Hope you didn't think I'd make you wait this time around, haha! This story has been kicking around in my brain for a bit. We return to the happy couple, celebrating Onam in the Kerala region of India c. 1500s. Enjoy!
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Arjan and Minnu decided it would be best if they returned to the kitchen at separate times from separate places in the house, mainly to avoid teasing from Dipa and Bhavna. The two had taken to giggling any time their brother-in-law spent more than five minutes alone with their sister. It had become grating, to say the least.
Minnu pursed her lips, still picking rice out of Arjan's hair as he swept the last few grains off her middle. She had spoken quickly and out of desire, but she had little idea for how she would eat as much as she planned without shaming herself tonight and becoming the target of teasing from her family for the rest of her natural life.
"Arjan, I know what I said. I want to do it. People overeat at feasts, but I do not want to become a joke. Can we keep my dignity? Do you have a plan as to how?"
He paused, one hand gripping his chin, a grin slowly spreading.
"I think so." He took both of her hands in his, the look on his face so earnest her heart ached. "Please trust me. I would not put my desire over your comfort or reputation. If this does not work, we will stop. But," he said, a spark lighting his eyes, "if I know your family like I think I do, then we have nothing to worry about."
Minnu nodded, then frowned. "My only worry is that we've been gone too long now."
There was no cause for concern; cousins and family members had begun waking and arriving, pitching in help for the feast. The vitu, once sleepy in the chill and rain, was now a veritable hive of activity, and the kitchen was no exception. The only one who seemed to notice anything, as always, was Amma. She raised one eyebrow as Minnu came back into the hot and humid room.
"That was a long breakfast."
"So long as there are more little padannal running around this place before too long."
Titters of laughter spread through the room. Minnu blushed deeply.
"Now are you going to help in here or not? With all the family coming we're making 24 dishes today, so I need you in here helping your sisters, and your cousins, and the men will be chopping the vegetables..."
As if on cue, Arjan and Minnu's Appa strolled into the kitchen. Arjan looked pleased, if a little sheepish, but her Appa was fairly beaming. Minnu opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but her Amma beat her to the mark.
"What is this? Walking in like you've struck a bargain? Like there isn't work to do today?"
Appa clapped Arjan on the shoulder so hard he stumbled forward.
"Arjan was just telling me about a flash of prophecy he had--a vision from Bhumi Devi."
The room, previously bustling, went silent. Minnu's eyebrows almost shot off her forehead. Amma was so thrilled she didn't notice.
"Daivattinustuthi! Such blessings!"
"More like such blasphemy," Minnu thought. She was not eager to call on the wrath of a goddess in the name of Arjan's lust, but this plot was already in motion.
"Well?" Appa chuckled. "Tell them!"
"I had...ah...a moment in the rain on the way back from breakfast."
Amma shot Minnu a look. It was not lost on Arjan, who stuttered, but continued.
"I had a vision of Minnu, heavily pregnant, standing in the rain, but instead of bangles on her wrists there were nedran chips, instead of jasmine flowers in her hair, she wore kalan, aviyal, kootu, olan, and mambazha puliserry."
Amma snorted. "Sounds messy." Some of Minnu's cousins giggled.
Arjan continued. "Instead of turmeric and sandalwood on her hands, she wore curries and paal payasam." He took a deep breath. "I had no idea how to interpret this, so I brought it to Appa."
Appa nodded. "Normally overeating is bad for your agni mudra. But with a vision such as this, who are we to question? Minnu, my chakkare, I believe if you are to become with child before the next Onam, Arjan must feed you until you look like you are heavily with child tonight. If you keep it all down, you will be blessed with child." Her mother nodded, humming her approval of this interpretation.
"How in all the hells did he pull this off?!"
The shock must have shown on Minnu's face, because Appa immediately began to reassure her, interpreting the look as one of discomfort.
"No one will chide, tease, or reproach you. You will be brought all the food you can eat, and then some. When you are done, Arjan will bring you to your room so you both can...ah..." he cleared his throat, "rest."
More chuckles in the kitchen. More blushing from Minnu and Arjan. Minnu bowed her head, her eyes never leaving Arjan's.
"Who am I to question the will of Bhumi Devi?"
Appa clapped Arjan hard on the back again, while Amma muttered more prayers of thanks, and the kitchen erupted into raucous cheers and shouts of congratulations. As an extra bonus, both Arjan and Minnu were now declared divinely blessed and excused from their chores for the day with no shortage of winks, nods, and "no fairs" from the younger siblings and cousins. They excused themselves, and Minnu yanked on Arjan's arm as she led him to their room to the laughter and whistles of those left behind.
Once the door was shut, she whirled on Arjan.
"Do you want us to be cursed?!"
Arjan held up both his palms in supplication.
"I didn't lie! Not entirely. The thought was planted in my head. As if it was a vision--and who else could have put it there but Bhumi Devi? Did I embellish it a bit? Yes. But I do believe the gods will understand!"
"One look at you tonight and they will have to understand."
Minnu felt her anger dissipate. This man adored her enough to walk the edge of blasphemy for the sake of her dignity. Who could ask to be cherished more completely? She smiled gently.
"Your love is bountiful, and erases any wrongdoing." She kissed him deeply, soundly, and whispered in his ear. "I look forward to tonight."
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By the time the feast rolled around, Minnu was convinced her vayar was trying to digest itself. She bit back a moan as the smells of the feast washed over her senses. Her hand did little to soothe the ache of her hunger, though the warmth of Arjan's palm on her back provided some comfort.
"I can feel your tummy quaking even from here," he murmured, one thumb stroking up and down her spine. "I cannot wait to fill you so completely you forget the word hunger exists." He gently pinched the soft fold her belly made as she sat, and butterflies erupted from his touch. Minnu knew that with any luck, she would too full to pinch after the feast got underway.
The two of them sat next to each other on the long wooden bench, Minnu's banana leaf unusually laden with curries, pulissery, pachadi, payasams, and rice. Arjan gently, tenderly picked up the rice in his hand, dipped it in the pachadi, drizzled it in ghee, and brought it to her lips.
Minnu fought the moan of gratification, her eyes fluttering closed as the flavors exploded across her palate. Her hollow belly roared for more, and Arjan chuckled.
"Tell your stomach to be patient, she has her work cut out for her."
Minnu's belly gave a hearty gurgle as it accepted another mouthful of the pachadi, rice, and ghee.
"I would," Minnu said between mouthfuls, "but I am so damn hungry."
"You have 24 dishes to eat."
Minnu sighed and glanced down at her still-flat stomach. "Patience, dear one. You have a challenge before you in the sight of all the gods and my family."
Arjan laughed as her belly gave a quiet gloop. Minnu grinned, feeding Arjan in turn.
He held her gaze for a moment, sucking the sambaram off her fingers before letting his eyes travel down to her belly and back up. His voice grew husky, his eyes desirous.
Arjan grabbed a larger handful of rice and fed Minnu a little more than the amount before. Minnu grinned through the mouthful.
"There we go. You forget I had only a little rice to sustain me earlier."
He laughed. "Like your belly would have let me forget? It cried like a wild thing all day! Trust me, thangam, I will not let you go hungry tonight."
And he was true to his word.
Minnu barely had time to talk with how often Arjan ensured she ate. He stayed by her side, gently tipping water into her mouth when she asked, bringing her whatever delicacy she asked for. The vegetables in each curry and pachadi were tender and flavorful, the pickled mangoes sweet and tender. Everything he fed her slipped down her throat like moments in time, her family eager to keep her banana leaf bowing under the weight of the feast. On her third plantain and fourth jamun, she risked a look down at her middle and bit her lip. She had been so focused on the sensory experience of eating, she had forgotten she had a belly at all. Now it would be impossible to ignore. Her belly bubbled ominously, bloated round enough that she could see it taking up more of her lap than usual.
One of her younger cousins came up laughing and touched her stomach, giggling.
"You already look like you have a baby inside you!"
Various aunties and uncles laughed, with other well-wishers bringing more yet more food to her and Arjan. One such auntie gently rubbed Minnu's belly and chuckled as Minnu fought back a burp, her stomach lurching as it struggled around the richness forced within.
"It already feels like there is a kutti kicking around already!" She gave Minnu's bloated abdomen a pinch and a healthy series of pats, causing Minnu to burp in earnest. "Daivattinustuthi! Daivattinustuthi!"
Minnu panted, adjusting her neriyathu down lower to make room for the bulge of her stomach. It gurgled and groaned in protest, an ache beginning to form deep in her core. Minnu had never eaten this much in her life.
"Arjan," she breathed, clutching her side, "I might burst."
He nodded, and whispered something to her Amma. She beamed up at Arjan, kissed him soundly on the forehead, then stood to address the room.
"Bhumi Devi shall bless on our Minnu and Arjan! Look!"
Groaning, Minnu stood. There was no hiding her belly, which was bloated to the point of looking around 6 months pregnant. Her relatives gasped, calling praises to the gods, several of them reaching up to gently touch her belly in blessing. The warmth felt good. Suddenly, her stomach lurched and bubbled ominously. Minnu doubled over, the room going quiet. A thick gurgle cut through the air. Minnu moaned, then stifled a burp. Her relatives laughed, a few of them gently patting her belly and muttering more blessings.
Amma smiled and turned back to the room. "We shall let them rest. Daivattinustuthi!"
Echoes of blessing and well wishes followed them from the room as Arjan scooped Minnu into his arms and carried her to their room. He laid her on the bed like she was made of glass, then shut the door quietly. Minnu groaned again, her hands on either side of her domed middle. It let loose a litany of squelching complaints. Arjan's face flushed. He lowered his hands gently to her burgeoning middle, eyes roving over her body. Minnu grinned mischievously despite the churning ache in her gut. She shifted her hips slowly, as if dancing while she lay down. Her belly sloshed in response to the movement, the gurgles briefly intensifying as her insides adjusted. Arjan's breath caught in his throat.
"You are a vision."
"So it would seem."
Arjan gently and reverently kissed the peak of her stomach.
"She bubbles against my lips," he murmured, his breath leaving goosebumps across her middle. "I thought she was loud when she was hungry, but your belly cannot be tamed at all when full to bursting."
He attempted to squeeze her stomach, but there was no give. He cupped the roundness of her bloated abdomen instead. Minnu could have melted under the warmth of his hands. The moan escaped her lips before she could catch it. Not that she wanted to.
"Care for and caress me, beloved." She pushed her belly into his hands; it glugged with the movement. "The warmth, it is divine."
Arjan happily complied, adding pressure to his touch that increased the warmth to a delicious degree, even if the pressure was a little uncomfortable. Minnu could feel it stretching her navel, could hear the high-pitched squealing of her belly as it protested the firmness of his touch, reveled in the deeper gurgles and moans that echoed from her body like a beast. And then there was her husband. He touched her as if bewitched. His eyes raked over her body with a hunger she hadn't seen before, his hands both desperate and gentle as he coaxed comfort and cacophony from her.
She burped loudly, feeling the tautness in her middle start to lessen. Another low, long gurgle roamed from the pit of her gut up to her throat as another deep belch deflated her abdomen--just a little. Mini flushed and propped herself up on her elbows to look at her stomach. It was still rounded, and red from the rubbing it received. But she felt less likely to burst, and the noises that erupted forth from her bulge of a belly were much more contented.
Arjan grinned. "Feeling better?"
He leaned forward, peppering her still-domed tummy with kisses, from hip to hip, lingering over her navel, before resting his ear over the peak of her belly.
"Tell me what it sounds like."
Arjan's expression became fervent, one thumb rubbing circles on her skin while the other gently caressed her side.
"It sounds like a pot of water being left to boil. And sometimes, it makes a noise like when a handful of pebbles are thrown into a pond all at once. Then there is a noise I can't describe--a howl, that starts high pitched and echoes deeper. It would sound like a demon if not for the fact that it stirs desire in me. All these, happening at the same time, plus others, and I can feel them--" he drummed his fingers in a scattered pattern all over her belly to illustrate his point, "against my cheek, like raindrops on my skin."
He pulled away briefly, resting his chin on her middle while it bubbled and churned. His eyes were dark with desire.
"Placing my ear directly on your stomach allows me to hear more, but there is so much I can hear even without being that close. And the fact that I can touch and play with this tummy in front of me--"
He gently cupped and jiggled her belly with both hands, causing it to slosh, followed by a deep, bassy moan. Minnu shifted her hips and moaned herself. Why did this feel so good?
"This," Arjan said, jiggling her belly again for emphasis, "is divine. You are divine."
He kissed her deeply, pressing his belly against hers for emphasis. Minnu could feel his own stomach burble against hers, and it lit a fire in her. She gently squeezed his belly, feeling his own small bloat. An answering gurgle tickled her palm, and Arian's belly contracted hard with a loud glorp. So she wasn't the only one who overindulged, she just hasn't noticed his tummy in the chaos that accompanied her own. Another series of roiling churns cut through the air and slammed against her hand as his belly toiled. Divine indeed.
She broke the kiss, breathing hard, and raised an eyebrow.
"I see I'm not the only one whose belly holds tonight's bounty. And as for my family--well, we wouldn't want to seem like liars in the face of Bhumi Devi. Shall we make good on your vision then?"
Arjun's quick grin, gentle hands, and enthusiastic kisses were all the answer she needed.
