“It's about time I stopped hiding…” Ratna sighed as she looked up into the ornate mirror at her husband of two years and Prabal hugged her from behind pulling her closer.

Prabal turned her around and took away the comb she had been fidgeting with.

“Ratna… this has got you worked up for so long now. Do you think it's necessary?” He asked, moving an unruly curl away from her forehead.

“Prabal, I have been through so much… The innumerable surgeries, therapies and not to mention, all the mocking and humiliation from family and so-called friends. I moved away from Pune with a new identity and …” Ratna shuddered even as her tirade didn’t seem to cease.

Prabal held her hands even as the clinking of her myriad-coloured bangles sent a harmonious note among the chirping of birds at their window.  Holding her bare skin at the curve of her waist he pulled her close.

“My dear, you have left that life behind you.  So why now?” he whispered, kissing her forehead.

“That’s because your mother has been insisting on a check-up to investigate why we haven’t conceived yet… She has been suspicious off late.” Ratna shuddered.

Prabal held her closer. “Ratna, everything between us is crystal clear. Our relationship goes deep and way beyond physical parameters. We are soulmates… and nothing transcends that.”

Ratna dug her head into the crook of his neck as he rubbed her svelte back.

Right then, there was a knock and Prabal’s mother walked in holding a paper.

“Ratna, here’s the appointment with the famous gynaecologist in the city. She specialises in infertility… I never cared about your caste or family… just that Prabal loved you. You are a wonderful woman and I am honoured to be your mother-in-law….”

“…look amma…” Prabal tried to interrupt but his mother held up her hand and continued.

“…I am not finished, son. Ratna, dear, it's over 2 years since your wedding and given your advancing age it's high time you give us the good news. Go to this place…” She said waving the paper. “…and get the tests done. … I am willing to accept… any flaw in you and let’s get the treatments done and…”

“…STOP amma. For God’s sake… There is no problem with Ratna. It's ME… I am infertile beyond any form of treatment. We can’t have children…. Because of ME.”

The stunned silence in the room only heightened the awareness of the ticking grandfather’s clock interrupted by the avian chirps.

His mother crumpled the paper and walked out of their room in a huff.

“Why Prabal…?” Ratna asked shocked.

“Ratna, I got you in my life only because Ratan legally and medically became Ratna. You are my wife in every sense of the word. Why should your being a trans-woman matter to the world? A little lie about me shouldn’t matter, should it? In fact, it opens avenues for that adoption we were discussing...” he embraced a teary Ratna, his matter of true Pride.

Author note:

A trans-woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans-women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria may be treated with gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care may include social or medical transition (source: Wikipedia)