The shark and the saint

24. The Truth

Prerna was in her mother's room for days. She didn't want to leave the bed because she was so upset. When she had come home that night, her brother had known what had happened. He tried to comfort her, telling her she knew how it was going to end, but that just made her cry harder. How was she going to live without Kukki? If not for the frequent calls with her ex step daughter, Prerna wouldn't have eaten. Kukki video called her in the mornings so they could eat breakfast together, then at dinner and bed time. Even so far away from her, Prerna sang Kukki her lullaby every night.

One night, Prerna had finally gotten off the bed. Apparently her baby was getting tired of it. She paced the room, trying to find some peace, but nothing was helping.

"Neend nahi aa rahi?" Veena asked as she came into the room for the night.

Prerna sighed. "Pata nahi. Kuch awazaari si ho rahi hai," she put a hand on her back and stood leaning on one foot.

Veena giggled as she did some idle work. "Jabh tum hone waali thi na, mera bhi yahi hashar tha. Pata kiyun? Jabh tak tumhare papa ghar nahi aajate aur tum se baat na kar lete, eik minute ka sakoon nahi aata tha tujhe. Papa ka to pata nahi, lekin baccha bilkul tum pe gaya hai."

Prerna watched her, shocked as she listened to the story. No one had mentioned her pregnancy until now. "A-aap ko kaise pata?"

Veena patted the bed as she sat down. Prerna got into her side of the bed.

"Maa hoon na teri. Maa ki nazroon se kuch nahi chupta."

Prerna smiled and put her head in her mother's lap. Veena grabbed the tv remote as she stroked Prerna's hair.

"Chalo tv laga lete hain. Shayad uss mein hi kuch kaam ka mil jaye," Veena smiled as she turned it on.

They flipped through multiple channels and programs until a news channel was showing Mr. Bajaj. The journalists were hounding him and asking him about his daughter's kidnapping. After a while of listening Rishabh talk, Prerna finally felt comfort at long last. In her belly, that is. However, after listening to what happened the day he had finally decided to let her go, Prerna felt bad about not being with them. But, after finally having found peace in her body, she quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, Prerna finally left the room to join her family for prayer. She even sang aarti with them. After prayer, she tried to help with breakfast, but her mother didn't let her do much hard work. She resigned herself to easy work that she could do while sitting.

In the afternoon, Rishabh brought Kukki home from school. Kukki ran straight to the bathroom and Rishabh let himself to the kitchen. He grabbed a water bottle and was walking back out when he almost choked.

"Maasi? Aap kabh aayi?" Rishabh asked, not expecting anyone home.

"Der se aayi!" Sharda scolded him as he joined her in the living room. "Mujhe koi kuch batane ki fursat hi nahi karta. Yeh kya sunn rahi hoon main? Main chali kya gayi, tumne piche se shadi kya, divorce bhi kar li?"

Rishabh was at a loss for words. "Aapko kisne bataya?

"Kya farq parta hai iss se?"

"Mehra," Rishabh scowled as he figured it out.

"Khabar daar usko kuch kaha to. Woh tumhara nahi, mera banda hai. Uska kaam hai tumhara khayaal rakhne ka."

Rishabh sighed. "Aap, abhi aayi hai. Get settled, we'll talk later."

"Dadi!"

Sharda gasped and turned around to face Kukki. "K-Kukki?! Aap boli?"

Kukki ran to her grandmother and hugged her. "Meri voice is back!"