“Hold on, I’ll arrange for a kit.” Tanya furiously typed in her phone and then sat back. “Done.”
“What? Who? What did you do?” Mia looked worried.
“Nothing! Asked Neil to get one. He was anyway on his way to pick me up.”
“What! No!” Mia caught her head in her hands.
“Don’t worry about it. If you don’t want this to go out to Armaan, it won’t. Not from any of us,” Tanya reassured.
Mia wasn’t sure if she wanted the men to know about her possible pregnancy. She forced herself to calm down and paced the room until the doorbell rang.Let me first confirm, she reasoned to herself. Mia quickly opened the door to let Neil and Arjun in. They both smiled and briefly hugged her before stepping in.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you? Are you feeling okay?” Neil immediately went to his wife who was impatiently waiting for him.
“Yeah, yeah! Did you get what I wanted?”
“Oh, yeah, hold on.” He retrieved a small brown cover and placed it in her hands. “Isn’t it too late for you to check? I mean, we already are pregnant.” He smirked.
Tanya rolled her eyes. “Very funny!” She took the cover and handed it to Mia.
Arjun and Neil looked on, shock and surprise evident on their faces. Neither said a word, lest they upset their women. Both realized who the test was for and who the father was. “Just what he needs at the moment,” Arjun muttered under his breath.
Neil understood what his friend meant. Armaan had received a call that his father was ill, and he’d rushed to the States barely a week back. If the child was indeed Armaan’s, his friend was going to have one hell of a time between a sick parent and a pregnant ex.
Natasha noticed her husband’s pensive look, wanting to know more. Arjun might be a man of few words, but with her, he was sure to share everything he knew.
All of them turned towards the bedroom when they heard the door open. They saw Mia smile and nod amidst her tears. The girls gravitated to her to offer a congratulatory hug while the two men stood there pondering how their friend was going to react once he knew.
As if Mia sensed their plight, she looked at the men. “It’s not what you think. I don’t want to keep this from him; I’ll let him know. He might be the father, but it’s my baby.” She placed a protective hand on her abdomen.
The two men nodded without saying much. Honestly, they didn’t know whether the Page 3 favorite Armaan would even be interested in a baby. Ten minutes later, they bid her goodbye after ensuring she was okay.
Mia closed the door with a smile. Until yesterday, she thought she had gone back to being alone. But today, for the first time, she had a tiny human growing inside her who was all hers; hers alone to love and cherish. With a prayer of gratitude, she got into the bed. Just like her mother and herself, her baby and she would just do fine, she thought with a smile. She ignored the pang when a visual of Armaan and herself along with a child came up. No, she was an independent woman and she was going to do this by herself, come what may.
Chapter 12
It took Armaan two days to come to her place. Tuesday night, when she heard the brisk knock, she instinctively knew who it was. Mia had texted Armaan on Sunday night that she was pregnant and that she was only informing him. She’d made it amply clear she did not expect anything from him. Honestly, she hadn’t expected any response and she didn’t receive any. But then, here he was, waiting at the other side of her door.
“Hi, Armaan.”
He got in and closed the door with a firm thud. “We are pregnant?” No hi or niceties, he jumped right into the heart of the matter.
Mia noticed he’d used the word ‘we’. “Yes. I am pregnant.” She replied, deliberately ignoring his ‘we’.
“The baby is mine.” He growled.
“Yes. That was the reason I texted you as soon as I found out.”
“And I appreciate it.” He ran a hand through his hair.
She noticed he looked exhausted, “Sit down. Do you want something to drink? You look frazzled.”
“Yeah, well, non-stop travel from the US can do that to a man. Also, it’s not every day that I come to know I’m going to be a father.” He stared at the woman who was standing before him in simple, cotton PJs. How he’d missed her. While his pride had kept him away, he’d missed being with her all this while. That was a first for Armaan Malik. “You look beautiful.” He caressed her cheek softly, secretly thrilled she was carrying his baby.
She looked at him for a moment. “Armaan, just to be clear, this doesn’t change anything between us.”
“How can you say that? Of course, this changes everything. For God’s sake, you have my baby in you.”
“Our baby, you mean.”
