Rikara Scribblings by Savina

My Cranky Baby Boy Series - 3

It was a warm summer night, and the heat of Mumbai had been quite severe. Omkara couldn't even imagine turning the AC off, but for some reason, he couldn't fall asleep despite the cold temperature in the room. After tossing and turning, he opened his eyes and saw the reason for his sound sleep was missing. Gauri. The space next to him on the bed was empty, and he did not have to guess where she was. Kicking the sheets away, he dragged himself out of bed at three in the morning, only to find a droopy-eyed Gauri standing in the kitchen, heating up a glass of milk.

"Gauri?" he called out in a croaky voice, and she looked up at him, worried. "Omkara ji? Did you get disturbed? Did I wake you up?" she asked worriedly, the lines on her forehead more pronounced. "No, and yes." He said, walking up to the kitchen counter where she stood, saying, "No I did not get disturbed, but yes, you woke me up. You know I can't fall asleep without you, right?" Gauri smiled, and he could see that she was sleepy too. Her tired eyes and the puffiness around it made it quite evident. "Let me guess... Som?" he asked, and she nodded with a pout. Omkara rolled his eyes. His three year old boy was hungry in the middle of the night, despite a heavy dinner.

"This is what happens when you leave him a lot with Rudy! He's being influenced a lot by Rudy's eating schedule." Omkara said and Gauri glared at him, "Don't blame Rudy bhaiyya unnecessarily. Som has always been a hungry baby!" Gauri said, defending her adorable brother-in-law. Omkara shook his head, "And that's because during your pregnancy, Rudy made it a habit to make you eat midnight snacks, convincing you that the baby was hungry!" She frowned as she turned the stove off; she may not have liked it, but Omkara was right. Until he was a year old, Gauri had to wake up every night, twice, to feed her little boy. After that, he hadn't let gone of drinking his mother's milk that easily, and had fussed a lot when his food was substituted with the formula. Gauri felt her tiredness coming back with a vengeance as she recalled those sleepless times.

"By the way, where is he?" Omkara asked, and Gauri said, "He's in the play room, seated amidst all his toys. He's made a mess in the room, and now he refuses to sleep. I'm so tired already!" Omkara silently leaned against the counter, watching her cool the milk off, and add a spoon of apple puree, just the way her little boy liked it. "You know," Omkara said with a nostalgic smile, "I used to love apple puree when I was a kid!" Gauri grinned despite feeling tired; initially, she always wondered how adorable baby-Omkie would've looked when he was little. Now that she had Som, she knew. For Som was a ditto copy of Omkara, as Jhanvi, Pinky and Daadi would exclaim.

"I know... Maaji had told me." Omkara raised a brow, "Did she now? What else has she told you?" Gauri pursed her lips into a straight line, and shook her head, to which Omkara frowned. "Gauri?" he asked her in a warning tone, and she broke into a small chuckle, "Maaji also told me how you hated baths and whenever she tried to bathe you, you used to run around the room, without clothes!" Omkara turned pink; okay, now that was something which his wife needn't have known. "And Som, thankfully hasn't got that from you..." At that, Omkara smiled, "Yea, Som loves water. He refuses to leave the tub. One time, I tried being strict when he threw a tantrum, and in response, he threw his rubber ducky at my head." Both of them shared a chuckle, and by then, Gauri had finished cooling the milk-and-puree mixture, and had strained it into his favourite sipper.

"Omkara ji, you go and sleep. I don't think Som will sleep for another hour, and you will have to stay awake for no reason." Omkara shook his head, "You too are awake; is it for no reason? Som is as much my son as yours. You don't have to stay awake, alone, for him." Knowing it was pointless to argue with him, besides being sleepy and tired, she nodded her head, and they both proceeded to the play room.

Som beamed when he saw his Mumma entering the room, while Papa stood at the threshold. "Mummaaa... Appooo..." Som said, pointing at his big blue stuffed elephant named Appu which was placed on the top most shelf. "We'll play later, Som. First, drink this." She said. Som shook his head, and pointed at the toy again, "Want... Som want Appu." Gauri frowned; her lack of sleep and now Som's stubbornness was irking her. "Som... I said later." "No! Now. Som want Appooo" he said in a challenging frown. "And I said, later. No arguments!" Gauri said, glaring at him.