Continued... Considering that Shikha was the only "pro choice" advocate in the family, she'd never had the choice of an abortion. Against her will, her stance changed to "pro life" after the first trimester. The big mental challenge was to accept the baby as hers. But, the bigger psychological challenge was to figure out why she, a Nepali woman was unable to accept motherhood in all its feminine, traditional, cultural, religious glory. The thought of co-parenting with Jeevan gave her a warm rush. He would be the ideal father but the idea of marrying Jeevan in his in-between-jobs state was premature. Perhaps, they could live together and bring up the baby while she finished her doctoral. Jeevan seemed progressive enough to consider such a relationship. Plus, Shikha and Jeevan loved each other. The family would want to rush her to the nearest temple she knew, but with Jeevan?s support, she could convince them. Jeevan was arriving in two weeks for a job interview in DC. The prospects looked promising, he wrote. They could be together in the same city. Strangely, Shikha's joy was pragmatic. His move would resolve her constant heart ache and her strange predicament. Much depended on it. That night, Shikha wrote to Jeevan about their seven month old baby growing in her womb. She finally shared the ownership of her baby with his father. *********to be continued*******