Kathir had waited with his mom till his anni returned
He had already fed her lunch and given her medication
Mullai nalla ponnu la Lakshmi amma said
Kathir simply smiled
Ellarum avanga avanga edathula nallavanga thaan ma he said
Soon Dhanam arrived
The happiness in Dhanam's face was palpable
There was a spring to her step..she was obviously happy
Kathir looked at his mom anxious to see if she would be upset with his anni..do the same to his anni as what she did to Mullai
But she looked spent
Athai saapteengala Dhanam smiled
Ahn kuduthutten anni..mathiraiyum kuduthutten
Nee Dhanam..
Naan angaye saaptutten..sorry athai..chinna thatha paarthathula konjam neram porathu theriyaama irunthutten
Parava ille Dhanam..nee poi rest edu..naanum konjam thoongaren
She lay down and closed her eyes only for her mind to be filled with visions of a much younger Mullai at her house
Always full of laughter and good cheer
Athai she would squeal and come running to hug her around the waist
She would show off one or the other trophy she had won in school
Jeeva would be shaking hands with her and jumping in joy with her
But Kathir would stand grumpy and would be ok only after he had won at something and had waved the trophy in front of her eyes
In fact when everything was better and the 2 families had been close they had even indulged in discussions of Mullai marrying into this family
Pandian her husband had said it with Jeeva in his mind she knew..it had never been verbalised but..she knew..even Parvathy felt that way
Parvathy..her friend..her confidant
Lakshmi missed her terribly
But she was also miffed ..everything had been fine between the 2 families
Financially both families sailed in the same boat
Trouble had hit when they had arranged Moorthy's marriage with Malli..Murugan and Parvathy's elder daughter
But she had eloped on the day of the wedding
And that had left the relationship permanently damaged
Words had been spoken..curses rained
After so many years Lakshmi understood the mother in Parvathy that made her defend her daughter..appeal on her behalf
Back then Lakshmi had been blinded by fury
But now she got it
And despite all that she had been nasty with Mullai who was only holding out the olive branch
And the old lady smiled..fondness for her niece washing over her
She was a sweet girl then and she was a sweet woman now she could see
And with these mellow thoughts she drifted off to sleep
The next day as planned the 4 youngsters met at the amusement park
