Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

Epilogue

=== Two Years Later ===

"You see him? That is Skanda. He is our hero. He is also our god. He was also born on the Sashti of Margasirsha. Just like you..." Mayura pointed towards Skanda to the little boy in her arms. The little baby turned to look in the direction in which his mother was pointing. 

Skanda held the Vel leaning over his arm, stood in attention, and had the abhaya and varada mudra. 

"Skanda saved all the devas from demons. You will also be saving our beautiful Kingdom from demons." 

Mayura heard her mother chuckle at the comment. "He has just come out of your womb, kanna. Give him a while before thrusting so much responsibility on him." 

"If I don't start now, how will he understand how important it is for him to be ready?" 

"He still has time. Your father-in-law has a long life according to the astrologers." 

"That is good. But we're all only buying time. My husband is such a brilliant warrior standing next to Mavaiyya. Only Chandika knows what difficult times may come ahead. I just want my little one to know that the future is in his hands. He is the future protector of these lands. Dharma is resting on his shoulders." 

"His shoulders, right now, can't handle his head yet. He can't even crawl but you're talking about taking the weight of the kingdom? Poor boy!!!" Madalasa took her grandson from his mother's arms. "Don't worry. You have so much time..." 

Mayurakshi rolled her eyes but smiled seeing her baby in her mother's arms. Her little boy had taught her so much in the nine months of him within her womb and the one month of emerging into the world. 

Especially about motherhood. This motherhood had become a medicine for her own estrangement from her mother. She knew she would go to the end of the world for her little one. The baby had taught her about being a mother. 

Mayurakshi turned around and saw her husband running uphill in excitement. She smiled at his sight. She stood up and walked over to him. Shakra instantly engulfed her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry!!! I got stuck with the war and couldn't free myself from it." Shakra exclaimed, huffing in between. He pulled away and kissed her head. "Seems like someone made you brighter..."

Mayurakshi huffed, "Are you saying I wasn't looking beautiful before??" 

Shakra chuckled. "There isn't a time when I don't find you beautiful, bangaram, but you how they say that a baby brings a certain brightness? I was pointing to that?"

"If sleepless nights are your definition of brightness, sure!!!" 

"Sparrow, I enjoy being the source of your sleepless nights. That surely adds brightness to me. But I doubt if my baby can bring the same amount of sleeplessness that I can." 

Mayurakshi slapped his arm at his teasing. "Behave yourself!!! We're in a temple."

Madalasa walked over to the couple. "Kanna, see Nanna is here..." She cooed to the baby. He was about to touch the one-month-old baby when Mayura slapped his hands away.

"Wash your hands and arms first..." Shakra quickly washed his hands and arms at the temple tank and arrived back. 

Madalasa handed the baby to Shakra after Mayurakshi put her old saree over him as a uttariya. Shakra felt his heart beating loudly while the little boy was in his arms. The baby watched him with the big brown eyes he inherited from Mayurakshi. 

"Hi baby!! I'm your Nanna... I'm a little late to see you but now I'm here." Shakra told the baby. The baby turned to look back at Mayura, unfamiliar with the man holding him. That made Madalasa and Mayurakshi laugh. 

"He is Nanna ra..." Mayurakshi told her son. "You haven't even met your whole family yet. Now that your Nanna is here, we'll probably return to our home soon. Then you'll be meeting your Tathaiya and Nannamma soon." 

"But don't forget Ammamma, okay?" Madalasa interjected. 

"Arrey!! At least let him first recognize me..." Shakra complained to his mother-in-law. "Here my child doesn't recognize me and you're worried about him forgetting you.." 

"I have my set of problems, Shakra. I'm his Ammamma." 

Shakra smiled at his baby. "I know. This is the first time you are seeing me so it might seem like I'm a stranger but I'm your Nanna." Shakra took his baby downhill where all of his army was standing. Shakra pointed to Manas. "That is Manas. He's your Babai." Manas almost felt emotional seeing his friend's baby. 

Shakra began introducing everyone in the army to the little baby. "All of them are our family. They are our friends." 

"Everyone, meet my little boy." 

"Hello, Rajkumari..." They all began to make baby noises to get attention. After a while of curiously seeing everyone, the baby began to cry for his mother. 

Mayurakshi took him and rocked him a bit. "Em aiyyindi, kanna? Andaru manavalle ga?" (What happened, kanna? All of them are our own people.)

Being rocked a little by her, the baby stopped crying. 

After a few days, Shakra took Mayurakshi back with their baby getting a loving welcome by the Ambikapuram. The next day all of Ambikapuram was introduced to their youngest Prince Vishwajit. 

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So, I just found out that babies by the first month recognize their mother's scent. That's why when they are first meeting a new person, the person is draped in the baby's mother's old clothes or dupatta for familiarity. 

That is also why most baby swings are made from their mother's old sarees.