Every morning, Meera would stand at the door and wave bye to her father when he would leave for work. Some days she would also give him a flying kiss goodbye if she was in the mood. Prateek’s heart would skip a beat every time his darling daughter would do so.
Enthusiastically, he would fire across two-three flying kisses or even come back for a quick hug. But some days she expresses her sadness and would say, “don’t go... stay with me .. please.”
Poor dad’s heart would melt.
Her mother Naina, was not allowed to shut the door until she saw daddy dear disappear.
Meera would sadly say “Dada’s gone?” She would wonder, ‘Where does Dada go every day?’
Naina would lovingly explain to Meera, “Dada has gone to the office to work.”
“What does he do there all day?” pat comes to another question.
“Dada works in a big office.”
“But I miss him when he isn’t with me, mera man nahi lagta” and made a pouty face.
Now and then during the day, Meera would tell her mother that she is missing Dada.
Obviously it was not possible for Naina to call Prateek every time their daughter was thinking about Dada. But, thanks to Whatsap’s voice messaging, life became very easy. She would record whatever Meera has to say to her Dada and send it across.
Dada would video call her from work if he had the chance to. The questions would start firing from Meera’s side…
“What are you doing?”
“Why aren’t you home?”
“What time will you be back?”
Meera would be super excited.
Prateek would spend his day powering through unlimited emails and a pile of paperwork and back to back meetings. Although at the back of his mind he would think about only Meera. Prateek wished he could spend more time at home with Meera as Naina does.
Once Prateek was home, Meera would hide and giggle wherever she was. She would patiently wait for her Dada to come and find her. They both would reunite like long lost buddies.
Prateek would eat dinner and watch Netflix. The all-time favourite combination of any man. It would take seconds for Meera to turn off the television and demand that her father plays with her after dinner.
Meera would happily take her father by his little finger and would walk him to her playroom. That was the only time Prateek got to spend with Meera.
On a typical day, Naina would finish off all her chores in the kitchen and join the two of them. They all would play until it was Meera’s bedtime.
Naina stood at the doorway and looked at both of them play after she finished her chores.
“Are you okay? You look miserable…” said Prateek.
“I’m okay… I’ve just got a splitting headache.” expressed Naina.
“Go to sleep, I’ll manage Meera,” said Prateek.
“No..No… It’s ok. You’re tired. You’ve had a long day” said Naina
“Just go! I know how extreme your headaches can be” Prateek insisted.
Prateek and Meera decided to chill and watch Netflix for some time until Meera was ready to sleep. He made her a bottle of warm milk and fed her. She was sound asleep in seconds.
Prateek came to his wife’s side of the bed and stroked her head and said, “Did you take your medicine?”
“Ya I did. I’m feeling much better,” replied Naina in her sleep.
He kissed her on the forehead and said, “you don't worry about Meera. She is fast asleep.”
“I’m not worried. I have you” replied Naina stroking his hand. Naina scooted in and let Prateek lie down next to her. They both started chatting about how their day went. Before you know it Naina was fast asleep in his arms.