032 Birthday

"My dear little girl, today is amma's birthday. So can you be a good girl and do nothing for one day?" Dad begged Anu. For those who are not familiar, amma means mother in our language.

"Yes," Anu replied happily without even thinking.

"For amma." Dad added.

"For amma." Anu nodded and agreed.

'This is going to be fun.' I told myself. Asking Anu not to cause any disaster was like ordering her to go against all her natural instincts. So dad specifically told her not to do anything at all.

"Doodu, keep an eye on her. If she does anything, you too will be punished." Dad warned Doodu.

'Wou wuuu.'  He complained about something.

I was sure that Anu was going to do something to ruin the day. And then, I would give mom my gift and she will be happy.

As some of you already guessed, I was going to call her 'amma'. My first words.

Well... My first word was 'no'. I said that long ago when I was trying to blackmail Anu to give me the lollipop. But that was unofficial and only Anu knew about it. Looking back, time flies really fast. As a person who lived one life already, I knew how precious these days with my family were. So I hated seeing how fast the time passed.

Anyway, let's return to our topic.

I am going to call her 'amma' in front of everyone. That would make her proud and happy. I might even become her favourite for a few days.

You might find it childish or babyish. Try living as a baby for eight months and you will understand.

We spent the entire day preparing. Dad and aunt prepared a lot for the celebration. Dad took a day off from the election campaign. Mom didn't want him to be distracted. But dad insisted that he needed to be 'recharged'.

As for the election, a large scandal came to light yesterday. It was a scam in which the people who got scammed were actually happy and the scammer became the hero. I will explain that later.

The party started in the evening. There were only 12 guests. Most of them were women and children. The only guy in the group joined dad to handle something in the kitchen. Unexpectedly, Anu didn't make any trouble. This came as surprise for all of us.

The ladies just sat around and talked while children ran around. I was in mom's hand acting cool. Because I had an unexpected guest.

Anita!

Unexpectedly, Anita's mom came with Anita. I met her multiple times at the church. But I couldn't do anything and she completely ignored me.

I know that I am the person she hates the most in this world. I deserve that. But I have absolutely no plan to repeat the same mistakes from my previous life. Also, I will never let go of her. One way or the other, I will win her.

But there was nothing I could do now. An 11 month old baby trying to woo another tiny baby was cartoon material. It was not for real life. So, I decided to act cute and dumb and create a good impression. Fortunately, she didn't know that I am a regressor. I could use that to my advantage. Regressor is a term used to call those who have returned back in time.

"Anita started calling me 'amma' last month. She is a quick learner. She even walks without support." Anita's mom boasted. She was a really proud mom.

"Alex hasn't said anything. He sits without support. But not yet standing." Mom answered a bit disappointed.

"You don't worry. Some kids just take their time." One lady consoled mom.

I was laughing inside. Because in a few minutes, I will be shocking everyone by calling her 'amma'. I was even more excited and nervous because I would be doing it in front of Anita. With her, the number of girls I had to impress went up to two.

"I am not worried. I am happy that my future daughter in law is growing up good." Mom commented.

'Way to go, mom! I love you.'  I thanked her in my mind.

"plrrrr..." Anita made a weird sound with her mouth to express her dissatisfaction.

"Look at his smile!" Someone else commented. Only then did I realize that I was smiling from ear to ear.

'Good. Now everyone's attention is on me. This is the perfect time for my first words.' I took a deep breath and prepared myself for my first words.

"Riya, the cake is ready." Dad said out of nowhere.

"Reeyaa..." I called.

"..."

"..."

"Huh?"

'What did I do? I just called mom by her name! What do I do? What do I do?' I started panicking. Everyone was looking at me with disbelief.

"What... What did you say?" Mom asked with a shocked face.

"Riiya..." I repeated.

'Noo... you dumb me! Don't repeat it. Just keep your mouth shut!' I scolded myself.

The next instant, the entire room burst into laughter. Even Doodu and Anu were laughing. Mom was awkwardly chuckling. Dad was laughing hilariously. Everyone was laughing. Except me.

First, I was nervous and made a mistake. Then I panicked and repeated the mistake. I hated myself. I was able to keep my cool while facing a kidnapper with a gun. I calmly analyzed the situation and acted when a ghost flew into my room. But now, I lost my cool and made a blunder.

Everyone laughed a lot.

I didn't even look at Anita. I wanted to impress her and instead I ended up embarrassing myself and my mom. I moved to the edge of the table and signalled her that I want to be on the floor. I no longer had the strength or pride to stay on the table. I just wanted to dig a hole and hide my stupid ass in that.

I crawled away from the table.

The ladies at the table had already started with new stories of stuff some kids said. I was no longer interested in any of it.

I sat on the floor opposite to dad. Dad was sitting at the teapoy and handling the cake. It was a teapoy he made from the root of a tree. He was quite a bit proud of it. Except, it was a bit short.

He had unpacked the cake and he was placing the candles on it. According to the candles, mom was 24 years old. But it was a lie. She was a lot older than that. Still, according to mom, she stopped ageing at 24.

'Wait! There is still one more thing. If I can take my first steps today, that might be able to cover my embarrassment from earlier. That will impress her.' Suddenly, I got a new idea.

I didn't want to waste any more time. I grabbed the teapoy and peeked at dad.

"Little rascal, can you call me 'Kariachan'?" Dad asked me. That was his pet name. Many of our neighbours and mom call him by that name. It was his baptismal name or something like that.

I ignored him and slowly stood up while holding the teapoy. The truth is that I had already taken my baby steps secretly. I just haven't done it in front of others. So doing it wasn't that difficult for me.

"Hey... Look. Look here." Dad screamed.

Everyone turned and looked at me.

I was standing up with both my hands on the teapoy. I had a smile of pride on my face.

"You are quite competitive. Aren't you?" Dad asked me.

I turned towards dad. I didn't understand what he meant.

'This is awesome. Dad is proud of me. Mom is proud of me. Everyone is looking at me. With this, I have become her hero. I can even...'

Slip...

Before I could even finish my thought's my hand slipped and I fell on the teapoy.

I literarily planted my face on the cake.

I raised my head and wiped the cream from my eyes.

The first thing I saw was the dumbfounded face of dad. Then, I saw the ruined cake. Now the cake had the shape of my face imprinted on it.

"Alex!" I heard mom shouting.

My brain stopped working.

I turned around and ran.

Yes. Instead of taking baby steps slowly without balance, I ran. I managed to make about ten steps.

Then I fell. I fell on my tummy and hit my chin.

It hurt really bad.

"What are you doing?" Mom picked me up. There was a mix of emotions on her face.

I messed up big time.

I called her by her name and then ruined her birthday cake. All I wanted to do was impress her and look at what I have done. I felt sad and disappointed. My chin was hurting really bad. I could no longer keep it in.

"Waaa.... aaaa..." I cried.

I cried like the brat I am.

"wuwuwuw... Don't cry, my little baby." Mom tried to cheer me up as she wiped the cream off my face.

She wiped and washed my face. Then she changed my t-shirt. That too, when Anita was watching. I felt worse. I was a well-fed baby and I was a bit chubby. So it was a bit embarrassing to change clothes in front of Anita. But I no longer cared. Nothing could be worse than what already happened.

I cried for a bit.

Then I silently watched everyone celebrating and laughing.

Mom got 8 gifts. Once everyone gave their gift, Anu dragged dad outside the house to get her gift. Everyone was eager to see what Anu's gift was. Then, she and Doodu returned with a dried branch stuck in a bottle.

The bottle was filled with sand so that the bottle will stand straight. On the branch, there were many decorations. There were some dried flowers, some fresh flowers, some colourful papers, some leftover decorations from last Christmas, some candy wrappers and many more things I didn't recognize. All those stuff was either glued or tied with strings to the branch.

It was beautiful.

"Did... Did you make it?" Mom questioned dad.

"No. I swear. This is the first time I'm seeing this." Dad was was dead serious.

"Who helped you make it?" Mom asked Anu. She looked a bit worried.

"Teacher helped me make the card. I and Doodu made the gift. They also helped." Anu explained proudly. Apparently, she made the gift with the help of our cousins.

Everyone, including me, looked at the gift in disbelief.

It was beautiful.

Truly beautiful.

Mom and dad inspected the gift carefully. I could see the excitation and happiness on her face. The birthday card was full of messy letters. Part of it was in English and part of it was in Malayalam. Mom was struggling to control her tears.

I was jealous.

I was supposed to be the hero and Anu was supposed to mess up. I got angry at myself.

I don't want to explain anymore.

It was horrible.

Mom got eight gifts from the guests. Once the guests left, mom excitedly hugged Anu.

"Little girl... you have grown up a lot."

"Cough... cough... Let go of me." Anu simply ignored mom's excitation and struggled out of her hug.

Mom got angry. But there was nothing she could do.

"Woof... woof..." Doodu jumped in. He was demanding his share.

"Yes... yes... you too. Good job my good boy.." Mom gave a hug for Doodu as well. Unlike Anu, Doodu was happy and smiled widely.

"Now you little devil... Why are you learning every bad habit of your sister?" Mom turned towards me with a pretend-angry face. But I was in no mood to play with her.

"Huh? What do you have to say for yourself, mister?" Mom playfully spanked me.

"Look at this." Dad passed his mobile phone to mom.

Mom looked at it with a happy smile. Then she turned it towards me.

It was a collage.

Two ruined cakes and two little culprits. One was a little girl with cake on both her hands and mouth. She was smiling widely without a worry. The cake had marks of two tiny hands. The second cake had the shape of a baby on it like in cartoons. The other was a tiny boy sitting in mom's arms and crying with cream all over his face. I didn't know when dad took that picture.

Suddenly my mood changed.

It wasn't just me that had messed up. Anu did the same four years ago. But she was laughing happily while I ran away and cried.

Once I calmed down, I realized the truth. I calling her Riya or ruining the cake didn't ruin her birthday. Mom will remember this birthday for the rest of her life because of my actions. What actually ruined or made the party less attractive was my crying.

For one day, Anu stayed a good girl and I misbehaved. We both switched our roles. But there was a small difference. Every time Anu messed up, she tried to solve it or ran towards our parents. Well, there were times she tried to cover it up. But whenever she panicked, she ran to our parents. Unlike me who ran away.

This was the biggest mistake in my previous life.

If I had gone to my parents when I messed up, it would have saved my life. It could have saved the lives of my friends and Anita. But I tried to run away and I lost everyone and everything.

When I began this new life, I swore not to repeat the same mistakes of my previous life. But now, I just walked the same path.

So starting today, I will not run away.

It doesn't matter how bad it is. I would run to my parents whenever I mess up. It doesn't matter whether I am 11 months old or 30 years old. This is how I am going to live the rest of my life. Even if I become a 50 years old grandpa, I will stay as my mom's poopy boy.

I have to admit. Anu did a good job of not causing any disaster today.

Anu approached mom with a small plate. Her belly was bulging like a balloon from everything she ate. But it looked like she wanted more. She asked, "Riya, can I have some more of the cake?"

'This dumb girl!'

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