And this is the last week Ivaan would have that packet colostrum.

Today is an important day for me. Because today i'm going to tell Aditya about my lactation process and it's been four days since i'm taking the meds for the lactation process.

As far as today, I didn't see any changes except for the slightest pain in my nipples. Gosh they hurt the most.

And if we keep these things aside, the reaction of my family was a blast. The faces of my father and brother's looked beyond shocked.

At first I thought mother would be against my decision but surprisingly she didn't scold me but instead she pulled me in her embrace and cried saying how fast I grew up and now i am becoming mother.

And I got a similar reaction from my both sister in law's and from my both best friends and June too.

And finally the only people left was Kapoor's and Aditya.

I know the Kapoor's would be happy but Aditya his reaction scares me more.

And Today our families are meeting for a family dinner that we have every month. And today I will meet Ivaan too. I have been so busy with the new showroom opening and the lactation process that I didn't get time to see him but today I will be able to hold him.

Wish me luck, so that I won't get scolded by my old husband.