“Mamma! What is your blood group?” Fourteen-year old Mou asked Piyali, who was getting ready to go to the office. After Mou’s birth and few months of recovery, she had started on her journalistic career and had climbed its ladders steadily and well. She was the chief-editor of a major publication house in Kolkata. Mou’s classes were over for the year, and she was preparing for board exams which were to start two weeks later.

“A-positive.”

“And Baba’s?”

“O-positive.”

“How is that possible?”

“Why?”

“Mine is AB-positive.”

“So? Mine was also different from my parents.”

“Different is fine. But it is predictable. If my blood group is AB-positive, at least one the parents’ has to be B-positive or AB-positive.”

“I don’t know. I was never a Science student,” Piyali grew nervous and tried to end the discussion, “I am getting late for the office…”

“Mamma!” Mou was a perceptive child and Piyali could not get away from her, “Science doesn’t change because someone decided not to study it. This is not possible.”

“We haven’t gotten our blood group checked in a long time, Mou. Probably I don’t remember it correctly. Probably mine is AB-positive… How do I know?”

“Mamma! Before asking you I had seen your blood-group from your driving license. Baba’s too. What do I not know, Mamma?” Mou was determined. And scared of what she was going to find out! Piyali’s heart sank. She had thought of discussing it with Mukundo a thousand times, so that they could be prepared for this day, if it ever came. But she never got around to doing it. The idea of ever reminding Mukundo of Mou’s parentage repulsed her. He doted over his daughter. He was his friend, philosopher and guide; just like he had been to her. The generation gap seemed to disappear between the father and the daughter. How could Piyali break the harmony of this relationship? But what was she to do now? How will Mou react to the truth? How will Mukundo bear it?

“Mou. Your exams are at hand. Don’t bother yourself with pointless questions…” Piyali made a last-ditch attempt at avoiding the storm.

“Mamma, tell me. Now!”

“Fine Mou,” Piyali sighed, “But you have to promise me something. That you wouldn’t say a word about it to your Baba.”

“He doesn’t know?” Mou looked even more anxious.

“Of course, he knows,” Piyali got slightly irritated as she realized what Mou might have thought, “I don’t have any secrets from him. And I know you don’t either. But what I am asking you to keep from him is your knowing it. And not just with words, even with your actions.”

“What do you mean, Mamma?”

“Don’t hurt him Mou. Promise me, you won’t.”

“Mamma, please.”

“You have to promise me before I open my mouth,” Piyali spoke in her tough-parent tone. Since Mukundo had been excessively indulgent with her, the responsibility of keeping her in line, when needed, had fallen on her.  So, she didn’t have any difficulty in acting tough.

“I promise. Now tell me. Who isn’t my real parent?”

“You mean biological parent, Mou,” Piyali corrected her, “Who do you think has not been a real parent to you between us?”

“Don’t keep me in this suspense, Mamma…” Mou begged.

“You were born prematurely Mou. There was a complication and I had made him promise that he would choose to save you over me, if that choice had to be made. It was a tough promise to make, but he made it. And then he had literally flown in doctors from everywhere to save you and me. You were weak after birth, and fell sick easily. I myself was so weak and sick that I didn’t think I would survive to bring you up. But I knew that I could trust him to care for you even more than I would. Your Baba spent nights after nights tending to you when you woke up crying; and he put both of us to sleep. He continued taking care of you even when I was better, because he could not bear to see you crying. He just had to ensure, personally, that you were calm and comfortable in sleep; and otherwise! He was willing to pull you out of school, when one day you came home crying because a teacher had scolded you. If you wanted something, he would get it, irrespective of what it took, even when I opposed it. Mou. He never agreed to have another child, because he said that his family was complete and he didn’t need anyone else. Truth is that he never even accidentally wanted you to feel neglected, not that he would have done it…”

“Mamma. Please stop,” Mou grew overwhelmed and started crying. Piyali embraced her and tried to assure her. “Nothing has changed, Shona. Why are you crying? You are the most loved child in the world. Your Baba loves you like no one else can. What do you not have?”

Mou overcame her emotional outburst and wiped her tears. “I still want to know, Mamma. How did this happen? Who is my…” she paused for the right word before continuing, “Biological father? What happened to him?”

Piyali just told her about their relationship, her pregnancy and breakup. She initially did not say anything about him wanting abortion.

“Does he know about me?” Mou looked hopeful. Such hopes wouldn’t do anyone any good. It was better to be done with the ugliness once and for all.

“He wanted me to abort you,” she steeled her heart as well as voice and informed her daughter.

Mou’s face fell. Piyali suffered at her daughter’s pain too. But she was thankful that Mukundo was not around. Mou had to face it and move on from it someday or the other. He would have been heart-broken though.

“Parenthood is not about blood-relations Shona,” she pressed Mou’s hand and spoke somberly, “It is about love, care and responsibility. If you can trust my judgment, that man backing out of our lives was the best thing that happened to both of us. Otherwise we would not have had your Baba. That man could never measure up to Mukundo Babu, Mou. Never ”

“But what about Baba, Mamma? Did Baba marry you because you were pregnant with me?”

Piyali smiled, “No. He wanted to marry me. We both wanted it. Although it took some time for us to realize that the other person wanted it too.”

“You are not making any sense.”

Piyali briefly told her about the conversation they had after five months of their wedding. She didn’t tell her about Ahwaan’s role in it. The less curious she felt about him, the better it would be for her.

Mou had a smile on her lips when Piyali finished telling her how both of them had remained silent thinking about the other person’s discomfort. “I can’t believe this,” she said, “You were crazy. How could you not let each other know even after getting married? Five months?”

“What can I say, darling?” Piyali patted her daughter’s head and blushed slightly, “I could blame it all on the pregnancy hormones. But I know that was not the case…”

“Mamma!” Mou turned serious again, “Does Baba regret it any time? Does he regret me?”

“No,” Piyali replied promptly and matter-of-factly, “He doesn’t have an iota of regret. He is very happy, trust me. If at all he does anything, it is over-expressing his fatherly love. He spoils you.”

“I know,” Mou looked thoughtful.

“And he is very proud of you Mou. He has very high expectations from you. Don’t disappoint him. Starting from your board exams. Don’t get disturbed by what we discussed today. I had a wrong man as a lover once. I suffered because of it. Only for a while though. But you always had the right man as your father. You should have no regrets. Okay?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry, Ma.”

Piyali looked at her worried. She called her ‘Ma’ only when she was extremely serious. “What for, Mou? Why say sorry?”

—

To be continued