Kaun Hain Tu Mera? - SidNaaz

~sixty five~

Shehnaz heard Sona's cry in the baby monitor, she turned it off instantly, not wanting to wake Sidharth up. His arm was sprawled out across her stomach and her face squished against his chest. She got out of his grip, and realised what day today was, panic set through her body, she looked at her phone, it was 5am, Sona was truly an angel, she ran out the room and opened the door adjacent to theirs, Sona's cries instantly stopped the moment she saw her mumma, her teeth were on show as she grinned at her. She held onto the edge of the crip and pulled herself up to stand.

"Inna shuba uth gaya mera Dullu!" She cooed, pulling Sona out of it. Her nappy was wet, that's why. She pressed a kiss to her litte cheek, Sona's face rested against her shoulder as she snuggled into her. She walked out of the room and into theirs, and straight into the bathroom, changed her quickly and sat her down on the counter, handing her the soft baby toothbrush, she liked to play around and imitate her or Sidharth while they brushed. Her little self couldn't even direct her hands to the right place, but she felt so proud of herself for brushing. Shehnaz quickly washed off and wiped her hands and face.

"Ab mumma karegi. Ek baar mumma karegi phir Sona. Theek hain?" She said, trying to pull the brush out of her mouth. She was reluctant to let go, shrieking loudly.

"Ek baar. Accha bacha Haina tu mumma ka?" She said, kissing her cheek, it took her another 3 minutes to persuade Sona to let go. And she did, frowning. She wet the toothbrush and squirted the strawberry flavoured toothpaste onto the bristles of the brush.

"Ahh karo." Shehnaz said. She didn't, like everyday, distracted by the frog at the bottom of the brush. She sighed, handing her some toy she found on the counter, it was a little blue bird. She separated her mouth with her fingers and brushed her small teeth. There were 5 now, and then struggled to clean her tongue.

"Thu karo." She said in her baby voice, the paste was made for babies but the thought of it being swallowed was slightly gross. She put water in her own mouth and spat it out, making her imitate. She shoved her finger into her mouth and cleaned it out.

"Hogaya kinna clean mera putthu." She cooed, picking her up again.

"Mamm..mmaa." She dragged on.

"Haan Sona?" She smiled, kissing her cheek. She was sat on her hip as she walked into the kitchen and made her a bottle, Sona blabbered constantly, waving the giraffe in her hand around.

"Tu theek rahegi na aaj? Mumma poora dinn ghar pe nahi rahegi." She said softly. She made an incoherent sound back.

"Accha Sona bannke rehena hain daadi ke liye, theek hain? Papa bhi cheti cheti aajayenge." She said, kissing her head, Sona just stared at her . She walked out into the balcony, it was still slightly dark outside, the sky was a light shade of blue and the sun peaked. She put Sona on the cane seat and handed her the bottle and sat on the rug. Her heart was racing, incredibly fast. Just as she pulled her dupatta over her head, she heard Sona shriek. She looked back to find her trying to climb off the seat.

"Tut! Sona!" She hissed, pulling her down to sit next to her, she popped the bottle back into her mouth and stared at her mumma as she turned on the Japji Sahib on the phone. She pulled the duppata up, fully covering her head. She sat facing the sun and bent over, till her nose touched the ground. The minute the prayer started playing, she felt herself fall into a rest.

Ik onkar, satnam, karta purakh, nirbhau,
Nir vair, aakaal murat, ajooni se bhang,
Gur parsaad. Jap.

She felt a little body crash into hers, she looked back up, smiled down at her daughter, she looked so curious, trying to understand what her mumma was doing, she saw the half finished bottle thrown on the rug.