Page 144 of The Circle of Exile
“Go, go, baby,” she pushed, trying to pull him up to his feet. He thumped back down on his bum, mouth pouted, eyes solemn on her.
“Arth, who is my big boy? Go to Baba. Go… Where is Baba?”
His face split into a grin and he turned his head to his father, letting out loud claps — “Bababa.”
Atharva’s face changed. His mouth dropped open.
Iram gasped — “Yes… Baba, go to Baba…”
“Bababababaa…” he banged his hands together, then pushed them down on the marble and banged harder. “Babababaaaa.”
“Arth, come on, baby, come on, where is Baba?” Iram grabbed him under the armpits and stood him up to his feet again, passing her index fingers into his fists. He pulled her fingers down with him as he went. THUMP.
“Oooof,” she huffed, glancing at the clock. “They will start coming for dinner, baby, come on. Now, look, where is Baba?”
Loud honks sounded one after another.
“They are here already,” Atharva turned and began to stride away.
“Bababaaaba!” Yathaarth got to his feet and started stumbling after him.
“Atharva!”
He glanced back and there it was — their son, using both hands to hold the floor and leverage himself down the step of their threshold, then breaking into a waddling run for his father, arms out to hold balance. Atharva’s arms opened and Yathaarth went right into them, squeaking, laughing, singing his name like some holy chant.
“There you go!” Atharva threw him up. “Good job, Dilbaro,” he pressed a noisy kiss into his neck. His eyes came to her and his brows rose.
“Why are you crying, myani zuv?”
“Huh?” She startled, realising her eyes were getting blurry. She rubbed them hard — “I’m not crying.”
“Zuvzuv is crying,” Atharva stepped inside the house, grabbing her hand and pulling her close. Instead of his mouth, he pushed another tiny mouth to her cheek and Yathaarth tried blowing bubbles like his father’s raspberries. She laughed, turning her head and kissing his smooth, round cheek.
“Close your eyes, close your eyes, kids!” Adil announced, alarmed, and they turned to the commotion on their threshold. Qureshi, Sarah, the kids, Adil, Amaal and Mirza.
“Want to see something fun?” Atharva quickly set Yathaarth on his feet and took his fists with his index fingers. Yathaarth walked a few steps to gasps. Atharva left his fists and he thumped down.
“Go ahead of him,” Iram directed. And Atharva rounded their son, waving at him and turning to leave the house. Yathaarth saw him stride out, blinked for a few seconds, then got to his feet and began waddling along. Loud claps reverberated from the verandah with hoots and shouts of encouragement just as Atharva turned and swooped him up again.
Iram teared up again.
They would have made two kids race for this.Hayat.If she were here… they would have both walked after their Baba.
“Hey,” Amaal found her as Atharva took the walking party outside, the men and Sarah following him. “You are crying?”
She sniffled, pinching her eyes clean.
“Don’t do that! You will smudge the mascara.”
“It’s waterproof,” Iram chuckled, turning away from the laughs and hoots outside to more demos, drying her tears in privacy.
“Iram,” Amaal came in front of her. “Are you not feeling well?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. I was thinking about her. She would have walked with him today. Who knows, walked faster. She weighed more than him when she was born, did you know that?”
Amaal’s eyes smiled, her hand coming to grab hers. They clasped together and Amaal squeezed. Iram smiled, shaking her head. “It’s been a while since I thought about her in one of Arth’s milestones. I used to, in the beginning, then consciously gave up, telling myself that I would be unjust to Arth if I drowned myself in sorrow for every happy moment of his life. I just couldn't help it today.”
“It’s alright,” Amaal squeezed her hand again. “You don’t have to feel guilty about it.”
