The Partham Chronicles

Part 5- Followed Chaos

Leysa did not know how to tell her children what had happened. All she knew now was that the fate of her children had been sealed and that, one way or another, her children had to take the legacy tests. The result will be damaging and inevitable.

The evening was like any other rainy evening, damp air, drizzling rain, and purple light spread across the kitchen. Leysa leaned against the kitchen counter, stirring her cup, lost in her
thoughts, the tests were going to happen, they were going to select one of my kids and my baby would be separated from the family. With every thought her heart sank.

What my life would have been if I had never left. Maybe I would have married another Partham. I would have had kids of my kind and they would not have had to leave. I would have still had a job at the museum. My life would have been very different...

But this life was better. She married a human. Married him for what he was and loved him the same. And he loved her too. Navil had supported her through thick and thin. She had never had any regrets about leaving that world. She was happy, she had beautiful kids and they had been raised to be strong and kind individuals. She looked at the dining table, five chairs surrounding it, all of them labelled. Each chair was labelled by each of her children, Vysna, Aaden and Tashvin. Each spot was reserved. But after the
tests, one chair would be empty. She might not see her child ever again.'

"Are you drinking tea?" Her chain of thought was interrupted by Navil, who leaned in and peeped into her cup. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice him enter the room.

"Huh? I... umm." She realized she was stirring an empty cup.

He shook his head. "Sit here," he held her and sat her in a chair. He filled the kettle with water, kept it on the burner and lit it. He took out two jars from the cupboard above the counter and scooped out two teaspoons of tea powder from one of the jars into the kettle.

"You are thinking too much about it, Leysa," he opened the other jar, scooped out two teaspoons of sugar and poured it into the kettle. "We have raised good kids. They love each other and also are very caring and protective; I don't think the separation will affect our family that much," He took the cup from her hand, placed it on the counter and took out another cup from the drawer.

"They have seen the work that you have put in. They know that you have been trying to keep this family together. We all have seen the hard work you have put into this. I understand that you are under a lot of stress, but" he strained the tea into the cups and added milk to the tea. He held them close to his nose and smelled them. "Aah," he said.

He placed the cups in front of her. "Look, dear, all I am saying is that our bond as a family is very strong, and these tests are not going to break that bond. Whatever it is, we are in it together, and we are going to be fine, trust me."

She looked in his eyes and there was earnestness in them. She smiled. He had been her strength for twenty years. She knew that he would be with her and support her for everything.

"I am worried about what to tell them about the meeting. I have to tell them the truth, but I cannot imagine their reactions. It was the worst day of my life. I was positive about the results, but it's all out of the window." she said, sighing.

"Well, let's do this. We'll order something from a restaurant. Any of the kids' favourite dishes. And you can tell them after that. At least their stomachs will be too full and their minds will be too tired to complain. Okay." he said and sipped the last of his tea. She was not amused by his humour.

Dinner was a dull affair. Everyone was pushing around the food on their plates. The vegetables were all gone cold and the naan just lay dripping with butter. Navil had ordered noodles with kimchi for Vysna, roasted chicken with salad and barbecue chicken wings for Aaden and four different types of sweets for Tashvin knowing that he had a sweet tooth. This boy could survive only on sweets if he was given a choice.