A Daughter

Emperor Vayuvijay heard the first cry of newborn from the labor room next to the chamber where he had been waiting for the past 3 hours. He finally let go of the breath he did not know he had been holding all this time. He turned his head around his hand still holding the wooden window bar infront of him, to find a mid wife hurriedly walk towards him from the labor room. He pursed his lips as a smile arched on his face at the sight of the happy face of the midwife.

"Congratulation your highness, the empress has given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl" the midwife addressed Vayuvijay, exhilaration eminent in her voice.

"Thank you," replied Vayuvijay, smiling at the midwife, "when can I see her?"

"Patience is a virtue my friend," a man's voice came from the door of the labor room behind the midwife.

Vayuvijay tilted his head to the right to peer around the midwife and saw his friend Parikshit standing with a broad grin on his face, nestled in his arm he held a small wriggling pink fleece blanket. Vayuvijay trotted to him and looked at the little baby in his arm. She was fair with dimpled cheek and a head full of black curly hair just like her father. She gave Vayuvijay a toothless smile and extended her tiny plump hand towards him. Vayuvijay bend his head forward so his little daughter could grab his nose and squeeze.

"Whoa, she is strong for her age" Vayuvijay exclaimed, immediately freeing his nose from the newborn's grip and massaging it. Even though her hand was soft yet her grip was strong. Parikshit chuckled at his friend's predicament. Vayuvijay looked at his newborn daughter again still rubbing his nose and took notice of her dark brown eyes, bulging in worry. He could see her one hour old eyes looking at him in concern. It seemed that somehow she had realized that she had caused her father pain and she looked at him guiltily. He was amazed at how the child could feel guilt within an hour of her birth. He felt bad for ruining her mood and put out his tongue making funny noises which made the baby coo with laughter finally recovering from the guilt she had felt.

Vijayvayu felt his eyes glistening with happy tears.

"How is Mannyata?" he asked Parikshit while making faces at his daughter to keep her entertained.

"She is awake now, waiting for you I guess." Parikshit replied with a wink at his friend.

Vayuvijay patted his friend on his back as he walked towards the labor room. He entered the labor room to find the mid-wifes cleaning the steel bed and removing the discarded gauges and instruments, preparing the labor room for its next visitor. On the other side of the labor room a set op metal doors opened to the recovery room. Vayuvijay walked across the labor room passed the widely open Metal doors into the recovery room. He found Mannyata lying on the steel bed. She was wearing the sack-like scrubs and looked tired as she lied on the bed, with white bedsheet covering her body till the abdomen but she also had her eyes glistening with tears. Vayuvijay went upto his wife and kissed her on her forehead.

"How does she look?" Mannyata asked her husband, through a strained voice.

"Just like you, save for her eyes and nose" Vayuvijay said smiling at his wife, "she has my nose and eyes, " He said his smile broadening into a grin, "oh, and my hair as well."

"No..." Manyata fake groaned at this revelation and rolled her eyes. While she had small eyes but she had a very sharp and pointed nose. Her husband on the other hand had a rather large and blunt one. "I am not going to let her have a mane beyond her neck, if she has such unruly wavy hair like yours." They both laughed together. It seemed that they were laughing for the first time.

"Well" Manyata said "She is healthy, and that's all that matters." She held her husband's hand as Vayuvijay stroked her head with his free hand.

"Sorry to interrupt but the little one wants her mother," announced Shivani, Parikshit's wife as she entered the recovery room with the little baby in her arms. The newborn was crying her lung's out. Shivani placed her next to her mother. Manyata looked at her baby daughter wrapped in the blanket next to her and kissed her on her forehead, and like a miracle the child stopped crying. Slowly and carefully Manyata rose to a sitting position and started feeding and nursing her daughter, covering her under the bedsheet.

Shivani stood quietly looking at the small family infront of her. She couldn't stop thinking about the prophecy and wondered whether this child was the one referred in the prophecy. She knew deep down that the family should never get to know about the prophecy.

Parikshit entered the recovery room with his usual cheerful grin. He was not at all surprised when Vayuvijay walked up to him and hugged him. He knew what his friend had gone through and could understand his sudden show of gratitude.

Manyata was in her late trimester when one morning during her regular checkup Parikshit noticed that the foetus was maturing at a faster rate than normal. Being a gynaecologist he knew it will require a caesarean section and not a normal delivery. He also knew that Vayuvijay and Manyata had figured that out themselves as well. He told Manyata who was in her early ninth month then, to visit him everyday and had also asked his wife Shivani to stay and monitor the foetus.

It was during one such checkups a couple of weeks before the delivery was scheduled that, Parikshit realized , the umbilical cord had entangled itself around the foetus's neck strongly and was capable of fracturing the delicate vertebrae. He had immediately informed Vayuvijay and decided to proceed with the delivery. He knew if they delayed, the foetus may not make it through with a damaged spinal cord. Vayuvijay had immediately made all arrangements and they had on the very next day being today itself carried out cesarean delivery. The foetus had been unable to receive any nutrition and had turned blue. Parikshit and Shivani had tried but could not get a heartbeat for few couple minutes and only when they had given up, the baby had finally responded. What surprised them was that she didn't cry. She rather chirped with laughter. Only Shivani and Parikshit knew that the child had cheated death and returned.