There are some things that irk you.

And then there are some things that give you uncountable reasons to smile.

We are not done yet.

And then there are some things that irk you but make you smile incessantly: both at the same time.

The situation of a certain ACP Neil Khanna was no different.

Because let's face it, the guy can be topping the list of the most impatient people in the world. Be it in terms of solving cases, dealing with personal vendettas, or getting his way with his wifey!

And now, that he was pushed to a zone where there was hardly anything in his hands, he was just trying to keep his calm and do things he was told to do.

Told to do by whom, you may ask?

Well, was there anyone other than Mrs. Neil Khanna who had the audacity to give commands to him?

So of course, the doting husband was running errands at his wife's beck and call, managing his cases on one hand, and his wife on another.

But hey, there was a silver lining in this too, wasn't there?

He thought to himself as a sudden hue rose up his cheeks, making him smile to himself.

He quickly gathered everything that he had made in the last half an hour in a tray and headed upstairs towards his room, where his wife was impatiently waiting for him.

His 5 months pregnant wife.

.

.

''There you go wifey! Hot chocolate brownie with ice-cream!''

He said with a huge grin on his face while Avni smiled ear to ear, seeing her craving turned into a living reality in the form of the amazing dessert that her ever doting husband had prepared all by himself!

''Oh my god! This smells so delicious!''

Avni said chirpily as she wasted no time and grabbed the spoon from the tray and started digging into the dessert, making sounds that satiated her palette for sure, but for Neil Khanna, it was only a quandary of insatiate feels, given the fact that his wife was completely oblivious to how her joyful moans for arousing him.

''Ahem! Avni! You eat, I will go make some urgent phone calls for some case, okay?''

He tried to reasonably excuse himself lest he pounced on his wife, thanks to how effortlessly she had aroused him just by enjoying a mere chocolate brownie, and add to that the fact that she looked absolutely delectable with that dewy pregnancy glow on her face.

Hearing Neil, Avni frowned as she shook her head in negative like a little child, which of course Neil found indefinably adorable, and he couldn't do much yet again when she said in a child-like voice,

''No! You are not going anywhere! You will be here!''

It was an outright order, something Neil Khanna never entertained from anybody. But hey, everything has an exception right.

And so, giving in to her demands he could only nod his head slightly and stay back, looking at this child woman, who was also the mother of his unborn baby.

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched her savor that brownie like it was a magical elixir, and this was exactly the silver lining to his everyday chain of test-of-patience stances that he was earlier thinking about.

Avni's untimely cravings were something he had almost become part and parcel with, and sometimes even though he knew how unreasonable they were, he was done for, the minute she would make that puppy-dog face and he would have no choice but to go to the kitchen or order something that she sought.

''And here I thought only I had the puppy-dog face trump card!''

He chided himself mentally before looking at his wife who was almost about to finish her meal at almost 2 a.m. in the morning!

Sometimes he wondered, this girl, this woman, his wife, wasn't she a child herself to even become a mom to a child?

But then he knew from the core of his heart that she would undoubtedly excel in that job as well, like she had excelled in all other roles and responsibilities in her life.

And he couldn't be more excited whenever he thought that in four months from now, he would have his little angel in his arms.

He was more than eager for it to be a baby girl and this was something he and Avni would always agree to disagree on.

Avni wanted it to be a mini-Neil while Neil wanted it to be a little Avni.

However, he hadn't confessed this to her, but he was also okay if it was a baby boy, because that would give them a reason to have another baby that would be a little girl. And after all, his angel would have three men looking out for her: her granddad, her dad, and her elder brother! More the merrier!

Like always Neil was lost in his own thoughts, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his bundle of joy, when Avni's voice broke his reverie-

''Neil! Keep the tray! I am done!''

He smiled at Avni before taking the tray from her hand and keeping it away on the floor, when suddenly he noticed the residue of chocolate dwelling on Avni's lips.

And that sight, was yet again his undoing.

''God! This girl is hell bent on killing me today!''

He muttered under his breath, while Avni looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was mumbling.

''Kya hua?'' (What happened?)

She asked him while he only shook his head and hinted her that she had chocolate on her lips.

But as they say, some things never change.

So, though Avni had graduated from her tubelight phase of life where she barely understood anything about love and relationships and transformed into this mature lady, there were still things where she did need the assistance of a literal tuition teacher of sexual innuendoes (read: Neil Khanna).

And so, without wasting another second, and giving a damn to his vow of maintaining self-control, Mr. Neil Khanna held Avni from her shoulder as he inched closer to her, and within the blink of an eye, slammed his lips against hers, licking away all the traces of the chocolate residue, and doing way more than that simultaneously.

Avni was shocked for a moment, not able to understand what was happening, but when she did, she didn't care to hold back either.

She couldn't be verbal somehow in the past one week, how she had craved for this.

His lips

His touch

His affection

His ministrations

But Neil had been inexplicably aloof at being physical with her, and that had made her think maybe it was because it was too busy or maybe she didn't look attractive anymore and he was irked by her odd cravings, thanks to her pregnancy hormones, morning sickness, etc.

But today, today she couldn't have asked for anything more, as she felt her husband's passionate touch on her after what seemed like decades, and she felt that nothing had indeed changed, and their love had only grown more.

At one point Neil had also bit her lips albeit slightly so as to not hurt her, making her gasp, and he wasted no puny second as he plunged his tongue deep into her mouth, exploring every sweet corner of it, while she ruffled his hair with her hands, pulling him as close to herself as humanly possible.

When they were both short of breath, they parted, but didn't let go of each other, and Neil said in a voice barely audible amid his hitched breaths:

''God! I have missed this so much, wifey!''

Avni couldn't agree more as she too snuggled closer to him and said, ''Me too!''

But a part of him, the extremely protective one was apprehensive about taking this further, as he thought it could harm the baby or Avni, and so, being as reluctant as ever but pragmatic, he slowly averred, ''I think we should sleep now, Avni. You need rest!''

His words dampened Avni as it did to her racing heart and she couldn't stop herself from uttering only one word, ''Why?''

Neil knew Avni's reactions these days were way too intent in almost everything, no matter how trivial, courtesy her hormones, so he tried to keep it light and make it a stance of levity as he said, ''So that you and my princess both remain healthy! And FYI, I need sleep too! Else who would take care of your morning cravings, hmm?''

He smiled widely as he said the last part, though his own heart was beating rapidly because of intimate moment they had not more than a minute ago.

''And what about my present cravings?''

Avni asked in a low voice, looking at him directly, while Neil furrowed his brows, not understanding what she meant by that.

''Present cravings? You are hungry again? Avni, you just had a full plate of chocolate brownie with ice-cream at 2 a.m.!''

He stated the fact, but it was Avni's turn to deem her husband to be a tubelight now, as she rolled her eyes and looked back at him before saying,

''I am talking about a different craving, Neil!..''

''..I am talking about you!''

.

.

And if someone could be turned on dangerously by just words, then today that someone was Neil Khanna.

And if someone had the power to turn one on by their words, then of course today that someone would be Mrs. Avni Neil Khanna.

Neil was rendered speechless for a moment trying to come to terms with the fact that he heard her right, while Avni for the first time wasn't even remotely embarrassed about her wanton, for she was level-headed about this, and knew it for a fact that Neil wanted this as much as she did. Why he refrained from it in the past couple of weeks? She would know that too!

And she didn't really have to wait much longer as a bewitched in her eyes Neil confessed he was scared that this would harm their baby.

When Avni heard his reasoning, she was half irked and half elated.

Irked, because here she thought her husband doesn't have time for her or finds her unattractive that he doesn't touch her of late, whereas the scene was completely different.

And elated because could she even be more lucky? Her man had only one priority in his life, and that was her and their baby, and what more could possibly a woman ask for?

So, she hugged him tight, caressing his hair like it was him who was her first child and not the one growing inside her tummy now, and said in a soft tone, ''Nothing like that will happen Neil! Trust me! And besides, I need you. I want you. Can't you do even this much for me?''

The last part she said after pulling back from the hug, with her recent signature puppy-dog face, and as we know already, Neil Khanna was a goner right away!

That night they both got to satiate their cravings for the longest time in recent times, and the days that came ahead, were only accentuated with more of respecting each others' cravings, whenever and wherever.

.

4 months later, there was no scope of argument for either of them, for Avni delivered the most beautiful set of twins, in the wee hours of a Friday morning, after going through 12 hours of labor.

And that very day Neil Khanna knew that his life, his picture perfect was right in front him and he couldn't ask for more than what he already got.

His beautiful wife, Mrs. Avni Neil Khanna.

His adorable son Nihaan Khanna.

And his prettiest princess Nysa Khanna.

**