How I met my father

I stood at the doorway of my house as I saw my mother holding hands with him, smiling gently, stepped out of his car and walked towards me. He looked delighted and smirked at me. They were giggling about something oblivious of my presence as they walked inside.

“Hey Michael, how are you? I thought you would be at the church for our wedding...” as he questioned me, I gave a wimpy look at him and went inside my room not answering his questions. My mother who noticed my irreverent behaviour intervened and told that I was not keeping well and indeed was exalted about the whole wedding. David knew that she was lying just trying to soothen him from the embarrassment of contempt.

I was fuming from within as I lay on my bed, contemplating about this whole mess of my mom getting a stranger in place of my dad.  I loathed him and felt he could never be my dad. Four years ago this family lost a wonderful human being, my dad, the coolest person on this earth. He died due to a cardiac arrest. The unexpected and sudden loss plunged me and my mom into an indefinite grief. We cursed the lord for betraying us and snatching away all the happiness in our lives. They were the horrendous phase of my life still not overcome completely.

 David, a divorcee with no kids, is my mom’s colleague at her law firm and one of her very close ally at the office. He used to console her during those sullen days and played as a great force in driving her back into the normal life. In the course of time my mom and David discovered compassion and love for each other and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. When mom disclosed her decision of marrying David, I choked unable to digest the fact of accepting a new man in her life, I confined myself in recluse. 

David had visited our place a couple of times before the marriage, probably to befriend me though in vain, tried to surprise me with lots of gifts which I have never unpacked till date. He might be a good guy but he is not my father. My mother’s new husband decided to move us to a different place away from all the unnecessary gossips in the neighborhood that might disturb my mom. Re-marriages are quite common in the western countries but definitely it is still a taboo in India especially for women with kids it’s certainly a big NO...  

One morning, a week before my summer vacation would draw to close, all three of us were seated for breakfast when David spoke “So Michael your school re-opens from next week right? Since we have moved closer to your school I could drop you and pick you every day and my working hours are flexible. We can terminate the school bus services... What do you say Betsy?” as he inquired my mother, I interrupted scornfully “It’s OK David. I have my bicycle and I can travel to school myself.” My mother glared at me. She never liked me addressing her new husband by his name. She probably wanted me to call him “Dad” which I would never approve of. She told “I think that’s a great idea David... I will speak to the school bus coordinator and stop the service. Michael, daddy will drop and pick you every day. Is that clear?”  I comprehended her tone and did not want to irk her and so accepted. 

Every day to school David would talk about so many things to me, right from asking about my likes and dislikes, sharing about his passion, about my school, my friends and so many other topics which I thought were irrelevant to him. He was trying to break the ice between both of us and use this time to bond. I responded to few of his questions though I felt very awkward and uncomfortable speaking to him. I always made it a point to never let him drop me at the school gate as I did not want any of my friends or others to notice this new fatherly figure. I requested him to stop his car a few yards away from the gate and strode into my school campus as fast as I could before anyone noticed.

Months passed when on one day as usual David dropped me a few kilometers away from the school gate. He always made sure not to leave until I went inside my campus. As I was walking towards the gate, suddenly from far I saw a car speeding beyond the permissible limit towards me and before I could realize anything I was thrown high up in the air. The lunatic drunkard bumped his car against me and drove past me without stopping. I fell down with immense and intolerable pain bleeding profusely. I was lying there on the roads semi-consciously as I saw David and bunch of others from the school running towards me.

David carried me in his arms and laid me in his car. He drove to a nearby hospital. I heard him vividly though my eyes were closed as he was shouting at the doctors for emergency attention. “My son is deeply injured. Please someone help” as David was freaking out, a bunch of attendants and nurse dropped me on the stretcher and took me into the emergency accident ward. That night unable to sleep after a 3 long hours of major surgery on my left leg with multiple fractures, I was tossing on both my sides as I heard David talking to my mom outside my room. “My heart skipped a beat as I witnessed the whole commotion. I am the reason for my son’s accident. I should never have a listened to him and should have dropped him at the gate every day. I was trying to give him some space but never anticipated it would hit me this hard.” My mother was consoling him telling that it was not his fault. He was in a deep sense of remorse. The doctor instructed only one person to stay with me for the night. Quite obviously, David convinced my mom to go home while he stayed with me. He was awake the entire night and kept checking at regular intervals if I was OK.  That night served as phase shift in my life. I felt his plethora of love on me. He was just being the way my dad would have.

A week later I was discharged from the hospital. Both my mom and David took turns in the hospital to take care of me. The doctor had advised 3 months of complete rest at home and not strain my leg too much which means someone has to be at home to give entire attention towards me. My mom had a very busy schedule at the office and could not stay home. She told David that they could arrange for some caretaker or a nurse probably to take care of me at home. David disagreed and immediately said he would work from home and assist me. 

These were the golden three months when I realized the compassion and warmth in David which my mom had earlier discerned in him. I found it really hard to even do my daily morning routines which David used to help me with. Sometimes I wondered if David had even surpassed a mile beyond what my dad could have done if he was alive. He met my teachers and informed about my injury, collected all the class works from them and helped me in my academics at home so that I was in track with what was being taught at school. During his spare time off work, he played some video games along with me on the Xbox that he installed for me at home so that I could overcome the monotony of staying indoors all day long. He surely was an endearing guy.

Three months later when I rejoined my school, David dropped me at my school gate. As I was about to get down the car, I just turned back and told “My friends would like to meet my father. Will you come?” He was stupefied in astonishment and quite blissfully he told “Of course I would love to.”

Next summer on the sports day of my school, I had participated in the 100 meters dash and won the first place. As I went towards the championship podium to collect my trophy I saw my mom and David sitting in the front rows of the stadium cheering me vibrantly. I collected the trophy and triumphantly lifted it up and showed it to them. I saw immense pride and joy in David’s eyes as I felt my dad becoming immortal in his form. I accepted him as my father but have still not addressed him “Dad” which I am sure he was longing to hear from me. An extra effort from me will make this happen and I am quite confident about this in the days to come.