He Will Never Change

Smitha was trying to wake up but her body was not responding. She was still in bed trying to find out the reason, all she could hear was her husband's voice calling out her name, there was no choice, she had to wake up now, she slowly opened her eyes and then carefully got up from bed so that her movement doesn't disturb her little one who is sleeping beside her. Smitha screamed when she saw the time, it was 8:15, Rajeev her husband had to leave at 8:30, immediately she went to the kitchen, at least she could prepare coffee for him before leaving but to her surprise Rajeev was preparing coffee and she could smell delicious poha in a kadai next to coffee maker. When she was about to ask, he interrupted her and told "You were sleeping like a baby, so I thought not to disturb you, moreover you told me that yesterday was very tough with Tanya", Smitha just hugged her hubby and left a kiss on his cheek. "You are such a wonderful person, I'm lucky to have you". "Ok Smitha, I have to leave, I ate my breakfast, you also have it, didn't have time to prepare lunch, you just order something, Tanya is coming with me, I can take care of her, we have daycare exclusively for my office employees so don't worry and Varun anyways has full day at school because of some activities, I packed egg fried rice as lunch for him, I even packed the same for myself and about Tanya I know her food routine, I'm taking her baby food, so relax, have fun, I will come home early" Smitha didn't ask because even before questioning she got all the answers. The only thing she did check was whether Tanya's bag had all essentials or not, Rajeev took car keys while carrying Tanya who was excited to go out. Smitha waved at them, both the children and Rajeev waved back at her.  

Smitha came back in the house, it was neither messy nor clean, she wanted to leave it like that as she didn't want to waste her precious me time with cleaning but only thing she kept on wondering, when did Rajeev wake up and how did he get time to prepare poha and egg fried rice while supervising Varun to brush his teeth and to bathe?? She didn't know where to start enjoying herself, so she wanted to have a long and refreshing bath as it became a luxury for her after Tanya was born. After having her bath, she opened the closet and found the paper bag in which there were 2 books - Echoes in Death, Come Sundown from her favorite author Nora Roberts, Smitha found a small note in a paper bag 'Be a bookworm like you used to be' she smiled and kissed the note.

It was almost 2, Smitha was waiting for her lunch to arrive, she ordered Paneer gobhi and butter naan, it was her favorite combination. She took a nap after having lunch. It was the best day for her, she woke up at 4:45 with a call from Rajeev informing that he is on the way, she went to the washroom and came to the kitchen to prepare coffee for Rajeev. She heard the horn sound of the car. Smitha immediately opened the door, she could see Tanya's happy face which indicated that she liked the daycare. Varun ran into Smitha to tell her about his activities but Rajeev stopped him and told him to get rid of school uniform, Varun politely went to his room.

Rajeev prepared rajma chawal, they both had dinner after kids slept and cleaned the kitchen by helping each other. After finishing household chores, they both sat in the balcony, Smitha kept her head on Rajeev's shoulder and said, "Thank you for everything Rajeev, I will never forget this day". "No dear, I should thank you for everything, today I realised how hard you are working, I love you, love you forever...just listen to my heart beat you can hear your name" Smitha excitedly kept her ear near to Rajeev's chest by closing her eyes 'Yes, I can hear !!! Wait what, it is not lovely, it is not like heartbeat or it is not like calling ... ohhh no someone is shouting her name !!! It is Rajeev. Smitha opened her eyes and then thought 'is it a dream?' "Can't you hear I'm calling you from past 5 minutes, you are not even trying to open your eyes" there comes Rajeev with his usual manner trying to point out everything in Smitha.

"Sorry I slept late last night, what is the time now?" asked Smitha while trying to wake up without disturbing Tanya "It is almost 7:45, I told you I have to leave at 8:30, I have an important meeting today but you never pay attention to my needs, can I expect breakfast at least? "When Smitha tried to convince him, he shut the bathroom door. It's a daily routine for her so she didn't pay attention to it and rushed to the kitchen, opened the fridge and took bread, toasted it, made bread omelet, while preparing it she kept lentils in the pressure cooker. She remembered that she had to wake Varun, he has to go at quarter to nine but to her luck, he woke up and was keeping his books in his school bag, so without hesitating she took Varun to washbasin and gave him toothbrush, applied paste on it and then he started brushing, she pinched his cheek with her fingers in an appreciative manner because he likes to be appreciated if he does his daily chores without his mother's help. Smitha went into kitchen, made seasoning to dal and saw the time, it's 8:10, still she has to prepare fry as a side dish. Rajeev never compromises with food so she started to peel the potato with the help of vegetable cutter, she made pieces, started to prepare potato fry and she heard the sound of bathroom door, she kept milk on other side "Smitha I have to leave in 10 minutes, please make it fast I'm starving" Rajeev is shouting while getting dressed. "Yeah just 2 minutes " Smitha requested in a pleasing manner.

"Ohhh good, you prepared lunch, then I have to compromise on something, maybe salt or taste or something else, dishes made in hurry will miss something that too it is made by you, you are always absent-minded" said Rajeev while having his breakfast. He has a careless smile on his face which hurt Smitha but she couldn't say anything in front of Varun "Rajeev can you drop Varun to his school" asked Smitha. "Sorry if I start now, I can be on time, It is just 2 Streets ahead, can't you walk?" "No Tanya is still asleep so, I can't leave her alone" requested Smitha.     

"Take her with you, carry her, you are a mother, you should take responsibility. I'm working hard day and night, you are just staying at home and relaxing, at least take responsibility of kids. Anyways I'm getting late, bye" without even giving her a chance to speak, he took car keys and went downstairs. Smitha stared for a while and sighed 'HE WILL NEVER CHANGE' then she heard Tanya's cry, she carried Tanya, another hectic day started for her.