Spoiled • 18+ • Arranged Marriage Story

Thirty Eight

    It was a whole two weeks before they discharged Siddharth. Sakshi had visited him every day. She never failed to ask about his meals or how he slept, she also smiled at him and kissed his hands and never failed to say that she loved him.

     His chest clamped and his head ached. He didn't know who she was anymore. The Sakshi he knew was about to divorce him. Though it had surprised him enough to make his trip from the treadmill, he did expect it. For five years they had lived as strangers to each other talking only when required. Their marriage was a farce.

    The doctor had conveyed to him how he had lost a whole year in memories and then he was in a coma for 7 months. It still felt surreal how much had changed in a year. She meant it, he knew that. She did love him. But he didn't know if he was that Siddharth anymore.

   He didn't know how to process it. Everything had changed. His legs had stopped working and he needed physiotherapy now so that he can gain complete motor function.

    Sakshi had been a huge help. His wife. God. His wife. He couldn't believe it. She helped him sit in the wheelchair and drove to the house where they stayed.  He remembered the day his father-in-law had thrown the keys to the mansion so that his daughter lived comfortably. He had heard her tell about how she hated him that day.

   There was such a stark difference between her then and now. "Well! Come in. Welcome!" It was Veer his brother-in-law. He thought he hated him but he was here smiling and with a baby in his arms.

   "Siddharth, welcome home. So glad you're here." It was Janvi, Veer's wife who had another identical baby in her arms.

    "Thank you. I didn't know you guys had another set of twins."

     He felt Veer grimace. And Janvi looked at him with sadness. He felt awkward. What had he said wrong, he wondered.

    Sakshi who was behind him took one of the babies from Janvi's arms. That was what it took for Janvi to rush inside. She came back a minute after with a Puja thali in her hands.

   After the rituals, he entered the mansion. It seemed different. There were toys everywhere. It was messy even by his standards.

    "Siddharth?" Sakshi came to stand before him bobbing the baby in her arms. His chest clenched. God, she seemed so natural at that.

    "Yeah?"

    "They're not Veer's daughters."

     He frowned and looked at her. She kissed the baby's cheek who squealed. "They're mine."

      He stopped breathing and looked at her. She smiled at him and he gripped the hand rests. Hers and whose?

     "And yours as well. They're our kids."

       "What?"

       He held his head. He forgot he had children. With her. They were his.

    "Siddharth, it's okay. It's fine."

    "When did you? During the coma?"

        She flinched at that. "It was when you met with the accident. On New Year's Eve. I was around 7 and a half months I guess."

      He squeezed his eyes shut painfully. He wished everything would come back to him right that instant. God, she had been pregnant and she was obviously in shock because of the accident, enough for her to go into labor. He hadn't been there when she needed him the most. His chest clamped.

          "I am so sorry."

          Her face fell. "For what? It wasn't your fault. And everything is fine now."