Tennis or not...
He noticed his daughter was in love... with reading, she didnt look up from the book until he nudged her to see whats going on outside the window
He animatedly explained a scene to her from his last visit to Stockholm
R&B was wearing his ear buds he couldnt actually listen to what was being said
His wife texted "Dont be mean OK?"
She had turned into a worrier... from a warrior
When paused at the Safdarjung intersection he texted back
He sent a half smile
"Free up next Sat and go play tennis da? please?" she got bolder
"I cant push stuff out so soon II" he argued
She didnt text back
"Dadddee" he heard faint
He pulled his plug out, and looked up at the rear view mirror
"Can I go to Jor Bagh-Golf Links neighborhood fete?" she asked softly
He wanted to say no
He shifted in his seat
"Umm, does Amma know?" he asked
"No... Gregor JUST asked me" she said smiling shyly
"Well.. the kid needs to abandon school and turn into a social coordinator, tennis game with dad, Swedish mid summer with Mom and the neighborhood block party" R&B thought to himself
They pulled up by Greg's house
It was a fantastic neighborhood where almost all homes were either already remodeled or in the process... trying to shed their 1970s 1980s look
Gleaming chrome and glass greeted visitors at most
This house was no different, much smaller than MM
He got off his car, Greg held the door for Nivi
"U can leave ur book in the car"
"Ofcourse! so he can have u all to himself" R&B grunted
The gate opened and Greg's Dad walked out, ready to go out for a jog
"Oh! Hi!! This is great" he greeted warmly
"Hi! Vinod" R&B muttered
The kids were inside, R&B didnt want to go in
He was forced to now
"As u can see I am working on my fitness to beat u at the tennis game"
They talked... well Vinod talked for 30 or so minutes
He finally got his daughter back
"Will I see u again?" Gregor asked Nivi
"Daddee after picking out sequins for the lehanga Amma said I could come back"
"How about we just say "I'll try?" he coached his daughter
She didnt want to disapooint the twerp
"Umm.. I will come... mostly" she reworded it
He wanted to hoist her and take her back to the car and drive off and never come back
"U cant date until u are 30, u know that dont u?" he whispered
Nivi paused almost as if she heard it
He drove to Shabad quietly as she read in the back, II insisted she wear a salwar or a chudidar on days she had to sit on the floor cross legged
She wore a deep blue cotton hand embroidered kurta with a ivory chudidar, her long hair neatly braided the short curls around her face tucked back behind her ears
II let Nivi do what she wanted with her hair usually when she was home, but when it was time for classes, it was tied away
She was tall for 10, Vinod's Swedish wife had commented on how tall he was and how tall Nivi was, Nivi promptly pointed out that II was almost 5'9"
Sahana only seemed to spread sideways
II's fave pastime was to have the baby sit on the rug and watch her fall sideways or back, with no center of gravity she was a blob of jello
"Rakshasi" she would hiss, squishing the fat folds
"People dont believe me when I say u are only breast fed" "My own lil blob of jello"
Sahana was a cuddler, as II snoozed she lay on her belly and did tricks with her arms and legs
He often found II on the first floor lounge, on the floor sprawled with a dozen cushions around her, Sahana's "real world toys"
Kitchen utensils, her brother's mechanical set... wood blocks... she hated barbies
Unless it was time to sleep, she had a ragged Ann... she was quite literally ragged
With one arm hanging loose as the twins had fought over her one afternoon
She made fun of how fat Sahana was, he wasnt amused, he would tell her
"U are cruel" he would say
"Paar nee ivala... I think she will be 10 and 20 inches tall" II would laugh hysterically
He was glad nobody was going to make him choose his fave kid
Phew!!
He ADORED all of them
The boys reminded him of himself
Terrifying!
R&B got goosebumps... he pulled around to the Gurudwara
Nivi picked up her "shabad bag" and stepped down, he held her waist and set her down
She squirmed
"I am a big girl" she claimed
He kissed the top of her head
The granthi and the employees greeted him in Punjabi, and chatted with him in Punjabi
Nivi watched curiously
He went back to his car and picked up the white handkerchief II had placed on the passenger seat, and covered his head, his daughter was in a quiet corner, her dupatta draped over her head
Listening carefully
He sat 20 feet away, and listened to her chant first and sing later
Her voice was husky soft like his
Like if u dont use it much it sounds like a whisper
The granthi corrected errors when she attempted to sing the 3rd song with mistakes despite II's strict order not to try it
She darted a secret look towards his way, to check if he noticed that
He half smiled
He did his email, and IM/chatted with Sukrit
When Nivi was done at 4, the granthi walked over and appreciated Nivi's sincerity in practising and listening skills
They drove back to Sector 1 to paatu mami's house after he bought her a burger french fries and a milk shake at Mc Donald
She told him about his History Teacher and his animated way of explaining Mughal architecture
"Amma will scold me if I make fun of the teacher" she said softly
He reached and held her hand and squeezed
"Amma said u protected Sahana when she broke Ved's hot wheels car?" he asked deeply
She was too shy to acknowledge "She is only a baby" she offered her defense
"U are too wise, do u know that?" he sighed
"Amma says "I scare her"" Nivi chuckled
"I get how u must do that" he chuckled too
His wife was so eager to please, she sometimes chose pleasing people over doing the "right thing"
At the paatu Mami's house he was in the same room where she sang, he noticed how Nivi's pronounciation of some Sanskrit words were exactly like how II did it
The Mami spoke sternly in clear Tamil
Nivi responded softly in fluent Tamil
"Amma innikkum student, kettaya?" (ur Mom is still a learner) "Pidikale pidikale sollindu dino paaduvo" (she will claim not to like Carnatic but will practice earnestly) the teacher said graciously
Nivi smiled wickedly, she had overheard Amma argue with Rohini Patti (Mrs Iyer) and how she got a dressing down from Patti
The teacher turned to R&B "She is a good listener" she said smiling
R&B nodded.. she sang out loud, throwing her voice, eyes closed, and lost in the words
It was hard to believe she was only 10.
When she was done she turned to look at him, he smiled
When they got home after 6,
The boys were in the lawn Ranjan throwing the American football at them
They ran up to his car, when he opened the door and handed them the Mc Donald's bag and the milkshake cup holder, they were overjoyed
"Sahana ke liye laaya?" Ranjan asked
R&B chuckled
"Yep, triple cheese" he lied
Nivi showed Ranjan the song Paatu Mami wrote today
"Wah ji wah" he nodded
II lay curled up in bed Sahana sat by her falling as usual, sitting up to play with II's phone
"OH GOOD!! FINALLY... I thought u were never coming!!" Sahana chattered like sputtering mustard seeds
"I hear the boys downstairs, but she wont sit up and feed me, I can go have a good time"
He set his half empty soda cup on the bedisde stand, Sahana shrieked, he reached and grabbed it, filled the straw and released it in her mouth
She choked and coughed and LOVED IT
Wanted more...
II lay on her back and smiled
"Shes a bhooki thing"
He slid in by her
Gently sliding over her and pushing
Sahana played with the straw
"U smell like fries" she licked his jaw
He kissed her hungrily
"And taste like Coke" she gasped as he fed himself on her hungrily
His hand darting under her tee
"Aval enge?" (where is Nivi?)
"Downstairs" he whispered, as focussed as Sahana in pursuing what he wanted "gorging on McD's" he explained
"Podi..." II cooed to her daughter as her daughter approached with mouth open.. mother and daughter kissed each other, he grabbed Sahana and crushed her rubbing his stubbly face on her cheek
NOT A WORD... NOT A WHIMPER she was too busy chewing on his pocket button
"Shes not complaining" he scoffed
"Good for her" II said cynically
He grabbed her as she tried to dodge..
"Iru da" she dodged
They wrestled and toppled Sahana over she saw R&B's ear buds pop out of his shirt pocket and slid under her Daddee and grabbed it drooling
"She is very democratic... she loves plastic straws as much as plastic earbuds" II groaned
Their daughter sucked on the cord, soothing her fat swollen gums, drooling a river
They made out for a good 20 minutes and when Sahana began to moan for food he cursed and lay back down pulling II on top
"How did we end up having FOUR?" II whispered on his cheek
"Sunday afternoon sex, I bet.." he said agonized
Sahana climbed over II's back sucking on her tee, as her husband lay beneath her nibbling on her neck
"So did u agree for the tennis game?" she asked sliding back down gently beginning to feed her daughter
He yawned... and groaned
"I am leaving u if dont befriend that family da"
He chuckled
"Do I get the kids?" he asked
"PAAVI" she cursed
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