Vikram sighed a breath of relief when he saw his wife swallow the pill.
He didn’t want her to be pregnant, not yet.
He picked his wife bridal style, kissing her mouth as he made her lay down.
Keerthi was upset. She wanted to talk to her husband.
“Wait”, Keerthi said when her husband deepened the kiss.
“What is it?”
Keerthi took a deep breath, pulling away.
At times, she genuinely didn’t understand her husband. Did he really not know that she was upset or he just didn’t care?
She would succumb to his affection if he continued to kiss her. She didn’t like the idea of having sex with him when she was upset with him.
It seemed wrong.
“What’s wrong with you?”, Vikram frowned.
“I want to talk.”
“Can’t it wait until after we made love?”, Vikram kissed his wife’s neck.
“We already did, a few hours ago”, Keerthi reminded him, clenching her thighs, suppressing a moan. She hated her body.
How dare it become wet for him when he upset her.
“What is it?”, he placed an arm around his wife’s waist.
Keerthi took a shaky breath,”Is there a reason you don’t want a child?”
“I do”, Vikram frowned.
Keerthi gave her husband a blank look.”What’s with the pill then?”
Vikram laughed,”That is what you wanted to talk about?”
“Yes?”
Vikram sobered up, assessing his wife when he saw her tear up. He frowned. Was his concern misinterpreted, he wondered. He only had the best of their interests when he had handed her the pill. But as he saw his wife’s crestfallen face, he realized she might have been offended.
“Keerthi”, Vikram started softly, stroking his wife’s cheek,”Sweetheart, we haven’t been married for long. I don’t think we should bring kids into the picture for a few years.”
“Is that all?”
Vikram pressed his lips thin,”I don’t want our child to constantly witness our arguments while he/she grew up.”
Keerthi was bewildered,”There will never be a time when a couple doesn’t argue.”
“That might be true”, Vikram stated,”But, we still have a long way to go. We need to understand each other better before we introduce a child into the equation. At least that’s what I think. Just because we love each other does not mean we have found common ground in all scenarios. We are still on the ends of the see-saw, making way towards the centre. When we are sure none of us are going to fall, that’s when I think is the right time for a child.”
Keerthi pondered over her husband’s words, they made sense,”Okay. I get it”, her heart rested in peace now. She wanted to laugh at the variety of scenarios that ran in her head now.
“You so eager to be pregnant?”, Vikram quirked a brow at his wife, smirking.
“I’m not”, Keerthi shrugged,”But wanted to know your point of view.”
Vikram smiled, placing a kiss on his wife’s lips,”I am Sorry if my concern came out as heartless. I thought you would be on the same page.”
“We are on the same page”, Keerthi assured,”Like I said, I wanted to know what’s going on in your mind.”
Vikram nodded,”Alright. I’m glad you shared your sentiment with me.”
Keerthi smiled.
“I will love you the same, even if you are pregnant”, Vikram said, though he didn’t think it was a good idea for his wife to bear a child for another few years,” I apologise, handing you a pill without knowing if you are comfortable about it. Some women don’t, I know.”
Keerthi smiled,”That’s alright.”
“So you did?”
“Did what?”
“You were upset?”
Keerthi pressed her lips thin. She didn’t really want to fight,”Think of it from my point of view.”
“You are right”, Vikram frowned,”I am going to try to convey my thoughts better.”
“Thank you.”
Vikram smiled,”Anything for you, Sweetheart.”
Keerthi grinned, running a hand through her husband’s hair,”We are getting good at this thing, aren’t we?”
Vikram laughed,”We are. And I am glad about that.”
Keerthi pressed a kiss on her husband’s lips.
“I love you”, Vikram tucked a strand of hair behind his wife’s ear. She still looked a bit troubled,”Keerthi, know that I’m not going to hurt you intentionally.”
“I know. I love you too”, she kissed her husband,”Should we continue where we left at?”, she deepened the kiss, allowing her husband to undress her.
**
“Of course. I was wondering how come you weren’t at it for the last few days”, Keerthi exclaimed, glaring at her husband.
“Not now, Keerthi”, Vikram shushed his wife, working on his laptop.
Keerthi pouted, sitting cross legged on the bed. Though her husband had worked the first few days of their honeymoon, she was glad he hadn’t really worked the whole of the previous week.
She didn’t want him to work. They were anyway leaving the day after tomorrow.
“Vikram”, Keerthi called when it was more than an hour he was cooped in the room adjacent to their main bedroom, for the time being.
She wanted to go out.
Vikram glanced at his wife irritated, there was a major mishappening in the Mumbai branch, his secretary updating him,”Just a moment”, he said into the phone, placing it on mute.
He knew his wife would keep bugging him if he didn’t reply.
“I’ll be a bit busy for the next few hours. Go out or something if you’re bored.”
“Hours?”, Keerthi asked incredulously.
“Keerthi”, Vikram sighed.
“Okay. Carry on”, Keerthi said softly.
It seemed important.
Keerthi shuffled through the channels on the TV, bored for the last hours. She knew her husband wouldn’t come out for a long time when he gave her a sharp look when she asked about lunch.
That was two hours ago.
She had ordered and eaten already, Vikram’s share lying around.
She wondered if something was wrong. Her husband didn’t attend to too many calls the last few days. He had given her almost all of his time, silently praying nothing was wrong.
Keerthi sighed when her husband came out of the room. He looked grim. He only sat beside her, grabbing his pizza as he ate.
“Everything Okay?”, Keerthi tested the waters.
“I’m going to fire those assholes as soon as we return home”, Vikram clenched his jaw, running a hand through his hair.
Keerthi stared at her husband. He looked proper pissed off.
Vikram frowned,”Can we leave tomorrow? There’s something going on in the Mumbai branch. Someone’s breaching the company contract and leaking our information”, Vikram explained.
Majority of their honeymoon was done anyways. They were leaving early by just a day.
Keerthi heard her husband silently.
Oh. Sensitive issue.
She pressed her lips thin,”Sure.”
“Good”, Vikram went back to check his mails, typing away on his phone.
Keerthi switched the TV off, discarding the empty boxes of food.
Keerthi turned towards her husband as he lay next to her, hands under his head,”Too serious?”, she asked quietly.
“Not really”, Vikram answered,”We’ve already started damage control. But I want to find out the root cause, what exactly is happening there.”
Keerthi nodded.
She smiled when her husband placed an arm around her waist, kissing her lips, forgetting the rest of the world as they explored each other again, and again.