A Journey to Trust and Heal

18- Bloodline

We were on our way back to home after enjoying in the park with a sleepy Jay. He used all his energy there and now he is peacefully sleeping in his father's arms with his head reasted on Rishi's shoulders.

"You have got yourself a cute kid. How is it going for you and Nikhil? I mean this parenting and all, is it manageable?", I asked Rishi while walking.

He smiled softly at Jay when I called him cute and replied, "Yeah, he is indeed a cute kid. Well it is kind of tough but we are learning to adapt. The hardest point is to say him No when he makes puppy eyes. But at the end, every change, every adjustment is worth it. He is worth it".

"Look at you, your love for him is clearly shining through your eyes", I said having a huge smile on my face. There's something about kids that make your life so bearable and valuable.

"By the way, Jay calls you dad then what does he call Nikhil?", I asked curiously.

"He mostly calls me dad and Nikhil- Papa but sometimes he just calls us by our names", he said.

"By your names? You don't mind?", I asked raising my eyebrows.

He shrugged and replied, "His love and respect doesn't come in the words- dad and papa but from his actions. And he is still adjusting. It's not been long that we have adopted him, so it may take time for him to get fully used to addressing us as his fathers".

"I guess you are right, anyways who can get angry on such a cute kid even if it wasn't acceptable", I said looking at Jay.

"Your Mom would", Rishi commented with raised eyebrows.

"I am so sorry about her. She just....", I started apologizing on her behalf but Rishi stopped me saying, "It's fine. We cannot expect everyone to accept him. And you don't have to apologize for your Mom".

I still stared at him guiltily but stayed silent on the rest of the way.

                           ~~~•~~~

Rishi and Jay left after having lunch, promising to come back to pick Mom when she is ready to go back.

Mom and I sat down on the sofa talking about random things after seeing them off.

"Rishi is such a good guy. It would have been better if he would have been straight", Mom commented.

"Mom, what is your problem?", I asked incredulously.

Mom made a duh face and said, "If he was into girls then I would have married you off to him. Raghav is already funding us, if I got Rishi as our second son-in-law, my life would have been set".

I gave her an irritated look and told her, "First of all he is like my brother and secondly he is like 12 years older than me. So it wouldn't have been possible even if he was into girls. Please stop behaving like this and also check your behaviour around Jay".

"What did I do? I can't pretend to like him. Who knows whose son he is? Whose blood is flowing in his veins?", Mom said making my blood boil in anger.

"Definitely not a child of a criminal like me. And why does it matter whoever his birth parents are? He will grow with the values Rishi and Nikhil will give him. His upbringing and his own mindset matters, not his bloodline. Please let go of such Orthodox thoughts, it is becoming tough to be with you as days go by", I said angrily and left the room so as to not blurt out something in anger that I would regret later on.