melancholy

The Countdown begins...

Three Months Later....

It was the month of September, and Mullai was in the final few weeks of her pregnancy. Thirty four weeks pregnant to be exact. In three weeks time, at exactly 37th week, her babies would be considered full term and ready to be born at any time.

Many things had happened in the last few months.

On the third of August, Anish and Anandhi had welcomed a healthy, beautiful baby girl. Anandhi, true to her word, had named her daughter, Zuhi, which meant 'Light' and she was truly the light of their lives. Anandhi's mother, defying her husband for the first time in her life had come to see her granddaughter along with her sisters in law and it was an emotional reunion.

The family of three were coming to Karaikudi in December, by the time, Kathir and Mullai would be a family of four.

Jeeva had suggested that it was high time, they open another store in Karaikudi. Kathir had discussed with him that after the twins were born, he wouldn't be moving back to their house in Kunnakudi because of lack of space as Kanna and Aishu were staying in their former room and Mullai's mother was going to stay with them for a few months after the babies were born and she wouldn't be comfortable staying in the Pandian house for such a long time. And so Kathir had hunted for weeks for a perfect spot to open a store and had finally found one fifteen minutes away from their house. It was a busy place and there were no grocery shops around the area, so he was sure that it would do well.

Mullai now had weekly hospital visits instead of the usual bi-monthly appointments. The babies were healthy and thriving. As twins everywhere, both were on the smaller side, but Dr.R.K had assured her that she still had six weeks to go and it is in the last weeks of pregnancy that babies put on weight and that she had nothing to worry about.

When the doctor asked her if she wanted to go in for a 4D scan, she said yes and was glad that she did. It was such a spellbinding experience for Kathir and Mullai. They were able to see their babies face clearly, the cute button noses, the outline of the lips, the hands and tiny feet. The couple were filled with amazement both with God for His creation and at medical technology. They spoke of nothing else the entire day, reminding each other of how the babies had behaved while the scan was going on. The following day when Kathir collected the reports, the entire family gaped in wonder as to how clear the pictures were.

If there was one thing that made Mullai sad, it was the fact that Dwarak and Latika had moved from Karaikudi a few months previously. The call had come out of the blue, Dwarak had been transferred yet again and they had to leave immediately as he had to take up the post the following week. They had no time to even meet each other. Latika had broken down over the phone while she said good bye to Mullai... And afterwards, the new friends, as it sometimes happens in life, had drifted apart, or rather, Latika had become busy there in setting up her designing shop, hospital visits and life in general. That is what Mullai told herself as some of her texts and phone calls went unanswered.

Kathir and Mullai enjoyed their last few weeks before becoming parents and they were in a nesting phase. The house underwent a thorough cleaning, the elders had been superstitious about not buying anything for the babies before they were born but that wasn't practical. Mullai had choked back tears on the corridor of the shop, for the first time ever, after so many times of buying clothes for Kayal, Lakshana and babies of her friends and relatives, she was finally buying clothes for her children.

Kathir, not minding one bit that they were standing where everyone could see them, had consoled her with a warm hug. And they ended up buying soft muslin cloth nappies, towels, diapers, bibs, and many other stuff that were so cute and adorable to look at. Kathir had exclaimed that he had never heard of certain things like burp cloths and swaddles but he wasn't complaining, it was on rare occasions that he got excited for shopping trips and now was one among them.