Duty of Love

Chapter 30

Meera's POV

It has been two weeks that we have shifted to the new house. Truly, it feels good not to walk on eggshells. The courtyard has become my favorite place too.

After Deva and children leaves in the morning , I love to spend my time between the plants and flowers with a cup of tea.

At the beginning it was difficult to adjust especially for the kids but now it seems we are settling down.

" Mamma" I heard my kid's screaming as their entered the house followed by their father

As they were blabbering about their day, I could see, from the corner of my eye, Deva looking at us with a content smile on his face.

" Ok, now enough of the stories. Come ,freshen up, then we will have snacks"

" Meera, I will take care of them . You get the tea and snacks" saying this Deva marched off with the kids

It felt so surreal to me that I stood watching even after they have left the room.

We were sitting on the swing having tea when Deva surprised me with his statement

" I heard that the kid's Principal called you"

" When I went to collect the kids, I ran into their Principal and he told me how he contacted you and for what" he explained on seeing my confused face.

" In all the shifting, I honestly forgot about the call" I replied truthfully , " It came on the day that I got..." I trailed off embarrassed

Deva just smiled teasingly.

" So what did you think? " Deva queried becoming serious

" About what?" I asked

" About the job" he clarified

I looked at him bewildered and then began to laugh so loudly that tears were rolling down my face. But my laughter stopped on seeing Deva's serious face

" You are serious"

" Of course , I am serious. Meera, opportunities don't always come knocking on doors and you have gotten a fabulous one" Deva said

" I don't know. I really don't have experience or education for this" I tried to explain my situation

" Meera, it is not like they are not aware
of it. Still ,they want you. The board members have all agreed and have made an exception for you"

" How did you....?" I was dumbfounded by what I heard

" I asked. The board members were present at the play ,which speaks for itself and the school PTA was also in support. They really want you."

" But we just shifted and someone should be there whenever kids come home right?" I tried making excuses

Deva looked at me astounded

" Wow, what an excuse. You are worried that kids will be alone when they come home from the same school where you will be joining as drama teacher?"

I suddenly realized the stupidity of my statement

" You do realize that for both you and kids, the school gets over at the same time" he further pressed while smirking at me

I was again red with embarrassment.

" Yes, I agree we have just shifted and that is the secondary reason for me wanting you to take up this job. You are all alone here after we leave in the morning , so why not a full time job" Deva continued seriously

" What is the primary reason?" I inquired

This time I saw he was nervous. It took him a while before he could speak

" You were very young when you got married. You didn't get the opportunity to experience the world like we did. I know that we are to blame for that. So now I want you to experience all that you have missed and be independent. If not this opportunity, I would have suggested something else. " he said softly

" You got this opportunity on your own merit, Meera. They recognized your raw talent. I think you should think about this. But I will not force you. Final decision is yours." Deva further explained

" What if I fail? " I spoke my deepest fear.

" I am confident that you will never fail. Look at your life , we may have failed you but YOU never failed. Still, we will cross that bridge when it comes"

" Mamma.. Papa what are you talking? Come play with us " Devu interrupted us at that moment.

We stared at each other for a second before joining the kids.

Later that night , we were tucking the kids to bed

" Anshu, Devu ..." I saw three pairs of eyes looking at me

" How would you like if your Mamma comes to your school as your drama teacher "

They just stared at me as if I told them tomorrow is holiday and they can have icecream throughout the day.

Devu was the first one to come out of the daze

" Yippee...my Mamma will be our teacher" shouting it at the top of her voice she hugged me. Soon after, Anshu also joined his sister in the excitement.

I looked over the kids head to see Deva watching me with an encouraging smile on his face which I reciprocated with a smile of my own.