Shikwe

Bonus Chapter

My hands tremble lightly. It's the first sign, and it only gets worse from here. I lean against the hood of my car, tucking my hands behind my back, against it. I had hoped this wouldn't happen today. Anyday is fine but not today. I've come to pick up Ansh from his school for the first time. He had a play today, it was a competition and I don't want to bother him with my own issues.

I wait, a little farther away from the other parents, trying to stabilize myself before my son comes. This is his day, I don't want to ruin it. I shut my eyes, counting in my head to calm myself down. My therapist said it would help, so far, no luck. I turn around to take support from the hood of my car, when my hand is held in a much smaller one. I look towards it. I expected it to be Ansh, but it is a boy I don't recognize.

His eyes are, calculating, wicked, but his grip on my hand is soft. "Are you okay, ma'am?" I shake my head lightly, and he opens the passenger side door to my car. I sit down and he pulls a water bottle out of his bag and offers it to me. "Drink this, you'll feel better." I muster up a smile before drinking the water.

"Are you having a panic attack?" I look at the kid. He is no more than ten, how does he know about all this? He sees the question on my face and smiles comfortingly. "My uncle has them sometimes." I nod.

"Are you waiting for someone?" I nod again. "For my son. Ansh."

"Agnihotri?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah. He is my friend. Best friend. He is the only kid I haven't scared away." He seems like a good kid, why would he scare anyone?

"I actually don't know how to sweet talk much. Some people find it rude and just stay away. Your son is a better man than all of them." I smile at him. When Reyansh and I moved back to India two years ago, we wanted our son to have friends, a good life. He wasn't able to adjust in London after we adopted him from India, so we moved here for him.

It's good to see he made a friend. The boy smiles. "You're okay." I look at my hands and see that they aren't shaking anymore, my breathing has also returned to normal. "You're a magician." The boy smiles and both our attention shift to Ansh. He comes running down the block and stops infront of me. "Mumma are you okay?"

"Yes, beta I am fine. Your friend really helped me." Ansh turns back, grateful at his friend and the boy shakes if off. "How was the competition?"

The boy I don't know beams. "He won." Ansh pulls out a trophy with the brightest smile I've ever seen. We settle in our car to go home and bid the boy goodbye. He leaves and sits into his own car. A man I don't know came to pick him up. "That's his maternal uncle." I nod at Ansh and drive away. "I am glad you made a friend. You two make a good, complementing pair. Cherish it."

My son smiles. "He is my best friend, and I hope to keep it that way." We reach home and my son runs up inside our penthouse to greet our cats. All eight of them. When we shifted here, we brought the mama cat as well. She grumbles alot but she adjusted. Ansh loves them. All his day, you can find him with one cat or another.

Reyansh walks down the steps and rolls his eyes when he sees our son with the cats. "I swear he loves them more than he loves me." His arms wrap around me and I sigh into the warmth. "How was it sweetheart?" It was the first time I went to pick Ansh up and it was honestly not that bad.

"It was alright. I almost slipped into an attack but Ansh's best friend helped me alot." His eyebrows shoot up. "Well, it's good to know that there is humanity left somewhere."

"Only in children."

"Yes, and there are plenty of children in India." We share a laugh before Reyansh turns towards Ansh. "Atleast greet your father." Ansh gets up and Reyansh sighs. "Drop the cat. She isn't going anywhere." Ansh does as said and walks up to my husband with his trophy.

"I won, dad." Reyansh kneels infront of our son and smiles big. "I am proud of you beta."

Ansh hugs his father before running off to change out of that uniform. "I think bringing him here was good." I agree. He has been much happier since the last two years here.

"Bringing him into our lives was much better." We wanted children more than anything and when we couldn't have them, well that road was tough. My sister suggested adoption and we both came to India. As legal citizens of this country, it was easier to adopt here.

The orphanage was not a pretty place, every child in there was suffering. Reyansh donates a hefty about of money to the orphanage every year now, so they have better facilities for the kids.

That is where I saw Ansh. He sat in a corner, alone and sad. He was only two, and I had never seen any kid that hurt before.

Ansh had separation anxiety, he still does, and when the two year old boy looked up at me with so much dejection, sure that he won't get a home, my heart broke into a million pieces. We followed every procedure and when he was told that he has a permanent home now, he hugged my legs with so much gratefulness, that it made me cry. I've never let him be away from me. Not even for a day.

He never realized that I needed him more than he needed me. Everytime I lose control, he flashes into my mind and I fight through my illness. I might've joined therapy to be better for myself but I keep going there, I keep fighting through it only for my husband and son. The two men who never left me alone. Even in the hardest times.

My tear is wiped off before Reyansh cups my cheek. "Why are you crying?" I shake head and take a deep breath. It doesn't help with my emotions but atleast I tried. "I love you."

I've said this more often than not to him and yet everytime he gives me the same look he did in that snowstorm. He pulls me into his chest and sighs. "I love you too, sweetheart."

Arms wrap around our waists tightly. "And I love you two, as well." We pull our son into the hug. I got a life I always dreamed of. And even though it isn't perfect, it's mine and that's enough.

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