Yes, I know, Naveen kind of reacted like a jerk in the last chapter, but there was more going on in his head than we realized. This should explain it all. The first part of the chapter is strictly in Naveen's POV and it's the first time I have told any story of mine on here in first person. Which is odd because every original story I right is told in first person. The next chapter will be filled with a little more cuteness and such. Eudora will find out soon, but probably not in the next chapter. Enjoy!
I would never admit it to Tiana, for fear of getting my ears talked off, but I secretly want eight kids. But Tiana would be the one bearing the children if we were to ever have any and I knew she would not be as keen to that idea as I was. So I kept my mouth shut. It was hard not to be excited and hopeful that one Valentine's Day in the restaurant when I saw Tiana with a baby in her arms. I hid in earshot and out of sight to listen to Tiana singing to the baby and my wild imagination took over. If that was our baby in Tiana's arms, the skin and hair would be much darker, the eyes would be brown or golden brown or possibly blue if the baby inherited my mother's eyes, and of course the baby would be very good looking with parents like Tiana and myself.
I tried dropping hints that night-very big obvious hints-that I would like to start having children. "Oh, you and that little bebi looked happy together," I said. And "You are a natural with young children, no?" But my usually very observant princess did not pick up on my hints. I would keep hoping, though.
I forgot about it for a time. One day in the middle of May, I woke up to the sound of Tiana retching into the toilet. I jumped up out of bed and ran to her to hold her hair.
"Go away!" she groaned before she heaved again. When she was done, I helped her up so she could rinse her mouth out and then put her back in bed. I disappeared to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.
"I am going to take a shower now," I told her, tucking a curl behind her ear. "When I get back I expect to see all this water gone." Tiana groaned in response but when I came out of the bathroom, the water was drained and Tiana was sitting up a little bit in bed. I refilled the water and sat down next to her on the bed.
"Do you want to take off for today?" I asked her.
"Not for all of today," she said. "If I feel better later than I'm coming straight downstairs."
She came downstairs, as promised, around noon. She seemed better and I believed she was better, but the next morning was exactly the same, and the morning after that, and the morning after that. I told her the fifth day-over my dead body-was she was coming down at all. She did not argue, but she refused to see a doctor. She didn't get sick again for the rest of the weekend, so I finally agreed with her and she was happily back at work in the restaurant and in the kitchen.
But when all the dishes were sent back and Charlotte sent for a doctor, it finally clicked in my head: Tiana must be pregnant! The sickness, the misfiring taste buds, (and she had been complaining recently that some of her dresses did not fit as well anymore) I wanted to run up there and hear the doctor say it for myself, but I was doing my workload and Tiana's so I was running around everywhere. I couldn't even catch the doctor as he was going out the door because I was in the kitchen, settling a small argument between the chefs.
With the restaurant closed and Louis nestled in a dark corner under the stairs, I went upstairs expecting to hear the good news. But I heard nothing of the sort. I only got a vague answer about how the doctor told her to rest. There was however that underlying tone that alerted me that Tiana was not in the best mood.
When I climbed in bed she tensed. I reached out my hand and touched her chin. I turned her head turned to me.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"No," Tiana replied, drawing the word out. She turned back to her magazine. I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Are you sure, my princess?" I was doing my best to be comforting and charming, but she wasn't in the mood for that.
Tiana flipped the magazine closed with a snap. "Naveen, I'm fine, okay? I'm just not feelin' too good at the moment and your pesterin' isn't helping much." She put the magazine on the bedside table and settled herself down in the covers, facing away from Naveen. "Would ya mind turning the lamp off?" she asked.
I did not do as she said right away. Could Tiana have secretly wanted a baby, too? Maybe she was just sad that she was not expecting. I turned off the lamp and sat for a few moments more, saddened by this development. But since I was the husband, it was my job to cheer Tiana up and make her feel better. I shifted over to her, putting an arm around her. "Have I ever told you how happy I am right now?" I asked.
"Really?" Tiana said. She did not sound annoyed anymore. "What about?"
I kissed her hair. "Just with our life. We have steady jobs, we have a nice place to live in, we have great friends, and most importantly, we have each other. We do not need anything else. Life is perfect just the way it is."
"Yeah," she muttered back. "Perfect." I kissed her neck and nuzzled in close to her, drifting off to sleep. We could try another time.
I got up the next morning and took my shower and dressed, but Tiana did not stir from her sleep. I kissed her on the forehead before I went downstairs to open up the restaurant. I popped back upstairs to make her a quick breakfast and she still was not up. I went up stairs about two or three dozen times throughout the day and very few of those times was she up. When she was up and about, she was very distant and hardly spoke to me or looked at me.
She did make me dinner and left it on a plate for me on the table while she was back in the bedroom. I held her close that night. She did not protest because she was asleep. I wondered until the moment I drifted off to sleep what other reason there could be for her mood.
My mood was lifted the next morning when I woke up and found that she had turned towards me in her sleep. Her head was tucked under my chin and there was the hint of a smile on her face.
The restaurant was busy that morning, so it was a while before I could go up and check on Tiana. When I did, all I found was a note on the kitchen table:
Naveen,
I'm going to spend some time with Charlotte today. I'll be back later. Don't let the restaurant burn down while I'm gone.
Love,
Tiana
She had snuck out. Every other time she had left for somewhere, she'd seek me out and tell me where she was going so I could at least get an abinazza hug and kiss, but not now. I called the La Bouff's that afternoon to check up on her, but the maid said Tiana could not come to the phone. I hung up the phone, feeling depressed. Tiana was avoiding me.
"Louis, I think Tiana is avoiding me," I confided in my scaly friend while I wiped down tables.
"Now why would you say that?" Louis asked as he flipped a chair on the table with his tail. "Miss Tiana always gets those batty eyelashes around you and vice versa."
I shrugged. "I do not know. She does not talk to me, she seems to be in a rather sour mood lately, and I think she might have been pretending to be asleep when I went up to check on her yesterday." I sighed. "Usually, I know what to do with her and what to say, but this time I am completely baffled. I just wish she would talk to me and tell me what is going on with her."
"Well it looks like you're gettin' that wish," Louis remarked. He gestured toward the entrance. I looked and saw Tiana walking straight towards me, a determined look on her face.
"Naveen, I need to talk with you," she said. I put the rag down on the table and faced Tiana. I let out a breath I did not realize I had been holding and nodded at Tiana to continue. I braced myself for the worst, whatever that may be. However, her eyes were now on Louis behind me. "Alone," she added.
"If you can say it to me, you can say it to Louis," I decided. I would need a friend to back me up, no matter what Tiana said.
"I'm pregnant," she told me. Her eyes told me she was far from joking. Now, you see, a few days earlier, I would have done back flips and cartwheels over this news. But there were a few differences between then and now.
Back then, I had gotten used to the idea of Tiana being pregnant. Right now, I had just gotten used to the idea of Tiana not being pregnant.
Back then, I had been expecting to hear the news. Right now, the news seemed to come out of the blue.
Back then, being a parent was some sort of lovely fantasy with blue skies, sunshine, flowers, and happy, smiling babies. Right now, being a parent was a reality and we would have to start thinking about things such as food, clothes, money, and what to do when the baby was unhappy and screaming until their lungs popped.
So, instead of being happy or hugging or kissing my wife like I should have done and I wanted to do, I started to have a panic attack. I don't remember what happened exactly but I think I said "Faldi Faldonza!" a few times and then left the restaurant, leaving half the tables in the restaurant unclean.
I walked without really knowing where I was going. My mind was completely blank from what Tiana told me. I stopped walking eventually and just sat on a bench, watching cars and people go by without really registering what they looked like. Tiana was pregnant. Tiana was pregnant. I vaguely wondered if my mother would still hold to her promise to murder me in my sleep if I ever got a girl pregnant. However, that had been when I first started dating girls.
Was I even ready to be a father? Like I said: before Tiana was pregnant, a baby was a nice little daydream, but now I would have to face the reality in a few short months. I knew nothing of children! Whenever Nathaniel was upset as a baby, I would hand him off to his Nanny. I would toss him around some, buy him gifts, and send him on his merry way. That is what you do with brother, not your own children!
I did not even have the slightest idea of what to get for the baby! What did they wear? They could not fit in my trousers or Tiana's dresses. They did not even sleep in real beds! They slept in some sort of cage. I decided that I was already shaping up to be a terrible father. A good father would have been happy at the news of his wife's pregnancy and started making plans for the baby's arrival and would know exactly what to do. I know nothing.
I stood up after a long while and looked around. The sun had set a long time ago. The lights from the shops and buildings illuminated the street. I remembered promising Tiana that my walk would only take an hour. I checked my watch. Faldi Faldonza! Two hours! I had been out twice as long as I promised. I half-ran, half-walked back to the restaurant.
Louis was tucked in under the stairs already, which meant Tiana was either upstairs fuming or she had dozed off in bed. Yes, the first option seemed more likely. I turned my key in the lock to our tiny apartment and stuck my head inside. Tiana was not in the rocking chair facing the door like I expected her to be. Maybe she had dozed off. I took my shoes off and crept in my socks to the bedroom so as not to disturb her. I took two careful steps into the bedroom when I realized Tiana was still up and looking straight at me, but she did not seem angry.
"I thought you would be asleep," I remarked. I straightened up and walked at a normal pace to my dresser to change into my pajamas.
"I was waitin' for you," she replied. I heard her open the drawer on her bedside table, then close it. "That was a long walk."
I bit my lip. Time to make excuses! "Well after a long day of being in this restaurant, I needed it." That was one of the most selfish things I have said in all the time I have known Tiana. She was the pregnant one. My needs would have to come second now. I climbed under the covers and gave Tiana a quick peck on the cheek before turning the lamp off.
"You feelin' alright, Princey?" Tiana asked. Her tone was a little teasing.
"Yes," I replied. I traced a line up and down her arm. That was a lie. I would still be having a panic attack if I wasn't so tired.
"Are you sure you don't wanna talk?" she prodded. I grunted. No, I did not really want to talk. I was worried what I would say if I tried opening my mouth and talking about the baby right now. Maybe if I played dumb, she would drop the subject.
"About what I told you when I got back from Charlotte's!" she cried, sounding indignant. Now, you see, Tiana was all prepared to talk about this, but I was not. She had had several days to cope with the news. So I was not exactly proud of myself for the next thing that came out of my mouth.
"Can we talk later?" I sighed. "It was a long day at the restaurant today. Bonia Notta." I kissed her again, this time on her mouth and settled back down into the pillows. Tiana settled down in them, too, sometime later. When I cracked my eye open to look at her, I noticed she was turned away from me. I supposed that I deserved that.
"And he hasn't said anything about the baby?" Charlotte repeated for confirmation. She was having a late lunch with Tiana at the Palace. They were seated away from the rest of the crowd because Tiana did not want this news getting out quite yet. Especially since she still hadn't even told her Mama, yet and Naveen's parents probably wanted to find out in a letter, not a newspaper.
Tiana shook her head. "Not a word! I bring it up, but he just changes the subject or ignores me completely. I think he may have actually forgotten. I know the news must have been shocking to him and yes, I needed adjusting, too, but…I never thought Naveen would react this way! I mean, worse things have happened to him! He got turned into a frog and he took that in stride. Maybe he'll get used to it with time but it'd be nice to have some sort of support since it's his fault I'm in this predicament in the first place-"
"Honey, please, calm down," Charlotte implored. "Let's change the subject. For instance: would you mind telling me why you're dipping your sugar cookies in remoulade sauce?"
Tiana looked down at her plate and shrugged. "I dunno, honestly. I just really wanted it and I can't believe nobody has ever tried this combination before, it's amazing."
"I'll take your word for it," Charlotte decided, grimacing at Tiana's plate.
"Trust me, I'll probably think it's disgusting later, but just let me enjoy it now." She popped the last remoulade-coated sugar cookie in her mouth and gulped down the rest of her lemonade.
"That's a pretty dress," Charlotte commented. "I don't see you in that one that much."
"Well I'm getting a little bit of a stomach and this dress is a little looser and doesn't show it off as much."
"Can I see?"
"No. Have you and Big Daddy already started making plans for your Fourth of July party?"
Charlotte pouted, but she answered: "We did, but then we decided we'd just spend it here. The last Fourth of July bash here was just so grand, there's no way we'd be able-" She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. The two women looked up to see Naveen. He looked nervous and he rocked back and forth on his heels.
"Hi there," Tiana said to break the silence. Naveen jumped a little.
"Hello," he mumbled back. "I am sorry to interrupt your lunch, but…I was just wondering if you were ready?"
"For what?" Tiana asked.
"To go," Naveen replied simply.
"To go where?" Honestly, what was this man talking about? This was the most he had spoken in days and he had chosen to speak in vague code.
Naveen swallowed. "To the doctor's." Tiana blinked at him. "You told me yesterday that you had an appointment today at three and it's a quarter past two now."
"Oh!" Tiana gasped. Her heart was pounding. She-she had actually gotten something through to Naveen. He had acknowledged the pregnancy (sort of)! The poor thing, he looked scared out of his wits. Maybe she had been judging him too harshly.
"I forgot about that!" Tiana admitted. She could feel a smile creeping up on her face. Charlotte looked ready to burst. "I'm just gonna go upstairs for a moment and then we can go." She kissed Naveen's cheek as she passed and just about flew up the stairs in excitement. Charlotte followed her soon afterwards, bursting into the apartment as Tiana was brushing her teeth.
"Oh, the poor dear!" Charlotte cried. She plopped herself down on the bed and laughed. "He collapsed into a chair the moment you left. I swear he and I had the same complexion for a moment!" She giggled and Tiana had a hard time not giggling too. "I had the kitchen send him out some water so he should be fine."
Tiana came out of the bathroom and changed into a more comfortable pair of shoes. "Hey, this is a start! Maybe when he's not so scared and panicky, the two of us can actually celebrate and start making plans. I don't know a single thing about babies, but I have Mama close by and I know she'll be a big help. She may just take the baby away from me."
"Now, I'm gonna come over around six," Charlotte decided as they left the apartment. "I want to know every detail of how the appointment goes. Don't leave anything out!" The two stopped talking as they approached Naveen at the bottom of the stairs. Charlotte was starting to have a giggle fit at the sight of him. He had gone back to rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands in his pockets. He stopped when he saw Tiana and attempted a smile.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Mm-hmm," Tiana replied. It came out sounding like a squeak. That made Charlotte laugh even more. Naveen offered his arm. She almost laughed herself at the formality of it all, but hey, he was trying.
"We'll see you later, Lottie," Tiana called over her shoulder as she and Naveen went out the doors of the restaurant. Naveen was finally coming around.
Isn't Naveen cute when he's having a panic attack and looking like a deer in the headlights? Now don't you feel bad for criticizing Naveen? Yes, it's terrible for the mother since she's the one that has to carry the baby around but it's not like the father feels nothing. He has some processing to do too. It's just as scary and crazy for him. Don't worry, he'll come around eventually. His brain is just broken at the moment from the shock. And next chapter will draw on Gilmore Girls again like I did with chapter two, so those of you who know the show, knows what's coming.