"Because you will sleep in my arms and I will lull you into sleep. I will make sure that you have the best sleep and get all the peace of the world. And it's a promise," he vowed, their eyes locked in a soul-searing embrace; one losing themselves and the other, finally, finding themselves.
But he did not have it in them to accept what he was seeing through her eyes and decided to diffuse the charged moment.
"Do you have any preferences in back-rubs, Nisha?" asked Adhrit, pulling her out of the reverie, which ironically, he had pushed her into.
"Anything would work but if you have a kind of oil from the brand Arrow, it would be amazing," she answered, looking away from him into the space ahead of her.
"You seriously like that oil?" he questioned incredulously.
"Yes. Why?" she asked in a confused manner. She absolutely loved the smell and the feel of the oil and wondered if it was not the same as the opinion of Adhrit.
"I absolutely loathe it! But Swati Aunty loves it so she might be having it. I will go get it," he said, a slight frown visible on his features.
"You don't have to get it if you don't want to. Like I said, anything would work," she replied, her heart stopping her from placing her preference over his comfort.
A smile replaced his scowl, his heart warming up with affection towards the woman in front of him, whose unconditional love and the way of expression managed to overwhelm him every time.
"I had promised you that you will get the best sleep and complete peace tonight, then how can I not prioritize your preferences? After all, I have a promise to keep," he said, his eyes twinkling with warmth.
Adhrit turned on his heel and walked out to begin his search for the oil mentioned by Neysa and hated by him, leaving Neysa to her own thoughts. She was caught in the web of strange emotions. Magnetically irresistible attraction towards Adhrit was not an unusual phenomenon for her but his recent actions and words were causing her to lose her heart completely over and over again.
She wondered if the behavior and his concern would persist after the pregnancy or it was just for the sake of the progeny she was carrying. While her brain, versed in psychiatry, hinted that the latter situation was more plausible, her heart outrightly refused to accept it. The doctor in her knew that she had to think from her mind not her heart, but she could not help but let her heart overpower her brain regarding everything related to Adhrit Solanki.
"Here you go. Move aside a bit, Nisha, so that I can massage your back," he offered, making her soul drown deeper into the only thing that can touch it - love.
She gently moved aside as he held her arm to support her and turned her to the side, making her face the mirror. It seemed as if the destiny was conspiring against her to make her lose every sense in front of him.
He gently lifted the hem of her shirt and folded it in a way that it would stay up without someone holding it up. He poured the viscous liquid onto his hands and began rubbing precise and soothing circles on her back in the manner prescribed in the book of pregnancy he had read up.
"Is it helping your back pain? Do you want me to apply it to any specific area?" he asked, as she looked up at him through the mirror.
There was sincerity, dedication and affection etched onto his features as he concentrated deeply on easing the knots of her back. Since the time she had fallen in love with him, she had hoped that someday he would look at her in the manner he was doing at the present and fulfillment of her teenage fantasy made a smile stretch on her lips from ear to ear.
"Nisha?" he prompted.
"Huh?" she muttered, her sense of hearing returning.
"I asked if this way of massage is working well for you or do you want me to improvise on it in any way?" he probed, looking up at their reflection as he pondered on why Neysa seemed so lost.
"It's magical," she answered, looking at his replica in front of her.
"I was wondering, what do you want the child to be? A boy or a girl?" he questioned suddenly, making her think about the gender of the child for the first time.
"I don't think it would make any difference, honestly. But they say that boys are closer to their mothers, so I would want it to be a boy. And if its a daughter, I cannot bear the thoughts of separating from her in the event of her marriage," she stated thoughtfully.
"Who says that she will leave us? I will make sure that her husband moves in, she won't leave the house. I will not let that happen," he claimed, slight frustration and pain written on his face.
"So, you are sure that it will be a girl?" she asked, cocking her eyebrow at him.
"Yes, and she will be as successful and as loving as her mother," he said, surprising her with his answer.
"And beautiful too, if I may add," he added, making a tinge of red hue appear on her flushed cheeks with his word.
"But I am sure that it will be a boy. As hard-working and as fun-loving as his father," she said suddenly with a smile playing on her lips as she gravitated slightly towards him on instinct and turned towards her side to face him.
"And handsome, just like him," she whispered, memorizing every tiny detail of his facial features with adoration and adulation.
"Let's see who is correct in seven months," he challenged in a teasing manner with a mischievous glint of yesteryear resurfacing in his chocolate orbs, much to Neysa's pleasure.
"Deal!" she accepted, losing herself in the pools of his eyes which promised her concern, understanding and support and feeling sleep knocking at her own.
Adhrit had fulfilled his promise after all. The solace which she found in his arms, the rhythm of his heartbeat and the lulling movement of his breathing pattern along with the slender and careful caresses in the relaxing patterns by Adhrit made sure that she had the best sleep of her life and she had no doubt that his mere presence was more than suffice to bring peace for her.