4 YEARS LATER
Drishti was exhausted.
There wasn’t really another word to describe the state a woman was in immediately following childbirth.
The messy business was over.
The doctors and nurses had cleared out and the family went home.
Now it was just Drishti and Shravan in a quiet hospital suite.
Well, make that just Drishti, Shravan and the brand-new Master Dhruv Maheswari in a quiet hospital suite.
Dhruv made her arrival at 4:53 p.m., weighing three kilograms, plus a hundred grams and shrieking with the finest set of lungs to ever debut at Sunrise Hospital, Mumbai.
It had been a long day filled with excitement, nerves, joy and pain.
And now, she was enjoying a private moment she would remember for her whole life.
Shravan was beside her in the reclining chair. Dhruv was bundled up in a white blanket with pastel stripes. He is perfect, tiny and pink with Shravan's features.
Dhruv had fallen asleep with her small hand clutching Shravan's pinky finger, content, warm and safe in his daddy’s arms.
But the best part was watching Shravan.
The past nine months had been an adventure for her husband.
Her mood swings were crazy and Shravan had a tough time handling her.
Shravan wanted to be a part of every moment from sonograms to paternity classes.
Sometimes she wondered if he regretted getting so immersed in the details of the process.
He could handle running construction empires, but preparing for the arrival of a new baby—and a small version of Drishti at that—nearly did him in.
During labor, he was wide-eyed and panicked. Occasionally even a little green around the gills.
It was pretty adorable.
Then he was born, shouting his displeasure to everyone in the maternity ward.
Of course, Drishti looked at her baby first, cataloging fingers and toes and noting how beautiful and perfect he was.
But the moment Dhruv was laid on her chest, Drishti's eyes went to Shravan.
The expression on his face was priceless.
It was quite literally love at first sight.
And now, while he held little Dhruv, a marching band could parade through the room and Shravan probably wouldn’t notice.
He couldn’t tear his gaze away from his son.
It was as though the answers to all the questions in the universe were wrapped up in that blanket.
It was the most precious thing Drishti had ever seen. And she was feeling a little jealous too.
"You’re my hero."
Drishti didn’t realize Shravan was looking at her until he spoke.
"Your hero?"
"Absolutely. You were amazing today." Shravan stood slowly so he didn’t wake their son and carried Dhruv over to her.
Drishti accepted the bundle and smiled up at him.
"Eh, piece of cake. I think I only threatened your life once." Drishti said with a wink
"A couple hundred times. But who's counting" Shravan eased down to sit on the edge of the bed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Seriously, though, I don’t know how you did it."
"You being here helped a lot" Drishti said
Shravan leaned in to place a kiss on her lips and another on Dhruv’s forehead.
They both spent a moment looking down at their son.
"He looks like you" Drishti said
"He does" Shravan said proudly
"I hope he has your calm temper too. I wouldn't want you to tolerate the two of us" Drishti said
"I would love it if he is a mini you, Drishti." Shravan said
****
"It's okay sweetheart." Shravan patted her back as Drishti hugged him and cried.
Being a new mother was taking a toll on her.
The late night feeds and the constant demands that obviously comes with a baby is too much for her to handle.
All her life, she had been coddled and pampered. And she never had to lift a finger for anything hard.
And here she is, awake at three in the morning, because Dhruv had woken up wet and hungry.
Shravan had managed to change the diaper without waking Drishti, but Dhruv had cried on, being hungry. The pumped up milk had been given when he woke up two hours ago. And he had no other option other than to wake Drishti up.
Dhruv was only one month old, and he preferred his mother's warmth more than his father's.
"Am I a bad mother?" Drishti cried out
"No baby. You are a very good mother" Shravan said
"I feel tired. Always" Drishti said
"It will get better. We are new to this, Drishti. It will take time. We will meet the paediatrician tomorrow itself and ask him if it's okay to give formula milk once in a while" Shravan said
"That might not be healthy for the baby. I don't want to do anything that would affect his health" Drishti sniffed
"We won't. We will make sure before we do that" Shravan said
"He is sleeping" Drishti said peering into the cradle where Dhruv is fast asleep.
"Yes. Let's get some sleep while he is sleeping. He will most probably wake us up in a few hours" Shravan said
"He will. He always needs attention" Drishti said, grinning through her tears.
"Reminds me of someone I know very well" Shravan said teasingly making Drishti laugh.
"Go to sleep" Shravan mumbled and cuddled her to sleep, until their son lets them.