http://binagupta.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/05/crossing-over-a-short-fiction-story.htm   (Part 1)

http://binagupta.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/05/crossing-over-a-short-fiction-story-part-2.htm


Crossing Over – Part 3
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

Sonia and Billy enjoy a blissful married life.  This was mostly
uneventful except at times it was rocked by the usual minor quarrels
 And subsequent patch ups.  The main fly in their marriage ointment were
Sonia’s parents who like any other normal wannabe grandparents were always
Obliquely nudging them for a grandchild.  Sonia and Billy wished to have a
Child as well but were waiting for the period of mourning to pass and also wanted
To prepare themselves emotionally and on a practical level as both led very busy lives

Five years had elapsed and Maggie’s 5th death anniversary was the following week.
Billy and Sonia decide to take a break from their busy schedules and have a small
2 week vacation in Goa and pay their respects at the parents’ graves and visit 
numerous friends and cousins. 

Goa is vibrant as usual and they shed their harried work skins and fall in with the
Happy go lucky mood of the place.  They walk on the beach hand in hand, collect
Shells and driftwood and have a blast.  The next day is Sunday and so Billy decides to
Go for mass at the local church where Maggie & Marcus used to attend Mass.  Sonia
decides to go shopping with a Bombay friend who now lives in Goa.  After mass, Billy
Takes a walk to his parents grave and there he pays his respects and tells his parents he
Misses them a lot and also lets them know that all their efforts for a child have come to
naught so far and promises to bring the baby for a visit as and when it arrives in their
midst.  Before leaving, Billy takes out a plastic pouch from his pocket and  gathers the
Dirt surrounding the graves to bring back with him to Bombay.  This is his little secret 
from Sonia.  The vacation is over in no time and they head home.

Work life gets them in its vortex and time flies.  After a couple of weeks, Sonia starts
feeling nausea and morning sickness.  Her heart quickens with hope that maybe this
Time she is finally pregnant.  She quietly pays a visit to her doctor’s office who confirms
 that Sonia is indeed pregnant.  She is filled with immense joy and cannot wait to tell Billy
And then her parents of this good news.  After five years, the Gods had smiled on
Them and now they wanted to savor all the happy moments as the embryo grows in the
Womb.  On Sonia next visit to the doctor however, she comes to know that in fact she is carrying
 Twins.  Sonia is at first apprehensive and then gets elated thinking maybe God wants to makeup
 for previous lapses.  Now Billy and Sonia begin planning a nursery in real earnest. They wanted 
to have a happy nursery with clouds and ocean painted on the walls, their beloved Goa sceneries, 
2 cribs and rockers and all the necessary accouterments  required in the nursery.  They convert
 their Master bedroom into a nursery and move into the smaller bedroom.  Since this is a three
 bedroom apartment, they still have a guestroom/cum office for themselves.

Soon the stork is ready for delivery and with the moral support of Sonia’s parents, the
Twins are born without too much fuss and pain for Sonia.  It is a boy and a girl and as
 they had already decided on the kids names, they name the baby girl Rose Margaret
 and the boy Aditya Marcus.   The babies are a healthy weight and after a week
the babies come home.  Sonia is on maternity leave and wants to enjoy blissful
motherhood in every way possible.  She breastfeeds the twins, croons to them and
is constantly boning up on all books on baby rearing especially twins and the dos and
don’ts for new moms.  Both Billy’s  and Sonia’s work friends had thrown baby showers
and hence they had all imaginable baby stuff such as booties, bibs, tiny clothes, crib toys
 and all the baby electronics etc.  The grandparents had bought them the bigger items like
a twin baby stroller and two baby swing-o-matics  to rock them to sleep.  They had also 
offered their services as permanent baby sitters.   The D’Souza’s had also engaged a 
much  recommended nanny to help out  as a live-in.  Their building complex had a
separate servant quarter and they had reserved this for their maid.  They also had a phone
extension put in the maid’s room in case of need in the night. 


Time passed by swiftly and now the twins were turning four and Sonia and Billy had 
planned a big birthday party inviting all their friends and family members to makeup
 for all the treats and parties owed by them to their kith and kin.  The party preparations
 were in full swing and the kids were constantly getting underfoot adding to the general 
confusion and melee.  Sonia gives Addy (Aditya) a soft ball to play with and banishes
 him to the nursery.  Addy starts tossing the ball against the wall when suddenly the ball
 is caught midair by invisible hands who pass the ball back to Addy.  Addy is surprised 
but being pragmatic and uncomplicated is delighted at this invisible friend and the ball
 is tossed and played with full vigor.  Then Addy says friend I would like to see you and 
lo and behold, Addy sees A figure dressed in an air force suit smiling at him.  On questioning,
 the apparition says Addy I am your grandpa and I’ve come to play with you.  Whenever you 
call me and wish for me to appear, I will come to play with you.  It so happens that Addy is a child
Musical prodigy which he has amply exhibited by creating music out of pots n pans and 
anything that made its way into his tiny pudgy hands.  He can also sketch and draw well.
This quality he has inherited from Sonia and her mom who is a painter of repute.

Rosie on the other hand is an out and out tomboy daily getting into quarrels and squabbles
 with neighborhood children.  She is very kind hearted and cannot bear any cruelty to animals
 or other kids who cannot defend themselves.  She is only five minutes elder than Addy, 
but has become his champion and protector as he is very gentle and a placid easy going
 child living in his own world.

Thus when I come to shape here at this table between my hands the story of my life
and set it before you as a complete thing, I have to recall things gone far, gone deep,
 sunk into this life or that and become part of it; dreams, too, things surrounding me,
 and the inmates, those old half-articulate ghosts who keep up their hauntings by day
 and night... shadows of people one might have been; unborn selves.
Virginia Woolf , 1882-1941, British Novelist, Essayist


to be contd......