Aditya

I had been calling her name for the past ten minutes, my voice echoing through the empty hallways of our home.

It wasn’t like Zoya to ignore me like this, especially when I wasn't out flying.

I checked the living room, her study, our bedroom—every place she’d usually be.

But she was nowhere to be found.

Then, I heard a faint, muffled sound coming from the bathroom. I moved towards it, my hand reaching for the door handle.

I knocked lightly, trying to keep my voice calm even though my nerves were frayed. "Zoya? Are you in there?"

No response.

Just a quiet, shuddering breath from the other side. My chest tightened, and I pushed the door open slowly, my eyes scanning the room.

There she was, sitting on the floor near the jacuzzi, her knees pulled up to her chest, face buried in her hands. She was crying, and not the soft, quiet tears I’d seen before—these were deep, wracking sobs that shook her whole body.

I froze for a moment, taken aback by the sheer intensity of her grief.

“

Zoya,” I whispered, rushing to her side, my knees hitting the cold tile as I knelt beside her.

I reached out instinctively, but hesitated for a second, not wanting to startle her. I finally pulled her gently into my chest, holding her tight, feeling her body tremble in my arms. "Zoya, talk to me. What happened? Why are you crying?"

She sobbed into my shirt, her breath ragged as she tried to pull herself together.

Slowly, she pulled away just enough to look at me, her eyes wide and full of fear. “Adi…” Her voice cracked, her lips quivering. “I’m… I’m pregnant.”

The words hit me like a freight train, echoing in my head as everything around us seemed to blur.

Pregnant.

Pregnant? I blinked, my mind trying to catch up with the weight of what she had just said.

My eyes fell on the ground... Finding the pregnancy kit kept there .... results clear as a day.

Pregnant.

"Zoya…" I finally managed, my voice barely a whisper. The terror in her eyes made my chest tighten, but beneath it, something else stirred. Something unexpected. "You’re pregnant…?" I repeated, as if saying it out loud would somehow make it real.

She nodded, wiping at her tear-streaked cheeks with the back of her hand.....Zoya’s voice trembled as she whispered, “I wasn’t expecting this… Adi…”

Her words hung in the air, raw and filled with a mixture of confusion and fear. I could feel the weight of it all pressing down on her, and for a moment, I was frozen, unsure of what to say. I hadn’t been expecting it either.

But here we were, standing on the edge of something life-changing, and I had to be there for her.

"Zoya, I…” I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts, trying to push through the whirlwind of feelings crashing over me."We... we're going to have a baby?"

The word tasted unfamiliar on my tongue, but as soon as I said it, I felt a strange warmth bloom in my chest.

She nodded again, tears welling up in her eyes as she searched my face.

I looked at her, really looked at her—her face full of uncertainty, of fear—and I realized she needed me to be strong for her right now. My fear could wait. Right now, she needed reassurance.

Taking a deep breath, I cupped her face in my hands gently, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Hey... hey, Zoya,” I murmured softly, my thumbs brushing away the tears that were starting to fall. “I wasn’t expecting it either. But we’ll figure it out....."

She shook her head, her voice shaking as she continued, “This wasn’t… this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen....it's ..too....soon adi... I'm...scared...."

She sniffled, her fingers still gripping my shirt, and I could see the internal battle in her eyes—the war between fear and hope. “But what about us?” she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “What does this mean for us?...we aren't even married....how are we.... I mean ..... I don't know....oh god Adi.... I don't know what I want ....Adi....I am ... pregnant."

I held Zoya close, feeling her small frame tremble in my arms.

Her words echoed in my mind, still sharp in the quiet room.

Pregnant.

I swallowed hard, the weight of it settling in, but also the significance—it was our baby.

“This isn’t how we planned it,” I whispered, gently running my fingers through her hair. She was still leaning against my chest, her breath hitching as she tried to calm herself. “But it’s ours, Zoya. Our baby.”

She pulled back slightly, just enough to meet my eyes, her own filled with a mixture of fear and uncertainty. “But, Adi… I don’t know what to do. What if this changes everything?”

I placed my hands on her shoulders, steadying her. “It will change everything, shortcake. But...that’s okay..."

As I held Zoya close, her soft breath still hitching against my chest, I couldn’t help but feel a storm of emotions swirling inside me.... I wasn't prepared for this either.

My heart swelled with love, yes, but it was tangled with an overwhelming sense of responsibility and, more than anything, fear.

I wanted to marry her.

I’d always wanted that, even before this moment.

But now? Now it felt different.

I didn’t want her to feel like I was marrying her just because she was pregnant.

This wasn’t supposed to be out of obligation. It was supposed to be out of love, pure and simple.

The kind of love I had for her that went beyond circumstances.

Beyond all of this.

But what mattered more now was her—her health, her happiness, her state of mind. My conflicts, my desires—they didn’t matter as much as she did. And I knew that.

"Adi?" she murmured, breaking me out of my thoughts. She looked up at me, her eyes still glassy from crying. “What are you thinking?”

I forced a smile, brushing her hair back from her face, but the knot in my chest tightened.

What was I thinking?

I was thinking about how I wanted more time.

I wanted to do this right. I wanted to propose to her the way I’d imagined a hundred times before. Not because of the baby, but because I loved her.

Because I wanted her as my partner in life.

But how could I say that now without making her feel like I wasn’t ready for this?

“Zoya…” I began, but my throat felt tight. I cleared it, gently cupping her face. “I love you. You know that, right?”

She nodded, her eyes searching for mine. “I know.”

“I’ve always known I wanted to marry you,” I continued, my voice quiet but sure. “But I don’t want you to think I’m rushing into this because of the baby. I want this to be more than that. More than just doing the ‘right’ thing.”

She looked at me, blinking slowly as if trying to process what I was saying. “Adi, I don’t… I’m not asking for that. I just… I need time to think about everything.”

Her words hit me harder than I expected. Time. We both needed it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this pregnancy had accelerated everything. There was no room to breathe, no time to step back and plan the life we both wanted.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my emotions in check. “I know. I just don’t want you to feel like we have to get married because of this. I want to marry you because I love you. Because we’re meant to be together.”

Zoya reached up, placing her hand over mine as she looked into my eyes. “Adi, I know you love me. And I love you too. But right now….."

Gently brushing her hair away from her face.

"But... why are you crying, Zoya?" I asked softly, my voice as gentle as I could manage. "Weren’t you the one who always wanted a family?" I added with a small, playful smile, hoping to lighten the heaviness that hung between us.

She let out a shaky breath, looking at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. "I did... I do," she said, her voice barely a whisper. “But… not like this. Not right now. I wasn’t ready for it to happen so soon. And I don’t even know how to feel—excited, scared, overwhelmed. It’s just... it’s too much, Adi.”

I reached for her hands, holding them firmly in mine as I tried to ground her in the moment.

"Zoya, listen to me," I said, my voice more serious now. "You don’t have to figure everything out right this second. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. But you’re not alone in this, okay?"

Her lips trembled as she tried to hold back more tears, and I could see the battles she was fighting.

She looked down at our joined hands, her fingers gripping mine as if they were her lifeline.

"But Adi… what if I’m not ready? What if we’re not ready? I always dreamed of having a family, but I thought... I thought it would come after marriage, after we were settled. This just... it feels like everything is happening too fast."

I felt my own uncertainty clawing at me, but I pushed it down.

This wasn’t about me right now. She needed me to be steady, to be the rock she could lean on.

"It’s fast, yeah," I agreed quietly. "But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s our baby, Zoya. And we’ll figure it out, one step at a time."

She looked up at me then, her eyes searching mine for some reassurance, some certainty that I couldn’t fully give her.

"What if I’m not good at this? What if I mess everything up?" she whispered, her voice breaking.

Her eyes softened as she looked at me, and I could see the fear beginning to lift, just a little. "I don’t want to make this decision on my own, Adi. It’s our baby… it’s both of us."

I nodded, brushing my thumb across the back of her hand. "And we’ll make this decision together. But you come first. Your health, your feelings—they matter the most. I love you, Zoya. I always have. And I want you to know that I’m not here just because of the baby. I’m here because I want to be here. Because you’re my woman."

I gently scooped her up, her body light and fragile in my arms, as if the weight of her emotions was too much for her to bear alone. She buried her face in my chest.

Laying her down carefully on our bed, I stretched out beside her, pulling her close so that her head rested on my chest.

I could feel the faint tremble in her body, her fingers clinging to my shirt.

I brushed a few stray locks of hair from her face and kissed the top of her head.

"Do you want to talk to someone else?" I asked softly, my voice a gentle whisper in the quiet of the room. "Dhara, maybe? Or Ma?"

She shook her head slowly, her fingers curling tighter around mine. "Not right now… I want to be with you," she whispered, her voice still trembling but laced with a kind of certainty that steadied me.

I nodded, threading my fingers through hers, caressing them in slow, gentle strokes.

Her fingers were delicate, yet I could feel the strength in them, as if she was holding on not just to me, but to the promise of something bigger. I continued to trace patterns along her fingers, my touch intimate and soothing, feeling her slowly relax into me, her breathing softening.

Her body naturally shifted closer to mine, snuggling into the warmth of my chest.

I felt the moment her walls came down, the tension in her muscles releasing as she melted into my embrace. It was as if that one simple gesture, the way my hand held hers, gave her the reassurance she needed.

After a long pause, she lifted her head slightly, her eyes searching mine. There was a vulnerability there, raw and honest, but also a determination that made my heart swell.

"I want to keep it, Adi," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper but so full of emotion that it seemed to fill the room. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, but there was a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips, a flicker of hope and love. "I want our baby."

The words hung in the air between us, and for a moment, I was frozen, caught between my own fears and the overwhelming love I felt for her.

I had wanted to marry her before this, to make that commitment because I loved her, not because of a baby. But hearing her say those words, knowing that she wanted this, that she wanted us—our family—it made everything fall into place.

I tightened my hold on her, bringing her even closer, pressing my lips to her forehead. "Then we’ll keep it, Zoya," I murmured into her hair, my voice thick with emotion. "We’ll have our baby, and we’ll do this together. I promise you."

Zoya shifted in my arms, her eyes filled with a vulnerability that tugged at something deep inside me.

She chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit I’d grown to recognize, and I could see the weight of everything pressing down on her.

“Am I rushing into this?” she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

The question hung in the air, laden with uncertainty, and I felt her fingers tense slightly against my chest as if she were bracing for my response.

I exhaled slowly, trying to gather my thoughts. I didn't want to say the wrong thing, but I also knew I needed to be honest with her. "Take your time, Zoya," I said softly, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "We don’t have to decide everything right now."

She sighed, her eyes still locked on mine, searching for reassurance. “But everything about us always feels too quick, Adi," she continued, her voice trembling with doubt. "Our relationship... it just happened...us moving together... and now this... Do you think so too?”

I hesitated for a moment, my conflicting feelings swirling inside me. I understood what she meant, and truthfully, a part of me did feel like things were moving at a breakneck speed. Our relationship had been like a whirlwind, full of passion, intensity, and love—but also chaos and uncertainty. And now, a baby... It was a lot. Maybe too much, too soon.

“I don’t know, Zoya,” I admitted, my voice was quieter than I intended. “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t caught off guard by this... I mean, it’s a baby. And yeah, maybe it’s happening faster than we ever thought or planned.”

Her eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite place—fear? Hope? Maybe both. She pulled away from me slightly, sitting up on the bed, her back resting against the headboard. I followed suit, turning to face her fully. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of the blanket, and for a moment, she looked so lost, so unsure.

She glanced up at me, her eyes glassy with emotion. "The baby is probably too soon for us, right?" she asked, her voice small, hesitant, as if she was almost afraid to hear the answer.

I felt the tightness in my chest return. A part of me wanted to agree. We hadn’t even fully figured out our lives together, and now we were talking about bringing a child into the world.

But another part of me couldn’t deny the surge of protectiveness and love that had sprung up the moment she said she was pregnant.

It was terrifying, but it was also real, tangible.

“It is soon,” I admitted, squeezing her hand gently. "But that doesn’t mean this can’t be good.”

Her shoulders slumped in relief, but the conflict was still evident on her face.

“I don’t want to rush into anything that we’re not prepared for,” she whispered. “I love you, and I want us to have a family, but I don’t want us to feel like we have to do this... just because."

"Ssshh.... It's okay baba.... " I kissed the top of her head, feeling the tension between us ease just a little.

~~~

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