Did You Get Your Period?

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Nani arrived exactly at five-fifty the following morning. She stands outside the house for a minute with her luggage that the auto driver unloads. She pays him off and she stares at the house in silence. She likes coming here, quite a lot. For a second, she closes her eyes. This the home of her youngest daughter. Nani is proud of Seema the way she isn't of the rest of her children. While she loves her elder son and elder daughter equally, she's always had a soft corner for her youngest. She's proud of Seema not only because she's a thriving doctor but also the woman she's become after adversity struck her. It had been difficult to watch her youngest suffer so much at the hands of the man she loved. Nani prays, her eyes still closed trying to remove the haunting image of her wide-eyed, dazed daughter from eleven years ago.

A couple of minutes later, she rings the doorbell. Nani, though rather old is still able to hear the lazy pounding of her grand-daughter.

Slowly, Shweta trundles downstairs, looking drowsy. "Namaste, Nani." She says, her palms pressed against the other.

"Namaste, Shweta. Look how much you've grown! You're looking prettier every time I see you!" Nani smiles fondly at her grand-daughter.

Shweta is struck by the stark contrast between her Dadi and her Nani.

"Oh, I've missed you, Nani!" She says, hugging her maternal grandmother. She's also delighted that her grandmother has arrived early. This means that Shruti will be too distracted to drag her out for a morning run.

In the meantime, Seema and Shruti arrive. Both of them look sleepy but very happy.

"Oh, Nani! How are you?" Shruti says, hurrying to touch her grandmother's feet.

"I'm fine. But look at you! You look wonderful." She says, beaming. Seema lets her children hug their grandmother, her heart warming at the sight.

"How have you been, maa?" Seema asks after a bit.

"Oh, just the same." Her mother says, her eyes twinkling. "You tell me? How is everything going, Seema?"

"It's wonderful. Now that you're here, even more so." Seema says, smiling at her mother.

"Oh, don't flatter me," Nani says laughing.

"Do come inside and sit down. If you let the children, they'll hang onto you like monkeys." Seems says, looking at her daughters still hugging their grandmother.

"The monkeys have grown up," Nani says, looking fondly at her granddaughters.

"They certainly have," Seema says, as she tugs one of her mother's suitcases.

Shruti helps her mother carry the luggage and they all head towards the living room.

"Ah, isn't it good to be here with all of you!" Nani exclaims as she sits on the plush leather sofa in the living room. Shweta curls up on the other round one whereas Shruti and Seema sit on either side of Nani.

"It's good to see you here too, maa," Seema says, smiling fondly at her mother.

"So, tell me! What have you girls been up to?" Nani asks, smiling at the three of them. Seema though now a woman of forty-seven would still always been her 'little girl'.

"Oh, I've been in college. It's so much fun!" Shruti exclaims, forgetting for a minute about her mother's disapproval just the previous Sunday.

"I'm glad to hear that! What about you, little one?" She asks, smiling with her crooked teeth at Shweta.

"Oh, just school. It's not that fun but I have my friends." Shweta lies. The word fun causes an unfamiliar throb in her heart. The rest of the school year wouldn't be very fun.