by P. G. Van
“Okay, see you later then. Good luck with the meeting.”
“Thank you!”
Anjali watched him leave the nursery, and a smile played on her lips as an idea popped into her head. She looked down at the baby. “I think Daddy will like the surprise.”
Dheeraj looked at the group of government officials and lawyers gathered in his office for the meeting. It’s been more than an hour since the meeting started, and they had a series of questions about how he was going to be able to provide for the child. It required him to agree to create a trust fund for Inara that could not be dissolved even by him or transferred to his future children with his wife.
“My wife and I have not discussed having another child. She will be our only child.” Dheeraj knew he was not going to have a child of his own, never wanted one. Inara would be his only child.
“It is very premature for you to decide that since you only married recently. Our job is to ensure the child is secure in every way as per her biological father’s wishes.”
“I have no objection to doing anything Raghav wants from a financial perspective, and he needs to understand that I will care for her…” His voice trailed off when he caught a glimpse of an unusual sight right outside his office.
Anjali was walking toward his office with Inara in the baby carrier that held the child close to her chest. She had one hand on his baby’s head protectively as she shook hands with his employees. Every woman who worked on the floor made it a point to shake hands with Anjali making him wonder what was going on.
“Excuse me… my daughter and wife are here to see me. We are way over our time, and we can arrange for another session if required,” Dheeraj said walking to the glass door.
“Can I meet your wife, Mr. Varma?” One of the women from the Child Services Department asked.
“Sure, I will bring her in here if that is okay with everyone else.”
Dheeraj’s eyes met with large brown eyes across the hallway, and he felt his heart fill up with happiness at the way she smiled at him. His employees stopped a few feet behind her as he approached her, grinning ear to ear.
“Surprise,” she said putting an arm around him and whispered in his ear. “Kiss the baby and me. That entire group is looking at us.”
Dheeraj chuckled and pulled back to gently brush his lips on hers before bending down to kiss the sleeping baby on her head.
Anjali chuckled running her thumb on his lips to wipe off the lipstick stain from her lips, feeling the tingles from the kiss. Over the past few weeks, she had been ignoring her body’s sensitivity to his presence while his touch did something else to her.
“What are you doing here?” he whispered as he pretended to nuzzle her ear.
“Playing the part of a wife who misses her husband very much.” She winked making him smile at her. One of those very few smiles that brightened his eyes. It was mostly Inara who got all those smiles from him, and in a weird way, she felt jealous of it— she wanted him to smile at her too like he loved her.
Anjali shook off the tremble that ran down her spine as she walked into Dheeraj’s office, his hand on the small of her back.
She beamed at the group gathered. “I am so sorry if I am interrupting. Inara and I wanted to surprise Dheeru for lunch.”
Dheeru? Where did that come from?
The men shifted uncomfortably in their seats as if they were shocked with the public display of affection a few minutes ago, but the women looked at them endearingly.
The woman from Child Services who wanted to meet Anjali spoke up, “Please don’t apologize, Mrs. Varma. It is our pleasure to meet you. We were supposed to wrap the meeting up thirty minutes ago.”
“Thank you. This is our regular lunch date, so we spend time as a family,” Anjali said and Dheeraj saw the expressions on people’s faces soften.
“Mr. Varma, if you don’t mind. Could we ask Mrs. Varma a few questions?” one of the lawyers asked.
“Mrs. Varma is not part of this session, Mr. Sharma.” One of the officers from Child Services interjected, and Dheeraj made a mental note of keeping an eye on that particular lawyer. He suspected the lawyer to be biased, corrupted by Raghav’s money.
“I have no problem answering,” Anjali said softly.
“Not required, Mrs. Varma. After what you have created as a movement, we have no reason to question your abilities. We can see you are a dedicated wife and mother, and we know the magazine article only shows a portion of who you are.”
“Thank you!” Anjali blushed but caught the confused expression on Dheeraj’s face.
“Mr. Varma, congratulations on a successful campaign. Mrs. Varma tells us you were her strength and biggest supporter.”
Dheeraj was utterly confused, and Anjali knew she had to say something before he asked what the woman was referring to. “Dheeru, don’t pretend like you did nothing. The campaign morphed into a mother and child relationship, but he was the one who started it at home… bonding between father and child.”
“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Varma. We will be sure to include all the details in our report to the court and the Department of Child Welfare. Please enjoy your lunch.” The group left in a hurry leaving them alone with a sleeping baby.
Dheeraj pushed a button to turn the glass walls of his office opaque and picked up his phone and pressed the intercom button. “Cancel my meetings for the next couple of hours and send in lunch for us, please.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your day, but…”
“Geetanjali… Thank you!” His voice held an emotion that made her feel like he reached out and gave her a hug.
She smiled at him running her hand over the back of the sleeping child. “I’m just doing my job.”
“I disagree. You went above and beyond to put yourself in the social light… for me.”
She smiled. “I did it for Inara. I know how much you care about her, and I will do what it takes to help you gain full custody of her.”
“Thank you… and I’m sorry I didn’t pay much attention to the campaign, but it looks like I got a lot of credit for it.”
“Yes, you also made a huge contribution to the campaign.”
“I did?” He chuckled.
“Yes, that platinum card you gave me has a lot of juice to it.” She winked.
He laughed shaking his head. “It’s yours to use.”
“I called the number on the back of the card, and they said there was no limit on the card, so I went ballistic with my expenses.” She laughed.
“All yours, Mrs. Varma, as long as you hold our baby like that.”
She knew his words were playful and held no depth, but every word that rolled off his lips made her squirm on the inside with a need that had no explanation.
Later that day, Dheeraj was wrapping up his work when his personal assistant stepped into his office.
“Sahil, you are still here?”
“Sir, I managed to get a copy of the magazine from the editor. It was sold out in the entire city.” He placed a flat paper bag on Dheeraj’s table.
“Thank you, Sahil.” Dheeraj smiled at the man as he turned to leave.
“No problem, sir. I had to commit to giving them exclusive rights to Mrs. Varma’s next campaign to get this copy. I hope that’s okay.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind.”
The man smiled, relief sweeping over his face. “Good night, sir.”
A few minutes and the last set of emails later, Dheeraj shut down his laptop and reached for the paper bag to take the magazine home. The way he picked up the paper bag, the magazine slipped out and slid onto his table.
Dheeraj’s saw the cover image of the magazine and froze in place. He blinked unable to believe the image in front of his eyes— a beautiful sight of a mother and child. He picked up the magazine and stared at the picture of Anjali and Inara. The woman he had hired only to take care of his niece was holding the baby like a mother nursing her child.
He looked at the pictur
e in awe taking in the beauty of the moment. He saw something pure in the way the woman looked down at the baby like a mother who loved her child. His emotions ran high, and the image in front of him blurred slightly. He looked up at the ceiling unable to handle the overwhelming feeling blinking away the moisture in his eyes.
A few moments later, he left the office, heading home eager to see his child and the woman who had morphed into the mother of his child.
Chapter 11
Almost an hour later, Dheeraj went upstairs with a smile playing on his lips. The picture of Anjali and Inara held a thousand emotions, and he felt them all. He went straight to the master bedroom expecting to find her in bed reading her romance novels, but the room was dark and empty. It was not her usual workout time, so he tiptoed to the nursery and pushed open the door.
Beethoven played in a low volume as he stepped into the nursery. Dheeraj partially shut the door before turning to look into the room. Anjali was in the rocking chair, fast asleep with Inara on her shoulder. He looked at yet another beautiful sight in front of him, and his only thought was that it should be real—forever.
Dheeraj felt a series of emotions he couldn’t sort out at that moment, but he felt the need to give her the moon if she wished for it. He would do anything for her, give her anything she wanted for what she had become to the child who would soon legally be his because of her. He slowly walked to the rocking chair and knelt beside it listening to Anjali snore softly. He had never noticed the sweet sound in all the months they shared a bed. He placed his palm on the baby’s head and stroked her before kissing her gently. His lips were moving away from the baby, and as if he lost control over his actions, his lips landed on the back of Anjali’s hand that held the baby securely to her.
Dheeraj flattened his palms on the armrests of the chair as he planted butterfly kisses on the back of her hand, his lips moving along the length of her arm. By the time his lips reached Anjali’s shoulder, his face was inches from hers, and he noticed she had stopped snoring, and she wasn’t even breathing.
He raised his eyes to hers in the dim light, his lips on her skin. Anjali had her eyes partially open, but she did not move. He pulled back slightly only to move closer, his lips sliding over her soft ones. She moaned in response running her free hand upward, her fingers running through the thickness of his hair, plastering her lips to his.
Dheeraj let out a deep groan as one hand slid over hers that held the baby to her chest and the other to cup her cheek as he deepened the kiss. He claimed her mouth as his tongue slipped past her lips to explore her sweetness.
“Dheeraj…” she whispered, and he shuddered at the intensity of the moment.
Anjali kissed him back, and it wasn’t like the other times they had engaged their lips. This time she was returning his emotion—a nameless one. His fingers slipped past her ear to grip her thick hair to angle her face for him to deepen their kiss.
“Thank you… for everything.” His words were soft against her lips making her moan.
“Hold me.” It was a plea, and he wasn’t going to deny her wish.
Dheeraj let his hand drop off her hand to run it lower around her waist pulling her off the chair while she held the sleeping baby to her. He slowly pulled her onto his lap as he sat back on the floor with his back pressed against the wall, their lips melded together. His hand trailed up and down her thigh as his lips worshipped hers.
“Touch me,” she ordered against his lips.
“Baby…” he crooned and felt the trembling of her body.
“I want you, Dheeraj.” It was his turn to feel the shudders ripple through him like never before.
Dheeraj pulled back to look at her for a moment. Her eyes were wide open, and her lips glistened with moisture in the dim light. “Anjali, I’ll give you anything you want even if it’s me you want.”
Something flickered in her eyes, and she jerked back while still sitting on his lap. She suddenly let go of his hair and held the baby to her with both hands. She got off his lap without another word as if she was in a hurry to get away from him.
Dheeraj stood up slowly and watched her lower Inara onto the crib mattress, and her sudden shift in behavior concerned him. “Geetanjali… are you okay?”
Anjali adjusted the blanket over the sleeping baby before looking up at him and nodding. She picked up the baby monitor and turned to leave the room. He followed her out of the room and took her by her wrist when she was about to step away from him. He turned her around in his arms and looked at her and wondered what went wrong.
“Talk to me,” he pleaded looking at her eyes that wouldn’t meet his.
“I’m sorry… I thought…” Her voice trailed off when he placed his hand under her chin to make her look up at him.
“Geetanjali…” She didn’t let him finish.
“I thought I was dreaming, Dheeraj. This is a bad idea. We shouldn’t…” She pulled away from his embrace and walked into the master bedroom without another glance at him.
Dheeraj stood rooted to his spot sorting out his thoughts. If she thought their moment of bliss was a dream, had he been in her dreams before? He smiled when he realized he wasn’t the only one who felt something brewing between them, and he had ignored it for way too long. He decided at that moment that he was going to make her his… for real.
*****
Next morning, the beautiful smell of coffee lured Anjali out of her sleep. She shifted in the chaise she was laying on and felt the tension in her muscles. The night felt long especially after she had a tough time falling asleep, her mind reeling with the thoughts about Dheeraj. What happened in the nursery should not have happened, and she chastised herself for giving in to the temptation even when she thought it was a dream.
“Good morning.”
Anjali opened her eyes slowly to find Dheeraj sitting on the bed looking at her as she lay on the chaise in the master bedroom. She couldn’t get herself to sleep on the bed after last night.
Dheeraj was smiling at her, and she sat up on the chaise and realized she had a blanket over her that she didn’t remember having when she fell asleep.
“Coffee?” He reached for the mug of steaming liquid from the end table and offered it to her.
“Thank you.” Her voice was soft as she reluctantly took the mug from his hand. She felt the gentle graze of his fingers on hers, and that woke her up even without the caffeine. She looked out of the window at the rain avoiding his eyes as she sipped her coffee.
“Is the chaise more comfortable than the bed?” he asked after moments of silence.
She raised her eyes to his and saw something new in them, an excitement she hadn’t seen before. “I… I wanted to…” Her words were lost in a gasp when she saw the time. It was almost eight in the morning, and she panicked that the baby had not woken up.
She placed the coffee mug on the floor in a hurry, spilling it. In a flash, Dheeraj got off the bed and stepped in front of her blocking her from moving.
“Dheeraj, move. Inara is not awake, and she…”
He chuckled placing his hands on her shoulder. “She woke up, I took care of her, and she is downstairs with Seema.”
Anjali’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Seema is doing pretty good with Inara. You’ve trained her well.” He chuckled.
“Dheeraj, what are you doing? Are you trying to get rid of me?” she blurted out.
His hands moved, cupping her cheeks softly. “You are not here just to take care of Inara but also to be my wife.”
Anjali’s breath hitched in response to the endearment in his tone and manner. They looked at each other in silence for a long moment.
“Thank you for being the mother Inara will never meet. I was oblivious of what you were doing for her all along. Money can never compensate for what you’ve done for Inara. Tell me what you want… anything, you name it, and I will make it happen.”
Tears of happiness welled in her eyes in response to his words. “Thank you, Dheeraj.”
/> “And about last night, nothing changes…”
She nodded. “I don’t want to complicate our arrangement.”
“Understood. We still need to ensure we maintain the image of a couple, so promise me you will not sleep anywhere other than in the bed, and I will do the same… no matter what happens.” His voice was soft.
“Okay. Why didn’t you wake me up when Inara woke up?” Her eyes wandered to look at the baby monitor that was turned off.
“My wife needs to sleep in from time to time.” He smiled making her blush.
“Just in case you missed it, you made a huge donation to the campaign,” she said smiling.
“You did… don’t give me credit.”
“It’s your money.” She snorted.
“Your thought, and that’s what counts.” He smiled.
“Thank you!”
“I should be thanking you. The campaign will make the case stronger for us. One of the officials from the Child Services Department is impressed with what you did for the breastfeeding campaign. To be honest, I was shocked in a good way when I saw the picture of you nursing Inara.”
She smiled. “I wasn’t really nursing her… you know it’s not possible. I took the feeding system to one of the child bonding classes, and it turned into a campaign.”
“You did good, and while you have the power, you should do more to help other mothers.”
“I had no idea how many women were unaware of the breastfeeding tube system. We used it at the hospital all the time to train new mothers,” she said coyly.
“You’ve helped so many mothers. The campaign did wonders for new mothers, I hear.” His eyes held pride.
“Thank you.” She lowered her eyes when she felt an unknown level of happiness just by the way he looked at her.
He placed his hand under her chin and made her look up at him. “I know now why Inara has made the unexpected progress for a child born without…”
Dheeraj’s voice trailed off, and she placed her palms on his arms. “She has you, and I am here because of you. Don’t make me sound like some saint.”