Finely Tuned

She sat by the window sill with her cup of steaming tea and looking at the pouring rain. She was happy. Happy with what she’d done. She knew this wasn’t the most ideal thing to do. But in her opinion, it was her best option. Rahul, her husband had no idea of what she had done. She was going to tell him today. They had always been honest with each other. Except this once.

He had been observing Diya, his beautiful wife. He knew her since a while now and knew something was wrong with her. She was physically perfect and her behaviour was just like always. But he just knew. He loved her very much and wanted to support her with whatever she was dealing. As he picked up a beautiful bouquet of her favourite pristine long stemmed white roses, he decided, ‘today I will talk to her’.

At home, the dinner was ready. It was his favourite Chicken coconut style with some soft and fluffy rice flour bhakris. There was some fresh salad with cold cucumbers, sweetest of carrots, ripest tomatoes and the best onions in the market. She even got her best crockery out and put some champagne in the chiller.

Diya and Rahul had met in college. They had felt that instant pull towards each other the first time they had met in college. He was smart, sophisticated and caring. She was quiet, sweet and very beautiful. Within a month of meeting the first time, Rahul and Diya were dating. They had been inseparable ever since. That was around 10 years ago. They had together seen their share of disagreements. But they both had grown to know that they if they teamed up, they could always find a solution and that kept them going. But this time, things were different.

Diya had always had a soft corner for children. Being the oldest daughter in her family she had practically raised her baby brother. She had changed his diapers and taught him to ride a bicycle. She had also helped him get his first girlfriend and helped him through all his break ups. She was more like his mother than a sister. Rahul also loved kids. He was always patient and kind with them and he was the perfect guy to be a father. During their courtship days, Rahul always said, “I wanna have at least two children, girls or boys. It will be a perfect family”. Diya had agreed and life was smooth. However, life had changed drastically for Diya in the past five years of her marriage. She wasn’t the care free girlfriend anymore, but a doting wife and a sincere daughter-in-law. These responsibilities had made her rethink her priorities and most importantly her plans for her life.

Diya had now realized that she couldn’t handle the responsibility of a child. Rahul and she had ambitious careers and never had any time for a simple social life. She had realized bringing a child into the world would only increase their pressures. It was a sane decision and very practical too. There were only two problems; Rahul’s wish to always have children and their family. She knew no one would understand her or support her decision and that’s why she did something. Something no one knew about.

Rahul loved children. But he just loved them. It was not the same anymore. He had seen his friends have children and heard the stories of the additional responsibilities. Although, his friends loved their children and found them to be bundles of joy, he had come to realize, he already had all the happiness in the world with his beautiful Diya. However, he had always seen Diya being the perfect mother to her baby brother and he knew that she secretly wished that someday she will actually be a mother. So, today as he stood outside his home with a bouquet of flowers in his arms and a heart filled with love, he decided to tell Diya that they needn’t be four to be perfect. They were perfect just the way they were.

 

He rang the bell….