From Sweethearts To Parents

I met him just after I passed out from school. I still remember, very clearly, seeing him for the first time and everything associated with it. Somewhere down the line, circumstances brought us together and we became close friends. We talked and talked, about everything under the sun. We saw each other's worst and lows yet nothing changed. Over the years, we became an integral part in each other's lives; sharing our joys and worries became a habit that it just made sense to take the relation to the next level. I remember talking to him all through the night, weaving dreams about our future and feeling good. Of course, we had our share of fights and meltdowns, but above that there was a love that was filled with hopes and dreams, a love to share life together, a love that was meant to be. 

We never lived in the same city until marriage and I would be lying if I say long distance was not a problem for us. It was, with the different time zones and sleep patterns. But we sailed through it all, because we couldn't think of a life without the other and so the hurdles never mattered. Those cheesy lovey dovey messages, not wanting to keep the phone even after hours of nonstop chitchatting, long mails about mundane things, the 'already missing you' message right after we bid good bye- oh yes, we've done it all. 

Then, marriage happened and along with it came the reality check. Along with our dreams, came the reality of bills, rents, family obligations. Once we started living together, we started seeing each other's imperfections and realised life is not as rosy as it seems while you are dating. It is so true, you won't know a person inside out until you start living with them. At times, we were at each other's neck and at other times, we were so much in love with each other. There still were messages sent, but it was mostly replaced by 'will you pick me today' and 'what's for dinner?'. Life was not all about the dreams that we wove. Yet, it was a perfect blend of reality and dreams. Though we had our sweetheart moments, we grew up together as husband and wife. We deliberately took time to enjoy each other's company, enjoy our life as husband and wife before we were ready for a baby. Until then, it was just us and our world. 

When we found out I was pregnant, we were back to a dreamy world, weaving our future together but this time, with a little one, the size of a berry, who was going to be our whole life soon. We snuggled up to each other whenever we could and I loved his hand resting on my preggy tummy. In came cheesy dialogues again, but this time it included our baby as well. Our little world was filled with baby names, we fought as to who gets to hold the baby first and talked about how we would raise our little one. We were in our own world, where we talked to the little one in baby voices and nothing else mattered then.

When parenthood took over us, he was my knight in shining armour. He stepped up, taking his dad role very seriously and took care of the little one right from the first hour. It was he who held the baby first and since then, he has been a pro when it comes to being a daddy. Those initial sleepless nights that people tell a new mom goes through? I didn't know it much, because I had a man who was willing to get up in the middle of the night to take care of his wife and baby boy. He fed the baby, burped him, changed the diapers and made him sleep, all this while I got my much needed rest. He stood up for me and respected my decisions as a mother. I fell in love with him all over again. 

Now, two years into being parents, routine has set and we are back on each other's nerves. Messages are back to one-liner "need to buy veggies" or "taking little one to the park". The long phone calls have been replaced by hardly a minute calls. Life is chaotic with a toddler boy. Yet, amidst all this, there exists a calmness, a sort of peace that comes from the feeling you are in the right place with the right people. In spite of the senseless fights, walkouts and other melodramas, I do not know, or rather, want a life other than the one with him. If ten years back, we were blindly in love with each other and weaving our dream life together, now, we are living the life we dreamt together as sweethearts woven together by bill payments, school fees, grocery shopping, raising a baby bear and other realities, yet filled with abundant love and respect that comes with years of understanding and sailing storms together. And there is nothing sweeter and content than this. Nothing!