Pregnant with Ex-husband's baby

Chapter 11

Nithila

“What movie are we watching?” I fully face Kavin from the passenger seat of his car.

We have been married for a month now.

I started going back to college two weeks ago. We couldn't go to Manali as Kavin's coach did not want him to miss even a single day of practice. So, in place of us, it's his brother and Aarthira who's gone to Manali, leaving their son in the care of our in-laws.

Oddly I am not disappointed for not being able to go on our honeymoon because Kavin has been taking me out every single evening in the past month. He's super busy the whole day and returns home only in the evenings but when he does, he makes sure to spend time with me. And that is all I look forward to.

Kavin doesn’t answer my question, instead throws me a grin which I am still not very immune to, I don't know if I ever will be, “Why don’t you wait to find out?”

“Come on, tell me..” Without giving it much thought, I nudge at his forearm. It is the sudden stiffness of his hard muscles beneath my palm which tells me what I am doing and I quickly pull my hand back.

“A little patience is what I am asking from you, dear Nithila..” He teases, keeping his eyes fixed ahead. “But I assure you that you will enjoy the movie..”

I try to recall all the new releases for this week but there isn’t any new Tamil movie that’s worth spending three hours of our day. Yeah, our movies last for a little less than three hours.

I huff soundly and slump back on the seat patiently until he parks the car. The moment I step out, my eyes roam around for the huge banners to get a hint of what we might be watching tonight?

“Oh my god!” I breathe out when my eyes land on a particular banner.

Avengers: The end game

So, he remembered that too. My love for Marvel movies. Not just the regular Marvel movies but when they are dubbed in Tamil, which takes them to a greater level, I mean the humor that comes with it.

It was my brother who first introduced me and Nadhiya to Tamil dubbed Marvel movies and since then he’d been taking us to watch every single one of them.

I turn around to glance at Kavin who is chuckling behind me, obviously, upon seeing my reaction but can he blame me for it?

Never did I expect it from him. When I revealed to him my love for these movies, all he did back then was mock me and tell how the whole sense of the movie changes when we watch them in another language.

“You remembered?”

“Of course, I did. How can I forget what an action nut you are?” He chuckles, “Come let’s get in. We don’t want to be late, now do we?”

“No..” Shaking my head, I follow him inside. The theatre is jam-packed like it is always.

Our people have a craze for watching movies in theatres. Nothing could be compared to the feel of watching our idols on the big screens because idols are considered as Gods and loyal fans do everything to watch their hero on and only on big screens.

We stop by the concession stalls to grab our popcorns and coke, and a few minutes later we enter the box office. As we walk into the dark theatre, Kavin wraps his hand around my wrist. At first, I jerk in surprise, then I tell myself that it’s probably to not lose me in the crowd but I can already feel them again, those butterflies which now have a permanent residence inside me, their soft wings brushing the walls of my heart.

While Kavin finds our seats on the aisle, I keep telling myself to not dwell too much in the feel of his warm hand wrapped around mine but it’s too much to handle for my crazy heart which threatens to leap out of my chest.

He lets go of my hand the moment we take our seats and I fight the urge to whine with the sudden loss of his touch but I don’t. Instead, I turn my full attention to the opening credits of the movie but paying attention to the movie is impossible. My eyes are on the screen, but my head is wrapped with the thoughts of my handsome husband.

I secretly smile at the memory of what happened last night.

“You lose, Nithila..” He said arrogantly when he tried to snatch the phone from my hold for his chance but I didn't let him by ducking to my side and taking it out of his reach.

It has now become a ritual for both of us to play mobile games for a good one hour before we sleep.

“Let me play once more, Kavin, Please..” I pleaded like a child who cannot accept her defeat in a game.

“No way, you already got two continuous chances. Now it’s my turn. Give it two me..” He kneeled on the bed to tackle me. “Remind me to never play with you again. You are such a bad opponent, Nithila..”

"I am not.." I laughed, as he crawled over me but I was too stubborn to give up.

How is it fair that he got to win all the three times he played and I was unable to beat him even once?

So, I was not going to give him a chance until I won.

"Give it to me, di.."

I don't know why but I froze at his words. No guy calls a girl that, di, unless or until he is her best buddy, or a brother, her father or a loving husband. It's a word that symbolizes intimacy between two people, especially if they are husband and wife and I was thinking Kavin and I did not come under that category of people yet.

And I slowly became aware of our positions. Both my wrists were captured in one of his palms with my entire body pinned under his large one. His face was so close to mine that it looked like we were breathing the same air.

Right. Cue hyperventilation.

Oh my God. Oh my God!

Under my sharp gaze, Kavin stopped fighting, his eyes flicked over my face without blinking. His dark orbs glistened under the warm lights flooding the room and they visibly turned a shade darker, and I swear they had the power to smolder me.

Realization must have hit him a bit lately because when it did, he jumped away from me, looking horrified.

“Sorry..” He muttered and drove a hand into his hair.

I didn’t know what he was apologizing for but I didn't like it at all.

Kavin barks out a short laugh and that's what pulls me out of that sweet memory from last night. Thank god, it's dark in here, or otherwise, I will have to answer Kavin for the redness of my cheeks.

I discreetly watch him. I study the lines near his eyes when he laughs, the way his adam's apple bobs when he swallows his soda and the way his dimples show up every time he grins. All those things only make the butterflies inside me go crazier.

I am mesmerized by how big he looks beside me, taking up almost the whole space on the armrest because of which our arms are brushing against each other.

There is this weird phenomenon that happens whenever he is close to me. Even without that phenomenon, it’s hard to look away from him, as if he has left me without control over myself. It sometimes annoys me that my eyes don't listen to me anymore like it does now and with a huff I move my gaze to the screen.

Halfway through the movie, my eyes catch the attention of the teenage couples in the front row. In the beginning, they were just holding hands which I thought was cute but then they start kissing and being a little too intimate for my liking. I begin to wonder how people display their affection so freely in public. Is that what happens when you are in love?

Will I ever do such things if I ever fall in love?

I know I like Kavin a lot but I am not sure if that's love.

But one thing I am very sure of is if I did fall in love then it is going to be only with Kavin.

Thinking about me falling in love with Kavin, I feel both excited and restless.

"God, they are too much.." He whispers into my ear, his breath tickling my earlobe.

"I think they are cute.." I say to disagree with him.

He looks shocked as if I have revealed the biggest secret t of my life, "Good girl, Nithila likes doing such things in public?"

"What? I never said that.."

I realize he is pulling my leg when he chuckles and I swat his bicep. This is another thing that's become very common between us. He loves to tease me and I love to hit him in return which I am sure doesn't budge him at all.

“You seemed to enjoy the movie lot for somebody who doesn’t like dubbed movies..” I remark when we are in our bed at home.

“I never said I don’t like them..” He tells me, grinning boyishly. “It’s just better when you watch the original version but I didn’t want to bore you the first time we watched a movie together..”

Lately, I have found myself staring at his lips a lot, like how I am doing right now. How they stretch when he smiles and how they curl when he talks. I sometimes feel so embarrassed with the way I'm fascinated with his mouth.

“Did you like the movie?” He asks, turning to me and I blink my eyes away.

“Yeah..” I swallow when I think how distracted I was throughout the movie. “I did..”

"Really? I thought you were ogling at those hormonal couples.." He laughs.

Is it bad if I want to kill him?

"Shut up, I wasn't ogling at anyone. I didn't even know what they were doing until you mentioned it to me.."

"You are such a little liar, Nithi.."

My lips part as I lose my breath at the short name that he doesn't usually use. Along with my breath, I also lose my heartbeats and my rational thoughts. For an entire minute, I don't move. I feel those damn butterflies with whom I have a love-hate relationship begin to take flight inside me.

Shaking my head, I turn the other side because if I don't I might die of asphyxiation.

The following weekend, my parents invite us all for lunch. It will mark the first time that I will be going to my parents' place after our marriage and there are no words to explain my joy. Kavin has his practice until the afternoon so, his parents start before us to not keep my parents waiting.

And before leaving, Kavin's mom handed me a new saree which she asked me to wear to lunch.

"s**t, I should have told her that I don't know to wear this.." I mumble to myself as I try wrapping the soft fabric around my hip.

"Nithi, I am ba.."

"Ahh.." I scream in horror and my hands simultaneously fly up to cover my clothed chest when Kavin barges into our room out of nowhere and not to mention, without knocking on the door but then why will he? This is his room.

"Ahhm.. sorry.." He averts his eyes when he notices that I am standing in front of the mirror in just a blouse and underskirt. "I will be outside.." He mutters with his face down in embarrassment.

However, when he is about to close the door behind him, I stop him. "Kavin, wait.."

"W-What is it?" I see that his eyes are narrowed to the tiled floor but his hands are curled into tight fists as if he is fighting hard to not lookup. However, I catch him peeking at me through his long eyelashes a couple of times.

I don't know if I should tell him this but I am going to because there is no other way. "Kavin, I don't know how to drape a saree.."

"You don't know to drape a saree.." He repeats as if he doesn't believe in my confession.

"Yeah.." I gulp, "Can you help me? Please.."

His frown only grows but he gives me a small nod before closing the door behind him and walking towards me.

"I don't know much about saree myself but this shouldn't be rocket science.." He rasps, grabbing one end of my it.

"Okay.." I swallow and whisper.

"How did you wear it before if you don't know how to?" Taking out his phone, he plays a tutorial video and places it on the dresser.

"My mom did it for me.."

He hums, "There is nothing that's not available on youtube.." He says and follows the video step by step.

He drapes the saree around my waist while I stand there feeling hot and my limbs buzzing. Being this close, his presence is larger, more intimidating. His jaw is tight and his eyes shine with a strange brightness that I have never seen in them.

Somehow the air around us has also gotten denser.

"Hold this.." He orders before crouching down in front of me to straighten the pleats and I do as he tells me. I have to admit that he is done a great job so far, even the pleats are perfectly made. When he is satisfied with his work, he straightens up and gathers the pleat from my hold.

"And this goes inside.." He tells himself.

With that my whole body jerks up and I suck in a large amount of breath when he tucks the pleats into the waistband, his rough calloused hand coming in contact with the bare skin over there.

He chuckles and mumbles, "I'm sorry." but in addition to amusement there is something else in his expression.

"That's okay.." I mutter while trying to concentrate on my breathing.

Finally, when he is done, he gives a full glance, from my head to toe.

"Done.." His voice is low and darkened and I don't know what to tell from it. We stare at each other for another moment and I have this intense urge to cross my arms over myself.

"Thanks.."

"Anytime.." He says, pulling his gaze away from me, "We should go.." and the next second he walks out of the room, leaving me both pale and relieved at the same time.