Fingers & Toes & Nose
She woke closer to 6 PM on April 16th on her first evening as Mommy
After a good 3 hours nap, the baby screaming hoarsely to be fed
The family had walked in and peeked and held and kissed and held and peeked...
R&B held her under some pretext or other those three hours
And husband and wife saw each other for the first time
He handed her, the baby, sitting down by her
She smiled weakly
"U won" she said through dry lips
She was hooked up to tubes and monitors, her face was pale, her ruby nose ring sparkled brighter under such a stark background
He felt it with his thumb... she held her daughter... and cried tears of joy "she is soo perfect"
Nivi stuffed her fist into her mouth and cried hoarsely
"she has five fingers in his hand, did u check her feet and hands?" she asked, sniffling letting a tear drop fall on her daughter
"I am told she does" he kissed her, and then his wife
"What? I am second now?" II accused
He kissed her fully on the mouth... "What do u think?" he whispered
"She is sooo precious, I mean how much hair does she have" II cooed, kissing the thick matte
"She is stunningly beatutiful" II whispered
"Like u" he said
And watched her blush...
"U must be a liar... as u say that to a post partum, bloated, ball of flesh" she smiled
A nurse walked in, R&B got off the bed
"Ready for the first feed?" she smiled
Another woman followed
"she is the lactation consultant" the nurse introduced
"I will wait outside" he said texting on his phone
"Dont go" II begged
"Umm.. I shud" he said embarrassed
The women spent an hour so with II teaching, coaching and helping
Nivi lay curled up on her chest, when Amma entered
"Paati vandriken" she said and began to cry
(Grandma is here)
II cried too... and held her arms out offering the baby, Amma received her and sat down on the couch
She spoke of all the people that have called texted and emailed Appa and her
"Amma Shravu baldie enge?" (where are they?)
"Baldie is too little, shravu was too shy to come" Amma chuckled
"I want to see Shravu and Nandu's reaction"
"Lasya is here" Amma said
"Sam too?" II asked
Amma nodded, the baby stirred and began to cry feebly again
"I cant seem to do this right" II cried
"Tch tch tch... dont cry, silly girl, wait a day or two and see how happy and well fed Nivi gets"
"What if she doesnt?" II panicked, gathering the baby, cooing to her, as she attempted to follow the instructions the expert taught her
"They said the first week or so until I get the hang of it I will be doing this every half hour even"
Amma nodded knowingly, helped her daughter gently
When Nivi appeared like she was getting what she wanted... they both relaxed
Amma smacked her gently
"Everybody is so professional and well qualified here, how can u even doubt it... I mean look at this suite,
its bigger than DII and Munirka, there are three bedrooms for us to stay the night, they wont let u go until Tuesday they say" Amma explained
II felt her belly churn as the muscles clenched
"Appa spoke with Ranjan ji, he is very adamant, he wants to take u to Malcha Marg, R&B romba pidivada kaarana irukkan (he is too stubborn too)" amma was unhappy
II quivered and groaned... imagining a life shackled to MM, dude wasnt going to let them out of sight the rest of his life
"Appa is shouting, saying, rendu maasathla avan kalambi poyiduvan Paris" (He will leave when he wants to)
II groaned, with no easy solution in the horizon, Nivi scowled frustrated, II looked up at her mother in despair
"I dont know ma... its not working" she cried
Amma rubbed the baby's cheeks... Nivi dozed, too tired to try...
"Paavam she is so fragile... I am so cruel" II cried
"Podi..." amma scolded
"Shud I do formula?" II panicked
"ISHITAAA" Amma scolded
II leaned back
Sam knocked and brought Lasya
"I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT!!... when I didnt see u for three days I knew u were going to pull a stunt, where did u get that creature from?
He even smelled like this room when he held me outside, great!!!" as Sam approached the bed
"Hair like me, fat like me, umm... not as pretty as me... how about we cut a deal lady, YOU can have HER, the tall man can have ME?" Lasya ordered
Amma grabbed her "thankfully"... she didnt have to get too close to the new creature
Sam pressed her lips on II's head and sobbed softly with gratitude "She has Ma's nose" "she is sooo beautiful" she sighed
Anupamaa
Pocket Mein Aasman
Cricket
