“Mummy.”

“Mummy!”

“Mummmmyyy!!!” “Yes?!” I looked up suddenly, “What is it?” “I asked you three times if you have fed the children” he asked a bit miffed. “No darling, I haven’t” I smiled and looked back into the screen that had my attention occupied for the moment. “Ok no problem, I will feed them. Come on George, Puttu, Noddy, Peppa; where are all of you?” he called out endearingly. I looked up at him amused, distracted but only for a second. He pulled out plates and arranged them on the table and divided the food he had prepared equally in all of them. “Did you check George’s temperature today?” I heard him, but my mind was too faraway to give him a real reply. I did shake my head slightly though, but of course, he couldn’t have seen it, fussing over the food as he was. “Mom! Please pay attention to me when I speak.” he said sternly. When I looked up again at him frowning, a tad bit irritated at being disturbed again, he said softly. “Isn’t that what you have taught me since I was a small child? That when someone is speaking to you then you must pay attention and answer back?” I nodded my head guiltily. “Sorry, What did you ask me?” “Did you give George his medicine or check him while I was out?” “No sweetie. I forgot!” “What did I have to check?” I added after a minute. He stared at me shaking his head. “He has a fever. We took him to the doctor yesterday remember?” “Oh yes!” I vaguely remembered some chatter about a doctor visit and medicines and a possible injection. “But u didn’t tell me to check him.” “I did mummy! You forget everything I tell you” he grumbled looking away. “I asked you to check his temperature and give his medicine. The red one which the doctor had given yesterday. He is supposed to take it three times today and I only gave him one in the morning before I went out.” I thought I should probably feel a bit bad for having forgotten but the truth was I couldn’t care less. Things like this didn’t matter to me now; there was a time when I took all of what he said seriously, not anymore though. I just looked on unapologetic and stifled a yawn.

“Ok..no problem” I said trying to uplift his mood. “It’s just after 4 o’clock in the evening. Give him one dose now while you are giving him his food and give the last medicine at night!” I smiled. Super! I had a solution for everything. “No! You had to give it one hour ago. It’s late now. I will have to call the doctor and check.” “It’s nothing serious, relax. Georgie will be ok, he just has a cough, right?” He looked at me like I was crazy, mumbled under his breath and shook his head. Pulling his phone out from his bag, he walked away making boop boop-beep beep noises while dialing some numbers. I sighed. It seemed like I couldn’t do anything right these days! I went back to my screen eagerly, like a hopeless addict, my son pushed towards the back of my mind.

He walked back into the room with a swagger after what seemed like barely two minutes and called out, “I have to go out again. I have to make a trip to the phone company, the car has a puncture so I need to take it to the mechanic and I have a list of things to buy from the store.” “Hmm” I just ‘hmmed’ hoping he wouldn’t disturb me again and just go on. But it wasn’t going to be so easy. He stopped right next to me and said, “Let’s go to the doctor first, I’ll drop you back home and then I’ll go out to finish my work afterwards.” I stilled; “Do we have to? Right now? You said we just went yesterday.” “I know that, but I asked the doctor about George’s missed medicine and she wants me to come right now so that she can check him.” “Ok so you go, I’ll stay at home.” I hoped he would agree but he insisted, “I can’t leave you alone at home, come on quickly you just have to sit in the car.” “Ok, then get ready and go to the car, I’ll come in a minute.” I gave up trying to get out of it. Three minutes later he was holding my hand leading me to his car. He made sure I sat down properly, with my feet tucked inside and then swung his hands to shut the door. He sat in front of me and then took his own sweet time adjusting his seat belt, looking back at me and pretending to check all the doors. Then he clutched the steering wheel and pressed the ‘On’ button and I could hear the car revving up. He honked and then stared straight ahead of him, presumably driving. I wasn’t even looking at him, I was still engrossed in the swirling colors of my screen. After a while he announced that we had reached. “Shall I go out?” “No! Wait I’ll open the door for you. Come here, you can go back to your table and chair” he announced. “Are we home? Did we finish meeting the doctor? I never realized!” “Yes!” He laughed. “You didn’t realize. We went and I quickly met the doctor and drove back home.” “Wow, awesome!” I exclaimed. “So I can go back to what I was doing?” “Yes” he smiled, pulling out his phone once again and chattering on it non-stop.

He made a big show of checking George’s temperature and then announced to no one in particular, in a very convincing English accent that he had picked up, “Oh goody! You are all right George. No fever. Very good. But don’t start running around, you still need to rest.” I almost rolled my eyes; please, enough of the talk! But he didn’t stop for even a second. “Alright. I’m going out to the car mechanic to get the puncture repaired and then to the phone company…..” “You already told me before!” I interrupted, exasperated that he wouldn’t let me be in peace even for five minutes at a stretch. “I am telling them, not you” he scoffed back and I made a funny face at him sticking my tongue out and wrinkling my nose and laughed. He almost laughed with me, but then straightened his expression and turned to go. “I will be back in two and half hours. I’ll miss you all. Love you, bye. Be good and listen to my mummy, she is your granny you know.” Then looking at me he said, “I’m going to take the Honda car, because that is okay, so I will ask for a tow truck and tow my Mercedes to the mechanic. Then I don’t know what he is going to say! And how much time it will take to repair it! Oh my god. I have so much work to do! Ok I’m going. Bye mummy.” He checked his bag for his phone and wallet that I knew had a few coins in it. “Bye” I waved two fingers in the general direction where he was standing, preoccupied once again, my eyes focused downwards.

He came stomping back a minute later, visibly upset. “What happened now?” I sighed, looking up once again, “Why do you do this? I don’t understand!” He stood with his hands on his hips reminding me of myself when I would scold him. “What did I do?” I felt confused. “You don’t say bye properly, you don’t listen to what I’m saying and you just keep looking at your stupid computer!” “Hey! Language!” I raised my eyebrows. “Ok sorry. But please leave it for some time. Just listen to me and talk to me. Please play with me.”

“Aww babyyy!” I groaned. “I just sat with the laptop 15 minutes back. Please let me just finish sending this one email. Ok?” “Then after this email will you close it and play with me?” “Can I check some other things that I need to see?” “Noooooo. Please can you play pretend with me, mummy, pleeeassee???” Looking down into the wide, beautiful, eager eyes of my five year old I exhaled slowly and smiled. “Yes. Yes I can play. But first we clear out all this play-dough food.” Everything seems more important than the little guy pleading for my attention, but nothing is. He is important. The most important.

Amid the whoops of joy and monkey dance I tried to make myself be heard, “But only for half an hour okay? Please, I have some more work to do and I’ll play with you again after I finish!” I tried to barter some time for myself. “Okay”, he grinned his sweet smile at me. “Alright now what should I do?” “Come on lets go on a holiday to Singapore. Let’s carry all the children and go to the living room.” “Why living room? Let’s play here!” “Noo, the sofa is my plane mummy. I am the pilot and I will take you all with me, but first I have to make all of you sit behind in your seats and tie your seat belts, because all the children are too small, they will not know how to tie their seat belts and you have to tie it in a plane, else you can fall down when we go inside the clouds” he mimicked a plane in turbulence and was shuddering and shaking with his arms outstretched jumping up and down every now and then.

After a long blink, (that is me closing my eyes for about three seconds and then opening them, somewhat akin to a deep breath – refreshing the eyes I guess?) I shut my laptop and gathered all the stuffed animals up in my arms, readying myself for an hour of Pilot Reyu flying me and his toys to Singapore. And who knows, we may even go on to Switzerland and then Africa and land in Jamshedpur to meet his cousins before the hour was up. Oh what a fun trip it was going to be!