Chapter 22
She felt a soft hand on her forehead, brushing her dark hair out of her faces. Slowly she opened her eyes to look at the nicely dressed man sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. "Good morning." She smiled up at her king.
Pagan returned the smile. "Good morning indeed." He rose from the comfort of the bed and retrieved the tray that sat on the stand next to the bed. It had a plate with eggs, sausage, and toast. There was a glass of orange juice on the side. "How does breakfast in bed sound to you dear?
Ishwari sat up and allowed Pagan to place her breakfast on her lap. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the finely prepared breakfast. Instantly she regretted it. Ever since the vomiting began a few days ago she had been more sensitive to smells. She began feeling queasy. "Pagan, I need you to move this tray."
Pagan tilted his head to the side "What?"
"Pagan move it now. Hurry!" Ishwari commanded before placing her hand up to her mouth.
Pagan quickly obeyed, picking the tray back up with a look of confusion on his face. Ishwari threw the covers off of her the moment she was free and made a run for the bathroom, kneeling on the floor next to the toilet. She felt hands reach down near her face, pulling her hair back, out of the path of her sickness.
"Ishwari, are you okay?" Pagan asked her, his voice full of concern.
Ishwari went to answer but her gag reflex took charge and forced her to add to the toilet. She felt Pagan's free hand rest on her back as he began rubbing it, in attempt to comfort her. She finally managed to control the heaving. With her eyes still watery from her session, she looked up at the man she loved. "Pagan, I think I'm pregnant."
Pagan's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in pure shock. He looked as if he couldn't find his voice. Out of nowhere there was the click of the bedroom door opening. "Brother?" Yuma's voice called out. Ishwari ignored her lovers obnoxious sister and continued to stare at Pagan, who was still caught off guard , his eyes locked with hers.
Yuma appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. "What's going on in here?" She asked, more curious than she needed to be.
Pagan acted as if he didn't even hear his sister speak to him. All he could do was watch Ishwari, unsure of what he was supposed to say.
"Brother?" Yuma interrupted once again.
Finally Pagan snapped out of his trance and looked over at his little sister. "Damn it Yuma! Can't you knock for once in your fucking life!"
Pagan's word must had startled Yuma for the simple fact that he had never spoke to her that way before. "Br...brother. I'm sorry, I just have something to discuss with you before I leave."
"Can't it wait?" Pagan asked frustrated.
Yuma looked over at Ishwari before turning her attention back to Pagan. She began talking in their native tongue. Ishwari watched as Pagan replied back to what ever it was Yuma had said, still talking in their primary language. Eventually Pagan let out a sigh and looked over at Ishwari. "Are you feeling any better Ishwari?"
Ishwari could only nod, now wishing she would have stuck to the plan and waited for Yuma to leave before telling him. Pagan stood up, grabbing on to Ishwari's hand, helping her up also. "Yuma, I need you to go into the office. I'll be in to finish this discussion in a moment."
Yuma immediately listened to her brother, not wanted to upset him more then she already had. With Yuma being absent from the room, Pagan held onto Ishwari's arm and slowly lead her back to the bed. They both sat down and Ishwari looked deep into Pagan's coffee colored eyes, waiting for him to say something.
Finally he spoke. "Are you sure?"
She shook her head. Sure there were symptoms and signs of pregnancy, but there was no way to be sure.
Pagan let out a sigh. "Ishwari, I've told you before. I'm infertile."
"You said there was little chance that you could have children. Pagan that is still a chance. This is the exact same way I felt when I was pregnant with Ajay." She told him.
Pagan, hesitantly nodded his head. "I can have a doctor here as soon as tomorrow morning. Let's not fret on this until we know for sure, okay? In the mean time, just lay down and rest." He stood up from where he was sitting and without another word he made his way towards the office doors, disappearing through them.
Ishwari sat and stared at the doors. What was going through Pagan's mind. He didn't seem angry, but he didn't seem very thrilled either. The way she broke the news to him didn't go exactly as planned. She closed her eyes and thought back to when she had given the news to Mohan about being pregnant with Ajay.
Mohan had smiled. It was the first smile he had gave in a while. "Ishwari this is a great thing!" He exclaimed as he pulled her close, hugging her tightly. He was quick to spread the news that he was going to be a father among the village. Ishwari was pleased to see her husband this way, but it didn't last long. As the months of her pregnancy went by and her belly grew in size, Mohan began having doubts about the kind of world his son would grow up in. That was when he began to become even more obsessed with killing Pagan. He started coming home later and arguing more with her.
Ishwari opened her eyes. Sure she was more grateful than words could say that Ajay was in her life, but his birth in the long run put a strain on her marriage. She looked down and placed a hand on her stomach. What if she really was pregnant and it damaged the relationship she shared with Pagan. She was about to let her tears flow, but managed to hold them back, knowing that crying wasn't going to help matters any. She looked over at the nightstand and picked up the book that sat on it. Pagan was right, there was no need to worry herself about it until they knew for sure.
She was just getting to a good part in her story when she was distracted by Ajay's cry on the monitor next to her. She wasn't quick to move, instead she just sat there and listened to her son. She began to grin. Normally she would be quick to get to him and cease his crying, but right at that moment she enjoyed the sound of it. Ajay was crying because he wanted someone, he was crying because he wanted her. Even though his existence wasn't necessarily the most convenient, it was the most meaningful. Ajay's existence gave her purpose in life, just as the child that may or may not be growing inside her would do the same.
She was just about to get up to tend to her son, when she heard Pagan's voice on the monitor. "Good morning, Ajay my boy." Ajay's crying turned into whimpering. "Everything is okay. Daddy is here now. Do you want something to eat?" Ishwari imagined that Ajay nodded his head to that question. "Okay. Do you want to see mommy first?"
Ishwari closed her book and sat it on the nearby stand. She watched the doors, waiting patiently for her son and Pagan to make an entrance. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the doors opened up and in came little Ajay, Pagan walking right behind him. Ishwari stood up and extended her arm for her son to walk into.
"Mommy!" Ajay smiled brightly.
Ishwari picked up her son and kissed him on his cheek. She then pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly. During the hug, she opened her eyes to see the king of Kyrat standing near, watching them with a forced smile on his face and arms folded.
"How are you feeling, Dear? Any better?"
Ishwari placed Ajay back on the ground and nodded. "Yes, a lot better than I was a couple hours ago."
"That's terrific. I've already arranged for a Doctor to be flown in. She'll be here tomorrow around noon."
Ishwari once again nodded her head. "What about you? How are you feeling." she asked, concerned about what was going through his mind.
Pagan shook his head. "I won't know until tomorrow. In the meantime, what do you say we go have ourselves some brunch?"
Ishwari agreed to his suggestion and followed alongside him down the hall towards the location of their meal, with Ajay toddling beside them, using both his hands to hold onto each of theirs. Ishwari glanced over towards Pagan, who was staring straight ahead as he walked, ignoring everything else. What could he possibly be thinking? Ishwari wondered to herself.
The rest of the day Ishwari spent trying desperately to make it go by as fast as it could. She was eager to find out what the doctor had to say about her situation. She did her usual routine, playing with and taking care of Ajay. Pagan on the other hand spent the majority of his day in his office on the phone.
Ishwari was relieved as she flopped down at the end of the day, onto the mattress of her and Pagan's king sized bed. Having already cleaned up Ajay and laid him down for the night, she was ready for bed herself. She looked over at the bathroom door and could see Pagan standing at the bathroom sink brushing his teeth, wearing nothing but a pair of flannel night pants.
Upon finishing his brushing, Pagan walked into the bedroom smiling at the wore out Ishwari laying on the bed. "You look very tired." He said as he crawled into bed next to her.
Ishwari rolled over on her side and looked at the beautiful man next to her. "I am. Physically and emotionally. I really want to talk about this pregnancy thing."
She barley had time to finish her sentence when Pagan quickly positioned himself on top of her, holding himself up with his hands on either side of her head. "Tomorrow." He smiled at her, before leaning in to kiss her. He pulled away and looked her deep in the eyes. With Pagan being shirtless, Ishwari lifted her hand placing it on the muscles of his chest. The smile he already had grew larger and he reached over towards the nightstand, turning off the light, leaving them together in the dark.
Daylight was what woke Ishwari. She looked over beside her at Pagan who was soundly sleeping. She moved herself closer to him and placed a kiss on his cheek, causing him to slowly open his eyes. "Good morning beautiful. You feeling okay?" he said drowsily
"Better than I have been." She smiled at him.
"That's good news." He said, placing his hand on her face, pulling her in for a kiss.
They returned from their state by the sound of Ajay crying. Pagan rolled over and glanced at the clock. "It's already ten. The doctor will be here in two hours."
Ishwari sighed. "I guess I should have gotten up earlier. I still need to shower."
Pagan smiled at her. "Then go ahead and get your shower, I can get Ajay and we'll just meet you at breakfast."
Ishwari quickly jumped in the shower and began cleaning up. If she was seeing this doctor she probably should at least smell nice, unsure of what she would ask her to do. Truth be told, she wasn't really sure what to expect. Kyrat didn't have any doctors so during her previous pregnancy she went through the whole thing without any assistance from a medical professional. It was actually quite common in her country.
Once she decided she was acceptable, she dressed herself and headed to the dinning hall to meet up with Pagan, who was already enjoying breakfast. "Nice and clean now?"
She nodded at Pagan as she sat at the table, placing fruit on her plate. She was so grateful she skipped the vomiting this morning, for the food tasted much better without that added taste in her mouth. They were just finishing up their meal when one of the royal guards walked into the room. "Sir, Dr. Aida is here."
"Jesus already?" Pagan looked over at the clock that hung on the wall. "She's a hour early."
"She's waiting out in the east lobby, sir." The guard stated formally.
Pagan let out a sigh. "Is it too much for people to show up when they're asked to?" He shook his head and stood up from the table. "Well I guess it can't be helped. Ishwari dear, are you ready?"
Ishwari nodded even though she felt more and more nervous the more she thought about seeing the doctor. Pagan walked over to Ajay and picked him up out of his high chair. "Well? Let's go." he smiled at Ishwari, waving her to follow along.
They made their way towards the lobby,where there stood a tall asian woman, who was dressed very professionally. Dr. Aida immediately noticed Pagan and respectfully bowed her head. "King Min."
Pagan completely ignored her gesture. "This is Ishwari. I expect you to take very good care of her. We've already discussed why you're here. Is there anything you need?"
Dr. Aida raised her head. "We'd do best in a room that's close to a bathroom."
Pagan looked over at Ishwari. "Well then, I say you should go to our bedroom and discuss things there."
Ishwari turned her attention to Dr. Aida. "How long do you think this will take?"
Aida smiled. "It shouldn't take long at all. We're going to take the test and depending on the results I'll discuss any questions you have."
"Okay." Pagan spoke up. "I'll let you two get to it. If you need me I'll be in Ajay's room, playing with him." He leaned forward and gave Ishwari a kiss before heading down the hallway, with little Ajay following behind him.
"Okay well what do you say we get started?" Dr. Aida asked Ishwari smiling at her.
Ishwari stepped out of the office into the hallway with Dr. Aida following behind her. "Thank you so much for all your help." Ishwari said, holding out her hand to shake the doctors.
Aida took Ishwari's offered hand. "I'm glad I could help and congratulations."
"Thank you." Ishwari blushed.
"Just have King Min call me and we'll set up an appointment for check ups. I'd stay longer, but I have other appointments to keep in Hong Kong, so I need to be on my way."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you again." Ishwari thanked again.
Dr. Aida smiled and turned to head towards the exit. Meanwhile Ishwari was walking towards Ajay's room. She arrived and opened the door to find Pagan and Ajay sitting on the floor, playing with plastic T-rex's and triceratops. Instantly Pagan turned his attention towards Ishwari, searching her face for an answer.
Ishwari nodded and Pagan's face gained a smile that was genuinely happy. He stood up and ran towards Ishwari, wrapping his arms around her waist, picking her up off the ground and spun her around. He finally sat her back down and pulled her in tight for a kiss. He then pulled away and looked at her with the biggest smile she had ever seen on him. "You once again have made me the happiest man in the world Ishwari."
Ishwari's eyes began to fill with tears of joy. "You're happy about this?"
"I am more than happy about this. This is a wonderful thing Ishwari." He said, still smiling.
"You didn't seem very happy yesterday." She informed him.
"I told you, I always thought I couldn't have children. I just didn't want to get my hopes up until we knew for sure." He leaned in and kissed her yet again. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to celebrate."
Ishwari smiled at the man that was the father of the baby she had inside of her and hugged him tight.
