Chapter 18

kumari3

@kumari3

Hi guys!  Thank you so very much for your comments and "like"s, they mean a lot to me.  :) Here is the next chapter!

Previous Chapters -- Part One:  prologue + ch 1 / ch 2 + 3 / ch 4 + 5 / ch 6 + 7 / ch 8 + 9 / ch 10 + 11 / ch 12 + 13 / ch 14 + 15 / Part Two: ch 16 / ch 17

Chapter Eighteen

"Let's go," Maan muttered. Geet nodded obediently, and followed him out of the school and toward the car in the parking lot.
 
Maan slid into the driver's seat. Her eyes flickering from the front passenger seat to the backseat, Geet quickly took a seat in the back.

"I loved seeing Riya's school," said Geet,  flattening one hand against the window pane and staring fondly at the large structure. "I'm sure she's getting a fantastic education here." 

"That's the idea," Maan said flatly, starting the car.
 
Geet dropped her hand, then looked down into her lap. "If you are upset that I was sleeping in Riya's room last night, I apologize."

"I was upset that I didn't know where you two were this morning," said Maan, jerking his key out of the ignition. "But no, Miss Handa, I don't approve of you traipsing through my house and cuddling with Riya like we're some big happy family, either." He shot her an aggravated glance in the rearview mirror. "You're confusing her, don't you get it?"

"I never meant for Riya to find out that I'm her mother," said Geet, determined to keep her voice even. "She overheard us, and --"

"You shouldn't have come in the first place," Maan snapped, turning around in his seat to face her. "We engaged in a fair transaction. There was no need to hunt me down to pay me back."

"I don't consider carrying Riya and giving birth to her as a simple transaction, Professor," said Geet, blinking her eyes rapidly to prevent angry tears from falling.

 "I went through the surrogacy process so that I could raise my child alone," Maan said sternly. "What am I supposed to do now? Have you live with us? And ruin the world I've so carefully built for my daughter and me?"

"The last thing I want to do is ruin anything," said Geet tightly. "Like I said before, I knew that you didn't want my involvement. That's why I started looking for you only when I had enough money to pay you back. That's all I wanted to do, repay you. I didn't think everything would unfold this way."
 
"Sure, you didn't," Maan sneered. "You're a woman, manipulation is your middle name. I'm sure you calculated all of this from day one."

"That's not true!" Geet cried, her controlled demeanor finally crumbling. "I've done just the opposite, Professor -- I've spent every moment of every day trying to accept the fact that I have to live without my daughter." How could Geet explain the fingernails of sorrow that scratched relentlessly against the chalkboard of her heart? "Not a second goes by that I don't wonder if she's all right, if she's happy."

Maan gripped the side of his seat. Geet's emotional outburst made her appear as childlike as their daughter, and an unwelcome surge of protectiveness hit him square in the chest. He watched Geet slide out of the car.

"Where are you going?" Maan demanded.

"I'm catching the bus," replied Geet, clutching her purse to her chest. "And one other thing. Yes, I am a woman, Professor. Who is also a mother. Of *your* child. If you think that I have such a conniving nature, then I hope you're praying that Riya didn't inherit it." She turned on her heel and nearly sprinted out of the lot.

---

The day passed in a blur. Geet vaguely remembered shelving books and sharing a bland lunch with Pinky, all the while trying to forget that the father of her child was lecturing on the same campus.  That morning's confrontation replayed continuously in her mind.

On the bus ride to Riya's school at the end of the day, a decision took root in the pit of Geet's stomach.  She hoped she had the strength to carry it through.

Children stood scattered in the main courtyard, chattering and waving for their parents. As Geet scanned the crowd for her daughter, she felt two tiny arms wrap around her from behind.

"Mama!" Riya cried.

Smiling, Geet turned around in Riya's hold and squeezed her.  "Hi, Miss Ladybug," she greeted tenderly, kissing Riya on the forehead. "How was your day, honey?"

"It was good!" said Riya. "My teacher wanted me to give you and Daddy this paper." She dug into her fuchsia backpack and pulled out a flyer with "Family Week Field Trip" printed at the top.

Her chest tightening, Geet folded the paper in half without reading it. "Sweetheart, I --"

"Yay, there's Daddy!" Riya exclaimed, pointing. Geet looked in the direction of Riya's finger and averted her eyes once she saw Maan striding toward them.

"There's my princess," said Maan, once he reached the two. He swung Riya into the air, tickling her sides. As he set his giggling daughter down, he avoided looking in Geet's direction.

"Daddy, hurry and take Mama and me home," Riya urged, jumping up and down. "Teddy and I are going to make a big chocolate cake for dinner. But Teddy is on a diet, so I will eat his piece."

Before Maan could speak, Geet lowered herself to Riya's level. "Actually, honey, it will just be you and Daddy going home."

"Huh?" Riya's playfulness vanished mid-bounce. "How come, Mama? You live with us."

 "I . . . I just came for a short visit." Geet smoothed her palms over her daughter's cheeks. "Only you and Daddy live together."

"But you are my mama," said Riya, her face growing pale. "You have to be with Daddy and me."

*What am I supposed to do now?* Maan's voice from that morning boomed in Geet's head. *Have you live with us? And ruin the world I've so carefully built for my daughter and me?*

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Geet whispered, moving her trembling hands down to Riya's shoulders. "I can't stay with you."

Riya looked up at her father, who was standing frozen as he observed the interaction. "Daddy, it's bad to lie."

Maan snapped out of his apparent trance. "What? What do you mean, baby?"

"You said that my mama doesn't hate me," said Riya, her shoulders now slumped forward. "But she does."

"No, no, no, sweetheart," breathed Geet, tightening her grasp on Riya. "I don't hate you -- I *love* you. More than anything in the entire world. I always have and I always will."

"Then how come you don't want to be with me?" Riya asked, her chin trembling.

Geet remained silent, biting her tongue so fiercely that she was certain she would draw blood.

"I want to go home, Daddy," Riya said softly. She reached for her father's hand and began tugging him away. Tears spilled from Geet's bloodshot eyes as she slipped her hands from Riya's shoulders.

As Riya led him out of the courtyard, Maan examined his daughter's agonized, defeated expression. Riya was surely mature for her age, but how could a six-year-old display such a war-weary look? Maan bit back a gasp as he realized that he had seen that expression many times before -- whenever he had looked in the mirror after the other women in his life had disappeared.

Maan inhaled sharply, suddenly conscious that he was standing at a crossroads.  It was now in his hands whether his daughter would grow up with or without her mother. As Maan and Riya walked away from Geet, who was growing smaller and smaller in the distance, Maan knew he had just moments to decide.

---

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