Picture Perfect Family

Kavya is giggling her way to glory while talking over the phone and Kamini shouts from the other room-
"Kavya!! Put the phone down. NOW!!"
Kavya, unwillingly obeys the orders. Kamini feels it that she has never been like this, she never stepped into anyone's personal space. She remembers when she was in love for the first time, she was only 22 yet she wasn’t as possessive as she is today about Kavya. Kamini can just not stand her talking to Varun. Kamini is a single parent, she got Kavya home when Kavya was only 3 days old. Kamini can still visualize exactly how the cute-lil-creature looked. She got her home after a huge torment, a huge tussle with hubby, Murli. Murli and Kamini were together just for the heck of living together. She doesn’t remember even one day when she loved him, not even once did his looks brighten her day, not even once did she feel that she was his "wife"--the life partner. She accepted the decision that her parents took for her. Now, when she looks back, she cannot take it anymore. She decides she needs a reason to live. She had already deserted her parents for having messed up her life. She can never love this so-called husband of hers. And there was no one else who could be a reason enough for her to live. Kamini thought for over a year and decided to get home a reason to live. She goes ahead and adopts a child from CRY. Oh Gosh!! How difficult was it for her to convince that she will be able to take care of the three day old. Now, she had a three day old in her lap. They say her mother died on the operation table and no one had even the slightest of an idea as to who the father was, so the poor child was sent to this orphanage. At the same time Kamini visited the orphanage. She just could not take her eyes off the child and decided to adopt her. After all the legal hassles she happens to become the girls legal "MOTHER". The girl is named Kavya and she becomes Kamini reason to live. In these four years Kamini's life has changed a lot, now she is a divorcee, a successful entrepreneur and a darling mother of a sweetheart angel. Kavya is the world to her. Kamini and Kavya are the best buddies, partners in all mischief, each other's parent........... everything that we can think of. "Ring-ring" The phone rings again, Kamini picks it,
“Hello!" she says with a smile.
"Namaskar"...."Can I talk to Kavya please? If you don’t mind?" "No you cannot!! You are my friend, better talk to me."
Kavya held her hand and kissed it...
”Mama please lemme talk, please please please."
Kamini passed the phone over, she sits on the couch watching the TV."Yippee!!' She hears Kavya and smiles. The first time when Kavya met Varun, she told Kamini
"Mama I didn’t like this friend of yours, he just doesn’t let me talk."
Kamini smiled. She always felt there was something peculiar about the two of them. Kavya had the same eyes as Varun, the looks penetrated right into your heart and the innocence was so visible. She too will always mess up when talking about technical things however when talking about creativity, this chit of a girl had a collection of 384 paintings and 23 poems to her name.And always Kamini felt her poems always had a tragic end like Varun's stories. Once when Varun visited Delhi and stayed with them for a few days, the entire day both of them were together and didn’t even care for her. For the first time, Kamini was jealous. Three days he stayed there and Kavya only talks of Varun thereafter. Varun's seventh visit at her place, within three months time, and Kamini decided. She went into Varun's room looked for the comb and got a strand of his hair and then along with Kavya's hair took it to the forensic experts.
"Two days" said the forensic expert.
It was really difficult for Kamini to wait for 48 hours. She somehow manages to wait. After two days, she had the reports in her hands and yes her doubt was right. Kavya and Varun shared the same gene pool. Kamini smiled in dismay, “How I knew it." she thought. That day Kamini was insecure, how could she let Kavya go, she was her world, her only reason to live, the only reason for her to smile. When she reached home, she saw Varun and Kavya sitting on the couch, watching "The tom and Jerry show" and laughing. Somehow, Kamini did not like that. She snatched the remote from Kavya, switched the TV off, picked Kavya up from Varun's lap and locked her up in her bedroom. Varun was astonished, spell bound he had no idea of what to say.
"What happened....."
He couldn’t even complete his statement and saw Kamini staring at him. He got the message. He stood up, walked into his room, changed his dress, packed his bag, called up his travel agent and flew to Bangalore by the very next flight.
Four hours later, Kavya gets up from the armchair, goes to Kavya's room only to find her in high fever. Kamini was scared. The doctor said
“It’s nothing physical; she has had an emotional shock. She needs affection and not medicines. Medicines might not help."
In despair, she picks up her phone, "Hello! I m sorry Varun. I was really selfish and behaved in a real bad manner. Can you please come back?". "Yes I definitely can and I want too as well. I can do anything for Kavya. But I think I shouldn’t. And that’s it. End of discussion babes."
Kamini hates herself for the way she behaved.
"IT HURTS TO SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE HAPPY WITH SOMEONE ELSE, BUT IT KILLS YOU IF THE PERSON YOU LOVE IS UNHAPPY WITH YOU"
Kamini saw the saying on the wall, "how true" she said to herself. She could not stand it any further. She picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Hi! I need two tickets for Bangalore, yes Kamini age 35 and Kavya aged 4. ............. As soon as possible, when is the next flight...... oh great!! Thanks. Yes I ll pay it online give me two minutes the money will be in your account."
Kamini rushed to her room.
"Geeta can you please come here and help me with packing."
The mistress comes and helps Kamini in packing. Three hours later Kamini and Kavya are in air, Kavya still has a 103 degrees Celsius temperature. At 6:30 am the flight landed in Bangalore.
"Hi! Can you meet me at the Bangalore central in about an hour from now??" Asked Kamini.
"Thanks."
She said and took a cab. In the cab she saw Kavya's weak face, dark circles around her eyes, the pale weak face. How she hated herself for being so mean. She touches her forehead. She is not sleepy but too weak to even open her eyelid. She bends down and kisses her forehead. Tear rolled down the cheeks of our strong women. Now she is at Bangalore Central waiting for him to come. Today she has come here to hand over all her property to someone else. She is going to lose her life to someone today, her heart is pounding. She is going to hand over this property to someone who doesn’t even know the treasure is his. She saw Varun's bike stopping there at the entrance.
"How I wish time comes to a standstill" she thought.
She wanted to scream "I cannot part with her, she is my life, she is MY daughter." He walked closer, she is shivering. She might just fall. He held her hand."Hi Kamini! You… here what a pleasant surprise."
Without saying anything Kamini feels she can’t take it any longer.
She says “I want to tell you something...".
"Yeah! I am all ears, tell me".
"You and Kavya share the same gene-pool, she is YOUR daughter." Her throat choked, her eyes blurred, she could not talk further. He said “Do you think I didn’t know that??” He paused for a second and said, “I can’t talk in scientific terms like you…… share gene pool and all. I am an emotional person. What I can tell you is I always felt there was a strong bond between me and Kavya, I felt she was MINE!!. My heart told me that.”
She could not reply.
He said “But I m not so mean to take Kavya off her mother, her best friend.”
He added- “I am sure she cannot live without you. She needs you on every step of her life. And you need her too.”
Both of them kept quiet couldn’t say a word. Kavya looked at them and came running. She stretched her arms and put her arms around both their legs. Both of them bend down and hugged her.
Kamini knew what she had to do.
“Hey baby! How are you?” Asked Varun.
“I m good, you know my mama loves me so much” and she winked at Kamini.
Kamini smiled. “Varun I don’t think I need a husband or you need a wife but I know for sure Kavya needs a father and a mother.”
Varun looked at her. He was surprised.
She explained. ‘ Don’t worry we will just live in the same house for this girl. No commitments for each other. I am sure she will be happy. And I can do anything for her happiness.”
Varun smiled and said “And I can do everything for your happiness. You have always been an ideal human being I always looked up to.”
“Will you give me one chance to prove my worth to you as well?”
“Again, no commitments, we won’t be man and lady, but we will be her parents.” He smiled.
Three hours later, they were in a plane on their journey back home. Kavya had her head in Kamini’s lap and was holding Varun’s hands. A picture perfect family.