It was halfway through the fourth year of their marriage that Bhanumati found herself pregnant. The whole Kingdom celebrated the news. Duryodhan had never looked happier.

She and Vrushali di took great enjoyment in ordering their husbands to do things for them together this time, because as it turned out, Vrushali di was pregnant again , with her seventh child.

"No more." She promised weakly. "It's exhausting."

"Well it's not like you planned all seven of your pregnancies, did you?" Bhanumati asked, smirking. "They just happened , I presume. So... if you continue enjoying yourself the way you clearly have been, don't be so sure this will be the last one, di."

She laughed as she earned herself a swat from an irate Vrushali for her comment.

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Giving birth was quite possibly the worst experience one could have. Bhanumati would like to see any of these tough manly men experience the pain and live through it. She had a newfound respect for Vrushali di for managing it six times and still having the courage and strength to do so again.

Bhanumati was quite sure she was not so strong though. Once was bad enough for her.

But as bad as giving birth might be....the joy she felt after that when she looked at her children for the first time was beyond anything she had ever imagined she could feel.

Oh yes, children. Twins.

As she looked at her babies, she felt a sense of fierce protectiveness curl over her. They seemed like the most precious things in the world with their tiny limbs and wheatish colour and all the crying. She did not know what she would do if anything were to happen to them. She didn't think she would be able to survive. She internally shook her head to clear it of such ridiculous thoughts. They had just been born for gods sake! What could ever happen to them? Nothing. Nothing would happen. How could it when they had Duryodhan and even more, Bhrata Karna and Pitamaha Bhishma to protect them? It was just a mother's useless worry.

When Duryodhan first took in his children, he all but melted into a puddle.

Bhanumati could already tell that if they wished to do so, they could easily have their father wrapped around their tiny fingers. They would be the only ones to ever manage such a thing in regards with Duryodhan.

Her twins were named Lakshman and Lakshmanaa.

Bhrata Karna had raised a sardonic eyebrow.

"Won't that be sort of confusing?"

Duryodhan who had a hundred siblings, many of whom had so many similar names much to the frustration of everyone who had not been born into the family could not see the problem, and shrugged.

"Lakshman and Lakshmanaa. What's there to be confused about?"

Bhanumati rolled her eyes while Vrushali di muffled her snort.

(The names were kind of nice, so Bhanumati didn't protest.)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lakshman talked first and Lakshmanaa walked first.

Duryodhan and Bhanumati had gone out to have a night to themselves and Bhrata Karna and Dussashan who now had a baby boy of his own had been playing with the twins.

When they returned, they stopped short at the door. Bhanumati gasped as she saw Bhrata Karna down on the floor on his knees with his arms outstretched and her little Lakshmanaa standing on her tiny feet trying to take unsteady steps towards him.

Duryodhan shushed her and they watched with bated breath as she took fragile baby steps and Karna caught her just as she toppled over.

Duryodhan whooped as he practically bounced into the room and threw his arms around his best friend who was holding his daughter.

"She walked-- she walked !!!" He practically sobbed.

Bhanumati felt like her heart might burst and she felt like her face couldn't contain her wide grin.

"You'll go so far, my dear." Karna told Lakshmanaa, bopping her nose as he handed her over to Bhanumati. The toddler shrieked at him happily.

"You will go so far that you will leave us all in the dust."

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'Maa' was the first word Lakshman had said, much to her eternal smugness. Duryodhan had been so sure that his son would speak 'da' or 'pa' or 'ba' or something first but clearly, he was a fool. And their Lakshman wasn't. He knew who had given birth to him.

The second thing he had spoken was 'Mit-ta'. It had taken them a while to understand what he was trying to say but once they did, she and Vrushali di went into peals of laughter while Duryodhan grumbled, glaring at Karna who grinned in amusement.

"It's your own damn fault." The latter told him. "You love your 'Mitra' so much, of course your son picked up on it."

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Bhrata Karna and Vrushali Di's seventh son was born two months after her twins. And clearly she had been right: They had way too much fun. Because whatever Vrushali di might have promised, there were two more little boys to join their hoard.

It seemed that after having two sons who were not named 'something-sena', Bhrata Karna lost imagination again and the seventh and eighth were named Banasena and Prasena, much to Duryodhan's exasperation. When the ninth and final one was born four years after their twins, Duryodhan threw up his hands.

"You will not-- you will not name the last one 'something sena' or I will never talk to you again." Her husband threatened, fooling exactly nobody.

"Fine," Duryodhan relented, seeing how that threat had absolutely no effect, "but I will be very unhappy ."

Apparently that was a bigger threat because Bhrata Karna sighed.

"Fine. I'll name him.... hmm....'Vrishaketu- the great devourer of enemies'!"

There was a pause and then Vrushali di banged her head against the table, groaning. "This is why I should not have promised to let him name all our sons after I named the first one."

Bhanumati giggled and Bhrata Karna huffed, crossing his arms across his chest looking a bit like a disgruntled cat--which was a hilarious image. A great, fierce warrior resembling a little housecat. A golden one that scratched strangers , she imagined and giggled some more.

"Are you serious?!" Duryodhan screeched.

Bhrata Karna seemed to think for a moment before deciding to own it, apparently.

"Dead Serious."

'Vrisha- Vrisha ketu?! Another Vrisha ? How will we call Vrishasena as Vrisha now? He will be upset!"

"He will get over it for his baby brother's sake."

"Why must you name your children similarly?!" he groaned, before realising his mistake.

Karna looked him dead in the eye, saying one word.

"Hypocrite."

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The balcony above the court had a veil covering it. Anyone behind the veil could see and hear the going-ons of the courtroom but they could not be seen by the ones in the court.

Bhanumati often sat behind the veil with Mata Gandhari when the court sessions were going on.

It was on one such occasion that it was proclaimed that Yudhishtir was doing a Rajsuya Yagna.

" What ?" roared Duryodhan. "How is that possible? He can't just suddenly declare himself emperor!"

"But you know that its not sudden, child." Pitamaha Bheeshma said, standing up. "They have been building alliances and planning this for about an year now."

And Duryodhan hadn't done anything about it? That...was odd.

"What about Samrat Jarasandh? Are they planning to challenge Magadh directly now?"

Ah so that's why he hadn't done anything.

"Ah." It seemed that Pitamaha Bheeshma was trying to hold back a smile and that only seemed to enrage her husband further.

"So the news hasn't reached you yet, my dear. Unsurprising since it happened only the day before yesterday. Bheem has killed Jarasandha and the Pandavas have freed all the Kings he had captured and they have all sworn their fealty to Yudhishtir."

There was a pin drop silence and Duryodhan's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head.

Then the court was in chaos.

("I wish you had killed Jarasandha when you had the chance." Duryodhan would later tell Karna.

"I couldn't kill someone when they had already surrendered!" was his reply.)

So, this is a bit shorter chapter, but I wanted to get this out. We all know what's coming after this. The toughest bits.