Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

The rest of their lives

This one-shot is set on the day Suhana was born, S1.

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Sona took the newborn in her arms for the very first time. Her baby, her flesh and blood. She was unprepared for the wave of emotions that overtook her heart in that moment.

She was so small, tiny in fact. Pink complexion, rosy lips, soft eyelashes, plump cheeks and a shock of black hair on her head. Such a tiny fist. Sona gently pried it open, running a soft finger on that teeny palm and fingers, noticing the tiniest nails ever. That was enough to send her into a panic. She has nails! How will she trim them? What if she nicks her while trimming them? What if she cries?

Sona took deep breaths, calming herself, summoning her rational side to the fore. Has a baby been hurt due to nail trimming? Come on, Sonakshi, get a grip! She tucked her small hand gently back into the blanket. These past eight months have been traumatic, to say the least. She was starting a new company with Jatin, she was finalizing a new house in Kolkata and she had a new baby. So many new things, all at once. But the little bundle she held in her arms was the most overwhelming.

This little girl. A voice distantly spoke in her head, 'I want a little girl from you, a tiny Sonakshi.' She pushed the voice away, but it continued. 'I love you so much, that you won't be able to take it, so we will need a little girl  to take some of the share of my love.' No, no, no. Please. She didn't want to hear any more. 'In some time, there will be another girl in my life, prettier than you, more beautiful than you and her importance in my life will be more than you.' She shook her head vigorously to somehow get the voice out. 'I don't care if you are able to give birth to my child or not.' Please stop, she pleaded to no one in particular. But the voice persisted. 'Am I not enough for you, Ms. Bose?'

"Yes you were, but I wasn't enough for you!!" She cried loudly, her tears copiously spilling over, the crude dam she built every day around her heart broken badly one more time. The commotion disturbed the sleeping infant and she protested the ruckus her mother caused with a wail. Sonakshi was instantly regretful. "I am so sorry, please. Please go to sleep." She soothed, trying to rock her gently. But it wasn't enough. She peered into her baby's face as the newborn opened her eyes.

Sonakshi was immediately met with a pair of chestnut brown eyes, eyes she had seen a million times before, eyes she had fallen in love with, eyes which could be blazing in anger or softened with kindness, darkened with passion or crinkled with laughter. The same eyes which had been filled with hurt and fury the last time she had seen them.

Now those exact same eyes were looking back at her. Was that annoyance in them now? Sona smiled wryly at her own destiny. She was trying to run away from something, only to have it as part of her own soul. Whether he liked it or not, now they were bound to each other forever.

The baby seemed to have had enough of this vision in front of her and howled for more to be offered by this world. "Awww I am so sorry little one. Did Mumma bother you? Are you hungry? Let's try feeding, okay?" Sona unbuttoned and latched her onto her breast, feeling a new, weird yet a very pleasant sensation wash over her as she felt the tiny mouth work.

Pleasant. It was a word that had taken leave of her life for the past few months. Nothing in her life had been pleasant for a while. Far from it.

Until now. This was pleasant. So beautifully, perfectly pleasant.

And so, Sonakshi picked up the form next to her, and wrote 'SUHANA' in the First Name column of the Birth Certificate Application. 

This is Suhana's first day on this earth. This will be the first day of the rest of Suhana's mother's life as well. It will be good, pleasant, from now onwards, she decided determinedly.

Somewhere far way in Delhi, Suhana's father donned a faded pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and a brown leather jacket, grabbed his helmet and made his way to his motorbike, ready to live his life in his own way, on his own conditions, his own wishes. He was done mourning, regretting. This will be the first day of the rest of his life. It will be good, it will be pleasant, from now onwards, he vowed to himself.