What's Past Is Prologue
kellylover
Dr. Jeremiah Sacani was sleeping peacefully in his bed when he was awoken by a sudden cry. He kept his eyes closed, and instead listened as he heard footsteps on the floor followed by the quiet shush of a patient mother.
It had been almost a year now that Jeremiah had a roommate, almost a year that Divya had moved in. It had been an adjustment for him at first. He was used to his own ways and though he was actively trying to change other aspects of his life, his home had always been a welcome constant. But even from the beginning, though difficult it was, Jeremiah had always believed that Divya's company was more than enough to make up for any discomfort he felt.
He had still been childishly in love with her when he extended his invitation for her to move in. But his love changed as they grew to know one another in a more intimate way. They quickly learned each other's habits, and it always made Jeremiah feel as if he could conquer the world when Divya would have his morning orange juice waiting for him when he came down for breakfast. He learned not to mind the throw blankets hanging over the back of the couch and she learned not to put cream in his coffee. And before Jeremiah even realized that it had happened, it was if they had always lived together in perfect harmony.
As the summer flew by, Jeremiah focused on supporting Divya through the early stages of her pregnancy, and he found that he had stopped obsessing over her as he had the year before. Instead, simply keeping Divya an integral part of his life became his main objective. So when she learned of his feelings at the end of the summer, it hadn't felt at all like a lie when he told her he had outgrown his obsession and asked her to accept his help during her pregnancy.
But as the fall dragged into winter and the winter into spring, Jeremiah was challenged and pushed in ways he had never experienced before. As Divya approached the final days of her pregnancy, she became increasingly hormonal and emotional. Earlier she would call for him to simply sit and hold her hand, to talk to her and take her mind off of her inactivity. Some nights, feeling especially alone, she would ask him to sit next to her in her bed as she leaned into his side and fell asleep happier in his presence. Sometimes he would find her exerting herself too much only to collapse in exhaustion and tears in his arms at the sight of him.
Jeremiah had never before been faced with a woman crying on his shoulder, or falling asleep as she leaned against him. And while he was keenly aware that Divya saw these actions as nothing more than platonic, Jeremiah felt himself getting more and more attached to her.
As Divya's due date drew nearer, Jeremiah's biggest worry was that she would move out as soon as the baby arrived. But luckily, he learned that Divya had allowed her lease to expire at her apartment complex, and she was instead faced with the choice of finding a new place to live or simply continuing to live with Jeremiah. So Jeremiah looked on the birth with anticipation rather than apprehension. And before he knew it, Divya's mother had moved in with them to help out until the birth, and not long after that, Divya and Jeremiah welcomed a fourth into their home.
He called it "their home" now in his head. It was no longer only his property, as far as he was concerned. It was Divya's home just as much as his. And he sincerely hoped that she felt the same way. He couldn't imagine living there without her anymore, had forgotten what life had been like when he was the only person in that modern mansion and he was delighted when he finally got to bring Divya and her child back home, where they belonged.
Unfortunately, not only had the pregnancy been hard on Divya, but also the recovery. The hernias that had developed lingered and caused her to be only minimally active immediately following the birth. So it was Jeremiah who had jumped up at every cry and ran to the other room to comfort the baby as much as he could, which was another situation he had never anticipated. He quickly learned that a crying baby was much more frightening than a crying woman. But with Divya's careful coaching, he became quite adept at soothing the baby's woes.
So it took a lot of self-restraint to resist jumping up out of his bed when he heard the child's cry. But it had been three months since Jeremiah had brought Divya and the baby home, and Divya was now more than capable of caring for the child herself. So Jeremiah laid in bed with his eyes closed and listened to the mixture of the baby's cries and Divya's gentle shush while he contemplated the bliss that had been the past nine months.
Though it hadn't been always perfect, it had been very near it for much of the time. But for the disappointment of not being with Divya in a more substantial way, Jeremiah had more than he could ever have hoped for. He had successfully taken over the leadership of HankMed and had a decidedly happy personal life for the first time in his life. And as the baby's cries died down and Jeremiah drifted back off to sleep, he had a smile on his face.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed it, but whether you did or you didn't, please leave a review. It would make my day. Also, stay tuned, because this is just the beginning of what I think the next season's Divemiah story arc should look like. Of course, it will be nothing like what the writers will come up with, but this is how I would do it if I were them. On a side note, this is only the second chaptered story I've ever written, so it's bound to be a challenge. I plan to finish it before next season airs, and sometimes updates might be faster than at other times. But I will finish. So please come along for the ride.
