Page 14 of The Unwanted Husband
What was he doing in the house in the middle of the day?
Isha sensed something was off and headed downstairs to find the two kids on their high chairs and the entire kitchen area was a mess. Baby food was strewn all over and the nannies and other staff of the house were cleaning up after what seemed like the kids’ mess.
And the two kids were screaming on top of their lungs and Ashok was just not able to console them. It was worse than the melt down they had earlier that day and it was getting worse by the minute. She wanted to scream on top of her lungs to drown their voices out but she refrained.
It’s a good thing she had decided to never have kids of her own. Not after how she felt abandoned and alone after her parents’ accident, even though her aunt and uncle showered unconditional love over her.
Not wanting to be chastised by Ashok for not taking responsibility, she walked toward the chaos. He picked up one kid out of the high chair and glanced her way when she got closer.
Was he giving her a stink eye for not handling the situation? He better not.
He picked up one kid and managed to calm them down. She dreaded the idea of her picking the other one up from the chair. Unsure of how to proceed, she looked in the way of the nannies who were busy cleaning up the mess on the floor along with the other staff.
As if Ashok sensed her apprehension, he glanced her way before holding out the child in his arms. But the kid was not happy. Isha had not heard the kids talk but she swore the infant was saying, now repeatedly.
Ashok looked taken aback. “Vaish, don’t be a bad girl. Go to Isha auntie, please.”
Something about the way he spoke to the kid or how he held a child whose clothes had baby food all over while he wore a dress shirt. The very sight set off something within her, a sense of awe that she could not explain but she pushed it away to focus all her senses on the kid she was about to hold.
She awkwardly wrapped her arms around the kid who seemed to be calm. Her shirt got some of the food from the kid’s clothes but she was glad the kids were somewhat quiet. She watched Ashok take the other child.
“Clean up the room, we will take care of the kids’ bath.”
He started walking toward the stairs and Isha followed, unsure what she was supposed to do.
Go with the flow.She reminded herself.
As they went up the stairs, she noticed Ashok converse with the infant in his arms. She had no idea kids so young could be spoken to like they were to a grown up.
“What got into you guys today?” He chuckled and added, “Whatever you do, don’t scare your nannies away.”
To her shock the infant in her arms responded by saying something that she didn’t understand. Then the kid in Ashok’s arms said something that was more garble.
Isha had to be imagining because the two kids were taking turns to make random sounds that she could not understand. As they reached the top level of the house and made their way to the bathroom where there was a large tub, Isha noticed the kids had gone silent.
Maybe the idea of being in the water had calmed them. She waited holding the infant in her hands as Ashok put the kidin his arms in the water before reaching to take the other twin from her arms.
She was relieved to have the kid be taken off her hands but stood awkwardly unsure what else she was supposed to do next. She wanted to change out of her clothes but stayed put.
“Now what?” Ashok said, taking her by surprise.
What was she supposed to do?
It took her a moment to realize Ashok was looking at the kids and to her surprise the twins were looking right at her like she had taken their favorite toy away from them.
“Why are they looking at me like that?” she blurted, feeling rather uncomfortable with large round eyes staring at her.
“Beats me.”
One of the twins finally made a sound. And then the other kid made the exact same sound but she didn’t know what they were saying.
Isha looked at Ashok who had a smile on his face.
“What are they saying?” She had this weird feeling that the kids were saying something to her although it was impossible for the kids to even communicate with her.
“Who said that?” Ashok asked, looking at the kids.
And then again with those roly poly eyes they looked straight at her.
