Chapter You will always be my mom , by birth or not
Aarav was trying hard to not fall off his bike while riding back home. The taste of her lips was still there. He reached home and even before he knocked , his mom was standing by the opened door. She gave a smile , trying hard , Aarav could clearly tell. Yet she struggled and said ,
"Looks like the charm worked out for you! How was it?"
"Awesome!"
"What did u do? Did u kiss?"
"Mom! Come on! There's something called privacy!"
"Well, whatever, I know the answer."
Aarav was so much into the date, he had forgotten he still had to talk about himself to his mom. He suddenly turned serious and said,
"Mom, I think.. it's time you tell me the truth"
"What truth Aarav?"
"Mom, you've been hiding it from me for 17 years now, did u never get it that I should know?"
"Aarav I don't have the slightest idea of what you are talking !"
"Mom, atleast accept that you are hiding something from me!"said Aarav angrily.
He got up and without taking a glance back, he went back upstairs . He changed into his clothes and lied down on his bed .
It was almost an hour when his phone rang , it was Pranay .
P: "Hey buddy, you alright?"
A: "I should be the one asking that!"
P:"Listen, Aarav, I told you it's not your fault. You don't know your abilities , that's all!"
A:"I don't know and I don't care! I can't hurt you Pranay, even in my worst nightmares!"
P:"Calm , down. Anyways can u come back to the same house?"
A:" Not in hell! I'm not coming to that Haunted place! "
P:"Listen Aarav, do you wanna go to an unknown place for the rest of your life?"
A:"No."
P:"Then just go and talk to aunty Aarohi!"
A:"Pranay, how can I? I just don't have the freaking courage to ask mom ! She's struggled day and night just for me! I can't ask my mom if she's my real mother or not . Not when she has taken care of me for 17 years and what's the proof behind my doubt?
A FREAKING BLACK COLOURED DOOR!"
P: "Aarav, listen, I'm not telling you she's not your mother, I'm just asking you to ask her who you are! "
A:"Pranay, I'm telling you the last time, I JUST CAN'T!
And he threw the phone away. He wasn't aware how much he had screamed. Aarohi had listened to his angry voice and was standing just to the door and listening to whatever Aarav was saying .
A tear rolled down her beautiful eyes. She rubbed her hands together and pressed them on her eyes and knocked on the door .
"Aarav , dinner's ready. Come down, and I won't welcome a no!"
After ten minutes, Aarav was sitting on the dinner table facing his mom and neither of them wanted to break the silence. Finally he gathered up whatever courage he had and asked,
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"Who am I?"
"I don't know what you are asking Aarav!"
"I know you do mom, what are u hiding? I think it's finally time you tell me who exactly I am..."
"I don't want to, we will never be the same after you hear the truth."
Tears rolled down her eyes and she put her head in her hands. Aarav got up and hugged her. He said,
"Mom, if u are not okay with me hearing the truth, then just don't trouble yourself ! It's alright , really! It's not important to me than you are!"
Finally after crying for some more time on Aarav's shoulders , Aarohi made up the courage and said,
"Aarav, what I am going to tell you...."
"Mom, I know that I'm not normal , I'm a black and I know it very well, I just want to know who my actual parents are..."
Aarohi was shocked and somewhat relieved to hear that Araav didn't even have the slightest clue about his true birth. Then she remembered what the priest had told her,
Prophecies cannot be unfollowed, but sure can be altered. He will know who he is, but not the whole truth.
She told him,
"Aarav listen, my name is not Aarohi , I'm Bhanumati, the princess of the largest clan of the black Kingdom, the Chalukyas, I ran away from my birth Kingdom and came to the mortal world to marry Aashu leaving everything behind. But even after 4 years of marriage , our life was empty without a child. On this exact day, 17 years ago, my sister, Indumati, came running to my door, covered in blood and with bloody hands handed you to me, to take care of you as your own mother. Aarav, I'm not your mother and neither was Aashu was your father ."
"But who was my father ? And where did my mother go?"
"After I left the Chalukya kingdom , I never knew a thing about what happened to her or who she married , that day when she handed you to me, was the last time I saw her, she asked me not to follow her and even I was bounded by rules not to do so."
She gave up and started crying , even Aarav couldn't see someone who was always smiling, whatever the problems were, crying in such a shape.
He said,
"Mom, it's okay, nothing's changed"
"Everything's changed, I'm not your mother, I'm not fit to be a mother! I couldn't tell this to you any sooner..."
"Mom, what are u saying? I don't know who my real parents are, and to say the truth I don't care, what I care about is you mom! They dumped me , for whatever reason it be, valid or not, but they did dump me. And thanks to that, maybe I deserved a better mom,so I got you!"
Aarav bent down and took his mother's hand and kneeled down , he said,
"Mom, always remember, you were , you are and you always will be the best mother. You will always be my mom, be it by birth or not."
Aarohi looked at her son and with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face , she said,
"I never realised you grew up!"
How much ever anyone loves us , but that love is not a single part of what love our mom has towards us . I really became emotional while writing this one . Hope you enjoyed..