Chapter 31: Chapter 31
After a black out I open my eyes to the smell of disinfectants. Thankfully it wasn't a hospital unlike the previous times, I had such attacks. It was my room, my bed in my house. Liam was sitting beside me on a chair holding my hand. My body requires an immediate liver transplant for the amount of drinking I did in the last fifteen years trying to get away from the reminiscences of Christina, my beautiful wife but I'm against the surgery. Happiness has betrayed me over all my years of patience waiting for my wife to come back and now I have lost all my hopes on life.
What surprised me was that this time when I wake up from my bed, my son who is always calm and composed, had a monstrous irate on his features. Taking a heavy breath in an attempt to tranquilize himself he speaks to me in determination. "Dad I know I am not supposed to speak like this to my father but now I'm losing my fortitude by your insouciant actions. I already lost my mother when I was less than two years old and I cannot afford to lose my father too."
"Liam" I speak feeble reaching to his hand on my bed and shook my head in regret. "Dad, if you think there is no one in this world who requires you then you are wrong. If not for anyone, I want you, your presence in my life, to guide me, to be there for me in my difficult times because I need you and love you very much." He tells in an emotion I did not get to witness in all these years of bringing him up. "As a part of my wish you are going to agree with me on what I say for the next ten days because I have been your dutiful son for the last seventeen years." He tells me in a choking tone.
"Of course anything for my son...." I speak squeezing his hand that was resting in mine. He nods bringing out a sigh of relief looking at me. "Tomorrow we are leaving to New York. I have already spoken to sis about our arrival and she wants to pick us from the airport.
Two days later
It was after fifteen years, I step onto Newyork soil. An intuition of something good to happen occupied my heart. If not for anything at least I could take a look at my wife and daughter after all these years of living in hell.
"Hello big bro" Ria walks forward waving her hand to Liam in blue jeans, a baby pink top and then her eyes land on me in an emotion I couldn't plumb. A warm feeling filled my lungs as I smile at my beautiful daughter who was walking towards me. "Dad" she acknowledges me in a whisper and hugs me tight as she reaches me. Tears well my eyes having my daughter in my arms after fifteen long years. Running my hands softly on her back I bring her from my chest and kiss her forehead. "Princess how are you?" I ask her guarding every essence of her entwining features in adoration.
She had the same Gray eyes as mine but the brunette curls of her mother. Placing my hands on her soft cheeks I kiss her head and tell her. "Princess, daddy missed you so much. There is not a single day when I haven't thought of you, so many things that I want to talk to you making up for the lost times now that we met each other." She then smiles cheerful. "Dad I wish to spend my complete day with you."
Jumping in air to reach the hair of Liam as she was much shorter than him she asks. "Isn't it the thing that I did to you when I was seven months old, bro? Big or small I am always going to have your hairs in my hands. She tells him in a tease. "Oh really, let us reach home and see who is going to win this game, sis." Liam tells Ria and pulls her closer to him with his hands on her shoulder. I was the silent spectator in smiles enjoying the sibling love. It was the moment I wanted to live about my children since the time I had the recollection of my memory after the mishap.
Ria looked exactly like me except for her hair. My son was also my replica except for his eyes that he inherited from his mother. I take my bath, dressed in cotton gray pants and a black T.shirt to reach the kitchen with a thought of cooking something for me and my kids. But the delicious smell of mouth watering dishes welcomed me before hand. I see my daughter bringing out a roasted turkey from the oven while Liam was going playful with her. With a concentration of a scholar he holds the cheeks of Ria in between his fingers and was applying white sauce above her lips like a moustache. "Sis, you look more beautiful now." He looks at her in an accomplished smile and winks.
My daughter pouts and runs behind her brother holding a sauce pan while Liam runs around the kitchen trying to escape her hits."Children do you require my help in cooking?" I voice out for their attention while controlling my laughter. "Dad you need to rest and relax. I will do everything required in the house." Ria walks me to the front room handing me a book of Roald Dahl one of my favourite authors.
She brings a shawl and covers it around me. "It's too cool here. I don't want you to fall sick dad..." I pull my daughter to my lap. Though she is sixteen years old, she will always be my little princess. I kiss her cheek and hug her to my chest. "Am I not the one who is bestowed with the affection of dad?" He pouts like a school boy of ten standing in front of us with folded hands to his chest. Ria pulls out her tongue to her brother and the cat and mouse chase starts again. I shook my head enjoying the drama going on in my house after years of silence. Acting a blind eye I adjust my glasses to read the book in my hands.
Later during the day all of us have a delicious lunch prepared by my daughter. As I was about to have a short afternoon nap, Ria comes back to my bedroom with a glass filled with water. "Daddy it is time for you to take your medicines." She hands me the pills with water glass in her hands. Liam tails his sister with a blood pressure apparatus.
Though I haven't been blessed with the best marital bliss my kids are gems who for sure are going to take care of me in my old age unlike many unfortunate parents. I close my eyes in contentment and fall asleep. The night I explain Ria everything that went on between me and her mother after the episode of Amaira. Thankfully she understood me better than Chris and I was happy for the positive outbreak in my life after many years.
****
She is as beautiful as I had left her fifteen years back. My legs begin to lose their balance and fingers to tremble as my eyes catch hold of the arresting beauty in front of me. She is like always - strong and determined yet the attraction between us rests intractable even after one and half decades. Not caring about her attitude I pulled her in my arms and kissed her slow, long and passionate.
The desire between us was overwhelming and in a few minutes both of us were naked on the bed. It was incredible we had the same longing and hunger that we had when we were young. Thankfully children came home after we were out of the bed.
Christina was a controlled and a self restrained woman. Probably it was her strength to win over her problems, always stolid and imperturbable. She never ventilated her emotions in front of anyone. The moment Liam told her about my health she looked at me phlegmatic and pressed hard the tips of her fingers on the table that slowly turned white.
It was the only indication after studying every iota of her in detail that told me she was bothered and worried. Not a word falls out of her lips or least an eye contact between us. It was just silence in the room except the tick-tock sound from the wall clock. After observing us astonished for a few more seconds children went away inside Ria's room leaving us in our own suspense bubble.
Christina was never the person to disclose her feelings. She is invariably fatalistic, forbearing and unflappable but I was happy to note, after everything that happened between she still had emotions for me.