Light was streaming through the chink of the curtained window and was illuminating every nook and cranny of the room which was once filled with the cherished hopes of a simple pragmatic yet dreaming girl. The room which told stories of a girl's happy childhood was now filled with the gloomy dread of it's insecure owner who was presently shifting in her sleep irritated with the sun interrupting her apparently peaceful sleep. A long alarm resonated in the silent room jerking the girl awake.

"Oh no it's already eight. What's this Saumya? You should wake up early right. You really sleep like a log." Saumya tried to reproach herself the way her mom used to scold her.

She would never have admitted until a few years ago how much she missed her mom's scoldings. Her mom was the only person in the whole world who could comprehend her unsaid pleas and inarticulate musings. She had always been an overachiever but still she was always a nervous wreck before exams. "Oh God Saumya you are always the valedictorian still you're nervous. Drop the act please," was how everyone responded. But her mom had invariably understood her state. Her mom was the best gift in her life. Even now she used to thank God for giving her a lovely family.

Snap out of it Saumya. Don't hang onto your past. They will always be a part of you but whenever you remember them always smile because they made your life a heavenly bliss. Why should you cry when you are happy, satisfied and grateful to them? Now put your limbs into action and get up. With this half-hearted plea Saumya got up.

Presently she had done her mundane tasks and was preparing for herself a cup of coffee. Glancing at the clock in the living room she noticed that it was already half past nine.

After sipping slowly and savouring each sip of the frothy coffee she went in Pia's room to wake her up.

"Pia wake up," Saumya shouted for the millionth time. Sometimes she wondered from whom Pia had inherited such a habit since everyone in her family was an early riser.

With a frown, Pia got up but her expression soon changed. She gulped the saliva many times and with a painful expression said, "My throat is aching Princess."

Saumya rested the back of her palm on Pia's forehead only to find that she had a slightly high temperature. After counting her pulse, Saumya dashed to her room and retrieved from one of it's drawers a box with medicines. Guess we have perks of having a doctor at home.

After handing Pia a paracetamol Saumya began her exhortation, "Now you understand, Pia, that you should eat food in a limited amount. How many scoops of ice cream did you have in the past few days? A million, I suppose. Now nothing doing you have to eat porridge for the entire day."

"Okay mommy," Pia mocked.

With a glare adorning her countenance Saumya snapped, "Definitely granny. You can't get away with being sarcastic. I wonder how can a baby like you be so sarcastic?"

With fuming face and a pout Pia refuted, "I am not a baby."

"You won't be if you behave like a responsible big girl. And let me tell you big girls are never sarcastic."

"But you just passed a sarcastic comment and you are definitely a big girl."

"Don't argue with me. I am the elder one and I get to make the rules here."

Pouting, Pia said, "That's so unfair."

"Don't make a piggy face. It doesn't suit you. We shall see when you're as old as me." Saying this Saumya burst out laughing.

"Now get some rest. I will call Surbhi to let her know that I can't go shopping with her."

"Oh Princess, please go shopping. I know I can't but I want you to buy so many books for me. Please go. Please."

"Yeah but where will you stay when I am gone? Definitely not alone."

"I will stay with Savita Aunty. She is such a loving lady."

Seeing Pia's expression Saumya knew that there was more to the story.

"You seem to have fun at Aunty's house."

"Yeah you know she cooks amazing food and promised to bake a cake the next time I went over." So that was what had compelled to drop the idea of going shopping herself. It feels so good to be successful, Saumya smirked.

"Okay but tell me if you feel uncomfortable or uneasy. As for the cake eat only a small piece. Your throat's not well."

"Okay Princess."

It was around one in the afternoon when Surbhi came over.

"Let's go," Pia squealed and immediately winced in pain.

"Hey miss excited, do not strain your throat. You talk a lot but today keep it to the minimum," Saumya said with pursed lips to hold her laughter.

After dropping Pia at Aunty's place the two friends headed to the mall.

"Hey Saumya, we are going to buy so many clothes for ourselves."

"You do remember that you did buy two dresses last week too."

"Really? Did I? But still I will be growing fat so I need some baggy clothes, right?"

"Wrong. There is a lot of time till you start gaining weight."

"But there is even longer time for the baby to arrive. And don't forget Mom came first not the baby."

"Why is everyone hell bent on making me lose every argument?"

"You sometimes act like Pia." Surbhi laughed.

After two long hours Surbhi managed to buy for herself two dresses.

Currently she was standing in a store holding two onesies. Saumya was finding it difficult to keep up with the brisk pace of Surbhi all thanks to the six bags which she was holding.

"Wait woman, give me a minute to at least catch my breath."

"Which onesie is better? The bunny one or the cartoon one?"

Dropping on the couch with a loud thump intermixed with a sigh of relief Saumya replied, "Bunny one."

"No, the cartoon one is better Saumya."

"No, the bunny one is cuter."

After staring at each other for a few minutes the girls burst out laughing.

Trying to contain her laugh Saumya said, "Had someone told us that we would be arguing over which onesie to buy for the baby just a year ago we would have burst out laughing."

"So true, Saumya."

"I am so tired Saumya."

"What?! I was holding all the bags and sprinting with the heavy load and you are tired?!"

"Please let's go to Burger King. I so want to eat a burger."

"Huff. Fine just let me pay for the onesies."

"What?! No, this is the first gift from me to my baby. I will pay."

"Fine."

After twenty agonizing minutes of weightlifting Saumya finally got the chance to drop the bags on the chair.

Surbhi was talking about all the research she had done about the latest gadgets available in the market for childcare but Saumya was only nodding. Her brain hardly registered what her friend was going on about.

Snapping her fingers in front of Saumya's face, she said, "Where are you lost?"

"Huh I was just thinking. Just a few years ago we used to discuss about our projects in med school and now we are discussing about babies. Time flies by so swiftly."

"Yeah that's so precise."

"Okay now leave that and tell me why did you leave Akash at home? At least I would not have been forced to carry so much load then."

"He insisted on staying at home since he had a night shift and was tired."

"If you don't get up to go home now I will also bail on you like your husband."

Surbhi pouted and got up. Saumya smiled. She always threatened Surbhi because her reaction would always be funny.

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