035 Alex in the middle

Finally, the election was over.

We were all tired of it. So I won't explain it anymore.

Everything was back to normal for a few days.

But then, one night, everything changed.

I was peacefully sleeping when suddenly dad started running around. I got scared and woke up. Aunt and mom were awake and they were calling someone on the phone. I slowly got down from the bed and made my way into the hall.

"Go... Everything is ready." Aunt urged dad while picking me up from the floor.

"Alex... baby... Please behave. okay?" Mom begged me.

"He will behave. What do I do about him?" Dad pointed at the car.

Only then did I see Doodu. He was sitting in the backseat of the car and clearly, he had no intention of getting out.

"Doodu! If you come, then who is going to keep an eye on Anu?" Mom asked.

Dad slowly helped mom to the car. He had a bag in his other hand. Slowly, I realized what was happening.

"For once, can you do it during the day?" Dad complained.

Mom glared at dad and dad went silent.

Mom was just a bit more than nine months pregnant. It was a bit early. But she was feeling the pain already. So dad and mom were going to the hospital. Dad was well prepared for this. He had packed all the necessary stuff a week ago. So there was no confusion at the moment. Aunt decided to stay behind as there were too many kids to be taken care of at home. Also, since they were going to Lakshmi aunty's hospital, there was no need for extra people. They already contacted Lakshmi aunty and she was making arrangements.

"Come. Let's go before Anu wakes up." Aunt lead Doodu inside the house. I wasn't worried about Anu waking up. This level of noise was not enough to disturb her. Only nightmares could wake her up. After making sure Anu was asleep, aunty tried to make me sleep.

This was the third pregnancy for mom. So they were no longer nervous. They were actually excited. But that wasn't applicable to me. I was nervous and I couldn't sleep a bit. Do you know what's worse?

It was only 1 AM.

So I had a sleepless night. The whole night, I waited for a call from dad. But he didn't call. It was a really long night.

Finally, in the morning, we got the call.

Mom gave birth. But dad denied telling anything more. He said everything was perfect and he got a surprise for us. Aunty asked multiple times. But he still kept it a mystery.

Aunty sent her eldest to the school. The youngest was taken to a nanny. She prepared breakfast for Anu and also fed me. While looking for a cloth for me, she found an old baby frock of Anu. She thought it was cute and put it on me. I didn't mind it. Because I was already used to wearing her old clothes. Once see finished all the chores, she took us to the hospital.

I was excited and sad at the same time.

I used to be mom's youngest child. I also got special consideration and all her milk. But not anymore.

Now onwards, I would be a middle child as I have a younger sibling. Even the milk will get shared. Eldest is mom's favourite. Youngest will get all the care. But the middle child would usually get ignored. Now, I had become the middle child.

At the same time, I was excited by the thought of having a little one to follow me around just like I follow Anu. It was totally worth being a middle child.

We slowly entered the ward.

Apparently, the rainy nights from nine-ten months ago without electricity were too romantic and the hospital was overflowing with babies. So mom and dad failed to get a private room and had to use a ward with four other newborn babies.

The first thing I saw after entering the ward was our mom. She looked tired and weak. The usual glow her skin had was not there. Then, I saw the small baby on her side.

I wriggled in aunt's arms. She slowly kept me on the bed as she understood my intention.

I climbed over mom and looked at the baby that was sleeping beside mom.

Four tiny feet, two tiny heads, four tiny...

Wait!

Four feet?

I checked again.

And again.

'There are two babies? Where did the second one come from?' I looked around in confusion.

The aunt looked at the babies with a dumbfounded face.

"Which... which is ours?" Aunt asked.

"Both," Dad replied.

"Both?"

"Yes."

"How?"

'Yes. How and why? Was there an offer sale and you decided to get one more without asking us?' I too wanted to know why there were two babies.

"Look at the confusion of this little puppy." The nurse who was standing beside teased me. I completely ignored her.

I and the aunty were confused. Anu was too dumb to be confused. She just leaned on to the bed and poked one baby's cheek.

"It's Lakshmi's fault. She never gave us the proper information. So we didn't know we were having twins." Dad explained.

Twins!

I looked at the tiny babies sleeping peacefully.

Pink feet, tiny arms, clenched hands, chubby cheeks, slightly opened tiny mouth, tiny lips, tightly closed eyes, tiny nose and a bit of hair.

"Babies are ugly," Anu commented.

I couldn't help but agree with her. Newborn babies are indeed a bit ugly. But I was too excited to bother about that.

"Don't be like that. These are your younger sister and younger brother." Mom corrected Anu.

'A sister and a brother!' I was even more excited.

"Ughh... It's already difficult enough with one brother. How am I going to balance my studies and taking care of babies!" Anu lamented.

"Wow! Little girl talking big." The nurse teased Anu.

"Pregnancy makes girls mature," Anu replied nonchalantly.

"But you were not pregnant." The nurse pointed out an important point.

"That's not how it works. You don't know anything." Anu dismissed the argument of the nurse with a wave of her hand and went to check the babies of others in the ward.

The nurse was a bit confused and she took a moment to think whether she was wrong.

With Anu gone to bother others, I turned to my twins again.

Two tiny little rats sleeping peacefully!

I moved close to them. I wanted to see how they smell. But before I could reach the babies, mom stopped me.

"Alex - baby please don't hurt the baby." Mom begged me.

"Ahh..." I slapped her hand away. But she blocked me again. In her eyes, I was an innocent baby. I didn't know the difference between right and wrong. So she was worried that I would harm the babies without realizing it.

"He is trying to kiss her. Just let him do it." Dad interfered.

Mom looked at dad questioningly and then slowly let me approach the baby.

I smelled the first baby. As expected, I don't like the smell. I don't understand how the parents love the smell of their babies. Anyway, I give her a light kiss on the tiny cheeks. It was my little sister. She was soft like a ball of cotton. I leaned over and give a kiss to my younger brother too. He was also soft.

"See... Alex is a good boy," Dad said.

"Your sister is also ugly." At the same time, Anu was telling someone how ugly their newborn is.

"Anu, don't say like that." Dad tried to stop Anu. Only then did I pay attention to other people in the ward.

To my shock, on the bed next to us was someone familiar to me.

Anita's family!

Anita's mother was on the bed and Anita was sitting on the bed. There was a baby in the crib near the bed. Her dad was sitting on a chair and watching us with a smile.

'That's not right. Anita didn't have a younger brother in our previous life. She was a single child. But why is there a child now?' I thought for a second and found the answer easily.

'What a dumb girl! She probably tried to prevent her parents from having sex and her father probably forgot protection and now they are here. Anyway, that's my future brother in law.'

I was looking at Anita. She was also looking at me with a sparkling smile. Usually, she either ignored me or looked at me with hatred. Seeing her smiling made my day a lot brighter.

"Why is he dressed like that?" Anita's mom asked.

"I thought it was a cute way to meet his mom on this special day," Aunty replied with a smile.

'Wait! I am wearing the old clothes of Anu! Anita is not smiling at me. She is laughing at me! This is bad.' Immediately I understood the issue.

I was wearing a frock Anu used to wear when she was a baby. It was a bit oversized for me. But I didn't mind. Because mom had the habit of putting old clothes of Anu on me to take photos and cry tears of happiness while looking at them. I never understood the logic. But I always acted cute as it made mom happy. Unfortunately, today wasn't the right day.

'Why is it happening to me again.' I lamented. last time, I embarrassed myself during mom's birthday and now it was happening again.

At the same time, my kiss woke up the little boy.

"ug uk... ooo... eeeaaa..." He started crying without even bothering to open his eyes. It was so cute. I cannot express it with words. I wanted to hug that stupid little rat. But before I could get to him, aunty took him and moved away.

But it was too late. The little girl rat had woken up as well. She blinked multiple times as she struggled to open her eyes and look around.

I knew that she couldn't see anything. It would take months for the eyes of the babies to develop. Till then they would see only blurred images.

"Aaauuu ooo..." She cooed.

Before mom could interfere, I kissed her again and laid down next to her. She was a lot smaller than I thought her to be. I compared her length. She was a lot shorter than me.

Her fingers were too tiny and her nails were almost difficult to see. I wanted to keep my head on her chest and listen to her heartbeat. But mom didn't allow me.

By then, aunty returned with the little boy who had fallen asleep again.

"That was fast." Mom was a bit surprised.

"He is a good boy," Aunty replied. I wasn't expecting such a reply. I was expecting to hear her telling how she used to take care of dad. But instead, she simply complimented the newborn. It was quite rare.

"I want the girl." Anu suddenly declared.

"Why?"

"She is good."

"Why not the boy?"

"He is a crybaby." Anu didn't like the boy right away.

"Alex was also a crybaby."

"That's why I don't want any more cry babies. Once he stops crying, I can take care of them."

"Fine. You can have Anna." Mom agreed.

"Who is Anna?"

"That is the name of the girl."

"No. The girl's name is Priya." Anu wanted the naming rights of the baby.

"Anu, Anna is the name of my mother. So we thought of naming her Anna." Dad, who was silently watching all this time with a smile finally spoke.

"But she is mine. And... and I wanted to name her Priya." Anu was downcast in an instant. She started fiddling with her hair.

"Ok. Fine.." Dad started saying something.

"No. This is a decision for adults. You are named after my grandmother. So I want to name her Anna. Also, Anna and Anu are similar names. So it is a good name." Mom interjected dad. She didn't forget to give a threatening look at dad.

"But I wanted to..."

"No. This is one of those situations where you have to listen to us." Mom was strict.

My family was like that. We enjoyed a lot of freedom and there were times when our parents outright rejected our ideas.

Dad's face was dark. He had some hints about elder sister Priya. So he wasn't entirely against naming the child Priya. But going against mom's decision in public was something he never dared to do.

"Ok. Alex, come here." Anu grabbed me and dragged me out of the bed. The bed was a bit tall as it was a hospital bed. So dad helped her.

I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with my younger siblings. But there was nothing I could do as Anu had dragged me out already.

"Amma and Appa[1] have two new kids. They may not have time for us. So let's not disturb them and sit in some corner." Anu said aloud as she walked to a corner.

I was a bit taken back. I wanted to be with my younger siblings. But I had taken the decision to follow Anu. Irrespective of right or wrong, I wanted to follow her. I hesitated for a few seconds. In the end, I decided to follow her to the corner.

"Alex, for five minutes stop following your dumb sister." Mom scolded from behind.

I ignored her and went to the corner. Ever since I started walking, I started following Anu. This annoyed mom a bit. Because Anu was unpredictable. No one had any idea what disaster she would cause next. Mom was worried that I would grow up just like her.

Unfortunately for mom, I had decided to do exactly that.

I went to the corner and crouched down next to Anu. Mom clicked her tongue in anger.

The others in the ward were watching the drama with great interest. Some people even marvelled at me. In their eyes, I was a cute boy following his sister without even understanding the situation.

"Don't worry. I will feed you chicken and wash your butt after you poop." Anu added. She said it aloud so that mom and dad would hear it.

'No. I don't want you to wash my butt. I have seen how much dad is suffering because of his sister. I don't want the same fate.' I absolutely didn't want that to happen.

Mom's face twitched. But she decided to ignore us. This was another technique by our parents. Whenever we make a request they cannot accept, they would first try to reason with us. If that didn't work, then they would simply ignore us. Especially if Anu started a drama.

"Hey... Did you tell Doodu about the good news?" Dad suddenly tried to change the topic.

"Ahh... No. I told him to go to Arjun's house. He will be there." Anu said.

Arjun was Anu's friend. He is the son of our neighbour. Dad immediately contacted them. As expected, Doodu was there and he was waiting for the call. He put the phone on speaker and passed it to Anu.

"Doodu, guess what... We have a younger sister and a younger brother." Anu excitedly told the happy news to Doodu. In return, he made random sounds. Soon, Anu and Doodu started conversing. Anu told him that she will be taking care of him as our parents are busy with more kids. She didn't forget to tell how they are not allowing us to name the girl 'Priya'.

After talking for ten minutes, they hung up the phone.

The others in the ward had nothing else to do and they watched the drama happily. Some of them were laughing as they listened to the conversation between the dog and Anu.

"Anu, come back. We are not going to give in to your demands." Mom called again.

"It's ok. We have no complaints." Anu acted cool.

I was getting a bit worried. The drama coming out of my five year old sister was a bit too much. That too, we don't watch the serials. I can only imagine what a troublesome girl she would be when she grows up.

Still, my parents simply ignored us. The dramas are useful only if they pay any attention to it. Else it was useless.

"And I won't forget your birthday. I don't have money for a cake. I will get you a cupcake when we go out. Happy birthday." She said to me while patting me on my head.

'You don't have the money for a cupcake either.' I said in my mind.

'Wait. It is my birthday?' I was shocked for a moment.

Mom was shocked.

Dad was shocked.

Aunty was shocked.

Everyone else simply watched the drama.

In my previous life, my birthdays were painful reminders of my lonely life. So I hated birthdays and did everything to forget it. But now...

How can a silly girl who is struggling to read a clock remember a date?

"Oh my... Oh my God! What have I done! Alex, come here." Mom was flustered and she tried to get out of the bed.

"No. you stay. I will get him." Dad forced mom to stay back on the bed and came to get me.

"Why are you bothering us? Don't you have new kids?" Anu asked dad.

"You can name her whatever you want. Alex, just come here." Mom shouted.

Before I could respond, dad grabbed me and took me to mom. Anu also happily followed us.

I was still in shock.

It was my birthday!

When I returned to this life, I was just three months old. Remember how I struggled with breastfeeding and pooping? Then, I slowly grew up with Anu. In between, we got rid of the cat and got Doodu. He and Anu had their big fight. I fought a lot with Anu. I got my baby teeth, rolled on the floor, started crawling. The ghost girl Priya joined our family. We survived the attack of the kidnappers. I called mom by her name, ruined her birthday cake and took my baby steps.

Nine months passed in the blink of an eye!

I turned one year old today.

These nine months were the most precious time in my entire life.

Mom was suddenly feeling guilty for forgetting my birthday. Although Anu was throwing a meaningless drama, it was indeed true that mom forgot my birthday. Every time mom felt guilty, she would do anything to make up for it. This time, she was feeling very guilty. She hugged me and kissed me again and again while apologizing.

I was also overwhelmed by emotions.

After many birthdays, I was having a birthday with my family. After a long time, I felt thankful for the things that happened in my past year.

I was so happy that I started crying. I hugged mom's neck tightly and cried.

[Will continue in the next chapter.]

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Please share the story as your announcement.

[1] Appa: Father in our language. Other words like Achan, Acha, Chachan, etc are also used.

Also, I am a huge fan of Friends. (Just saying.)

I started the story 9 months ago when I was stuck at home due to Covid. I cannot believe that 9 months have passed since I started the story. Thanks a lot for your support. If it wasn't for your support, I would have stopped the book with just 3 or 5 chapters.

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