Nithya walked out of her house immediately after reading Raghav's mail. She was angry, upset and clueless on why Raghav did that. She went to their house and rang the doorbell. Sharadha opened the door, and she was surprised to see Nithya standing on the other side.

"Hey Nithya! Come come!" She welcomed her excitedly. 

"Is Raghav here, athai?" Nithya asked her. 

"Why would he be home at this time? He went to the office da. Didn't you know?" Sharadha replied casually. 

"He is not at the office. That's why I came here." 

"What do you mean that he is not at the office, Nithya? He should be there only na... Or he might have gone out to attend a meeting..." Sharadha replied confused. 

"Ayoo athai! Just like me, you're not aware of what's happening around us." Nithya said sadly and sat on the couch. Seeing her upset, Sharadha sat next to her and took her hand. 

"Is everything fine, Nithya?" She asked her calmly. 

"No athai. Raghav has resigned his job." Nithya informed her and Sharadha's eyes widened in shock. 

"What?" 

"Yes athai. Vicky called me now and said this to me. Even I was shocked like you, in fact I didn't believe his words. Vicky had forwarded the resignation mail, that's when I came to know everything was true." 

"But... Why would he?" 

"I don't know athai... I am confused. If Raghav had taken such a big decision, he would have informed either of us. But  we were completely blinded from this." Nithya told her with tears. 

"Don't cry Nithya. You stay here until he comes, and let's ask him why he did so." 

"And... Vicky said something else too." 

"What da?"

"Raghav's manager had offered him a promotion with a hike too. He had refused that. And when his manager had enquired secretly whether Raghav was planning to join any of the other core companies, they didn't find any clues."

"Let him come home. I'll take care of him. Don't worry." Sharadha said and hugged Nithya to console her. 

They both stayed home tense. They tried calling Raghav, but his number was not reachable. 

It was around 4 in the evening, Raghav returned home and rang the doorbell. Nithya went and opened the door. 

"Hey Nithya!! What a surprise!" Raghav greeted her happily. 

Nithya just glared at him and moved away. Raghav entered inside, confused. His mother was also glaring at him angrily. 

"What happened maa? Why are you both looking angry?" Raghav asked them. 

"Where were you Raghav?" Sharadha asked him bluntly. 

"Didn't I tell you both that I was going for a meeting?" 

"What meeting huh? Was that office resignation meeting Raghav?" Nithya asked him angrily.

"Nithya?" Raghav called her name in shock. 

"Calm down, Nithya. I'll handle him." Sharadha told her. 

"Even now he is trying to hide it from us, athai." 

"Raghav, don't lie to us! We came to know that you have resigned from your job." Sharadha accused him. 

"Maa?" He whispered as he looked at both of them. 

"Vicky called me and told me everything. Why did you do this, Raghav? Why did you hide this from us?" Nithya shouted at him. 

"Nithya I'll explain.." 

"Why da? What is the necessity for you to resign from your job? Even if there's something, why didn't you tell us?" 

"Maa... You both are my everything! I don't have any intention of hiding it from you both." Raghav told them with teary eyes. 

"Then? It's been two weeks since you resigned and you didn't even utter a single word about it." She said and walked to their room with tears. Raghav looked at his mother helplessly. 

"Whatever be your reason Raghav, I won't stop you. But you have a family now... Nithya said that you've rejected all other offers too. Why da?" Sharadha asked him calmly. 

"Maa!! Did you think that I would not have thought about these things? About how I am going to run my family?" He asked her in shock. 

"I didn't mean that way..." 

"Is she also thinking the same way? That I won't be able to financially support our family?" 

"No Raghav. We both are upset that you didn't tell us about it. Even now you are not revealing the reason for your resignation." 

"You want to know the reason? Come with me." Raghav said and took his mom to the bedroom where Nithya was sitting with tears running down her cheeks. 

Raghav got to the bed and cupped Nithya's face. He wiped her tears with his hands. She looked away silently. 

"I resigned from my job only for you, Nithya." Raghav said in a soft voice. 

"What?" 

"Yes. I don't want to hide this from you both anymore. I thought of something and didn't tell you ... But that was my biggest mistake ever." 

"Why Raghav? What did I do?" 

"Hey Nithya! You didn't do anything. Actually after you got pregnant you have been going through a lot of changes both physically and mentally. You've become more sensitive than earlier. At nights you are not able to sleep properly. You wake up in the middle of the night and walk in the living room silently. Few days I try to stay awake for you, but due to the work pressure I sleep off quickly. At times I don't even know that you're awake at night." Raghav told her. 

Sharadha and Nithya were staring at him silently, trying to understand what he was trying to say. 

"These are common pregnancy changes, Raghav. I'll be fine after the delivery." Nithya told him. 

"One day maa told me that I have to be more responsible as I am going to become a father. She told me in a jovial tone, but I understood how important her statement was. I thought being responsible means just earning more to lead a financially stable family. But I slowly started understanding the hidden meanings of it. Lately I have been very busy at my office, and i couldn't get much time to spend with you. If I take a paternal leave and stay home I would definitely make you feel happy but that would be a temporary solution for this. One day I had to go back to the same work life which would give me endless stress, that would snatch away my time from our baby. I don't want that to happen." Raghav told them with tears. They both were already crying on hearing him. 

"I was looking for a permanent solution for all my problems. I accidentally met an old friend of mine on social media. He is a publisher now. He said that he had read my book "The Gun Point '' and he wants to publish it. I wanted to take a chance. I know that it won't fetch me money like I was earning in my previous job, but it can at least help me in spending more time with my family.'' 

"And Amma... As per the contract I would be getting a lump sum as an initial payment for my book. I have planned to deposit the entire sum in a fixed deposit account for my baby. We won't take a single penny from that, it's for the baby's future. I'm also signing a contract for two more books. Even though I was a software engineer by profession,I had this huge interest in writing. Maybe this is the time for me to discover that." Raghav said everything and looked at them.

Sharadha moved towards him and hugged him tight. She had no words to describe her feeling. Raghav had made her feel so proud. 

"Raghav..." Nithya called him crying. Raghav hugged her carefully.

"You've thought this much about us... But why didn't you tell us all these things? We would not have yelled at you na..." Nithya told him cutely. 

"Your birthday is coming up. So I thought of surprising you with the first copy of my book." Raghav spoke and Nithya looked at him in surprise. 

"Yes. I had a meeting with my publisher today about the final draft. That's why I was tense in the morning. Now everything is set! The first copy of my book will be out on your birthday." Raghav said, placing a kiss on her forehead. 

"Thank you!!!!" Nithya squealed in joy. 

"Your wife's birthday is coming, so you decided to surprise her. Then why me?" Sharadha asked him with a frown. 

"Haha if I had told you earlier, it would not have stayed within you. You'd have hid it from Nithya, but told everyone before her birthday." He replied cheekily.

"Deii" Sharadha slapped him playfully. 

"I'm sorry." Raghav apologized to them. 

"You had your reasons Raghav! We understand." Sharadha replied with a smile. 

To Be Continued.
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