051 Christmas

What's your favourite festival?

Mine is Christmas.

I like Onam and Easter too. During Onam, mom makes us wear a small mundu and let us eat sadhya from a banana leaf. Anuchi, Prince and Priya also do the same. Prince and Priya are not good with eating on their own and they make a mess. It's cute.

On Easter, we all go to highrange to meet our grandfather. Jeemma and her kids would also come with us. It's fun there. But my favourite is Christmas. Because we get to do a lot of activities together.

Two days before Christmas, dad stayed at home and we prepared for Christmas. We spent the entire day making the crib and Christmas tree. I and dad made the crib while Doodu and Anuchi made the tree. As usual, they did a wonderful job. As for the babies, they waddled around making a mess.

After making the crib, dad went to have a bath. Since I had nothing else to do, I started playing with the small bells for decoration.

Then dad's phone rang. Since dad was in the bathroom, I picked up the phone. The name was displayed and it was someone I knew.

"Helloo~~" I answered as sweet as possible.

"... Hello...?" The person on the other end was a bit taken back by my voice.

I knew this lady from my previous life and this life. She was a reporter for a TV channel. She was pretty good at her job. But in truth, she was working for dad. This was a secret no one knew for a long time.

"You have a beautiful voice." I praised her.

"Huh?..." This time, she was really shocked.

"Who... Who am I talking to?" She finally managed to overcome her shock and asked me.

"You forgot? You called me cute when you came home." I pretended to be heartbroken. By the way, I had started talking a lot. Long ago, mom was sad that I was late to start talking. Now she is complaining that I talk too much.

"Alex?"

"Yes."

"Where is your appa? Please give the phone to appa." She didn't dare to talk to me anymore.

"Appa is pooping," I answered without any hesitation.

"Beep..." The call was disconnected. Looks like she's pretty embarrassed.

"Hihihi..." I chuckled as I placed the phone back on the table. I was pretty proud of my prank.

"Did you answer a call for dad?" Mom came to the room hearing my voice.

"Eeekk..." I screamed and ran away.

I was warned by mom and dad not to answer any calls that come to their phones. As for the reason, you can guess it.

I ran away and crawled under a bed. Mom didn't chase me. After all, she knew how far I could run.

I waited under the bed nervously. I heard dad coming out of the bathroom and talking to mom. He sounded pretty annoyed. Then I heard him listening to the recording of the last call I had with the girl. He had turned on the call recording function for safety.

"ALEXXX...." He roared after hearing the last sentence from me.

Hic... I'm in trouble. I continued hiding without making a peep. But unfortunately for me, under the bed was the first spot he looked for me.

"Come out." He ordered. He had a small stick in his hand. Actually, it wasn't a stick. It was a banana! Clearly, he grabbed the first thing he found to punish me. It looked funny and scary at the same time. Using a banana as a stick would look like a joke. But getting hit by one was no fun thing to happen to.

I didn't understand why they wanted to punish me. It is an innocent prank by a three-year-old baby. What's the harm in it? Well... Maybe I'm not that innocent. But still, I'm a three-year-old baby.

"Are you coming out or should I come in?" Dad threatened me.

"Appa can come in. There is space for everyone." I invited him in.

"Doodu..." Dad summoned Doodu.

"Wuu..." He popped out like a genie.

"Drag him out." Dad gave the order to Doodu.

Without any hesitation, Doodu crawled under the bed. He didn't think twice before betraying me. Do you know that annoying kid who does anything to become the favourite of the teachers or parents? In our family, that's Doodu. One of these days, I'm going to teach him a lesson.

"No... no... I won't talk to you." I tried my best to kick him away. But Doodu was so strong that he didn't even feel my kicks. He bit my shirt and easily drag me out.

Once I was out, dad grabbed my wrist with one hand. His other hand had the banana. "How many times have I told you not to touch my phone? Won't you ever learn without punishments?"

"Sowwy... sowwyyy... Achu won't do it again." I pleaded.

Unlike mom, dad was pretty weak-hearted. Just a drop of tear from our eyes was enough to melt his heart. So I decided to beg for mercy.

"No. Every time I let you go, you don't learn the lesson. This time, you won't escape the punishment." Dad was pretty strict.

"Pwease... Achu will be good. No answering calls... Pwease..." I begged and crouched down. I covered my legs with my free hand to stop him from hitting me.

The commotion attracted Anuchi and Pripri. They came running and watched the scene with amusement. Clearly, they were enjoying it. As for Doodu, he wasn't even trying to hide the grin on his stupid face.

I hated it.

Dad was easily moved. He didn't want to hit me. I could see his determination wavering.

"If you don't punish him, you will be responsible for spoiling him." Mom grumbled unhappily.

Hearing this, there was a helpless look on dad's face. I understood what was going on. Dad didn't really want to do it. Mom was forcing him to do it.

In the end, dad gave up the banana and hit my bum with his palm. It didn't really hurt as he did as soft as he could. But still, it was a big blow to my pride. The other kids watched it and laughed at me.

"Waa..." I started crying.

As you already know, my parents never hit us.  Whenever Anuchi Pripri or Doodu made trouble, they got their toys taken away or they were forced to stay at the corner for some time.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with me anymore. They started spanking me a few months ago. Their excuse was that I cause a lot of trouble and never take punishments seriously. I didn't understand how they can do this to me. I always go the worst treatment at home.

Anuchi was their favourite 'big girl'. Pripri were their little babies. Doodu was the good boy.

As for me, I was the middle child. I wasn't big or little or a good boy. They always scolded me and even spanked me. Sometimes, I even got punished for something Priya did.

When Anuchi made the dam and broke the gate, she wasn't even scolded. Dad had to spend a lot of money fixing the gate. He also sold the car and got a bigger one as our family was growing. We lost many items that were in the front yard. Yet, Anu wasn't even scolded. In my case, I got spanked for saying a few good words to a girl. I think I have the worst family in the world.

"Also, don't go flirting with all the women you meet. Everyone thinks it's my influence. If you want to flirt, go flirt with Ani." Dad added once my cry died down a bit.

"Mee... Meera too..." I reminded dad between sobbing.

"..." Dad stared at me for some time without saying anything. Then he left murmuring something about karma. I didn't hear it clearly.

"If you are done crying, then come for a bath. We have to go to church in the evening." Mom called me to bathe.

Who am I kidding! I have the best family in the world!

I happily went to bathe.

Bath time is my special time with mom. Unlike before, I had to bathe on my own and mom only helps from the side. That also means I get more opportunities to splash water on mom. Every day, after she applies soap on me, I would run away laughing. Then Anuchi and mom would chase me around the house to catch me and bring me back. But I was slippery and they weren't really trying to catch me. It is something I loved to do every day.

But I knew that this was coming to an end.

I was growing up, and I was losing the baby privileges one by one.

Talking about baby privileges, something even worse happened. I will tell you that next time.

__________________________

Hope you had a great Christmas.

I cleared the exam I appeared for last month. Now there is an interview next month. Please remember me in your prayers.

Also, feel free to message me if you ever feel like sharing your happy memories from your childhood. I have come across some similar comments and I was happy to read them.

Please share the book with your friends.

Thank you.