A/N-Fluff piece! I hope you enjoy it. Those who want PMs to the rest of my works please leave a comment in my index
Nixie's Index of Works
Jagya Changes Nappies
"Sssh...Sssh"
Jagya rocked the baby back and forth as he desperately tried to quiet the crying child down "How about I sing you a song?" Jagya pleaded with the child
Mannu unfortunately took that as a cue to demonstrate his vocal skills by opening his mouth and screaming at the top of his voice
Jagya jumped and frantically ran out of the school hall. Outside he shifted the child in his arms and tried to assess the reason for his sudden outburst of tears 5 minutes ago
" Ssh... Mannu you have to be quiet, otherwise your Mamma will come running out and we don't want that do we? Mamma is studying very hard for her exams and we both want her to pass with flying colours which is not going to happen if we keep disturbing her, so Shhh now"
The child quieted down for a moment before his big black eyes again filled with tears
Jagya was desperate and for the first time in his life at a loss at what to do. He grabbed the bottle of milk and held it to the baby's lips but Mannu merely spat it out , a fine spray of milk hitting Jagya's face. He then tried rattling his keys which had always worked but today Mannu remained unimpressed.
Jagya tried singing but that only sent the child into a bigger fit of tears. Jagya didn't blame him( His singing skills had sent even Dadisa out of the room with a headache)A story was met with a blank stare . The prospect of a bike drive was treated with disdain. By the time Jagya had taken him into the small school garden, Mannu was orchestrating a full blown opera
Jagya gazed helplessly around him. The child wasn't just upset he was also angry. It felt like he was trying to communicate something to Jagya, which he couldn't understand. He prayed to the Gods to send someone with a little more common sense and experience in the baby department to help him
Thankfully, they did
"Anandi!" he exclaimed gratefully "I need your help"
He was so grateful for her presence that he decided to overlook the fact that her lips were twitching and she was clearly shaking with suppressed laughter. He supposed he did look a funny sight in a shirt stained with baby's drool striving to hold the aforesaid baby in his arms as he threw the Tantrum of all tantrums
" He has been crying for the past 10 minutes and I can't figure out what is wrong, and if I don't figure out what's wrong Ganga will hear and she will come out running and I don't want her to come out running..."
" Jagya slow down" Anandi cut him off reassuringly
"Now, have you fed him?"
"Yes" he said frantically trying to stop Mannu from somersaulting backwards
"Have you tried to amuse him?"
" Yes!" Mannu had now graduated into acrobatics
" Have you changed his diapers"
"Ye...What!" Jagya turned so fast his neck cricked
" Have You Changed His Diapers" Anandi repeated again slowly, unable to suppress a laugh at his slack jawed face
Jagya didn't even realize his mouth was open until something buzzed inside it. He coughed and spat out an enterprising fly before resuming his staring match with Anandi
"Well then" she twinkled" I'll leave you to it"
Horrified he opened his mouth only to find his voice had deserted him. Probably because of the singing. He cleared his throat and tried again
"Anandi"
"Yes Jagya?" she asked demurely
" Would you...I mean could you?"
She laughed and said "Oh no Jagya, I couldn't possibly think of depriving you of that pleasure" before sashaying away leaving him struck dumb
"Oh and Jagya" she said innocently, turning to look at him
" You've got milk on your face"
*************************
Jagya cursed the entire female race as he dug through Mannu's baby bag searching for the required item.
"They surround and smother you when you don't need them but when you do? Leave you with the devil, that's what they do" he thought savagely before Mannu's cries spurred him on to find the...diapers
He finally unearthed one at the bottom of his bag . Unfortunately he had no idea as to how he was supposed to use them
" I don't suppose you know how this works do you buddy?" he asked Mannu
Mannu stared back , his eyes equally clueless
Jaya sighed "That's what I thought"
"So what do I do now ?"
Mannu picked up a piece of pink plastic from the bag and handed it to Jagya, giving him a toothless grin
Jagya couldn't help grinning back and started to twist the pink plastic into a miniature balloon as was expected of him before he saw what it was. The Pampers cover. With Instructions
Letting out a whoop of relief , he grabbed Mannu and threw him up in the air. Mannu laughed along with him, equally delighted with his find before he saw that it wasn't going to be used as expected by him. Instead it was being smoothed out and placed reverentially on a nearby bench and his caretaker was carefully concentrating on it. He squawked in protest
" I know, I know, no balloons from his. But this piece of paper which you were so smart to find is right now worth its weight in gold. I promise you I'll make you a dozen balloons once we get home" Jagya told him in an aside, his mind still grasping the workings of this thing
Mannu accepted this and settled back in his crib. After all he had a more pressing need below right now
2 minutes later Jagya was leaning back on his knees admiring his handiwork. He had managed to remove the messy diaper(Ugh!) and put on the new one successfully. Mannu was now lolling back in his crib, gurgling his approval. Jagya grinned at him
" Not so bad, huh?"
Mannu laughed and clapped his hands
Jagya laughed back and scooping him up in his arms, set off into the school. Mannu happily complied this time
Staring at the boy, Jagya felt a rush of affection overwhelm him. He had always been fond of Mannu, but right now he realized that this child meant the world to him. He would give up everything to keep him safe and happy. Nothing and nobody could stop him from loving the baby and protecting him
Mannu nestled into his arms as they approached the school window. They could see Ganga inside, crawled up in a corner, her tongue poking out, brow furrowed in concentration as she pored over her book
" There's your Mamma" he told Mannu softly. Mannu gurgled happily but didn't make any other noise, content to watch like him.
" She looks very fierce doesn't she?" he asked , his mouth turning up at the determined seriousness with which Ganga was tackling her 7th standard textbook
Mannu too seemed to find it amusing as evinced by the appreciative noise he had just made
Jagya cuddled the child and said
"She's going to make us very proud, Mannu-Very Very Proud. Someday you and I are going to stand on the sidelines and cheer her on with all our might. I just know it"
Mannu gave a tiny snore
Jagya grinned at that and slowly whispered into his ear
"I'll always be there for you both buddy, I promise"
Pati Patni Aur Panga
