Beyond the Beats

Epilogue

"Sangam! Where is this girl?" I grumbled.

"Mum-mum, Chhunghum, Chhunghum," my two year old son, Anant, said and pointed at the bed.

I picked him up and kissed his cheeks. I followed his finger, and bingo! There was my daughter, hiding in the small space between the side desk and bed. She had covered herself with her elder brother's soft toys, only the top of her head peeking out a bit.

If it wasn't for Anant, I would have kept searching for hours.

"Aai (Mom), are you ready?" Vyom asked me after coming inside the room, holding his younger brother, Ujjawal's finger.

"I can't find your sister," I lied.

Vyom instantly looked at the place where his naughty sister was hiding and laughed. I signalled him to act with me and gathered everyone together. I sat down and placed Anant on my lap. I peppered his face with kisses.

"Who is my good boy?" I cooed.

Anant smiled brightly and wobbled happily. The soft toys under which his sister was shook a bit. Then, I took Ujjawal and hugged him tightly.

"Mumma loves you so much, my sweet baby," I said, and Ujjawal giggled, giving me a kiss in return.

Sangam's half-face appeared out of the hiding, her laser-like stare on us. Playing along, Vyom joined the hug. After I pampered my eldest son, he kissed his brothers' foreheads. He started saying how much he loved them when we heard a loud agonising cry.

Sangam burst out through the soft toys bunker she had made and ran at us, crying - there were no tears though. She opened her arms, jumping and shaking her head in a complaining manner.

"Who is this girl?" I asked.

Vyom placed his index finger on his chin. "I don't know."

This made his sister cry even more. When her brother again refused to recognise her, she started crying for real. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Vyom instantly hugged her, telling her that he was joking.

She calmed down but looked at me as if I had committed a crime. She pouted, jutting out her lower lip and staring at me with her big round eyes. I picked her up and tickled her.

"Drama queen," I teased. "There is no need to copy your mumma so precisely."

She pointed at her brothers, and I understood what she wanted. She easily got jealous whenever her brothers received attention, but she was the one who also got very protective if I ever scolded them.

I kissed her face, and she started hopping in joy, demanding her brothers to do the same. Their father arrived when Sangam was getting all the love, and he observed us silently with a sweet smile.

As soon as our daughter saw her father, she ran to him. Her brothers followed, and Tejas picked her up. One by one, everyone got a chance to play on Tejas's shoulders, Sangam again cheating by making a puppy face. Her brothers didn't mind though.

"Let's go," Tejas announced and picked me up after putting Vyom on his shoulders.

The kids laughed, and I hid my face in my palms. I told him that the kids were watching, and he nodded.

"They should be watching their parents," Tejas said and crouched.

Our triplets climbed on me and held Vyom's legs. I always got amazed by how Tejas carried all of us effortlessly. My in-laws got us our belongings, and after smooching their grandchildren, they told us to return early as they would be missing the kids.

"You don't care about me anymore, do you?" Tejas complained to his parents.

They exchanged glances and purposely shook their heads.