One & Half Mother-Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was her third birthday. That day, the inmates and orphans joined in as Moses celebrated her birthday. In other words, it was the beginning of nascent life. They proclaimed that on 7th November Sunday, 1965, an old lady had brought Elisha to Moses. They celebrated the occasion in Moses with their small budget.

Her mothers had got her a blue gown with yellow blooms as her birthday gift. It made the other children jealous without a doubt. However, there was nobody else of her age at that time; they only had young girls and old women there. Boys were always exchanged or adopted by different shelters in their early teens. Different young women and old, matured women dealt with her like they would a child in their own family.

She slept with Sister Mary and Sophie from the very beginning. They gushed at seeing the changes in that child; they hovered to hear her laugh. She was exceptionally close to their hearts as their child.

Elisha was not underhanded by any stretch of her imagination. She loved everything. She even wanted to make her strides while walking without harming the ants. That was how much she cared for others. She saw the birds in the nest on their rooftop. She picked up the grasshopper that came into their bedroom with her soft fingers and freed him outside. She was a holy messenger in every aspect.

Mr. and Mrs. Antony came to Moses to adopt a baby girl. Even before they entered Father Gabriel’s office, they noticed that beautiful golden-brown-haired child flying like a butterfly among the others, and they savored her at their first sight. Antony expressed his enthusiasm to embrace that little child they had observed while coming in.

Father Gabriel was ecstatic to hear that. He didn’t give it a second thought. Father Gabriel knew Antony’s well-off family, and he knew the couple was living in sorrow, as they didn’t have a child for several years after their marriage. Antony had heard about Moses from his relative who lived in Maple Valley.

Father asked Adams to call Elisha. She came and stood before them; her cosmically great eyes and bright golden-brown hair in a blue dress made her look like a little heavenly attendant who had come to earth.

“What’s your name?” Mr. Antony asked her in his soft voice. She told him her name with a grin displaying her milk teeth. Mrs. Antony’s expressions did not seem favorable to the situation. She smiled at Elisha with something in her mind. Father Gabriel didn’t descry Mrs. Antony’s facial articulations at the time.

It turned out to be very simple for them to receive the child, as they were one of the wealthiest families in New York. Father Gabriel made them enlist a plot in Maple Valley in Elisha’s name as security for the child’s future. Father Gabriel was not cunning. He was very involved in the lives of various families around. Elisha lived as a blessed messenger in Moses; he didn’t want to see her struggle in life. That was what made Father lay this condition on the couple before adoption; even he knew she would have a decent life in that extravagant family.

They gathered alongside Moses with inmates and orphans for the cake-cutting ceremony at Elisha’s third birthday celebration. Mr. Antony felt overjoyed to have located an innocent, blessed messenger for themselves.

Time didn’t stop for anyone. That day came for Elisha to move her home from Moses to Antony’s Aileach bungalow in New York.

Moses remained silent, each of the residents felt torment in their hearts at the disseverment. Sister Mary and Sophie cried all night. A reprehensible infant’s affection can turn anyone to the material world from the profound world they follow. They believed they were Elisha’s mothers. Elisha too thought she was the offspring of Sister Sophie. She called them Mom Mary and Sophie all the time. They gushed when they heard her say that in her little voice.

From the valley, they heard the horn of a high-class car. In some time, the huge Mercedes came to the congress ground. Mr. and Mrs. Antony met Father in his office. They rushed to return that same morning.

At the time when Father told Elisha about her new parents, she didn’t understand anything. She had two moms now. Her little mind was muddled about the distress on Sister Sophie’s face and the happiness on Father Gabriel’s face. Elisha was flabbergasted to see people gathered outside Moses for her sendoff; inmates and orphans and sisters kissed her chubby cheeks. They even gifted her little presents. Every one of them was happy about the life she was going to get. At the same time, they were in profound distress at the reality of missing their little angel.

Even the breeze ceased for a while. Adam kept Elisha’s belongings and new endowments in a container, placed it in the trunk and closed it with a loud noise. Father Gabriel was a little sad, yet he was glad to be able to give a bright existence to the child who had come to him three years ago.

Elisha looked at Moses and the inhabitants with watery eyes. The previous evening, Sister Mary had disclosed to her the excellence of life in a family. She had been extremely happy to hear about family, but she hadn’t thought she would have to go out to another family. In her little mind, she had always thought Moses was a big family. Father Gabriel always told her it was the most lovely family on the planet. Then why were they sending her to another family, she wondered. Her little mind was anxious about the question in her mind.

When Antony’s car went down the slope, Little Elisha encountered her initial agony of separation. She felt like crying uproariously. However, she didn’t. She was crying inside herself like a thundering ocean. Tears cleared a path down through her beautiful face; her face turned red due to the debilitating feelings.

Mrs. Antony turned to her from the front seat, “Are you crying, baby?”

She kept silent and didn’t respond to her question.

Father Gabriel had advised Elisha to call Mrs. Antony ‘Mom’ and Mr. Antony ‘Daddy’ all the time.

Elisha felt the internal resistance to call somebody Mom for the first time, “Where are we going, Mommy?”

 A soft voice talking like an adorable kitten. Mrs. Antony heard those words. They felt like an electric shock through her ears. The huge disillusionment in Mrs. Antony’s eyes on the first day melted like ice to water, and a feeling of motherhood inside her forced her to embrace the little angel and shower her with kisses at that moment.

“To Our Sweet Home.”

Mrs. Antony turned back to the front and closed her eyes with a smile. She reviewed her life for a moment.

Jacqueline… that was her name. She was born and raised somewhere in London. Her dad and mom were government representatives, and she was their only daughter. She wanted to be a model after completing her studies, and she became a supermodel in Europe for a period.

On one occasion, she met a young business mogul, Mr. Antony. He attempted to converse with her after a design demonstration held in New York. She acted busy and disregarded him. Her companion helped her become more acquainted with that good-looking young fellow with thick dark hair and a trimmed mustache. She told her he was the wealthiest head honcho in the texture industry.

He was about to move to the bar at that point. She hurried to catch him with her high heels and red dress. She looked elegant in that dark red gown. Her necklace was a red-stoned one matching her dress. She entered the bar corner of the hotel where they had the event and accommodation, and discovered him occupied conversing with somebody at a table. She felt bad to go up to him and chat with him. She went to the bar corner and requested the barkeeper to give her a margarita. Her most-loved tequila cocktail. She found a companion in a white dress in the corner and began spreading rumors about her most recent offer to act in some movie. She tells everybody that.

The music on the floor was getting louder with the beats. She was on her fourth shot of margarita. They stepped on the dance floor. She was looking at him through the crowd on the floor. A dark person entered the dance floor and started with his best advances. He began alone and started moving toward them with his best steps. Her companion in the white dress gave him company to dance. The volume of the music on the floor was getting higher; it was party time.

That dark man’s eye was on the red dress while hitting the dance floor with the girl in the white dress. He attempted to get hold of Jacqueline’s hand. She faltered and hit the dance floor with him. He appeared drunk, his eyes were red, and he began touching her body roughly. Purposefully, she attempted to exit at that point; however, he held her left hand and pulled her toward him. She made a decent attempt to get away from him.

With the overwhelming beat and dim light, nobody saw her battle to get away from him. The sound of a shattering jug was heard through the music. The music ceased, the swarm moved away from the dark person on the floor covered with champagne and container pieces, somebody had crushed a champagne bottle on his shaved head. Antony was there with a broken bottleneck. Guards came to take him out him away at that point. The supervisor of the lodging arrived there. He took the jug from Antony and kept the security guards from touching him. “I will take care; you may go to your room, sir.”

Antony tightened his coat and exited.

She removed her high heels. She held them close to her and kept running toward him.

“Much appreciated.” She put her high heels down. “Hi, I am Jacqueline.”

He grinned at her. “It’s alright.” His voice was delicate and powerful.

She wore her high heels again. He stayed next to her. He began strolling toward the roof garden. She tailed him without his invitation; there was a silence between them. She was contemplating beginning to talk. She stopped that action in her mind.

He began to speak to her. “Well, still busy?” She didn’t have an answer for it; she looked on his face with dislike to talk.

“I am Antony from this eminent New York city. I have a business for a living. I liked you at first sight. I don’t have sufficient time to dig into your present and past. And I don’t have sufficient time to date you to know you more. This is my word. If you like me, I will marry you; we will talk about it to the family and organize it soon.”

He didn’t say it. The alcohol inside him said it.

Peculiar proposal of a businessman.

She needed to think in considerable measure to acknowledge this impolite proposal from the perfect man of her dreams. She didn’t speak for a long time. They both stood on that open balcony and looked on the city lights. A spell of rain fell on them, and they rushed back to the hall.

He held his lower lip under his front tooth, “I am at 205.”

She comprehended what he said and didn’t reply.

He strolled toward his room. She followed him, accepting his invitation to join him for a drink.

They went into his extravagant suite room. Except his opened suitcase kept on the table, everything else appeared to be untouched in that place. He took a record from the rack and put on the phonograph in a corner, cranked its handle to turn it. With a sizzling clamor, it began to play delicate slow jazz music, the best of the 60s.

He took a champagne container and two champagne flutes from the bar corner in the room next to the entryway. He lent her a glass of champagne. Jacqueline was high on tequila. She turned her face sideways and grinned at him while taking the champagne from him. She looked alluring with her dark red lipstick and wavy hair hanging down her face in that dim light. He took her hand and extended his fingers to her hand; that was his invitation to her to hit the dance floor with him, which was the thing she was sitting tight for.

She placed her arm on his shoulder; they began to move to the romantic jazz music. She moved her arm toward his neck and held his neck tight; she felt his arms pulling her close to him. Her smoky eyes allured him like the girl in his figments. She slightly opened her lips; she expected a kiss from him. He disregarded her endeavors. That made her forceful. She ceased her steps and pulled him tight. She grazed her face all over his face. The music set off to a breathless end of jazz. She held his head with both her arms. Her long fingernails may have pained his scalp. At first, he hesitated, then kissed her with his appetite. The phonograph ceased to play in the middle of their kiss. They didn’t see the surroundings; they were in another world.

Daylight fell all over her through the open balcony. She opened her eyes, kept her hands on head, “Oh my God, where am I?”

Antony came out of the washroom; his bristly athletic body was half-visible with that bath towel.

She hollered, “God, help me. Noo. Did you sleep with me last night?”

“Yes,” he replied.

She pulled her blanket off. She was still in her red dress in bed, “What did you do to me?” she asked outraged.

“Nothing, I didn’t do anything.”

“My goodness, I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday.”

She began to cry, “Please, tell me.”

“Nothing.” He took his clothes and went to the dressing corner.

“Nothing?” she hollered.

“Truly, nothing, we just kissed, no, you kissed,” he was wearing his coat.

“No chance, I didn’t kiss anyone. I won’t kiss anyone. You are telling a lie. How did you do this to me?” She shouted with her watery eyes.

“I didn’t do anything, dear, I could have done something more if I wanted to, I told you, I am not that kind, not, that, kind,” he said that with his delicate and powerful voice with cocked eyebrows. “I am getting late for my flight. Here is my card. Talk to your family and call me if you are interested, if you remember anything we spoke about… yesterday.”

He corrected his tie looking in the mirror and took his suitcase.

“How dare you leave me like this?”

“I would prefer not to disturb your sleep, sleep tight, nobody in here will bother you.”

He was rushing to go out.

“No, thanks, I am going right now.”

She carried her high heels by the sole on her fingers while exiting. She took his card with an angry face. She advanced with her sleepy strides toward her room. She stopped on her entryway and watched him strolling through the passageway. She anticipated that he would look back before he went down through the stairs. He just went down without looking back. She tossed her high heels on the floor and ran toward the stairs; the moment she reached the end of the corridor, she heard him coming up again through the stairs. She froze there. She didn’t think about her next move.

“I forgot my watch.” He went back to his room. She remained near the stairs with her bare feet. She saw he had worn his watch on his hand when he was opening his door. She ran toward his half-shut door. He pulled her inside, and they kissed like first time.

Love is like that; sometimes, people who have just met feel like they have shared years together. Sometimes, at the first look, they may feel like they are meeting an enemy.

It didn’t take much time for their marriage from that moment. Antony’s family was against him wedding a model; they had proposals from the wealthiest families around New York for Antony. He succeeded in persuading everybody.

They went all around the world after their wedding—all the romantic and excellent places in the world like two lovebirds. They returned to New York, after their long voyage of love, to Aileach, Antony’s new bungalow.

Life was very natural and sweet for them for a long time until they recognized God’s blessing as a baby did not come to their life. They consulted renowned specialists. However, everything seemed fine from the perspective of therapeutic sciences.

Jacqueline was depressed with five years of waiting. However, neither of them demonstrated their gloom to each other at any point in time.

A long time of waiting pushed Antony to consider embracing a baby girl to add to the family. But Jacqueline wanted a baby boy; they contended at home for a few days on a similar subject. At last, her parents persuaded her about the great things about receiving a baby girl.

They got to know about Moses from Antony’s distant relative staying in Maple Valley; they made their unexpected visit according to the guidance from his relative. On the first day, Antony saw Little Elisha, and he chose to welcome her into their life as their child. They agreed to Father Gabriel’s condition and acquired a significant plot of maple estate close to the slope side in Maple Valley in Elisha’s name.

***

On the way back to New York, Jacqueline and Elisha were silent from the starting point. They crossed the Maple Valley Mountains and went through a desert-like area where just a couple of bushes around. It was a straight road, and Antony was excited during the drive. He desired to go for a long trip with family. He considered that day a unique day in his life, and he was doing it with a sense of fulfillment.

“Hey, Jack, we shall call her Ellen,” Antony said that with his eyes on her face.

Jacqueline stayed silent. Eight long hours, they traveled to locate a decent place to rest.

They entered a motel as a family for the first time, Elisha’s little mind was full of questions. She didn’t sleep that night. She lay next to Jacqueline. She noticed some alluring aroma from Jacqueline’s dress, and she was frightened and lay beside her. She was reminded of the odor of clothing kept in storage for long. She adored that fragrance; it reminded her of her mother. She had always slept with that smell until yesterday.

Antony shook Jacqueline’s shoulder to wake her up and asked her about the kid. Jacqueline was terrified for a minute, and they turned the lights on. The space where Elisha lay was void. It was almost four in the morning; they saw the entrance to the balcony was open. Antony gradually opened the entryway with his heavy heartbeats.

He saw Little Elisha in the corner resting her head on the knees and holding her legs with her arms. Antony felt miserable to see that. Before he reached her, Jacqueline went forward, lifted the kid like a perfect mother and took her inside. Elisha opened her sleepy eyes and looked at Jacqueline’s face from the bed, and she continued sleeping inside that warm cover.

They proceeded with their voyage in the early morning. Antony was carrying the dozing heavenly child on his shoulder. He strolled inside with the gladness and pride of a father. Jacqueline made her lap a pillow for Elisha, and she held her tight in the back seat. They proceeded with the adventure toward New York. His companions and relatives arranged evening dinner and a little gathering in Antony’s home. Jacqueline’s dad and mom were sitting tight to see their granddaughter

They reached Aileach by evening. Antony found no space to take the car inside the compound; their compound was filled with vehicles of his companions and relatives. He was holding Elisha on his shoulder, and Jacqueline was holding his left hand while strolling inside their compound. Someone from home saw them and welcomed the family with great acclaim; the little angel entered another world, to new people, to a new life.