Twisted Relations

When her little brother scored the first goal she jumped up in joy with a smile only for it to fade when her eyes met her father who was looking at her with a smile .

She knew the reason for his smile was not only because of his son achievement but because it has been days since she smiled .

And the familiar guilt choose that moment to make an appearance and she sat down feeling dejected for hurting him by her distance .

Her eyes refused to focus on the match after that as it rested on the ground when a familiar voice beside her spoke up

" Do you know I was engaged to marry your father since I was born " a voice spoke up as Lavanya turned to look at her aunts  in confusion .

It didn't make sense to her , because among her aunts one was her father cousin and the other one was her father cousin wife . How could her statement be true unless they were not talking about her father but someone else and the pieces finally clicked together and she turned around to see her uttara aunty waiting for to react

" He is not my father , I have only one ." Lavanya answered back and saw her response was welcomed when her aunt smiled at her .

" That is true , but it didn't change the fact I had been engaged to marry him from the time I was born. So when he married Swara bhabhi instead I was heart broken and when he died it had been easy to blame your mother than really believe the guy I know all my life had been capable of being a monster .  

I hated your mom when she married Sanskar Bhai few years later  . And believed everyone in my family was deceived by her . I wouldn't even believe Ragini aunty  statement that your mom was innocent ,I choose to be blind and deaf you see " her aunt spoke up and waited for her to react .

   Lavanya had been taken back by what Uttara aunt said and yet somehow it didn't really matter to her considering she hadn't given a thought about her biological father as her interest remained firmly fixated on her dad , But one statement confused her , why was Ragini aunt statement held more value and so she looked at her instead . 

          "You knew him as well ?" Lavanya asked Ragini aunt as she wondered about how much more revelations she can take in such a short time .

" He was my brother " Ragini aunt spoke up and Lavanya didn't expect it .

One of her aunt was engaged to him and the other was his sister . Such revelations was what not she expected . Ragini aunt and Laksh uncle knew each other from their childhood ,did it mean her parents met because of them .

" Is that how dad and mom met ?" the question slipped out as she began to wonder about her parents marriage .

" No , Your dad and Mom didn't meet then , they only met few years later " Uttara aunty  spoke up . At her continued  silence her aunt  continued to speak up again

" I wanted to separate Bhai from your mother in anger , so I did a lot of things that still haunts me but my worst crime was when I tried to separate you from your mom . When Bhai realized that he broke of his relationship with me .

He told me he no longer had a sister . And I was angry ,upset and frustrated about it back then and felt all blame rested on your mother . Till I learnt my lesson and realized it was I who was wrong .

When I really needed someone help it was your mother who came to help . She did everything in her power to help me when I lost hope . That when I realized I was the fool who didn't see the truth before my eyes . And blamed her for someone else actions " her aunt spoke up and waited again for Lavanya to grasp what she told her .

It made sense when she remembered how her father avoided his cousin when she was young. He won't even speak to her and she will only visit when he wasn't around . It all changed slowly by the time she grew up. She didn't realize there was a time when her father and her aunt were drifted apart .

Looking at the closeness between them now gave her a bit hope that things will work out for her as well . But her silence was misconstrued as refusal to believe their words .

" Lavanya beta ,Your mom is one of the most forgiving soul . I testified against her in court during her trial not because I blamed her for Siddharth death but I had my reasons  . And Uttara hurt Swara  terribly but your mom forgave us because that the kind of person she is " Ragini spoke up making Lavanya aware that they believed the distance was because she hadn't reconciled with her mother when her problem has nothing to do with her mother past .

" I know , you need not worry .I don't blame for her past neither do I blame her for keeping it from me this long . And if there is anyone to blamed I think it belongs to your dad and brother " Lavanya spoke up and regretted her words when her aunt face fell  at those harsh accusations .

" I am sorry , I didn't mean to hurt you . Just don't worry about me .." Lavanya spoke up and before they could ask her more questions she was saved by her brother who scored another goal right before the match ends thus gaining everyone attention .

On the ride back home , she was seated beside her brother who was holding is man of the match trophy with pride and regaling his family with tales of how close the match was as if they didn't see it .

But Lavanya mind was wondering back to everything she learned today . When she first saw the name Durga Prasad Maheshwari in the donor list ,she believed she was related to her dad but after her mother explanation she thought it was a coincidence but now after learning how interconnected her family were she began to wonder why would her fathers uncle abandon her in an orphanage and pay a large sum till she got adopted .

She didn't get a chance to talk to her mother till later when her father and brother went out to for grocery shopping a job his brother loved as locating the items in her mother list felt like an hidden object game to him .

" Why did Dad's uncle abandoned me in the orphanage " her question was out of the blue that her mother looked at her in surprise .

" Did Uttara aunty say any thing , you both were talking a lot today " her mother diversion of topic didn't work because she needed to know the reason .

" You never told me Uttara aunty had been engaged to him ,neither did you tell me Ragini aunt was his sister " She asked again but realized her question sounded bit rude that she regretted wording it that way because she didn't blame her mother but was bit taken back by the change in dynamics of her family . 

" It wasn't ours to tell , we thought once you settled down ,we could ask Ragini if she wanted you to know and Uttara is happily married now and I didn't want to open up about her engagement when it was in the past  " her mother spoke up clearly upset that Lavanya was asking question from her past .

"And why didnt you tell me about dad's uncle .?" She asked again this time because it was what she wanted to know ,how her dad uncle was responsible for her abandonment and why he did something so cruel .

" Because it not mine to share but your father and you haven't allowed him to barely speak more than a word to you " her mother answer had an hint of accusations and it made her feel guilty again but while her need to know was consuming ,she wasn't excited to spend some time with her dad alone when she still hasn't come to terms with everything

" Why don't you and your dad go on a ride , you used to love it and you can talk about it as well " her mom offer was her olive branch trying to bridge the gap between her husband and daughter .

" It okay ma , I don't want to know anymore " she spoke up taking the coward way out until she saw her father standing at their door looking hurt by her words .

She didn't know how long he was standing there but she was sure he heard her declining to spend time with him . And the familiar feeling of guilt crept right back in , she went to her room and locked herself up and let the tears fall .

She wished there was a reset button for emotions , she wish all it would take was one press of a button to go back to the way she felt before , she knew her mom would have told her father everything and she wondered what would be going through his mind ..

Later that night she walked outside her room and saw her father in the living room watching something on Television . She knew her mom had a trial tomorrow , she realized her father didn't want to disturb her sleep .

But getting past him without him noticing would be hard ,yet she was so thirsty that she risked it to walk to the kitchen only to freeze when her eyes landed on the television screen where a 8 year old version of her was singing Happy Birthday in off key .

She remembered her doing it for his birthday and the smile he showered on her that day made her feel like a princess . She rushed in to his arms after that and she remembered him lifting her up to twirl her around .It was one of the happiest moment of her life .

And her heart broke for her father all over again , he was hurt she realized far more than she understood . Is it better to let him worry without knowing her turmoil and let him imagine the worst or tell him the truth and face the consequence she didn't know but her feet made her way towards the living room .

" Can we go on a drive dad ?" She spoke up and her heart knew she made the right choice when he smiled at her and nodded his head . She didn't know what will happen at the end of the ride but she knew she had to try to bridge their relationship back .

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

Love

Juanita Reid.