Lavanya had been speechless for the last few minutes and when she finally regained her voice ,she could only speak a single word in response "  Why ". At her mother confused expression, she further explained the question in words .

           " If I was your daughter. Why did you adopt me , couldn't you have just taken me from the orphanage when you found out   ?" Lavanya asked her mother.  

               " Siddharth dad blamed me for his son death Lavanya , and he would have caused trouble if I went through the legal route in reclaiming you back.  The moment I come forward asking you back because I am your mother , the court would have insisted on a DNA test and he would have gotten to know about it in the mean time and if he decided to start a custody battle then I feared we would lose you . 

                           That was why your dad went for adoption ,I had no idea about it until he brought me to the orphanage and told me that we were going to adopt you . Your dad wanted the extra layer of protection that binds us legally as well if Siddharth dad used  his political power to gain guardianship of you ." her mother spoke up slowly as if recalling a part of her life she never wished to remember .And Lavanya understood their reasons yet she couldn't grasp the reason that she was kept in the dark about it . 

             " But why did you never tell me , you could have told me that you were my birth mother right ?" Lavanya asked her mother wondering the reason behind the secrecy.

  
               " If we told you the truth ,you may have accepted it with out any questions because you were a little kid back then ,but you would have gotten curious as you grew up and  you would have wondered about Siddharth . How can I tell you the truth and expect you to understand that I killed him at such an young age

    So how can I make you understand your father was not related to you by blood during those days , Your interaction with Gauri made you believe step parents were evil by nature .

As the time passed we realized you were too young to be burdened by your past and thought it would be wise to tell you when your were 18

Whatever version of truth we told you would have led to more questions on your mind as you grew up , your were a so little back then Lavanya , to me you are still a child , we didn't want to burden you with it when you were so young . " her mother spoke up ,and behind those words Lavanya heard the plea in her mother voice asking her to understand their reasons.

        " I understand maa " Lavanya spoke up and walked away from her mother because she understood her parents but she couldn't understand why she suddenly felt so alone .

                 She must be the only person in the entire world who would feel terrible when her adopted tag was stripped off . It didn't make sense to her but she felt like she lost something very important to her . And it made her sad instead of being happy that she was connected to her mother by blood .

             She took a few steps away from her mother and turned back to see the tears that were failing in her mother  eyes and then she remembered why she wanted to uncover her past to take the shadows of uncertainty away from mother life not create new one .

So she walked back to her mother and sat beside her, who looked at her as if waiting for more questions or harsh words that lavanya wondered how her mom could even assume lavanya would blame her for something that wasn't her fault .

" I am glad to know you were the one who gave birth to me mom , I often envied Yuv that he spent 10 months in your womb when I didn't .

I don't hate you mom infact after learning the truth I think I love you more than I did before , so it time for you to stop crying , you have cried enough for your lifetime .Now no more " Lavanya spoke up as she gently held her mother face and wiped her tears  .

" You are not upset we kept it from you for so long " her mom questions was whispered as if she was scared to voice it out .

" I won't lie and say it doesn't make a difference, but no I am not upset ,hurt or angry . It just a lot to take in at the moment . But I am fine mom ,no need to worry ,now come with me " Lavanya spoke up as she held her mother hands and took her to the kitchen

" I know You haven't eat anything , you will eat now .That your daughter order ." She spoke as she took the remaining batter from the fridge  to make pancakes for her mother .And she remained by her mother side till she finished eating the pancakes .

" Should I call dad and ask him to come home early " Lavanya asked her mother ,Yuv practice would end in few hours and her father mentioned about taking him to spend the rest of the day with Yash ,their cousin . 

" No beta , I will speak with him ." her mother answered back leaving Lavanya alone with her thoughts ,she heard her mom speak to her father in the phone that she returned back to her room

                  And in the confines of the room , she let the tears fall . If only she knew why she felt like crying . Why the revelation of her birth affected her with sadness than happiness

                 From the day she was brought to this house as their daughter she never felt this alone . She was too numb to feel anything at the moment . And it was because of that she marched outside her room and went in search of her mother and found her in their parents bedroom . 

                   Lavanya knew her mother must have noticed that she was upset because the flicker of worry was back on her face and Lavanya wondered if she should have stayed  in her room till she controlled her emotions .

                " Come here beta and talk to me " her mom spoke gently as Lavanya went to sit beside her on the bed and then found herself lying on her mother lap instead , the gently caress of her mother hand made her relax as she drifted off to sleep instead of saying anything .

      
                Because she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts and her mother lap felt like the safest place in the world at the moment ,it calmed her mind enough that the exhaustion from having a sleepless night caught up with her as she drifted off to sleep .

"  Mom , Lavanya di, do you know Laksh uncle brought a new video game for Yash " her little brother loud voice woke her up from the nap as she looked at her brother who was excited about his visit with their cousin . 

        B   Lavanya had briefly forgotten all about everything as she watched her brother excitement and then she smiled at her mother who was listening patiently to her son words. She didn't know how long she slept but she felt refreshed and believed that sadness she felt were a thing of the past and nothing changed by the knowledge of the truth .

               Until her father walked inside the room , and she finally had answer to her unhappiness.  Because no matter where lavanya had been ,she would always greet her father with a huge smile because just seeing her father would make her happy and yet today she couldn't bring herself to even look at him because she finally had answer on why she felt sad when she learnt she wasn't adopted ,it had nothing to do with her mother but everything to do with her father .

                    Her father always had been her super hero , the man who saved her from being orphan , the person who gave her a family , her bond with him was unshakeable and she realized the truth about her birth  changed everything she believed about him .

                   She was not chosen to be loved by her father , she was chosen because he loved her mother . She was not adopted because he wanted a daughter. She was adopted because his wife wanted her daughter back . She wasn't loved unconditionally by her father  from the moment he saw her but she was loved because she was his wife daughter .

                    While her bond with her mother grew stronger , she realized her bond with her father faltered when she realized she wasn't his adopted princess just like she always believed  

P.S : So how was Lavanya reaction.  Did any of you expect her reaction ?

     That it for now .Let me know your thoughts and feedback .Hit the votes if you liked it .

Love

Nita