Urmila's dream

A Surprise Arrival

The next morning Sita woke up early. So early that she found not only Mandavi but all her pets sleeping too. She looked out of the window and realized that the sun was not up yet. She made her way out of the room as quietly as she can to not wake up Mandavi and was delighted to see the palace decorated to its fullest to celebrate the birth of the little princess floral decorations adorned the hallway and their scent made the entire palace look like heaven. Sita could also smell the delicacies being cooked for the celebration. 

She turned to return to her chamber but just then heard her baby sister crying and immediately rushed to her mother's chamber where she found her parents, aunt and uncle trying to soothe the crying baby in vain. Janak was holding the baby and was slightly bouncing her in his arms in an attempt to soothe her. But the baby kept crying. Sunaina tried to soothe the baby too. But nothing worked. "Sunaina didi Maybe the baby is hungry," suggested Chandrabaga seeing that the queen was getting more and more worried with every passing second. "No Chandra I fed her like 20 minutes ago" she replied. "Maybe we should get the doctor to check on her then," suggested Chandrabaga.

Sunaina who turned around to call a maid saw Sita standing at the room's entrance. She was surprised to see Sita there so early in the morning as everyone thought the girls were still sleeping. A smile appeared on her face "Come in dear why are you standing there?" asked Sunaina but Sita did not reply. She walked in and sat beside her mother on the bed. She looked at her crying sister and then at her father. She was surprised because both her parents were so good with children. Her mom was especially good at handling newborns. In fact when her little sister Mandavi was born her mother was the only person who could get the baby to stop crying. So what could be wrong now? why is the baby crying even when mom is holding her? And why do they need to call the doctor? All these thoughts and questions were circling in her mind. "Why is the baby crying Pitashree?" She asked. She did not want her baby sister to cry not even for a second. Janak told her not to worry and calmly explained that newborn babies cry a lot for no reason at all. Janak's reply calmed Sita as she knew her father can never be wrong.

But the baby was still crying. So she gently touched the baby's hands. And then to everybody's surprise, the baby calmed down instantly " Seems like my sweet girl just wanted to see her big sister"Janak said smiling. "You naughty girl do you know how much you scared us," Chandrabaga asked the baby. she then turned to the queen and said " Didi I am sure our little princess will have all of us wrapped around her finger in no time" She said laughing everyone agreed and they were all willing to do anything to make their children's life happy as any parents would be.Now that the baby was calm and all the fuss was over the queen was much relaxed " What are you doing here this early dear? she asked site again. "Maa, choti maa said that we have to wake up early today for the celebrations but when I woke up nobody was there so I was walking in the corridors searching for someone when I heard the baby crying so I came here," she said"I said that to tease Mandavi dear" laughed Chandrabaga "come now dear let me get you back to your room it is too early dear you can sleep a little bit longer. I will wake you up when it is time. Saying so Chandra led Sita to her room and tucked her into bed. "But choti maa I do not want to sleep" protested Sita. "Sita I know you do not want to sleep and I also know that you are excited about the celebration but you have to sleep now because it is going to be a long day and you won't be able to enjoy the day to the fullest if you are tired," said Chandrabagaa. Just then a maid came running and informed her that Maharani Sunaina's parents have arrived to take part in the celebration. So she left hurriedly to welcome them.Sita was very delighted to know that her grandparents were there. She loved them so much. And they loved her to the moon and back. " My granddaughter is the luck of Mithila," Her grandmother said every time she saw her. She also cooked many sweets and snacks for Sita and Mandavi and told them great stories every time she visited. Her grandfather, on the other hand, was a man of few words. He never publicly showed affection but Sita knew that he loved her the most. He did everything according to her liking but never took credit for it. He was happy just to see them happy.She wanted to see them straight away but chose to stay back and let her grandparents rest before the celebration because she knew that they will be so tired after the long travel.Within minutes she dozed off to sleep because she did not sleep well the previous night partly due to the excitement and partly due to the noise made by the people to celebrate the birth of their little princess