CHAPTER 6
Later that day, she wandered downstairs. With every step, the kids’ voices grew louder. They were in the large open family room playing with their caretakers. As she got closer, she noticed one kid was loudly banging on a drum that lit up with every beat and another kid was playing with a big car.
Both the kids stopped what they were doing and looked at her, making her freeze on the last stair.
She had no idea why they were looking at her with their big round eyes.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do so she stood looking at the two kids.
Surprisingly, none of their nannies were around.
She stepped off the last stair and looked around for the two hired help who have been taking care of the kids. If only she had paid more attention, she would know the names of the nannies to call out to them. A sudden movement in her peripheral view made her look to her right and she froze.
The kid who was playing with a car was now crawling toward her, a surprisingly familiar look in their eyes. It took her a moment but she recognized the expression. It was a look she had seen in her brother’s eyes growing up, one filled with joy and affection.
Isha suddenly felt a spark of joy in her heart. A sudden surge of affection rose for the child and it surprised her. How could she feel such a sudden connection for a little kid?
The kid stood up from the crawl and started walking to her. Another surprise because she didn’t realize the kids could walk. How did she miss that?
The kid held the small car in his hand and held it out to her as he got closer.
She suddenly found herself smiling at the child.
It had been a week since a smile surfaced and she felt the weight lift off her shoulders.
It felt wrong to feel joy but she knew she had to learn to find those moments of happiness.
The young kid held the car he was playing with, out to her.
“Oh, nice car,” she said, taking the toy from the kid. “Thank you but you should play with it.”
Isha tried to hand the small toy back to the kid but he just stood looking at her, the same adorable look that reminded her of her brother. “You are so cute, you know that?”
The little boy, as if in response to her words, dropped the toy car on the floor making it shatter.
“Oh no,” she said looking at the car that lay shattered on the marble floor.
She knelt to the floor to pick up the pieces but in a flash the kid took off towards the wide-open door. She froze again watching the kid run away. When did the crawling baby learn to run so fast?
“Stop,” she called out after the baby as she ran behind him, fighting her body that would not move as fast as she could. Her brother ran track at school and was a champion and his kid was running like him and she could not keep up just like their childhood days.
“Ravi, stop,” she shouted, wondering why she was calling her brother’s kid by that name. That’s because she could not remember the kid’s name.
She kept screaming out her brother’s name but the kid would not stop. He ran past the open door, down the long driveway and then was running right into the busiest traffic she had seen in the neighborhood.
“Ravi, no!” she screamed over her lungs at the child that was getting away.
“Monisha!” The familiar voice and the way her name was said made her eyes flash open.
A nightmare?
She had nightmares for years after her parents died and hadn’t had one in over a decade.
“The baby,” she whispered, looking in the direction of the kids’ room. She sat up, her back against the head board as he turned on the bedside lamp. Her heart was still racing from the fear of her not being able to stop the kid from getting away and running right into the busy traffic.
“They are sleeping.” He handed her a glass of water and that was when she realized the guy was just wearing a pair of cotton pajamas and was bare chested.
Was she screaming so loud he had to rush to her?
Isha was suddenly embarrassed. “I…I’m sorry…I woke you.”
He nodded in response and he stood looking at her.
She looked away from him and her heart was still beating rapidly and she could still feel the fear gripping her body. As if she needed to address the strange feeling that was looking, she pushed aside the thin sheet that was layered over her body and got out of bed.
She had taken a good few steps before she realized she was only wearing a thin night shirt that barely covered her butt. Too late to go grab a pair of pants.
“Monisha, where are you going?”
“To see them.” There didn’t seem to be any other way to make the strange feeling go away.
“You mean Vish and Vaish?” he asked, following behind her.
Vishruth and Vaishnavi were the names of the twins. But she could not believe their names did not occur to her in her scary dream. She was about to turn the knob on the door when she felt his hand over hers in the dark.
“Slow down,” he whispered.
She nodded and he let her hand go. She slowly opened the door and entered the room with two cribs.
One of the nannies who was sleeping to one side of the room, moved in her sleep and sat up.
Isha waved her down and approached one of the cribs.
She could not tell which one of the kids was the boy but she just looked at the sleeping babies and felt at ease.
She gingerly stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind her softly. She found Ashok standing outside the room as if waiting for her.
Somewhat embarrassed by having woken him up, she didn’t make eye contact. Thankful that the house was only dimly lit when she had such limited clothing on, she mumbled a ‘Good night’ and slipped away into her room.
Hours later, she lay in bed, scared to fall asleep and also confused about what happened. Since the time she was told by Ashok that she needs to be around the kids, she had attempted twice to be around them but barely for a few minutes each time and she had such a horrific dream.
What should she expect if she spent more time?