2 - She Brought A Bag of Happiness for us

2.

 

‘My daughter, Eliza’ Mrs.Rehman muttered in her usual soft tone with dribs of tear confined by her light grayish eyes…

The very next moment, Eliza broke down. All the sorrow she had been holding in along the years. She wrapped her arms around her mother and began weeping like a little girl while Mrs. Rehman patted her back to calm her down, just like when she did in her childhood.  Being in her mother’s arms helped relieve the harrowing pain she had been through.       

It was a gleeful moment for them both and Lord knows they had both been longing for this day.

“I missed you so much, Mom. It’s been so long” Eliza sobbed over her mom’s shoulder.

“I know sweetie. I missed you too” Mrs. Rehman said.

“Where is Dad?” Eliza asked, “Is he still mad at me?”

The sudden frown on Mrs. Rehman’s face confirmed the quick thought that emerged Eliza’s mind.  She bowed her head in front of her daughter who she was meeting after so many years.

“What is it, Mom?” Eliza asked, though she didn’t want to her fear voiced.

Eliza now knew that the person whose stories she had been telling her son was not a part of this world anymore.  The news about his father’s death fluttered her soul.  The excruciating pain brought her to an anguished state.

Her mother held her hand tightly and tried to comfort her. The arms of her mother seemed to palliate the mental suffering she was experiencing.  It was too much for Eliza to endure all of a sudden, and she was not ready for it.

In that tormented state of distress Eliza tried her best to get a hold of herself.  She took a deep breath and wiped off her tears while her mother helped her get settled on a sofa in the hall.

They tried to comfort each with reassuring smiles, but with the seriousness of the moment, everything just felt ironic.   Mrs. Rehman slipped her hand in a brown jute purse to withdraw a hankie which she offered Eliza to wipe off her tears.

Eliza wiped her eyes then serenely asked: “What happened, Ma?”, anticipating her mother’s reply.

“He had a cardiac arrest” Mrs. Rehman solemnly replied.

 

 

Eliza realized that she had missed out on so much while being away from her parents for so long, but it was not her blame to take. She was not strong enough emotionally so she gulped in her emotions and took a deep breath.

“Your father loved you very much Eliza, and he felt guilty that he had to let you go, that things got the way they were”, Mrs. Rehman said stroking Eliza’s hair.

“No ma, I am sorry.  I should have tried to understand that he had different plans for me”,

“No, it is your life.  See how you have a good marriage and a nice family. You had the right to do whatever you wanted to.  Your father has always been very dominating.  I wanted to be a part of your life, supporting your decision but I just couldn’t.”

“My integral blessings were always with you and Ross”,  She further added, joining her hands in a beseeching manner, pleading for her daughter’s forgiveness with tears still damp at the corners of her eyes.  She bowed her head, as Eliza interrupted her, shaking her head and holding her slightly wrinkled hands.

“No ma. I always knew that you wanted me to be able to make my own choices.  My heart always reminded me that my mother would always support me no matter what”, Eliza said as she caressed her mom’s cheek.

“I am a very proud daughter, ma.  I really am”

The hug that they shared right then helped both of them alleviate each other’s rush of emotional despair, and also aroused in them, a sense of faith in one another.  Eliza slowly withdrew her arms and gave a peck on the forehead of her mother. They both smiled as Eliza got up to fetch them some fresh water.

Eliza came back to the living room where she found her mother checking out their family pictures displayed all over, from when Hamid was born to present.  She noticed a very nostalgic smile on Mrs. Rehman’s face, gazing at the framed photo in her hand.

“Is that my grandson?” asked Mrs. Rehman curiously.

“Yes, ma. He is your only grandson. We named him after Dad” Eliza replied with a grin while making her way to the couch where she settled with her mother.

“This was taken on his first birthday”

“He has your eyes”, Mrs. Rehman said smilingly.

“But his dad’s nose”, Eliza chuckled, pointing at Hamid’s nose, which made her mother laugh. Eliza hearty laugh harmonized with hers.

By the time they decided to shed some light on the incidents from Eliza’s past, someone knocked on the door.

 ‘That must me Hamid’ Eliza said and stood up to open the door.  She reached the door which she held open.  Hamid was standing on the porch with a bagpack on his back…

“That must me Hamid”, Eliza said as she got the door.

Hamid was standing on the porch with his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

“Hi Mommy”, Hamid said as he kissed her on both cheeks.

Hamid made his way through the hall where he found Mrs. Rehman sitting on the couch, and they just stared at each other, until Eliza walked in to introduce them.

“Hamid, this is your Grandma”, said with a grin on her face.

Hamid held to his spot for a while and kept staring at the aged lady; he then took a few s steps towards his Grandma, whom he had never met before.

Every step Hamid took expanded the smile on Mrs. Rehman’s face. She stood up and before she could take a step, Hamid reached to graciously greet her. She hugged him so tight, which aroused a tranquil sense of solace in her heart. A drop of tear in happiness furled down her cheek on the brown carpet they were standing on…

Meanwhile, Ross was calling it a day at work. He packed up his stuff into his black briefcase and got out of the bank. He settled in his car before strapping on his seatbelt and started for the short drive home, where Eliza was preparing the dinner for the family and impatiently awaiting her husband. Her happiness was out of bounds, despite the undeniable fact that she’d never see her father again.

Mrs.Rehman entered the kitchen to help Eliza gear up the cooking and other related work…

Her mother wanted to help so they both geared up to prepare a delicious meal. It was already dark outside when Ross reached home. Eliza’s attentive ear knew he was here before I came through the door.

She ran up to the door adjoining the garage to the kitchen, where Ross was already making his way.

“Hey honey”, he kissed her, “How I missed you today!”

Eliza took his hand asking him to come with her as she led him through the hall.

“What’s going on?” Ross asked curiously.

“I want you to meet someone”, Eliza replied, guiding him to

When Ross saw his mother-in-law in the middle of his kitchen in her red shirt and a matching long skirt, he didn’t know what to make of it. It was a very astonishing moment for Ross, as there was no way he could have seen it coming. He stood there in amazement for a second. He looked at Eliza who stood there, quietly smiling then he looked back at her mom.

‘Uh umm, How’ve you been?, Mrs.Rehman’ Ross said with a bit of jitteriness.

Mrs.Rehman took a stride toward him, opening her arms wide open to hug him.He did’nt resist and gracefully took his steps forward.

Mrs.Rehman kissed him on his cheek.

“I hope you can forgive me”, she implored with her moist eyes.

“You have just returned the desirable happiness to my wife, for which I am really grateful”, Ross said turning to his wife, “Therefore I don’t have any hard feelings”, he added looking back into the remorseful eyes of Mrs. Rehman.

“Thank you so much” said Mrs. Rehman bowing her head to him, while Ross wrapped his arms around her in order to console her, realizing that she might break down any moment. He didn’t want that to happen.

 Now everything was going great, Eliza chanted the name of God to show how grateful she was for having her mother’s love once again. They all settled around the table for dinner while Eliza got the food from the kitchen, helped by her mom. Ross called Hamid from his room upstairs where he was busy playing video games. He came down and took his seat next to his dad. They took a minute to pray silently in their minds before moving on to their meal.

Eliza was graciously exhibiting her cooked delicacies for this special moment. She had made hot chicken coated in lard and pepper, a dish of black-eyed peas with rice, served with some cheer-wine for them adults whereas Hamid had to enjoy his special crunchy fresh fruit crusher with these amazing delicacies…

“Hmm, smells great honey”, Ross commented, as his taste buds began to tingle with the aroma that overwhelmed his nose.

“It does, and looks great too”, Mrs. Rehman added.

“Thank you, ma…Now let’s dig in before it all gets cold” Eliza said.

All of them laughed over some past funny moments. Meanwhile Hamid was busy sipping his crusher which he expressively savoured deliciously…

 

After a wonderful dinner, Ross helped Eliza take the empty bowls and some half empty plates to the kitchen. Eliza threw the remains into a trashcan.

 

Her mother followed them into the kitchen: “I should probably get going now”, she told them. That suddenly drew a scowl on Eliza’s face.

“Please stay, ma” Eliza said in an attempt to convince her to stay.

“No sweetie. I can’t. I got some unfinished work that your dad asked me to take care of, but I promise to stay in contact’” Mrs. Rehman replied.

“By the way, why don’t you come visit me sometime? Your room is still intact” she added.

“I will ma. Ross is leaving for Chicago on Sunday for some official work and he won’t be back till next week…”

“Well then why don’t you and Hamid stay with me for a week?” Mrs. Rehman asked with excitement.

Eliza smiled, “Yeah sure, ma” Eliza replied.

“Great. I will see you on Sunday then”, the elder woman said then came forward to hug her daughter one last time before she left then she walked into the hall to pick up her purse. She tightly hugged her grandson and kissed him, then she embraced Ross and bid him goodbye.

Just at the door she hugged her daughter again.

“See you soon”, she said and left for her car which was parked right outside the house. She jerked the door to her vintage car open and settled inside…

At last, she waved and backed out of the driveway. Ross and Eliza stood on the doorstep with Hamid before, waving goodbye until the car had left their sight.

 

Ross picked up Hamid in his arms then took him back upstairs to his room where he gently placed him on the shiny blue bed after which he withdrew a quilt with drawings of Batman on it and waited for Hamid to settle then he placed the quilt over his small figure, and kissed his forehead:

 “Night”, he murmured

“Goodnight, Dad” Hamid muttered before closing his eyes.

Ross switched the white light off on his way out. He alighted the stairs to help Eliza with the unfinished work perhaps which was already had been taken care of. Eliza was returning from the front door after putting the trashcan outside from where the cleaning truck generally collected the trash…

There was no doubt that she was glad to have seen her mother after such a long time. Eliza’s felicity was at pinnacle because her mother had actually returned.

Ross followed her in the kitchen where she washed her hands under the basin with smooth aloe vera liquid hand soap.

“That is great isn’t it? She finally accepted me” Eliza said with an expression of joy. “I thought I would never be able to see her ever again”, she added.

“No, she could not have done that to you. I always knew that she’d come around someday” Ross quietly replied.

“You know, I am really very happy today” she said.

“I know baby”, Ross said with a sweet smile, looking right into her eyes. Eliza came forward and clinched him in her arms, which Ross took as an invitation and embraced her amorously in return.

“I love you, Ross” she murmured

“I love you too, Ducky” Ross smiled

He could feel her breathing against his chest. Eliza closed her eyes in that state of elated bliss then looked up into Ross’s eyes. They gazed at each other for a moment then kissed.

After that little snog they pulled away and got back to their respective work.

“I’ll be upstairs in the room unless you need any help here, love” Ross said, walking slowly towards the staircase, more like a question than a statement.

“Nah, I am almost done here”, Eliza replied, “I’ll be up in a minute”, she added.

“Okay, don’t be too long”, Ross winked, then geared up to the bedroom.

Eliza switched off the dish washer and set up the alarm. Then she made her way upstairs, switching all the unnecessary lights on her way. She joined her husband under the thick white sheets. In return he turned to face her and kissed on her head with his hazy lips, he then wished her goodnight when she tightened her grip on him.

“hmm, ’Night”, Eliza replied.

The warmth and comfort of his arms eventually led Eliza into a sound sleep with a delightful smile on her face in a hope of awakening to a better day full of love and surprises.

Reviews

[Ankita]

To begin with, the title sets really well with the chapter.
In this chapter, the emotions as shared by Eliza and her mother in the beginning and later by Hamid and his Grandmother have been expressed very beautifully by you where I feel your grip over the construction of sentences has played a great role.
A question which came to my mind- Is it like Eliza's mother could gather the courage to come and see her daughter only after her husband died? As Eliza's mother said he was guilty, so was it his ego which stopped him to accept his daughter? Or that was it too late when he realised?

"Eliza realized that she had missed out on so much while being away from her parents for so long, but it was not her blame to take. She was not strong enough emotionally so she gulped in her emotions and took a deep breath." I liked this paragraph...so well written. And not to be forgotten is how the chapter ends. "....in a hope of awakening to a better day full of love and surprises."
Have to know more about the Denver family and its moments.
A few grammatical mistakes which I believe are typing errors.

Very well done. Keep going. :)

[Gaurav Walia]

Well I'd say it was both of the reasons that made him hold back but if you keep reading you'll realize that a whole different mystery is waiting behind the door. I'll see what I can do about the errors. Thank you Ankita...

[Ankita]

Yes, I'm sure I have a lot to discover. Don't worry about the errors. I understood what the writer wanted to say. You're welcome. :)

[Prritiy]

She joined her husband under the thick white sheets. In return he turned to face her and kissed on her head with his hazy lips, he then wished her goodnight when she tightened her grip on him.

“hmm, ’Night”, Eliza replied.

The warmth and comfort of his arms eventually led Eliza into a sound sleep with a delightful smile on her face in a hope of awakening to a better day full of love and surprises.

----loving this family story, my type, soft romance :)
a lil touch needed like in this- ‘That must me Hamid’ it should be 'be' :)

otherwise perfect :)
best wishes

[Gaurav Walia]

Thank you so much Prritiy... :D

[Prritiy]

you are welcome :)