Anamika - Rebirth of the first wife

Chapter 43 - Arrival

Hereafter, Ranasa(Pratap's father) will be referred as Baabasa,  Ranisa(Pratap's mother) will be referred as Maasa and Jaiwanta Bai will be called by Pratap and Anamika as Badi Maasa.

Anamika silently prayed,"Atleast this time, give my son and his wife, a happy and long life. If my fate can be changed in this second life, I do have a strong instinct that their life would also change".

-----------------------------------------------------------

After 5 years

Now, Abhimanyu Pratap Singh Rathod and Pratiksha Pratap Singh Rathod are 10 years old. Amar Pratap Singh Rathod is 7 years and AdityaRaj Pratap Singh Rathod is 5 years old. Its already time for Abhimanyu to leave for Gurukul (Residential school) and Pratiksha will have a woman scholar who will reside in the Palace for teaching the princess about vedas and finances. While Pratiksha already started and still continued her sword fighting classes with her mother, Abhimanyu received basic sword practices and other weaponry from both his mother and father before leaving for Gurukul. Now Everyone from the Royal family is standing at the entrance to send off Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu took blessings from his paternal and maternal grandparents, who had tears in their eyes, especially Pratap's father Padmanab singh. He always had a special place for Abhimanyu and Pratiksha, for them being the much awaited grandson and granddaughter. Sunaina, Anamika's mother came for a visit specially to send off her grandson. Then Abhimanyu went towards his siblings, Pratiksha hugged him and both had a smile on their faces, for this is what they dreamt together. To grow up, learn everything with excellency, make their parents proud and finally assure their citizens that Abhimanyu is capable of his position. Abhimanyu didn't have to worry about his sister as he knows that she is capable enough to handle herself and their younger siblings in his absence. Then Pratiksha hugged her brother and wished him all the best for his studies. Then he saw his both younger brothers, Amar and Aditya, who are his ardent followers. May be its because, Amar saw how his Pratiksha didi followed their elder brother's words and actions, that he too did the same and had immense respect for his elder brother. Same in the case of Aditya who saw both Pratiksha and Amar's respect for Abhimanyu and did the same.

Abhimanyu said to both of them,"Take care of yourselves and start taking your sword lessons seriously". Both of them nodded while controlling their tears as they couldn't come to terms with the fact that their elder brother wouldn't be there with them for some years to come.  Then Abhimanyu met his babasa Pratap and took his blessings, following which Pratap gave his some motivation for enduring the tough life to come under the Guru(Teacher who is generally a sage and the princes had to live a life of a commoner while studying under him). Although these two get into some silly fights for spending time with Anamika, their bond is not something light. It was very strong bond which Anamika never got to see in her previous life. And she felt happy for them everyday now, seeing the admiration in Abhimanyu's eyes for his father and Pratap's proud smile while looking at his son's achievements. This is what she always wished. Pratap hugged his son at the end and kissed his forehead before he moved to his mother. Abhimanyu touched his mother's feet to take blessings and then he was tightly hugged by his mother, who murmured in his ears to take care of himself and make them proud of their upbringing. She advised him to write letters back to them whenever allowed and promised him to write him letters.

Finally he climbed the horse which was accompanied by some soldiers and the commander-in-chief of their army, to start his journey towards Gurukul. The family members returned towards their chambers. The children also went towards their shared chamber which Pratap had particularly designed for them in the new palace. They moved to this new palace four years ago. And rhe kids chamber had been designed in such a way that there is one common entrance from the corridor, then one common hall and then seven more inner chambers with seperate hall, bedroom and bathroom, while some had balcony as well. Extra inner chambers were designed in case of friends coming over to stay, for example Ahilya will get the chamber next to Pratiksha on the left while the chamber on the right of Pratiksha was taken by Abhimanyu. The other brothers sometimes stay with Abhimanyu and Pratiksha or their own chambers(which is very rare).

One month after Abhimanyu's departure, Anamika found out that she is pregnant again for 3 months now. Everyone was happy with the news and she immediately sent a letter to Abhimanyu to inform him of the same. After 7 months, Anamika gave birth to twins again but this time both are boys. They were named as Abhayraj and Ajayraj Pratap Singh Rathod.  Abhimanyu was happy and sad at the same time on  receiving the news from his father's letter. Happy because he got two more little brothers and sad because he won't be able to see them for few more years. Pratap received Abhimanyu's reply for his letter, and informed Anamika about the same. Anamika just thought about the difference in timeline between her previous life and now. By this time only, Abhimanyu had been  born in her previous life, now he is already in Gurukul. Last time, he went for Gurukul at the age of 13 and came back by the age of 18, but now he departed by the age of 10 already. All she can wish now is that these changes happen for something better. Soon th the years went by and the children grew up. The new twins were being spoiled by their grandparents as the other three grandchildren were busy in training and two of them are already teenagers while the other one is nearing teenage. These two munchkins are the only companions in their oldage. But still Anamika and Pratap made sure that they respect their elders.  When the twins were one year old, Amar singh also went for Gurukul. Adityaraj and Pratiksha made sure to tell the twins about their eldest brother Abhimanyu, whom they haven't met yet and also Amar who they vaguely remember.

Soon it was time for Abhimanyu to return back and everyone was busy with the preparations. The twins are now five years old and are excited to see their eldest brother for the first time.  During these years, Padmanab Singh's health deteriorated to some extent but it was manageable. Anamika remembered that by this time, he had succumbed to death in their previous life but now he is still in good condition by God's grace. Pratap and Anamika were simply lying on the bed while sleep was far away from their eyes. Their excitement of meeting their first born after six years has kept them awake. At the same time, the fact that Pratiksha had reached marriageable age also made them sad.  Pratap asked Anamika, "How will we live away from Pratiksha? I think we will find a boy who will stay with us". Anamika simply smiled at his words and said,"we can't force the guy but if they both decide it then thats fine". Pratap hmmed and once again asked,"Shall we put a condition that Prati will be the only wife for him in the near future?".

Anamika knew that he was deeply affected by the case in the court where the first and second wife of a minister had plotted against each other's sons and at the end both of them died which made the minister to drag them to the court to ask justice for himself, for he had lost both his heirs and now has onky one daughter who is already married. The case is still pending for the judgement.  This made Pratap to think about Pratiksha's future. He definitely didn't want her to lead a life full of conspiracies, even Anamika was a victim of such conspiracy. And his father's life was a mess with the practice of Polygamy, which is legal as per the law of their Kingdom. May be it's time to revise those age old laws according to new circumstances? While Pratap was thinking all these things, Anamika guessed his thought process as he did revised those laws in the previous life as well. She just said, "We have the privilege to put a condition in front of the groom's family since we are Royals. But what about the daughters of common people? Shouldn't they get a chance to lead a peaceful life? And moreover we will have daughters-in-law as well in the future? Do they get to put on conditions? Right now it is only men who decide whether they will practice Polygamy or Monogamy. There is no say for women". Pratap went into deep thought. Anamika let him think without disturbing him but after sometime, she once again cheered him up regarding Abhimanyu's arrival.  For now they kept those worries aside and just thought about tomorrow when Abhimanyu will reach the palace.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Hi guys,

I wanted to write more on this chapter but time for update is near so stopped here.

Belated happy Ganesh chaturthi.

Do vote and comment if you like the chapter.

Thanks,
SM.