12 O’ Clock (Part IV)

Prem took up the narrative, “It was decided that the uterus had to be removed to save Mom’s life. If the surgery was completed, at least there were some chances of her survival. The doctor removed Mom’s uterus on the 4^th day after our birth. She was highly sedated. She seemed to be better on the 6^th and 7^th days post our birth. Mom would request Vanita to take care of us if she did not survive. Vanita made positive affirmations to her friend, though she knew the survival chances were slim. On the 10^th day, Mom developed severe pain in the belly and she died holding Vanita’s hand.”

Vanita hired a maid from her hospital to take care of the twins, with her. She was on a long leave from the hospital duties. One day, Vanita met her sister-in-law, Neha, who regretted that Vanita was thrown out of their in-laws’ home. But, she could not do anything at that time because if she had interfered even her fate would have been the same. Karma had taken its toll and Neha had lost her baby in the same hospital. Vanita requested Neha to feed her friend’s twins, every day. Neha lied to her in-laws and visited Vanita to help her out, daily. Both the sisters-in-law were satisfied.

Prem Kaur said, “The maid that Vanita had hired began to gossip about her relationship with my widowed father. Neha brought the fact to my father’s attention. Fed up with all the nonsense being uttered about them, my father decided to silence them once and for all by marrying Vanita, only for both of us. Even today, they live for us only. This Sunday is Mother’s Day and on this day we tell everybody that we have 3 mothers – one, who gave up her life to give birth to us; second, who brought us up and the third, who fed us.”

I replied, “We salute these mothers. I will also tell you about a mother.”

To be continued…