Page 80 of The Circle of Exile
“One minute, one minute…” her strained voice was soft as she leaned over the cot, trying to get her palms under their son. He was flailing, not looking too angry but just plain annoyed.
“Let me help,” he stepped inside, feeling relief reflect on her face as he sanitised his hands and bent down to scoop his son up. Yathaarth’s annoyance instantly turned into cuddling comfort. Atharva held him away from his chest, wary of his outdoor clothes.
“Dilbaro,” he nuzzled his hair, inhaling his baby shampoo and milk mix with closed eyes. The scent always hit harder with eyes closed. He planted a kiss in his hair, feeling small mewling sounds vibrate the little body in his hands. Atharva chuckled, popping his eyes open and meeting the soft brown ones of his wife.
He stared, she stared back, transfixed.
“What is it?” He finally asked.
“I am meeting Arth’s Baba in a serene moment for the first time, it’s a happy moment for me.”
He humphed, feeling warm inside and tingly outside. He pressed another kiss to his son’s forehead and glanced at her over his skin — “Distracting me with this topic is working.”
Her mouth curled — “I am not distracting you.” Iram stepped forward until her chest was touching Yathaarth. She raised one hand and cupped Yathaarth’s head under his hand, her eyes on Atharva’s. “Every time before this, something has been burning between us while you had him in your arms.”
“Today it is not,” he murmured.
“Today it is not.”
“Not even the man downstairs?”
“I did not…”
“No,” he sighed. “Don’t justify yourself, Iram. I feel angry and unreasonable and I don’t want a recap to worsen it.”
“No,” she trampled on. “It’s a wound and you are trying to cover it without treating it. Did Dev leave?”
“He is waiting in my office.”
“Then go, but remember, Atharva, I did not call him or seek him out. He happened to be the number that rang twice on my mobile and he was the only source that was not connected to you. I am sorry, I am sorry that I asked him for money and he had it delivered to me…”
He held Yathaarth in one arm and wiped the track of tears tracing down her eye with the other.
“Don’t forgive me just because I am crying, but remember that it is not his mistake. He helped me in what little I told him.”
“I know,” Atharva cupped her cheek and used his thumb to dry the dampness on her jaw. “Now will you sit down so that I can pass him to you and go down?”
“But there is nobody here to help me back and my mobile is downstairs…”
“Ok, then come down. Begumjaan is there.”
“Atharva?”
“Hmm?”
“Does this undo all that we did yesterday?”
“Listen to me,” he stepped closer to her and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her into his free side. “From the moment I laid my eyes on you, it was only the two of us. There is no room for a third person. Never was. Nothing can undo this between us. Ok?”
Yathaarth’s tiny leg kicked her in the breast and she glanced down. Her face stretched into a smile.
“He is here to tighten it,” Atharva declared. “Even with his impeccable timing.”
She chuckled, holding his tiny foot between her fingers and laying a kiss on his sole.
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“Thank you for waiting,” Atharva closed the door behind him and rounded his desk. Dev sat with his suit coat open, arms on the handrests, head turned to one of the three glass walls.
