Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

The Lost Years (Part 5)

Dev and Sonakshi's seven years of separation continued here.....

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Sonakshi kept packing her bags, trying to ignore the heavy tension in the house.

Even though this was going to be short trip, she needed to pack enough extra clothes for herself in case Soha threw up on her accidentally and her clothes got soiled. And of course, one entire duffel bag was full of Soha's things. Babies may be small, but they required so much. Lot of 'just-in-cases'. Sonakshi had already packed bottles, bibs, diapers, wipes, frocks, extra rompers, socks, sweaters, formula. She packed her favorite toys and books and the blanket she needed to sleep with. She kept thinking, 'What if she needs this or that?' and then proceeded to pack that as well. It was never-ending.

Sonakshi also carefully packed a frock, in a beautiful sunset orange color, with a gorgeous tulle skirt that she had specially bought for Soha to wear, when Dev will meet her for the first time. It will be memorable, this trip. It was going to be Soha's first trip on an airplane. It was going to be her first trip to Delhi. It was going to be her first time meeting her father. 

It hadn't been easy, making this decision to go to Delhi, just as it hadn't been easy to leave Delhi.

Life had started to fall into a routine for the Boses. Well, somewhat of a routine, considering they had an infant in the house. Her job at the hospital was going on smoothly. In addition, she was also developing her app with the help of Jatin and his friends who had expertise in both the technical aspects as well as the financial and marketing parts. Saurabh dada was involved in it too. Her family had seen a lot of ups and downs this past year and a half but now, there was finally time to relax a little. And then, she had booked tickets for herself and Soha to go to Delhi. For Soha to meet her father.

The thought of introducing Soha to her father had been weighing on her mind all the time. How could it not? Dev was on her mind constantly ever since she took the pregnancy test. She spoke to him via her emails, pouring out all her emotions in them, discussing with him in one-sided drafts how their baby will be, picking out names, how it felt when she kicked hard, what cravings she was having. It was tough. But she realized tough didn't even begin to cover it the day Soha had opened her eyes for the first time and Dev's brown eyes had looked right back at her. Sona knew then, how irrevocably she was bound to him. She would be seeing his eyes every day now. No one said much, but she had overheard her grandmother comment to her mother, "Baby resembles Dev a lot, doesn't she?" Asha had simply smiled.

The days following Suhana's birth hadn't been a smooth ride. The sleepless nights, the feeding, changing. Listening to the baby's cries and not instantly knowing why she was crying. Was she wet? Was she hurting? Was she too cold? Maybe too hot? Once she had a redness on her cheek, like a mosquito had bitten her. Sona had cried for hours, feeling despondent that she couldn't even protect her infant daughter from a mosquito. How will she take care of her for the rest of her life? Her family had tried to keep her from feeling low, but the post-partum baby blues had hit her hard for weeks. 

She particularly remembered the day she had taken Soha for her vaccination. Her family had insisted that they would come with her, but Sonakshi had refused. How long will they hang around her? She had to live her life, she had to learn to take care of Soha. So, reassuring everyone in a determined tone, she had taken the baby all by herself. But sitting in the waiting room, watching other couples, hearing babies wail as the needle pierced them had unsettled her completely. All the strength that she had summoned to make this trip to the pediatrician seemed to have sapped out of her. The other mothers had their partners with them, consoling them. But there she was, all alone, panicking, missing and needing Dev badly at that moment. When the nurse came to get Soha, she couldn't find it in her to part with her baby, telling the nurse repeatedly, that Soha was very small. The nurse had looked at her sympathetically, assuring her that the baby will be fine. And sure enough, Soha had been fine. But that day, Sonakshi finally made up her mind to go to Delhi and introduce Dev to his daughter.