4 Chapter 4

I have known Ava since our school days, and now when we were going to have our baby, it was making me nostalgic. I still see her as a cute, naughty classmate and friend. Now when she was carrying my baby, I was falling in love with her all over again.

It was 11 in the night, and she was already asleep. But I was still thinking about her and our baby. Dr Min had informed us that she was six weeks pregnant. I wanted to know all about the six weeks baby growth pattern and the changes my princess would be facing. So I got up from the bed and picked up the book which I had given her. On tiptoe, I went to the other room and switched on the lights to read the chapter about six week pregnancy.

It said, by the time you know for sure you are pregnant, you might already be five or six weeks pregnant! As per the book, a lot must be happening during these first three months in her body. Formation of cells and implants in the wall of her womb where the baby will be growing. It said the baby grew faster in this trimester, as compared to any other time in the complete cycle. This is the time when a baby’s heartbeat can be heard.

I was puzzled reading that, wondering so much was going on in the body of my love. I don’t know why, but everything that was happening, I could relate to our past life. The first trimester was similar to my first year with Ava. A lot of love, confusion, changes and efforts to build a new relationship.

I placed the book on my chest and leaned back to close my eyes, thinking about our school days. I remember the day we became friends for life.

I was sitting alone in the school library that day, trying to solve some mathematical problems, when Ava interrupted me with her smile, taking the front seat. She whispered, “Hey, how is your hand, Ash?”

I looked up with a smile to reply, “now better, perfectly fine. “I looked at her; she was holding a history book in her hand. She leaned towards me to speak softly, “why do you always remain alone in school? “

I was happy that she was talking to me and I wanted to have a conversation with her. I leaned towards her to reply. “Shall we talk outside? Someone will scold us here. “

She noted with a smile, and we closed our books. We started walking down the corridor. Once we were outside, a bed of sun flowers blooming in the soft sunlight from the hills lined the path we took. I was silently walking by her side; my heart was beating so fast, and then she again questioned, “are we out here for a walk? “

“Oh! No actually, you know, I am new to school. Most of the students already have their groups. I am finding it tough to join them. “

Ava heard me and with a pause, Took one long step and came in front of me, her ponytail shaking from right to left. “I’m Ava, Will you be my friend? “She presented her hand to me with a dimpled smile. I smiled too. It was a dream come true for me. I extended my hand to shake hers. It was soft, almost like cream. I wanted to keep holding her hand. But in the same instance, I decided that I would not touch anything with that hand at least for a day. I wanted to keep her touch with me, for as long as possible.

“Thanks a lot for this and also thanks for coming home to show your concern, “I replied as we started walking.

“It’s perfectly fine, Ash. Friends must take care of each other. Now if something happens to me, I am sure you would also come. Will you? “ she questioned, smiling.

“May God never bring such a day, when I need to visit you after such an incident. Whenever I visit you, I must visit for a smile exchange. “

She suddenly stopped, closed her eyes and then flashed her two fingers to me, asking, “now pick one. “

“What is this for? “I questioned.

“Pick one, Ash,” she insisted. I looked at them and then touched her index finger. She then took a deep breath with a relaxed smile.

“It’s perfect, “She replied with a sly smile.

“Tell me what it was for? “I asked again. She paused and then replied, “okay, let me tell you. The index finger was for whenever we meet, we will exchange smiles, and the middle finger was for tears. You picked the index finger, which means we will always meet with a smile. “

Her explanation showed me how much she believed in it, but for me, it was just a game. “Do you believe in it, or just for fun? “

“OMG, you don’t believe in it? It works, Mr Ash, it works,” she replied slack jawed. With a naughty smile, I presented my two fingers in front of her and asked her to pick one.

“ you want to check this out? “She questioned the laughing, while her eyes were moving fast between both the fingers and before I could reply, she picked the index finger.

“Tell me what it was for and the result? “She again questioned. “Okay, it was for whether you will allow me to go back home cycling along with you. “

“ and the result? “

“That I will tell you in the afternoon when school gets over, “I confirmed, and she softly pushed me with her shoulder replying, “you are such a cheat. “

We walked towards the classroom, chatting about our families and Busan. As we entered the class, she was about to go to her desk, when I told her, “I will be waiting for you outside the main gate after school. Will go back together. “

I took my seat for the next class, but my heart was excited being her friend.

As our last classes got over, I rushed to the washroom to check my hair. I washed my face to look fresh and then picked up my cycle to reach the main gate. My eyes were waiting for Ava. I knew she would come, and then we would be going together, having a lot of fun.

I remained standing, and then she came along with Mina, But without acknowledging me, moved ahead. I kept looking at her, but she ignored me. I realised I was correct – this finger game didn’t work, because if it worked, we would have been cycling together.

I started cycling, but I remained behind her. I kept watching her to understand the reason for her ignoring me. I thought she was still not a friend of mine, else she would have remembered, and in that case, I needed to put in extra efforts to be her friend for life.

All the way along the rain washed the track, the sound of loose mud beneath the tires was audible. I heard a noise of music but kept riding. At first, I thought it must be some wood chimes in the tires. A few seconds later, I realised that the noise was not only travelling with me, but was far too regular to be caused by the wind. I immediately applied the brakes to check the sound from the back tire. I stepped down to check, and to my surprise, I found a piece of paper tied to my seat. I pulled it and was about to throw it away, when I saw my name written on it. I’ll let the cycle lean on me and open the letter.

It was from Ava :

“The way you were waiting outside the school, I was sure your index finger was a confirmation that we will be cycling together, but Mr Ash, I am a girl who can change faith, and here I changed it again.”

Her letter brought a smile to my face. At least she noticed me waiting outside and now I had a letter from her, which I could always call my first love letter. I folded it and carefully put it in my pocket. She reached outside her colony when I arrived cycling. Without stopping, I moved along with a beating smile on my face. She smiled back and then softly waved her left hand, avoiding Mina and others.

When she looked at me, it was as if every ounce of birth was taken from my lungs floating into the air like the winter fog. When she waved at me, it felt like the world had stopped, leaving just the two of us to vendor the earth together. She was a story which I never wanted to end. I had heard about first love, but I realised how beautiful the feeling was only when I experienced it myself.

I reached home, put down my bag and went inside the washroom, standing in front of the mirror. I smiled looking at myself and then I brought my right hand in front. The hand which she had touched that day. I kissed my palm as if I was kissing her. I was blushing; my face turned red, as if I was standing in front of her.

I brought my face closer to the mirror and spoke softly, “Ash, you are in love. “

“Ash, wash your hands and come for lunch. “I snapped back to reality hearing my mom shouting from outside. I didn’t want to wash her touch. Finally, I opened the door, having washed only my left hand.

I took a seat at the table. My mom was continuously speaking about some or the other thing, but I could not register anything. My ears were in a different world, hearing a different song. I looked at my lunch, which consisted of my favourite japchae. Bug eyed, I want to have it fast. I picked up the Spoon to pour the vegetables over the noodles, but then I stopped. I would need to wash my right hand if I were to eat with it. Ava's Touch would also get washed off. With a pained face, I stopped and then started eating with my left hand, using a spoon.

My mom stood to open the main door as the doorbell rang. Still sitting in my chair, I tried to see who was at the door, it was dad; he had come early that day.

“How come you are so early today? “Mom questioned dad, and also started serving him the food. Dad replied from the washroom, washing his hands.

“There is work to be done at night in the office, so I will rest in the daytime. “

Dad came near the dining table and started wiping his hands, “how was your day in school? “

“Very nice, dad. “He took a seat next to my mother and in front of me. “Hope you are mathematics teachers are good? you need to score more in maths, else you will not be able to get maths as your subject. And you know we want the second engineer in our family after me, “he smiled and so did I.

My aim in life was to become an engineer like my dad, and I was already working towards my goal. “Dad, I was reading, company amazon.com has launched a device which contains 90,000 books and all the newspapers in it. Can you buy that for me? “

Dad took a bite and replied, still chewing, “What is its name?”

“It’s known as Kindle, but I am not sure if it is available in Korea. But you can always ask if someone in your organisation can get it from the US, “I requested him, taking another spoon full of noodles in my mouth. But my mother noticed me and interrupted us.

“Why are you eating with your left hand? Is your right hand okay? “

With the quizzical expression on my face, I casually said, “nothing mom, got hurt in school while playing. “

“Oh! My God, show me what happened to you. Is this the same hand that got fractured? I told you to take care of that, but you never listen, “mom stood up to check my hand. With an expressionless face, I was confused about what to do, when my father called my mother.

“UHM can you pass me that?”

Mom immediately turned to hear what dad was saying. They said something to each other with their eyes, and without further checking my hand, mom went back to her seat and started eating her food.

“Take some more noodles, Ash, you are at a growing age. You must eat more, “mom said as she took her seat.

I never understood how they both managed to talk with their eyes. It was not the first time. I had seen them conveying a message without speaking many times, and that correctly understanding what she wanted to say.

After finishing my lunch, I went back to my room, switched on my music system and lay down on my bed.

My room was big, with a single bed at the Centre. My study table next to the bed was full of books. The front wall was covered with big and small posters of my favourite idols.

I buried myself in my bed, with a video game in my hands, when dad knocked and entered. I pulled myself up as he walked in. “What are you doing my boy? “He came next to my bed and took a seat on the chair in front of my study table.

“All well, papa...”

he moved his eyes in all directions to take a glance of my room and then continued, “today I came early so thought I would sit with you and chat for a while, hope it’s okay with you. “

“Yeah, it’s perfectly fine dad. Please tell me. “

With a little smile and blush on his face, dad continued, “well, today when I saw you eating with the left hand, it reminded me of something funny. And as you are grown up now, I thought I could share it with you. “

Now I sat up and started listening with excitement and fear while he continued. “You know, mom and I had a love marriage 18 years back. “

“Yes, I know, “I smiled, and he continued. “When I touched your moms hand for the first time, I did not wash my hand for a week. After a week's time, your grandfather called me as my results were out, and I could not manage to score high. He asked me to present my hands in front of her so that he could punish me with a stick and when he saw my hand… “Dad stopped, and looked into my eyes.

“Then what happened dad, you were hurt a lot? “Dad placed his hand on my forehead to continue, “he dropped his stick and hugged me, saying my son is grown up today… “

Dad paused and then stood up. I thought for a while and then questioned, “then what happened, dad? You told him about mom? “

Dad turned back to me and this time took a seat on my bed, just next to me, “your grandfather narrated how he hadn’t washed his hands for a month and I kept listening. “

And we both laughed out loud. He suddenly stopped and with a pause replied, “Ash, Today you are grown up, and I am proud of you. But remember one thing in life, the most precious thing in life is your partner. Tomorrow you will leave us, but your mom and I will be together until our last breath. Friendship is the start, but togetherness is the end. “He concluded after a minute, “before leaving I will only tell you, my father didn’t wash his hands for months for your grandmother, and I didn’t for your mother. Life is the same circle with every generation, only the faces and environment changes. “

Dad left the room, with a smile on his face. I had found a friend that day in my dad, and I started respecting him more for that.

That year went by and I transformed from a friend to an excellent friend of Ava’s. That year passed by sharpening pencils, again and again, to take a look at her, that year passed by cycling together, that year passed by murmuring in the library, that year passed by waving when no one was watching us, that year passed by I dreaming about her, that year passed by admiring her.

I opened my eyes to find Ava standing next to me. “Why are you sleeping like this? Come to our room,” Ava asked and rubbed her eyes.

I placed the book back to the side and went to our bedroom. To sleep next to her, holding her hands