One Week Later .

Arun was driving back home after yet another appointment that didn't pan out as he hoped , he was so sure that this would be the trip that would help their son and instead another week was gone with no results .

And yet he was glad to be back home ,it been just few days but he was already missing his son . As he stepped inside his house ,his feet marched straight to his son room and seeing him sleeping peacefully brought a smile to his face until his eyes found Gauri seated in the couch looking worn out .

" Are you fine Gauri ,didn't sleep well last night ?" he asked her, even when the answer had been pretty evident before him , he knew leaving her alone hadn't been ideal and yet she insisted Rahul and her would be fine once she calmed down after her break down that he believed her .

Gauri took the news in stride and asked him to look after Rahul for awhile so she can take a nap , he was more than happy to pitch in considering he missed his son .

" I am fine Arun ,what did the doctors say, " she asked instead ,he should have told her in phone but wanted to deliver the not so good news in person in case she took it harder .

Two hours later Rahul woke up and Arun heart constricted a little as he saw his son crying in silence ,there were tears in his eyes but not a sound ,Arun knew it and seen it often the only evidence their son was upset would be his body reactions like arms that would flay and legs that would kick up in the air to show his dissatisfaction.

It broke Arun heart that yet another trip had come up with no solution to his son inability to speak , the doctors were more than ready to advise him on how to deal with a child who can't speak rather than how to make him speak .

While he changed his son diaper with all the experience he learned from taking care of his daughter ,Rahul still remained upset and continued to cry in silence that he decided to wake up Gauri instead .

During her last few months if pregnancy, Gauri mother stayed with her in the same room which was in a way to prevent Gauri from harming herself when she get one of her nightmares . Because when the nightmares do occur Gauri was similiar to her son , she would be restless and Gauri mother was worried that she may accidentally harm the baby when she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings .

And after Rahul was born,Gauri mother stayed in the room next to her with that it never crossed Arun mind about her nightmares . Until he saw her suffering from one as he walked inside her room .

While she woke up immediately hearing his voice and took over the care of Rahul ,he was worried about her . How did she sleep with Rahul in the room ,does her nightmare wakes up their son as well he didn't know but he felt like he should have known how she is coping with it rather than believing that she was managing on her own .

They didn't get time to talk about it until few hours later when Rahul felt asleep and Gauri decided to cook dinner for both of them , he walked into the kitchen and noticed she was too tired to even hold the spatula in her hand yet she stood resolute in her decision to cook .

" Are you having nightmares often ?" He asked her, when they were seated to dine while Rahul cradle was placed with in their eye sight .

" No ,only rarely , " she answered back, while he understood it was the truth ,he was worried she wasn't telling him everything.

" Let Rahul sleep with me tonight, " he spoke up ,looking at her tired face and deciding that she needs some peaceful night of sleep .

" Rahul will need food when he wakes up and you can't be able to provide that, " she answered back, which has been the reason he hasn't offered for it until today

" I will wake you up if that the case , you really don't sleep much during the night right ? " he asked her, worried she would answer in the affirmative and he would feel guilty for not guessing it early .

" I can't sleep, What if he woke up crying and I slept through it .What kind of mother would I be if I let my son cry for hours, " She answered back, confirming his suspicions and Arun realized he hadn't given it a thought like Gauri .

" So you don't even sleep, " he asked, and her silence had been his answer ,how could one survive days without sleeping he didn't know but Gauri made it possible at the cost of her health .

********************

Arun was angry with her ,she understood it from his silence and yet she wouldn't do it any other way . Her son remained her priority even if it meant 15 minutes nap every three hours to keep her functioning .

Once Arun left on his trip ,she come up with the plan to make sure her son was fine . She slept for 15 minutes for every three hours and woke up with the help of alarm that way Rahul wouldn't be crying for more than fifteen minutes ,if he woke up during that time

In the seven days since Arun left ,she has only saw Rahul up five time times and he was crying only one time yet she felt guilty for sleeping , she was at her wits end and was so relieved to see Arun return that his news that trip didn't work out hardly mattered to her because now she had someone who can watch Rahul for few hours .

Right now Rahul was asleep on her lap and she was wondering where Arun dashed off to after her confession ,she didn't need him to be angry on her behalf because she wanted him to look after Rahul for a little awhile longer so she could sleep .

And was taken back when Arun come up to the living room carrying papers with him , she didn't know what he was up to until he spoke up a little later.

" We got married for our Son ,Gauri . But that doesn't mean I don't care about you and would remain unaffected by your decisions. I still don't understand why you never told me any of it but since I know now we are going to have a schedule between us .

We will take alternate nights in watch , and if Rahul woke up hungry I will wake you up and then you can sleep. Since we are going to have sleepless nights in the near future ,I think we should hire someone to help with every day chores as well .

I know you don't like to have stranger in our house ,so we will hire for few hours per day only . I don't want you to work yourself out . We are in this together Gauri and I am sorry for not helping out more " Arun spoke up , and she didn't know what to tell him .

She expected him to say her fears are irrational and staying the whole night awake is not a solid plan . She didn't expect him to go along with her and forego his sleep as well . But he did and for the next two weeks they kept with their schedule which helped Gauri find some sleep ,the nightmares occurred some days but not all of them which allowed her to have a good sleep most days .

And they hired someone to help as well ,Gauri chosen to remain with Rahul when the help arrives everyday leaving Arun to be in charge . Because while she was okay with small talk with complete strangers for few minutes ,she wasn't ready to have a conversation with someone she could meet daily .

So she wasn't prepared for it when Arun fell asleep one day longer than usual ,since he had been the whole night she didn't have it in her heart to wake him ,so placed Rahul in the bassinet they brought for him and went to meet Tulsi di.

Tulsi Di was someone closer to Arun age and she was kinder to her by not asking too much questions , most people are prone to ask questions but Tulsi di didn't ask her anything that was personal and kept all her questions about the work she needed to do and it gave Gauri confidence to be in her presence the next few days and Rahul got to meet her almost few days later .

" He is just like his father, " was all Tulsi di said , and Gauri laughed at her favouritism ,it can't be helped considering Arun speaks more than few words at a time. And Gauri appreciated that she didn't ask more about Rahul.

And it took Gauri almost one more weeks before letting Rahul alone with Tulisi di as she went to take a quick shower , she rushed in five minutes as always .

They were tears in Tulsi di eyes that Gauri couldn't understand ,she didn't want think Rahul was being pitied because her son was far too precious for her to be looked down upon .

" Why are you upset ?" Gauri asked , as she took Rahul in her arms , a way to control her anger .

" I have a son too , and he was born blind . He was three when I took him with me to work ,I only took my eyes off him for few minutes maybe just one minute,I don't know but the next thing I knew he had fallen down the stairs, " Tulsi di spoke up, and Gauri anger evaporated into thin air at her confession.

" He is fine now , but got himself a two fractures in his leg due to my mistake. All because I couldn't keep my eyes on him for a minute . So I understand why you both are being cautious ,it never easy to raise a child and it much harder if the child can't see the danger like mine or call out for help like yours

That why I accepted this job when your husband mentioned you had a child who can't speak and so your both need to keep an eye on him always . Because in a way I want to ease your burden , " Tulisi di finished speaking , as she walked back to the kitchen leaving Gauri stunned by what she heard and realized she was too taken back by her son inability to speak that she never realized they are people out there who went through the same .

" What does your son do now , " Gauri asked her , as she walked inside the kitchen,the first personal question from her side that has nothing to do with work . And Tulsi face lighted up as she spoke up about her son for the next one hour .

" Wasn't it hard to raise him on your own ?" Gauri asked her , because during the conversation she learnt Tulsi had lost her husband when her son was five years old .

" I wasn't on my own , I had my neighbours who chirped in to look after him for few hours ,I had my in-laws who looked after him when I was at work. That how I was able to raise him ,together with my friends and family, " Tulsi di answered back, with a smile that Gauri realized while the path has been hard for her ,she never looked back at it with despair because she had found people who stood by her and helped her as well .

It gave Gauri hope about her son future ,while Arun remained optismatic about getting help for Rahul ,Gauri became hopeful that she would be able to raise him well with Arun by her side . And decide to accept Ishaan offer to stay the summer with them .

At first she declined her brother request thinking he would be much happier at home then with her , she knew his request was because he wanted to help Gauri , and she decided it time to allow other to help her rather than hold on the thought she can do it alone .

Taking with Tulsi di made Gauri realized that raising her son wasn't something that will end once he would stop waking in the middle of the night . And it was time for Gauri to accept all the help she gets from others who care about her and her son .

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

Love

Juanita Reid