Forget-Me-Not: Taste of Freedom

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

As Geet finished the last of the dishes and turned off the kitchen lights, her eyes fell on the pool of light falling into the dark passage from her kids' room. Voices could be heard from inside-voices of laughter, of drawn breaths and dazed surprise. Voices of happiness and mirth. Her eyebrows drew together, and she felt her fingers clenching into a fist as she tried to ignore her annoyance. It is no use, she told herself. Being angry was not going to solve her problems. Being courageous-now that was something she badly needed to do.

Reluctantly, she went to the doorway of their room, and peeked inside. Gautam sat on the double bed, Naina settled comfortably on his lap, playing with his hair, while Rohan lay on the bed on his stomach with his chin cupped in his hands, listening with awe as his father weaved another of his stories.

"And then the hero jumped through the fire, and saved his friend from the burning house," Gautam concluded.

Rohan, his eyes filled with admirations, said, "What happened to the masked man?"

"Well, the police caught him. He was punished for behaving badly."

"Was he beaten?"

"A little."

"And the car?"

"The hero repaired the car, and he and his friend drove away to the mountains in it."

Rohan beamed, his floppy hair falling into his eyes as he smiled. "Daddy, can we go to the mountains, too?"

"Sure, why not," Gautam ruffled his hair, and then smoothed it back. He pushed Naina's hand away from his shirt pocket, where she was trying to pull out his pen, and turned to give her a kiss on her head. "You guys ready for bed now?" he murmured.

Rohan jumped up, going to the closet to take out his blanket, and Naina climbed off his lap to sprawl on her bed.

Gautam had always been so easy with the kids... when Rohan was just a couple of weeks old, Geet had developed an allergic reaction and was asked to stay away from him for three whole days. She'd been worried about him, but Gautam had managed fine without her. It felt like he'd jumped into the role of being a father as easily as if he was already wired to do it. The children loved spending time with him, especially Naina... and no matter how frustrated Gautam was with other people, he never misbehaved or took it out on their kids. Now, as she watched him, she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of gratefulness. Despite their differences, despite everything, he was there for them. He might not want her, he might not need her in his life, but he needed them... he loved them more than anything else. It was so clear.

Suddenly, Gautam's eyes lifted and he saw her in the doorway, watching them with a distant, lost expression on her face. For a brief moment, she froze. The fact that he'd caught her staring made her frown return, but Geet managed to keep the tension out of her voice as she went in to tuck her children in bed.

"Goodnight, mummy. Goodnight daddy," Rohan said, getting under the covers.

Naina cooed and giggled as her father smiled at her, and when both of them were peacefully tucked in, Geet turned to her husband.

There is no polite way to do this, she realized, as she groped for words. Her hands folded across her chest as she stared at him. "You can go now," she murmured, low enough that only he could hear. "It's late, and I'm sleepy."

His eyebrows shot up, and he regarded her with something like deep wonder. "You were never so shockingly rude before."

Her teeth clenched, and she looked away, feeling a hint of shame running through her as his words affected her. She didn't want to be rude... she just didn't want him here, playing with her heart and her emotions when all she really wanted was to get over him. He had made it clear, more than one time, that he didn't like talking to her or sharing things with her. That part of their relationship was over quite a long time ago. Why was he still here? Why was he looking at her like that, as if expecting her to retaliate with something more shocking?