"Okay, I'll tell your dad how you two sneak into the kitchen at night to eat ice cream and chocolate," I threatened, but if she doesn't finish it, I'll actually tell him.
I hide so many things from Ayaan just to keep them out of trouble. Once he finds out, he'll scold me first, and that man wants more kids... He can have them on his own, I'm happy with these two.
"NO!" Ayushi shouts, finishing the glass immediately.
"Good girl. Here, take this pill now," I say, handing her a pill.
I smiled and handed Ayushi the pill, while crushing half of it in a spoon for Aryan.
Aryan tried to resist, but I knew he couldn't win against me. I gently pushed the spoon into his mouth and made sure he swallowed it with some water. With that, my work was done. Now they would sleep peacefully, and I could take care of all the household chores.
"Alright, my sweethearts, time to go to sleep. I'll wake you up later. If either of you feels any pain or discomfort, remember to find me. Love you both, and please don't cause any trouble," I said, giving them a kiss on their heads.
"Mumma, will you tell dad?" Ayushi asked, holding onto me as I kissed her head.
"Should I?" I replied, teasingly.
"Go to sleep, mera baccha," I said, leaving their room. I couldn't help but wonder if I was creating a wrong impression in their minds.
I had been hiding a lot of their troubles from Ayaan. When Aryan kicked his teacher's chair out of anger, I handled it. When these two were secretly skipping classes for over a month, I handled it too. When Ayushi hit another girl on the head with a cane, I handled it. And when they took money from my purse without permission, I handled that too. I knew that once Ayaan found out about all these things, he would handle me too.
"I should finish my work," I thought to myself.
______________________
AT SCHOOL
"So, you're telling me they were absent for two months straight?" Ayaan asked, closing the Attendance register and looking at Ayushi and Aryan's class teacher.
"Well, actually, sir, it was one month and twenty days," the principal replied.
"I never received a single message about it," Ayaan said, sounding surprised.
"Sir, maybe this number is wrong. Is this your number?" the principal asked, showing him his details. Indeed, the number was incorrect.
"This number is no longer in use. Who wrote this number here?" Ayaan questioned.
"Your daughter. Perhaps she forgot your correct number. You can write your current phone number here," the principal suggested.
"Can I also meet the 12th-grade class teacher with the same Attendance register?" Ayaan asked, more as a statement than a question, indicating his intention to meet the teacher.
Alright. Please contact the Science department class teacher. Sir, in case you are not aware, here are the unit test sheets of your daughter and son. Their mid-year exams will begin next month." The principal reiterated.
"May I leave, ma'am?" asked Aryan's class teacher, but Ayaan stopped her.
"How is Aryan? Is he active in class?"
"He is attentive, but he gets upset with us too. For example, if he wants to recite an English poem and I ask him to recite a Hindi poem, he will get upset and refuse to speak. He needs to understand that I am not his mother, so there is no reason to be upset with me."
Ayaan took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"And he has a temper as well. He throws objects when he gets angry." Ayaan nodded in agreement, knowing that everyone in his house had a temper.
"Anything else?"
"He is good at making friends, drawing, and his handwriting is also good. He even won a prize for his handwriting."
A smile formed on Ayaan's lips as he looked at Ayushi's class teacher for the same question.
"Her handwriting is poor. Sometimes, I can't even understand what she is writing in tests. You can see for yourself." The teacher handed over the test paper to Ayaan.
Upon inspection, it was indeed unreadable, but Ayaan understood that she deliberately chose this handwriting style.
"She is very outspoken without any filter. She always eats her lunch during ongoing classes. She once pushed my chair, and her math teacher is tired of her because she refuses to come to the board when asked to solve questions."
"Really?"
"Not only that, sir. When any teacher punishes her by making her stand outside the class, she starts wandering on the floor. Her classwork is always incomplete."
"So, isn't it your responsibility to ensure she completes her classwork at school?" Ayaan asked, his anger more directed towards Ayushi.
"Sir, I cannot write on her behalf. Here is her unit test paper. I wanted to personally hand it to you because you did not attend the parent-teacher meeting."
"I wasn't even aware of it. Who attended it on my behalf?"
" Sir Your wife. But according to rules I can't give her paper she has to come with her mom and dad. Because specifically told her that. "
Ayaan nodded and inquired about Khushi's performance with her class teacher.
Khushi's teacher responded, "Khushi is excelling in all subjects except for biology, where she struggles. However, since it's not her main subject, it's acceptable. She also lacks in sports, but she excels in other subjects, especially mathematics where she topped her class. Shubham sir would have praised her endlessly if you had met him."
Ayaan remarked, "It's good to hear that at least someone is doing well."
"Thank you for your time, and I apologize for any inconvenience," Ayaan said as he left the school with the report cards of Aryan and Ayushi.
As he drove towards the hospital, Ayaan muttered to himself, "I should just forget about what happened today at school. It's best to pretend I never went there and that my kids are at home or out in the city somewhere. Let's just forget it."
EXTRA-12❤
Start from the beginning
