A LITTLE CLOSER...

23. School

T A N V I

"Evi, talk to Papa" I please again but she is still not happy, she is not even looking at Div.

"I am sorry baby" He said but she just ignored him like a princess ignores peasants.

Shakal bhale baap jaisi hai par akad toh meri hi aayi hai.

Shut up Tanu!

"Why is she behaving like you?" Divyam asked.

"Because I am her mother and...Wait! What did you say? Matlab mai baccho jaisi hu???" I gasped but he immediately shook his head in a No.

"Mazak baby, tu bhi gussa mat hoja ab" He held my hand and quickly gave me a peck.

Ok, that works.

"Eva...See, Papa cry" I said signalling Divyam to sob a bit.

He is such a terrible actor.

"See, he wants kissy" I said as she slowly leaned closer to her favourite man and tried to see his face.

"Pa...Pa" She pulled one of his fingers and moved towards his cheek, slowly planting a sloppy kiss she smiled and so did Divyam.

She chuckled out of happiness that her father is back to being all smiley.

Haaye...Mere dono pookies.

We spent the next hour playing with her and stealing a few kisses from each other.

3 Years Later.

"Can't we just educate her ourselves? I mean you have studied from the best Indian business school and I have studied law" This guy is a freak? Why did I marry him?

"Baby...Shut up!" I said and placed Evara's favourite sandwiches in the tiffin.

"She'll have to eat cold food?" He asked in a drastic tone, like we never had cold meals.

"Look! Even I ate cold meals when I was in school, no one cared about it" I reasoned, par papa ko apni pari ki kuch zyada hi fikar hai.

"You were a stupid child" He said.

"And you were also, actually you still are" Maa came to the rescue.

She glared at him and ofcourse he got scared, I love Maa for a lot of reasons.

"She needs to struggle like everyone, zyada special treatment se bacche bigad jaate hai" She explained.

Divyam stood silent for a minute.

"Ok, but the cold sandwiches won't affect her health right?" He asked.

"Coleslaw sandwiches are meant to be eaten cold" I said to my dumb-head husband.

Kaunse school se padha hai yeh?

"Mummaaaa.....I am hungry" Evara shouted as she entered the kitchen with her dearest Aman Chachu.

"Me too" Aman added.

He is the second most spoiler of Evara after my husband but he understands how important it is for her to see the outside world.

"Evara, it's your first day today. Make good friends and don't fight with anyone" I said to which she gave a nod, filling her mouth with her favourite cereal.

Divyam whispered something in her ear and she smiled like a little cute demon.

"What's cooking?" I questioned.

"Nothing" The duo replied together.

In the evening I took a pregnancy test because I was feeling nauseous and I also skipped my periods.