This chapter is dedicated to GurleenKaur946011

Ambar POV

I sat on the guestroom bed, with my foot tapping under the blanket that covered my legs in anxiety. Is time really going slow or is it my nerves getting the best of me?

I couldn't fathom the thought of me being a dad, as surprising as it felt. If a few days before I met Samayra, someone had told me that I'll be praying for a pregnancy test to come out positive, I would have shot them point blank at the thought of starting a family at 25. But here I was wondering if it will be a boy or a girl. What will I like to be called?

Dad or Papa?

I guess I prefer Papa.

I had never thought that I will get married so soon. Yes, Chetan had been asking me for a while and now mom had started taunting me here and there about it. But I wasn't sure. Not even when I went to meet Samayra.

And then her dad had to fall sick, making us tie the knot and then Samayra's health issues and our careers led us to family planning.

I look at the door of the attached bathroom, imagining Samayra to be taking a test. Then, I turn to look at the clock.

5:43

Holy shit. She's actually been there for 20 minutes.

"Samayra?" I say out loud, but not loud enough to alert Grandma, waiting for a reply.

"Ayra..." I say again, "Did you sleep in there?" I ask trying to get her to say something.

"Dr. Samayra..." I say out loud as I hear a muffled sob.

Is she crying? Hold on, are they happy tears? I sat there wide-eyed trying to figure it out, what's wrong for a minute or two before speaking up again.

"Sama.." my words were incomplete when I heard the flush followed by the sound of her bangles, as she walked out of the washroom in a fast motion and made a beeline towards her bag.

"Hey, you need to tell me what's..." I go to say as she turns to look at me. Her hair were a mess, with her eyes, bloodshot red and swollen. Her tear-stained cheeks and puffy bags under the eye were an answer enough but she took out the sanitary napkin from her bag and showed it to me.

"I hope you got your answer." She says and walks back inside the washroom as I huff.

I pick up my phone and Google, If there was a chance of bleeding during pregnancy and they said that spotting did occur sometimes.

I waited for her to walk out of the washroom, to share this piece of info. I waited for 10 minutes, waiting to share this hopeful information until the door finally opened again.

"Hey, I just..." I go to speak.

"I'm sorry, Ambar but I don't want to talk about it right now." She says as I notice that she had changed her pajama's to black instead of her grey ones earlier.

"But Google says it's possible to bleed during pregnancy." I say turning the still open screen to show her.

"Ambar, I know the difference between full fledged periods and spotting. And also I was so... So dumb or so... lost... That I fucking took the test. I sat on the seat bleeding and took the test completely blind to the blood on the strip. And for the piece of your mind... It's fuckin negative." She says and sits on the edge of the bed near my feet.

"I got my periods. I'm not going to be a mother... Ambar, you are not going to be a father." She says loudly, the desperation and anger evident in her voice.

"It might never happen." She mutters and I knew she was crying without having to see it.

"Don't say that, Ayra.. We just lost one chance... We have all the time in the world. We are still young." I say trying to keep the feeling of lose, away from my voice.

"It wasn't even a fair chance. We fucked barely for even a week, which you said was after you were done ovulating." I try to reason as I watch her heart to shatter to pieces and I couldn't do anything.

"Ambar are you trying to explain this to me, or yourself?" her extremely soft meek voice says in contrast to her usual bold one.

"Ayra, you need to be strong. You can't let this get to yourself." I say as she gets up from the bed wiping her tears.

"You're right. Mom's not home. I need to get breakfast ready." She says turning towards me.

"NO... That's not what I meant. Take time to process this or it will eat you from inside."

"Yeah, and that will cause stress and the stress will cause late periods and then there will be false hope again." She says sarcastically before shaking her head and just walking out. I couldn't do anything but just sit there and try to let the fact actually sink in.

She's not pregnant.

I'm not going to be a father. Yet.

It's too soon to lose hope and be demotivated by Samayra's health. But how do I tell her this?

I just sat in bed for a while, until I gave up and picked up my phone. I started looking for something I can order to cheer up my wife. It was at around 8 in the morning, that I hear the cars outside, followed by mom and dad's voices.

"Mom, you do that, I'll go shower for work." Samayra says walking in the bedroom, still talking to mom in the kitchen.

"Babe..." I say what Samayra had lovingly called me last night to get her attention.

"Do you need anything?" she asks all serious, hiding the guilt and pain in her eyes.

"Your smile?" I say as she doesn't answer and picks up her work outfit, walking inside the washroom. I huff as the door shuts and search the internet for things that help during periods.

"Ambar..." mom says knocking on my door.

"Mom, come in." I say as she walks in with a tray of food.

"Samayra will be late for work, so I'll feed you. Then you have to take your medicines." She says and I nod.

"How's Chetan?' I ask.

"All his scans were completely fine. It was just some small wounds and scrapes. He'll be okay, just a little hungover I guess." She says.

"Did he say what happened? Like he has never done something so irresponsible."

"He just kept saying 'Aisha left me' and that she never loved him.." mom says taking the pancake into the fork and taking it to my mouth.

I devour it and speak, "How's dad taking it?". I had asked well aware of dad's short temper and his low tolerance for foolery.

"He isn't very proud of Chetan right now, but that's his son and he's ready to send him to therapy if need be." She says feeding me another bite.

"Mom..." I ask as she looks up.

"Yeah.."

"What's helpful in periods?" I ask a little unsure of so much variety in the products that the internet has to offer.

"What do you... Oh my God.. She had her periods?" Mom exclaims and that's when I remembered that mom was also assuming Samayra to be pregnant.

And in that very exact moment, Samayra walked out in her work attire as she looked at mom shocked.

"Shit." I mutter under my breath at the bad timing of events.

"Yes, mom. I got my periods." Samayra answers, going to stand infront of the mirror and picks up a comb quickly securing her side hair behind her head with a clip.

"It's okay. You guys have a long way to go. Understand each other first." Mom says as she nods.

"Yes, mom. I have something urgent to deal with. I should leave."

"But Samayra breakfast..." mom says as she nods.

"I'll just eat something in the cafeteria." She says and leaves without even acknowledging my presence.

"It's okay. Girls tend to get mood swings in these days. Usually chocolates and hot water bags are great to help with the cramps, but if you want to cheer her up... try sending some flowers at work." She says offering me another fork loaded with pancake.

"That's it?" I ask and take a bite.

"Ambar, for women... It's the small things that matter. You might thing that we need eloquent and exaggerated displays of wealth and riches but on the hindsight, it's the gesture and the effort that makes a difference, But if you aren't sure ask her sister what she likes. Her favorite flower or chocolate... Dairy products cause bloating in some during periods, so beware of ice cream." She says and I smile.

"Sure, I'll ask her." I said.

After breakfast she made me take my medications.

I decided to call Mr. Jeet since I didn't have Sabina's number but then I called Avinash to pick up Sabina's contact from her case files.

"Hello..." she says unsure of the contact.

"Hey, Ambar this side." I say.

"Oh Hi Ambar. How are you?" she says surprised.

"I'm fine. How's everyone?" I ask.

"Everything's great." She says as I hesitate a bit, trying to get the words out.

"So... Um... I needed a favour." I ask as she waits for me to explain.

"What does Samayra like... I mean... in terms of food, flowers and gifts..." I say as I could feel her giggle on the other end.

"That's cute, but it's Samayra we are talking about. She's as unpredictable as it can get. So let's see if you can guess. How about her favorite chocolate?" She asks as I strain my head.

"Dark chocolate?" I say unsure.

"No, she loves white chocolate. Milky bar being her favorite, but she eats more of dark chocolate since it's considered healthier in PCOS."

"What... White chocolate? Is that even a real chocolate? Does it have cocoa" I ask.

"Don't let her hear that, but since you got such a basic thing wrong. I'll just tell you that she loves Pizza, blueberry cheesecakes, Red velvet pastries. But Oreo donuts from the Rover's bakery near the train station are her favourite. She isn't a fan of soft drinks, so mango or raspberry smoothies and strawberry ice creams. But in cold season like this she'll take a hot serving of Gajar ka halwa anyday." She says as I hear my mother-in-law whisper from the back.

"Warn him about pineapple on Pizza." She says as I was ready to die of embarrassment and then My father-in-law had to just add to my misery.

"Tell him she hates people who take ketchup on Pizza." He adds.

"Ambar, you heard that?" she asks.

"Ofcourse I did. You should have said the phone is on speaker." I say groaning in complaint. How didn't I know it?

"No, the phone is not on speaker. They just guessed who it was." She says as I take a deep breath.

Why do I forget he is a retired detective?

"Her favourite flowers?" I ask.

"Black roses." She says.

"What... Why?" I ask face palming myself.

"And try to avoid red ones, white or blue is okay though." She says and I nod and then understand that she can't see me.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"La La Land. That'll surely make everything better for her." She says as my brows furrow.

"What's that?" I ask and she audibly gasps.

"It's a movie starring Ryan Goslings. It's her favorite." She says.

Just kill me already. What a unique piece I married. Why the fuck.

"And she's a vegetarian. Takes egg only in bakery." She adds.

"What.. No.." I groan as my plans of spicy butter chicken with her, after I'm off medications go down the drain.

"I think that's enough in your 'Knowing Samayra' class for today." My father-in-law speaks in the background.

"Tell him, he didn't do a nice thing by blackmailing me to marry her while he was in ICU." I say as she laughs.

"Aren't you cute?" My sister-in-law says as I groan.

"Goodbye, I'll try to figure something out." I say as she laughs.

"Goodluck." She says as I give my greetings to my in-laws and disconnect. I sit there contemplating my plan of action as the weight of the situation dawns on me.

Damn it, Samayra. Why are you so messed up?

I close my eyes as the thought of not being pregnant, tugs at my heart but I shake it away. I can't be stressed.

I'll need a smoke, if I'm stressed and unless I want the smoke to be exhaled from the stitches within my lungs, I shouldn't do that.

So, my next strategy is... Stay busy.

A person on bed rest, and a leave for two months can't be much busy... So I'll just plan something for Samayra. Something that can be done within this bedroom...

And it shouldn't end in sex, since boners still hurt. Yes, I know because I still get morning wood. Plus she's on her periods now.

Wow, that's the longest I've gone without sex. And I'm married now.

No, not the pessimistic thoughts.

Let's focus on trying to cheer up Samayra.

So, we need black roses...

I search for some florists that do home delivery and contact them for black roses and that's how I found out the most interesting fact.

Black roses are only available on pre-orders and they can't deliver it by today evening. The least I got was a week, and I can't live in the same room as grumpy Samayra for a week, So I settled on a floral preparation with a few white flowers and lots of dark foliage.

And I think, I shouldn't get Samayra in a habit of giving black roses or I'll go bankrupt soon. That shit is more expensive than my perfume and one sprint of my perfume lasts way longer than their complete blooming period.

Then, I start looking for food she might like.

What did she say?

I just remember a lot of fruits; now one of them was a cheesecake, two were in smoothies and one for icecream.

Now which went where? Blueberry smoothie or strawberry smoothie? No, It was raspberry smoothie, I guess.

Damnit, I'll just text Sabina to send me the list.

++++Author's note++++
Hello readers, I'm sorry for late updates but I've been busy and please bear with me for 15-20 days.
After that I'll go to updating regularly. I promise. ❤
Xoxo
Reet