The Adventures of G-man

ADOPTION

In the corridor, a young farm couple arrived four hours after Superman flew away. They took a seat as the priest called them into his small room. The couple sat down in front of the priest, who handed them an application form to be foster parents. In the blank space for “Father,” the couple wrote “Sanjay.” In the blank space for “Mother,” the couple wrote, “Paayal.”

*

Sanjay was six-foot-tall, fair brown-skinned. He wore a short-sleeve black-and-white checked shirt, black denim jeans, and a black pair of boots polished until they gleamed. He worked on his farm and maintained it with good fortune by selling his goods and his horses, or training people to ride as an amateur. His wife Paayal always remained at the farmhouse to do house chores, as homemakers do.

She wore a comfy red suit in a golden floral and a red slick shiny churni wrapped around her neck like a scarf. Like the mangalsutra from their wedding, it was knotted tightly.

Mangal means auspicious and sutra means thread, and together mangalsutra means an auspicious thread uniting the souls. The groom tied the auspicious black thread around his bride's neck on their wedding day in front of the holy nuptial fire. Before that, the couple joined hands and circled around the fire in a ritual called the mangal phera to get the blessing from the universe's mother and father, then afterwards took the saptapadi, the seven steps, together around the fire. After the mangalsutra, they were officially husband and wife. Paayal had worn sparkling gold and diamond sandals. She looked so pretty in her bridal outfit, which made Sanjay feel so much affection towards her. He made her promise to stay at home for her safety as much as possible because so many men would desire her beauty and take advantage of her.

They had not been blessed with children, so here they were at the orphanage. They were inside the corridor and waited as the porter Rahul left to call for the porter. Sanjay and Paayal were sitting on the bench against the wall.

They both remembered that terrible day they got the news that shook them. Sanjay went with his beloved wife to support her while she received her test results from her doctor, who had known her since she was a young girl. They were looking around the white clean-smelling room as they entered the office and saw their doctor sat on a wooden chair, his arms resting on the desk. "Mr. and Mrs. Kumar? Please take a seat.”

"Yes, doctor," Sanjay responded. He glanced at his wife and helped her sit opposite the doctor, across the desk. He took a seat beside her.

He sighed at first before he started to speak with them. "I have terrible news."

"Oh. What does my report say, doctor?" Paayal responded in a shaky voice?

"Well... How can I tell you, Mrs. Kumar? Your test report has arrived, and..." He paused and sighed, "It's not good news."

"Please tell us, doctor. We can handle any news." Sanjay said as he placed his hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Mrs. Kumar." The doctor paused and continued, blinking behind his thick glasses. “I'm sorry, but you can’t have children."

The couple was shocked and shaken. The report hit their hearts like a sharp object going through their body. The three words kept on playing in their heads, especially inside Paayal’s. Can’t have children.

She stood up, her face going pale with shock. Sanjay, controlling his emotions, wrapped his arm around Paayal out of compassion and support. “Thank you,” he mumbled to the doctor, and left the room to his wife.

**

Paayal and Sanjay lay with their backs to each other, pretending to sleep and hiding their tears from each other. Paayal peered at the clock on the humble bedside table. It was pitch dark at midnight and she couldn’t see the clock face. The silence of the night left her alone with her own thoughts.

In her life, she had been affectionate with Sanjay from the beginning because of his charming personality and heart of gold. Before the marriage, she imagined their life journey together. It felt like the plot of a Bollywood movie because her father always wanted his daughter to marry a high caste person, not a lower caste person like Sanjay. The rocky start to their life together only made her more determined, and after several failed attempts to convince her father, she ran away from her parents' house with her lover, Sanjay. She had written a farewell note that night telling her father that her love with Sanjay was a love beyond riches.

She swore that she would always keep her husband happy, commanded by their marriage vows, and be a righteous wife. After hearing the awful news from the doctor, she fell into deep guilt for failing as a good wife.

Sanjay, for his part, lay facing the wall and staring into the same all-consuming shadows that terrorized his wife. The couple lay like that for many more hours until they finally closed their eyes and fell asleep, entering into their dreams.

"My child?" A deep male voice appeared in Paayal's dream.

"Who's there?"

"Don't feel bad, my child. You will be a great mother, and Sanjay too is a great father."

She stood at the doorway of a small bedroom where, in front of her, three cradles rested on a hand-knitted kilim rug on of a laminated floor. The nursery wallpaper was decorated with famous cartoon characters - Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck.

She took one step to enter the room, and picked up the pace, even though her bare feet were getting cold on the chilly wooden floor. As she came close to the cradle, she looked down and saw big blue eyes staring back at her in a brown face. She smiled, and the infant with the big blue eyes copied her.

"Hello, little fella, did you sleep well?" Paayal asked, her eyes twinkling. She used the voice she would use to talk to a kitten or puppy.

He squirmed and wriggled out of his blanket halfway, showing the birthmark of a big letter “G” on his chest. She cry of surprise woke her from a dream and she sat up in her double bed. She was the only one in the bed.

"Sanjay, where are you?”

She peered at the clock, seeing it was 8 a.m. She lay back in her calm thoughts and felt relieved knowing her husband would be at the farmyard.

***

"Honey, I'm back!"

"Back so soon?" Paayal teased as she saw her husband walk through the front door

Sanjay has returned from his morning routine. A smile appeared on his face and his eyes twinkled upon seeing his beautiful wife was cooking their breakfast in the kitchen. "Yes, my sweetheart," he replied.

Half an hour later, the couple were having their breakfast of plain paranthas, warm unleavened flatbreads of flour, made by baking or cooking whole wheat dough on a tava and finished off with frying in a shallow pan.

"Mm, that was lovely. Thank you, my sweetheart," Sanjay said, placing his hand on hers and gazing into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes were dark chocolate eyes which made him crazy for her in the first place. When they first met on the street in the area where they both lived, that particular moment became their favourite memory.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Nothing.” She stared at her empty plate with a few crumbs scattered.

"Look at me." He took her chin in his hands and lifted her chin. “Tell me.”

"If I tell you, will you think I am s-s-silly?" she asked as her dark chocolate eyes went moist.

"Did I ever call you ‘silly’ in our lives? No, am I right? Then tell me, darling, what's in my beautiful wife's mind?" he asked while he moved his wooden dining chair toward her. The legs scratched against the floor.

"I had a dream. Someone spoke to me in a voice lower than yours. It sounded like a deity. The voice told me not to worry because..." She looked into his earnest black eyes, and she smiled. He did too. "We will be parents." A huge grin lit up Sanjay’s face when he heard about his wife's dream.

She continued after a short break. "I was walking into a room with three cradles. I walked to one of the cradles and saw a beautiful baby boy. It's our son, my love! Our son!"

"That's great, darling." Sanjay grinned in joy.

"I know we will have three children," Paayal said, equally joyous.

Sanjay lowered his voice, mysteriously. “Beautiful, I’ve got to show you something.”

He received a slight nod from her. He reached in his pocket and took out a piece of paper, which was folded in half two times. He unfolded it to fully reveal the A4 comprehensive adoption form comprehensive and handed it slowly to his wife. She took it gently and peered at what was written on it.

She gasped in surprise. “What? Are we seriously going to do this?"

"Yes, beautiful, we are."

"Why?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Because as you had that strange but magnificent dream, sweetheart. I had it too. A voice told me to adopt these triplets."

She looked stunned after he announced this to her. "So, are you telling me I will be a mother?" Her eyes sparkled.

"Yes! Yes" He howled with excitement, and both leapt up and embraced one another.

THE END OF CHAPTER EIGHT.

Hello, G-man's readers!

And thank you to all for reaching the eighth chapter. Wow!! Thank you for reading G-man. I love him. I enjoyed creating him to his bodysuit, his plotline, in which I have outlined his past and presence, and his future which soon I will share with you over here, or in other social networks.

I feel my readers wanted to know why I took a step to get rid of S-woman. Well, first of all, I wanted to apologise for my action, which I had no other way if anyone has trouble with that, then please feel free to tell me your own opinion; I would be happy to read and reply to your response.

I also like to write in this short chapter by creating these two new characters - Paayal and Sanjay; please write your opinion about them as well.

Also, I like to know you and be friends by chatting over here or on my f*******:, so we can help each other to achieve our goals.

Thank you

From

Gurveer aka Gurv