A painful memory part 2

Read the first part of the story, here.

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My father had come home after a long day.

“Honey, I’m home” my father said.

My mother and I quickly gathered ourselves. My father made a presence after sometime in the kitchen.

“What happened?” He asked to both of us.

I replied “Nothing.”

He smelt something fishy. He noticed something that my mom was hiding behind her back.

“What’s that?” my father asked to her.

“It’s nothing, Manish” my mother replied.

He gradually went near her and extended his arm to see what she was hiding. He took the picture from her and stared at it for a while.

“Honey, are you serious?” he asked her.

“Yes, I told her the entire story” she replied. She couldn’t control her tears.

“Beta, you got to understand…whatever she did she had a reason” my dad consoled me.

“I know, dad. I know” I replied to him. I added “but I can’t even believe that I’m not your real daughter.”

“What? No, beta.” He added “Who says you are not my daughter? I have seen you grow over the years from a little kid to a mature woman and I can proudly say without hesitation that you are my one and only princess. I have always loved you.”

I was literally sobbing. My dad told me what I wanted to listen. “I love you too, dad” I said.

After a while we managed to lift ourselves from the pain and agony.

My dad said “Rishi was a great guy. I don’t know what happened to him suddenly.”

I said “So, you knew him…like personally?”

He nodded and said “Yes. I worked with him. He was a hard-working man. When your mother met me, he was facing a lot of issues in the industry. I worked as his personal secretary. The ongoing issues were taking a heavy toll on his personal life as well as his mental state. It was as if he had been depressed by it.”

My mom interrupted “then that day came when I told him that I was pregnant with you. He didn’t want the baby.”

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That day he was clearly annoyed with something. He came home and shouted at me without any reason.

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?” I asked him as he closed the door.

“It was bad. Okay?” He added “What do you want to listen, haa? That it was bad? That it was horrendous? That it was abysmal? Do you want to hear that?” he shouted at me.

“No, no. Just calm down.” I added “I know things haven’t been good lately but I’ll always be there for you.”

“Please just don’t irritate me” he blasted at me. “I’m so frustrated right now.”

I went into the kitchen quickly to fetch him some water. He calmed down after some time.

“Jaan, do you want to eat, now?” I asked.

“No, sweetheart. I don’t want to.” He added “and I’m sorry for the things I said before. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I added “I want to tell you something very important.” I had finally gathered the courage to tell him.

He nodded and said “Go on.”

I sat beside him and patted his back as he kept his hand on his head in disgust.

“I’m pregnant” I said.

“Really?” He replied in astonishment.

I nodded.

“How did this happen?” he asked.

“Well, we forgot to use protection. But aren’t you happy?”

“No.” He added “I mean you know what our financial situation is right now.”

“Yes. I know but we can manage. I’m planning on getting a loan. I have considered our options.”

“And since when did you know that you were pregnant?” he asked.

“Since a few days” I said.

“So, you are telling me now?”

“Yes. I thought today was the right time.”

“I know you are happy and even I am but right now I don’t think so I can afford to raise a baby” he said shamelessly.

“What? This is our baby. How can you say something like that?” I told him.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry” he said. He stood up and prepared to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?” I asked him. He didn’t reply.

“You can’t leave me like this? When are you coming back? Say something. Rishi…” I shouted at him hopelessly as he left me at the door in the middle of the argument.

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“And then he left?” I asked my mom.

“Yes. I tried to call him after some time. He was unreachable. I then called your dad to ask if he had come to the office. I told him to search for him. He tried to calm me down and told me that he would find him.”

My dad interrupted “and he was nowhere to be found. At first, I thought maybe he would return. But no. We also complained at the police station about his missing but even they couldn’t help us.” He added “It was our personal affair and they couldn’t do much if he had run away from home.”

My mother said “During all the time, your father and I became very close. I wanted someone, a fatherly figure to protect you and there he would be to take care of me.”

I was so enraged by what Rishi had done to my mother but equally happy with the way my mom and dad met each other.

I said “It’s strange, na. People just go away without even saying. Promises are broken in a flash.”

My parents nodded. They held each other’s hand. My father wiped her tears.

“Beta, your father was always my first choice after what had happened. I was ready to move on and he was there to support me through thick and thin” My mother said. She added “He has always been there for me.”

We dined after a while together. Everybody goes through pain, everybody has their problems and their stories but we find solutions to them. My mom and dad found each other when they least expected and that’s how life is ‘UNEXPECTED’.