To Where It All Began ✔

EPILOGUE

11:00 AM, 15th May 1995, Little Flowers Preschool, Mumbai

The stage curtain in the medium-sized auditorium rolled up on its own and the sounds of a cheerful melody became audible to the audience.

The Annual function of the school was being celebrated with the tiny tots from ages three to six. Solo dance, Group dance, rhyme recital, and many more. It was the last day for the children before the start of the summer vacation.

Amongst the audience sat a pregnant woman in her early thirties watching her four-year-old daughter dancing on the stage. As the function got over, she went backstage to get her little one. She had just joined the nursery around two months back and this was her first time performing on the stage.

As her eyes rolled around the crowd backstage searching for her daughter, tiny hands embraced her from the back all of a sudden, and the owner of the little arms mumbled in her sweet tone, "Mamma..."

She smiled and turned her face towards her daughter, "Vaani... You found your mother." She lovingly caressed her face and pulled her cheeks while she rotated her eyes trying to find someone, "Papa?"

Her mother gently smiled, "Vaani, papa had some very urgent work and had to go somewhere." She saw her daughter's face a little gloomy when she said that and fished out some of her favorite strawberry candies from her bag, "Eat this"

Vaani's eyes sparkled with pleasure as she popped one of the candies quickly into her mouth. Her mother held out her palm and Vaani wrapped her tiny fingers around her forefinger as they walked carefully out of the school entrance.

A huge playground was in front of the school and some of the parents were clicking photos or taking a stroll with their little ones as they walked out of the main gate. She turned her face towards Vaani, "Let's click some photos for papa"

Scurrying towards the garden, she started taking photographs of her daughter. A few moments later as she was keeping the camera in her bag, she heard the sobs of someone. Traversing her eyes in the direction of the sound, she saw the back of a little boy who was sitting all alone on a small bench in one corner of the playground.

She walked up to him while Vaani followed her mother. She saw the boy, slightly older than her own daughter, holding his glasses and crying. His bag was resting on his lap, and his eyes were a little sore from crying. He was wiping away his tears and runny nose at the same time.

She went up to him and leaning herself slightly forward, she asked, "Why are you crying, child?" Before he could say anything, Vaani offered him candy while her mother smiled at her gesture. The boy had stopped his cries by now and took the candy, while she continued, "Where are your parents? Why are you all alone here?"

With an unclear voice, he replied, "Mamma doesn't come back home, how much I call her or search for her. The new aunty in my house said that she is dead and will never come back." He had started crying again by now.

She pressed her lips tightly and wiped his tears with her hands, "Why are you crying, she is not gone anywhere." She sat on the other end of the bench, while Vaani sat next to her. Taking his little hand with her palm, she made him place it over the left side of his chest and spoke, "She is right, here. No one really dies, what happens is, God loves some people so much that he turns them into angels. The stars you see in the sky at night are all angels"

"Angels?" His eyes brightened up suddenly.

She laughed, "Yes angels, and they are always watching you from there. So, whenever you miss your mother, just keep your hand over your chest like this and look up in the sky at night. She is looking at you all the time, so if she sees you cry like this, won't she feel sad?"

As she was saying all this, she felt a quickening over her belly. She gritted her teeth slightly and there was another one. She smiled and held the hand of the little boy placing it over her tummy, "Wait, you will see a magic"

Vaani saw this and she too placed her hand over her mother's belly and there it was another kick. Both the kids chuckled gleefully while the boy asked, "Wow, aunty... This is really magic"

"No... No... It's not magic, it's a little baby inside, " Vani pouted her lips as she explained it to the boy who looked totally mesmerized.

Seconds later, they withdrew their hands, and she asked, "What is your name, kiddo?"

Before he could speak his answer, a man dressed in a white shirt and pants interrupted them, "I have been searching for you, Madam is waiting for you in the car." Judging from the dress, he was wearing, he looked like a driver. Sliding himself from the bench, he quietly went near him.

He turned his gleeful mellow face, "Bye, Aunty... My name is Shree-Kant." As they walked away, she wondered to herself, "It clinches my heart to see a child yearning for his mother so much", she looked at her daughter who was waving back at him, and thought again, "Shekhar and I are doing such a risky task, the only thing I am worried is about the future of my daughter and my unborn child."

Vani looked at her mother and declared, "I will give everything I have to my sister, my toys, my toffees, my story books."

"Sister? How do you know that the baby is a girl? What if it's a boy?" Her mother asked immediately.

Vani looked concerned hearing her mother, "No, it's a girl."

Her mother laughed listening to her words and her lips uttered a silent prayer, "Please protect them at any cost."

None of the four had the slightest idea of what the future had in store for them. A vicious cycle of destiny was going to bring them together but in a very harsh manner.

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