Love Happens

Chapter ten

Mumbai
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"I know you won't marry her, but for your children's sake. Poonam is turning 15 in two months. None of your children are getting younger, and they're all female. They're hitting puberty. They will need a female friend to share their feelings with."

"That's why you're here, mother. You will guide them, and when it comes to sharing their feelings, they can always tell me anything. Do you know I answer Poonam's calls even during important surgeries? That's how important both of them are to me." Anand replied.

"There will come a time when she'll feel shy about sharing her feelings because you're not a woman. About me, when your father wins the election, you know I will be equally busy with meetings. I will hardly stay home. You don't stay home either, due to the nature of your work. I know people see you only when they book appointments, but you meet a lot of them daily. You're a renowned gynecologist. You don't have time to be spending with your children at all times."

"Mother, I won't get married again." He told her before the conversation escalated. "We've discussed this several times. My answer remains the same."

"An Indian mother only wants one thing in life. That's to see her son stay happy forever. I've tried to convince you a lot of times. This woman will not only change your life; she'll also play an important role in your father's political campaign. Just imagine that she's a prostitute's daughter. She has no father to call her own, and...

"Please. She's not a prostitute's daughter. She is a woman's daughter." Anand corrected his mother halfway. He didn't like the fact she was addressing another mother as a prostitute when it may not even be her fault she gave birth. He knows how the human body reacts. Sometimes, even with all precautions, one may still get pregnant, so it had nothing to do with prostitution.

"You see. You've started defending her like you do when someone talks ill of Supriya." She said it out loud as a joke, but the cold look she received from Anand made her change her statement.

"I mean, it's true. Pregnancy happens unexpectedly."

"I'm not interested in knowing their family history. I can't marry her, and that's it," he said.

"You can't back out. We've entered into a contract of agreement with them. They agreed to receive money and property from us, and in return, we can broadcast anything about them. Your relationship with them will help your father attain the position he wants, and you will also be happy because you'll be getting a free mother for your children."

Anand looked at his mother without blinking for a long time. He couldn't believe what she was saying. Could someone really trade their image for money? "It's still a no," he expressed, with no intention to change his mind or allow it to be influenced.

"Okay. Don't. You're a son who doesn't want to see his mother or father happy. But know that because of your rejection of this proposal, I will be going on a hunger strike. Also please, don't worry about my health. Of course, since I'm a diabetic patient, it will affect me a lot, but still, don't worry."

"You shouldn't try that, please. You'll hurt yourself more than it will hurt me."

"My pain doesn't worry you because, had it, you would have agreed to remarry. We have paid them. They'll do everything we ask, but you want us to fall out of grace by canceling the contract. It's fine." She snapped while standing up from the deck chair and left.

The bright lightning that tore the sky into two propelled Anand out of his flashback. He watched the sky, which had a sudden change of weather, and so he decided to return inside the house because it seemed like it was going to rain. Before going to the guest room where he sleeps, he went to check on his children.

Shraddha was already there. She coated Poonam with her duvet, unaware of Anand's presence. She then sat on her bed and held her warm hands while caressing them lovingly with her finger.

"Oh, wailing fate, ease the burden. Take the pain and dump it somewhere else. You've hurt more than just me. You took my father and their mother. Oh, wailing fate, when will the sorrows stop? When will we finally be happy? You took Anandji's wife and brought me here. You stopped his life and stopped mine as well." She wavered and closed her eyes as what she said started soothing her broken heart.

Anand could very well relate to her point. Fate was indeed cruel. Not just to him, including her and his children, since it took her father and his wife.

"O you wailing fate, we know life can't always be heaven."

She shook her eyes open when she heard Anand's voice and turned her head. She wasn't aware he was there.

"But there can at least be one day of joy, can't it?" he continued. He walked inside the room and sat on Riddhima's bed. He stroked her hair lovingly, while Shraddha added in a delicately faded voice that can make even the strongest person melt away.

"Oh, wailing heart, when you give us goodbyes, you take the love away. When you give us pain, you take the smile away. When you give us happiness, you take a life. Don't! Don't give anymore. I don't want to lose anyone anymore." Tears of despair brimmed in her eyes.

"Rumi says, Sorrow prepares us for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes your heart, far better things will take their place." Anand compelled. He sounded quirky because he tried to modify his tone to sound a little younger compared to Shraddha's voice when he had a husky voice. Anyway, as he was speaking, he remembered when he and Supriya sat down every rainy night to recite poems to each other. She was a fan of Rumi's quotes, and it was because of her that he learned all about him.

"If Rumi's saying is true, we'll have a future together because...," she stressed as she noticed he wanted to clarify that was not possible. "Because you said sorrow prepares us for joy. And whatever sorrow shakes your heart, far better things will take their place. God took Supriya, but he brought me. Am I not the better thing? She was the sorrow that was taken away, but he replaced her with me."

"My mother was our happiness." Poonam rose from sleep. She glared at Shraddha with disdain in her eyes. "You can never be her replacement." She jerked her hands away from Shraddha's hold, and Shraddha's hands fell on her bed. "Get up and leave my room. I should never see you here again, understand?" The tone of her voice increased from normal to yelling. She hated Shraddha to the core after understanding she was going to take their mother's place in the family. She hated her more for the growing closeness she was having with her grandmother.

"I..." Shraddha spoke in a whisper. She cleared her throat while Anand found Poonam's behavior disrespectful. Although he thought Shraddha didn't deserve the respect, the disrespect should still not come from his children because he wants them to be obedient children who respect their elders.

"Apologize, Poonam," he commanded.

She looked at him with surprise. Her father has never, to date, asked her to apologize without being at fault. "Why should I? She was saying things about my mother. And you were listening without saying anything."

"No dear. You misunde....." Shraddha wanted to clarify her misconception and tell her she wasn't trying to take her mother's place, but Poonam angrily exclaimed:

"Be quiet. I'm not talking to you. I'm talking with my father," she snarled.

"Poonam!" Anand shouted.

Both Poonam and Shraddha baulked due to the unexpected rise of his tone.

"Apologize now. Also, apologize for throwing the food she made at the breakfast table earlier. Now!" he commanded.

Poonam breathed a sigh as her face squeezed up with anger. She dared not argue with her father because she loved him a lot. "I'm sorry!" she said blandly, not meaning it.

Anand got up and ushered out of the room.

"It's really nothing. I was not offended because you didn't eat the breakfast I made." Shraddha softly said, but after receiving Poonam's severe look, she remained silent.

"If you make it again tomorrow, I will still throw it away. Know that I didn't mean that apology. I'm not sorry." She spit with the venom of hatred gushing from her voice.

Shraddha forced a smile on her lips, deeply hurt by the girl's remark. But she thought of letting it go because she was still a child, and one day she'll accept her as her mother, and they'll live happily together, including Anand.

She wished her good night, and she got up.

"If you choose to stay here, you'll never have a good night. Now get out." she viciously remarked while having an evil smirk on her face.

Shraddha wasn't bothered by her not liking her, but she was concerned by the amount of hatred she had for her in her heart. She feared it might affect her innocence because evil starts at a young age unless tackled.

"We will have a good night together." she smiled and answered.

••••

The morning rays penetrated through the transparent white curtains. It dimmed Shraddha's small figure on the bed. Her eyes, despite being closed, could be seen moving rapidly.

"Mother!" she whispered.

A flash zoomed into her face. She was having a dream. Someone was chasing her in an isolated place where there were no people. The road was made of nails, and her feet, as she ran, got pricked by them.

The pain felt real. She cried in her sleep.

Anand entered the room and saw her condition. Coatings of sweat have smeared her face. She was still crying, mumbling her mother's name.

"Shraddha!" He worriedly went onto the bed and tried waking her up. He tapped her arm gently.

"Mother!" she gasped for air after prying her eyes open. It took her a while to understand she wasn't in that isolated place but at home.

"Anandji!" she wept.

"You had a bad dream. It's gone now." he replied.

"I'm all alone in this life. I got married, but the person I married doesn't want me. What is my fault with it? His children don't want me either." She looked at him through her teary gaze. "Am I so unfortunate? First, I grew up without the love of a father, and now you want me to live the rest of my miserable life alone."

Anand could comprehend the roller coaster of emotions she had, but he just couldn't help her. He replied. "Even if we didn't get married based on the circumstances under which we got married, I would still not be able to love you because my heart is dedicated to Supriya and our children. There is no place for someone else. Don't think so much that it will start affecting your mental health."

"But we can at least be friendly to each other. I know you don't like me. You think my mother accepted money from you, although I know it was a misconception I will clear later. But we can behave nicely toward each other. We can greet each other in the morning and wish each other good night every night before going to sleep. I'm not a bad person. I know you're not either. We can treat each other well during my two-year stay, right?"

He looked at the sea in her eyes, which had water streaming. "We can't." he replied. He didn't believe she was a nice person. Someone who trades his reputation for money can never be a good person.

The door of their room opened and closed, indicating someone had just come in. Their eyes moved to the visitor. It was Riya.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'm also sorry for coming in without knocking on the door. Ranbir is here. He wants to take me. If I go downstairs, Father will force me to go with him." She informed them.