"Do you think she will accept the offer? She is my last hope. Else I am winding up everything over here and shifting near you.", Sidharth speaks over the phone.

"I think she will..", said the person on the other side after a chuckle.

"Hmmm..", he hums.

"But as I said earlier, Aadhya needs mother more than a nanny. Nanny is temporary.", The person states.

"Hmmm..", he hums again and disconnects after biding bye.

Flashback:

He shook the body of his lifeless mother and sulked softly yet uncontrollably.

He ran outside the old broken house asking for help.

"Aunty aunty.. please tell my maa to wake up please. She has been sleeping for a long time. Please Aunty.", Begged the little Sidharth.

"Stop bugging me. You are troubling me since yesterday. Why don't you tell your father?", She asked.

"He isn't home aunty. Please tell my maa to wake up.", He pleaded

"Huh!! He must be lying somewhere drunk on the street.", Said the lady.

The lady went to his house and looked at the corpse which was already smelling as it had been over 24 hours for the death of his mother. She ran outside and told her husband about the death. They called up the municipal corporation and soon a van arrived. They picked up the corpse and started stuffing into the van.

"Maa.. maa.. where are you taking her? I am hungry. Maa, give me food. I want my maa..", he cried.

"Your maa is dead. She won't come back.", Said a municipal worker who mercilessly stuffed the corpse into the van. Sidharth not knowing what death was kept screaming and crying. The man climbed the drivers seat and closed the door. Sidharth banged the door asking the man to open and release his mother but it was all in vein. The neighbours who stood holding their noses went inside their house while the little boy ran behind the van but his tiny legs couldn't keep up to the pace of van which was soon out of his site.

He stood at the muddy street, crying in vein not knowing what to do. While he wandered aimless through the muddy road, he came across his father lying on the street.

"Baapu.. baapu.. get up baapu.. they took maa with them.. baapu..", cried Sidharth. The man didn't move an inch since he was drunk like a fish and had passed out on the road.

Sidharth sat beside him sulking from morning to afternoon until the tears themself betrayed him and stopped flowing. It dried up leaving a mark on his cheeks. The sun was harsh and piercing. His father stirred in his sleep as if he was sleeping on some cozy bed. Sidharth immediately shook him.

"Baapu.. Baapu.. get up baapu.. they took my maa away!", Said Sidharth.

The man opened his eyes to look at him as the sun shone on his face, he lifted his hands to allow a little shade over his eyes.

"Who took your mother? Her lover?", He asked.

"I don't know, that man said maa is dead and will never come back. They took her in the van. Baapu please get me back my maa.", Sidharth started whining.

"What? She died? Oh My Liquor!!", He sighed sitting on the ground.

"Baapu, get her back home please. I will do anything and everything you ask for. Please Baapu. Please.", Sidharth shook his father.

The man pondered for a while.

"I will get you your mother back, if you do as I say.", He said. Sidharth nodded.

He took him to a dhaaba restaurant near highway and spoke to the owner to keep Sidharth on job for day wage. The owner agreed and asked Sidharth to come to his dhaaba from evening as it was functional only during evening and night.

His father took him to the old house and gave him his clothes and asked him to stay at the dhaaba itself. Sidharth worked overnight at dhaaba by serving guests, cleaning the soiled plates and dirty tables. He often ate leftover food from the plates of diners to fill his stomach while his father would collect the wage and spend it on drinking alcohol each day.

During the day he dressed up in his old uniform and continued to go to the government school which his mother had enrolled.

Flashback ends

There was a knock on the door which startled him. He wiped his tears and went to attend the door. He was surprised to see Sana standing infront of him.

"Sana! Please come in.", He said.

She followed him to the living room and occupied the chair.  He offered her water to drink. She sipped the water.

"Aadhya?", She asked hesitantly running her forefinger on the edge of the glass

"She had her vaccination today so she just slept half an hour back.", He said.

There was an awkward silence for sometime.

"Aaaa.. Sidharth.. I.. I am ready to work as a live..  (clears throat) ..live in nanny.", Said Sana.

Sidharth's face lit up since he finally got a solution to his problem.

"Thank you! Thank you so much Sana. You don't know what it means to me.", He said with a smiling face.

The genuine and innocent smile on his face bought a subtle smile on her face as well.

"Can I start from today itself?", She asked.

"That would be great!", He says.

"My.. my bag is outside." She says hesitantly with her head down.

"Huh?", He was surprised.

"Actually, (she gulps the saliva in embarrassment) I couldn't pay my rent so I got thr.. thrown out of.. the PG.", She said feeling mortified with her head still fixated at the floor.

He could feel her pain because he had been homeless himself after his mother's death.

"I can understand, no need to be ashamed of it. I will get your bag from outside.", He said pointing his thumb towards the door which was behind him.

"No! I'll get it myself.", She said looking up at him.

"Relax, it's just a bag. I'll get it.", He says. She nods her head avoiding eye contact with him.

He went outside and looked around to find just one small box bag placed beside the door. He picked it up and walks inside.

"Sana, is this all or did someone flicked your unattended bag from outside?", He asks in surprise.

"That's the only luggage I have.", she said.

"Puff.. normally ladies carry huge luggage so I thought that someone stole your bag outside.", He sighed with a smile.

She nods her head to say no.

"Come, I will show you your room and familiarise you with the house. There are just two rooms though.", He said.

He takes her on house tour which was all messed up. Laundry was filled with pile of clothes, kitchen sink was filled with soiled utensils, the bed lenin was out of its place and Aadhya's toys lying all over the floor.

"I am sorry for all the mess. My life is messy since I don't know how to handle everything together. Hence I wanted someone to help.", He says with a sheepish grin.

"I can understand. I am here, I will help you take care of everything.", She says.

He nods and keeps her bag in her room. Aadhya starts crying.

"Freshen up and get settled. I'll check on Aadhya.", He says and runs toward his room.

Sana quickly freshens up and comes out. Aadhya was still crying so she goes to his room. He was holding her in his arm and speaking on phone.

She goes near him and gestures him asking for Aadhya. Aadhya was burning with fever. Sana looks at Sidharth in shock and realises that he was speaking to the doctor. He disconnects the phone after humming multiple times.

"I need to get a medicine for her. Will you manage until then?", Asks Sidharth.

"Ofcourse, I will. Please get it quickly.", She says.

Sidharth nods and rushes outside while Sana rocks Aadhya in her arm. She removes Aadhya's excessive clothing and checks Aadhya's thighs which had a swollen lump due to vaccination. She goes to the kitchen and takes out an ice cube and places it on her thighs to ease the swelling for sometime. After wiping the legs, she places a wet piece of cloth on her forehead and caresses her softly and sings a lullaby. After few minutes, Aadhya stops crying and she feeds her the milk from the bottle.

Sidharth arrives and looks at them and sighs. He hands Sana the medicine and takes Aadhya from her hand. Sana immediately places a hand towel on his shoulder and Aadhya burps throwing up a little milk residue on the towel. Sidharth smiles as he always had to change his clothes after Aadhya's burps.

He touches Aadhya's forehead to find that the fever had subsided to a great extent. Sana reads the dosage instruction on the pack and gives the syrup to Aadhya.

While she rocks, Aadhya falls asleep. Sidharth sat on the bed and silently observes Sana handling Aadhya very well. Sana places Aadhya in her crib.

They both silently go out to the living area not to disturb her. He approaches close to her and holds both her hands in his hands, she shivers in fear on his touch.

"Thank you Sana. Thank you so much for handling my child. I can't imagine myself handling her in such fever. I was very scared and worried for her. You are a God sent angel for us.", He said emotionally.

Her fear and nervousness disappears when she looks at his face and hears his words.

"Please don't be so worried and no need to thank me. It's my duty to care for her.", She says.

"I'll order online something to eat for us.", Says Sidharth taking back few steps.

"Why? Don't you have any groceries in kitchen?", Asks Sana.

"It's there, but all the utensils are in sink to wash, so it will take lot of time to cook after washing it. If it was just me then I would have eaten breakfast cereal.", He says.

"Even I can eat breakfast cereal.", She says.

"Huh? Okay. I will get it. Will cook food for the next meal since you are here to look after Aadhya.", He says.

"I can take care of everything, you need not worry. From when will you resume your office?", She asks.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, so will start from Monday.", He says.

While he pours the cereal and milk into bowl, she washes few dishes. They both then eat breakfast cereal for dinner.

"Can we shift the crib into my room so that I can monitor her fever and give her medicine overnight?", She asks.

Sidharth nods and they both hold the crib from two ends and shift it to her room. Sana sets an alarm on her clock to check her fever and she ardently looks after her whole night.

________________________

To be continued.. ❤️❤️