Ishita's legs fidgeted uncontrollably, as she and dushyant sat in front of the doctor's desk, as the doctor behind the desk read her reports carefully. Dushyant placed his hand on to hers, squeezing it tight, assuring her everything was fine, as she just passed a hopeful smile. 

"well, congratulations, you are pregnant..." she informed, as ishita's smile faded immediately, her face fell in complete shock, only managing to scoff lightly in response, trying to appear normal. 

"doctor, uhhm, actually we just had our first child, she's just 6 months old...we, uhh, have been very careful, he used a condom, and i was on my birth control pill, so...it's impossible..." fumbled ishita, still attempting to process all of this, completely confused. 

"ishita, it's ok...it can happen..." stated dushyant awkwardly, as he knew exactly what role he had played in this pregnancy. 

"but how?" questioned an astounded ishita, as the doctor just carefully examined the both of them. 

"uhhm, we did go thrice with the same condom...i mean, an accident can happen, right?"  remarked dushyant with a light chuckle, making it appear so normal, as the doctor just nodded in agreement, not quite believing him. 

"anyways, it can be quite stressful actually having two infants at home...so, i would suggest that you get some help...." advised the doctor, as dushyant seemed to have been waiting for just this moment. 

"uhh, actually doctor, my mom would usually look after the children, if we couldn't be at home but, uhhm, we have just lost her recently...and, to be honest, i think that along with the fact that my wife would be getting back to working on her business from scratch, with so much workload, and having another baby at home...i was thinking, she should stay at her mom's during the pregnancy, she would get proper rest and care, with a break from all of this...i think that's way better for her.." explained dushyant, as ishita just frowned, utterly astonished at hearing dushyant say all of this, considering he didn't bother asking her once about this. 

"i think mr khanna is right here, mrs khanna. It's better to take a break from your stressful life during pregnancy especially if you have been through something traumatic like losing your mother-in-law, and that's considering she was helping out, you'd need time to adjust to all of these changes.." she agreed, as ishita couldn't help but nod. there was nothing she could do. 

Suddenly, dushyant's phone rang, as he had to leave the room to receive it. Ishita, meanwhile, felt shattered and empty inside, just sitting there, whereas the doctor leaned in closer to talk to her. 

"ishita, is it that you don't want kids but your husband does, and he or his family is forcing you?" questioned the doctor, as ishita shook her head in no. 

"no, not at all...i mean, dushyant bache bilkul nahi chahte the...we had the first one cause i really wanted to. Plus, he's not forceful at all doctor, i mean, i hear all of my other friends talk about all the nonsense their husbands talk about when they are asked to put on a condom, that 'unko feeling nahi aati hai' or that they know when to pull out..but dushyant never did that...he has always used protection from his side." responded ishita, as she just sighed in response. 

"ishita, agar tumhari pills ke saath tampering nahi hui hai, aur tumne apni taraf se unhe time pe khaaya hai, toh the only logical reason behind this pregnancy is stealthing..." stated the doctor, as ishita raised her brow.

"men, often just wear the condom on their partner's insistence before sex, and then remove it in between without telling their partner...reasons could be to make you pregnant, or just the thrill or dominance men feel from it...and if this has happened, ishita you have to be careful around him...." warned the doctor, as ishita couldn't help but wonder, was it something dushyant would do? deceive and betray her this way, and for what? 

                                                                          ***

Ishita was just staring outside the window from the passenger's seat, as dushyant, who was driving the car, looked at her once, before looking on the road again. 

"woh sector-4 waala CCD yaad hai?" questioned dushyant, as ishita turned to him with a piercing gaze, unable to understand why was he bringing it up. 

"pehli baar wahi mile the..phir tumhe ghar chodha tha...aur tab hum ajnabee hokar bhi itne awkward se sannate mein nahi jaa rahe the jitna ab!" remarked dushyant, as ishita rolled her eyes. 

"bahaut ganda joke tha...." retorted ishita, looking at him blankly, as dushyant just shrugged his shoulders. 

"tab toh isse bhi bhattar joke hote the mere, ab shaadi se pehle soch lena tha...baaki main aur mere jokes dono no refund or exhange policy ke saath aate hain toh, chutkara toh mere inn wahiyat jokes se tumhe mere marne se pehle nahi milne walaa...." responded dushyant, as ishita did chuckle slightly.

"tumhara kuch nahi ho sakta sach mein!" exclaimed ishita, laughing even more. 

"bas, aise hi khush dekhna chahta hoon tumhe...and, i know, tum abhi ek aur bacha nahi chahti thi, and to be honest, yeh mere liye bhi bahaut bada surprise hai...and i'm so scared...but, i just can't help but remember jab maine jasmine ko pehli baar godh mein uthaya tha, and tumhare paas lekar aaya tha usse delivery ke baad...bahaut saalon baad aisa feel kiya maine ki--meri bhi family hai..." dushyant, who had started to choke up at this point, wiped a tear that escaped his eye.

"tum dono ko bas, ek baar smile karte hue dekhleta hoon, shaam ko ghar aakar kaam se, pure din ki saari thakan utar jaati hai...i mean,  yeah, ek aur bacha would be so hard right now for us but, agar hum aur abhi khush ho sakte hain saath toh kyun nahi?" raised dushyant a question, concluding what he had to say, as ishita felt bad for doubting him for even once, just leaning to rest her head on his shoulder. 

"hmm, kya pata hai dushyant jr ke paas thode better jokes ho..." remarked ishita, as they both shared a chuckle, he planted a kiss on her forehead, lovingly putting his one arm around her, while she looked at him affectionately, he continued to drive home. 

she smiled to herself, shaking her head in disbelief for believing what the doctor said, there was no way it could be true, right?

                                                                     ***