Lakshmi almost forgot about the issue that was waiting for her at home, she really enjoyed spending her time with Mia and she wished Mia could come stay with them.
“What was the secret that you found out your parents had been keeping from you?” Mia suddenly remembered as the girls were discussing during their free period.
” I have a step sibling” Lakshmi was disappointed that Mia had to remember her after she had been trying her best not to think about it
“That’s a good thing, you have always wanted another sister or brother, is it a boy or a girl?” Mia was inquisitive.
Lakshmi’s POV
“It’s a boy, I think” I responded and Mia nodded at me, signifying that she understood what I just said.
“Mia, I don’t think I am supposed to be happy about having a step brother. A step brother means… I was saying.
” I know what step brother means, it means he is the biological child of only one of your parents ” Mia interrupted me and I gave her a smile, caressing her hair.
“That’s correct, but it also means that my dad cheated on my mum and I don’t know how I am supposed to handle that at the moment” I reduced my voice because I didn’t want my classmates who sat behind us to overhear our conversation.
“How do you know that he cheated on her, what if he had the child before he got married to your mum?
I think you should listen to his explanation when you get home” Mia was trying to look at things from the positive side.
A teacher walked into the class with a female student who stood beside her.
“Good day class” she greeted the student with excitement.
“Good day teacher” the students responded in unison.
“So today we have a new student and her name is Alyssa, you all say Hi to Alyssa” the teacher was making gestures.
“Hi Alyssa” they all echoed but the young girl didn’t respond.
“Class Alyssa is deaf but she can talk” the teacher said and the student began to murmur, many of them wondered what was the reason for saying Hi in the first place when she couldn’t even hear anything.
“Okay Alyssa, you may now go and find yourself a seat” the teacher gestured for her to go sit and she understood what she was trying to tell her even though she couldn’t hear anything.
When she sat close to Mia, Mia felt uneasy, she felt like she had been close to her before but she just couldn’t understand why. She was so uncomfortable that she had to stand up from her seat.
“Mia what’s wrong?” The teacher was quite surprised by Mia’s attitude.
“She needs to go to the bathroom” Lakshmi helped her to lie. She knew something was going on with her friend and she felt she should cover up for her.
“Okay you may leave” the teacher ordered Mia who walked out of the class. She didn’t need to go to the bathroom but she just felt like she needed to be as far away from Alyssa as she could. That girl’s presence really made her feel uneasy.
She looked at the mirror on the bathroom wall and rinsed her face. On its own, her necklace began to glow and her father’s reflection appeared in the mirror.
“Mia??” He called out her name, Mia quickly raised her head to look at the mirror.
“Yes dad” she was very attentive, his presence no longer frightened her any more, she was getting used to him appearing to her every now and then.
“You have to listen to me very carefully.” Her dad was about to give her a very sound warning and Mia nodded her head in agreement to whatever he was about to tell her.
“Stay away from Alyssa ” her father was quite stern, his voice didn’t sound as gentle as it used to.
“But why?” Mia tried to know the reason but it was too late, his reflection had already disappeared and she just walked back to class except this time she changed her seat so she wasn’t close to Alyssa any more. Lakshmi noticed it but she remained silent.
Lakshmi’s POV
My parents had been waiting for me patiently in the sitting room.
“Welcome Lakshmi” my mum spoke and that was when I saw them sitting on the couch as I shut the door behind me.
“I have homework to do” I tried to avoid them.
“You won’t be able to keep this up for too long Lakshmi. Please come, I want to tell you everything” my dad urged me to sit in between them as he tapped on the couch. I was about to walk away and ignore him but then I thought about what Mia had told me and I quietly did as he told me.
“Lakshmi, I want you to know that I love you and your mother so much and I will never try to do something that will hurt any of you. Yes, I do have a son from another woman but I had him long before I married your mum. I hadn’t even met her back then and I didn’t even know the lady I was with was pregnant.
I just got a call from the boy just to inform me that his mother is dead and she was the one that managed to give him clues on how to find me, you just have to believe me Lakshmi I never intended for any of this to happen” my dad finally confessed with a sad tone. He just had to tell me the truth even if he thought that I wasn’t mature enough.
“So you are not going to run away from Mom and I with your son?” I felt the need to drag my statement.
“Of course not,” my dad laughed and hugged me very tightly. I was happy but my happiness just wasn’t complete yet.
“Dad, can I demand something from you?” I was very calm as I wore an innocent look.
“Yes, what do you want?” My father was willing to give me whatever my heart desired.
“I know you always have to work so you can take good care of me and my brother” I emphasizedon”brother” before taking a pause.
“Yes, continue,” my dad urged me.
“But I don’t like the way you guys don’t take care of me. I’m not denying the fact that you have been trying your best to provide all the materialistic things for me” I paused again to look at my mom’s facial expression.
“But I also want you to be there for me when I need you the most, I want your love and care not just money. I want you to drive me to school sometimes so I could show off in school, I want mum to come for PTA meetings and other events parents come for.
I want mom to feed me medicines whenever I am sick and not the nanny” I had already started crying and my parents could see that I had been holding back those tears for a very long time. They looked at each other and my mom pulled me closer, making sure her hands were tightly wrapped around me.
“If only you had told us about this sooner Lakshmi then we wouldn’t have let it get to this point. We have been horrible parents and we are very sorry for that, we promise to make up for those times we weren’t there for you when you needed us the most” my mom joined me to cry.
“Yes my baby girl, we promise to change for you okay” my dad said as he wiped my tears. We were such a happy family once again.
“But you haven’t even done the most important thing,” I reminded my parents.
My dad and mom looked at each other quite confused before my mom finally asked me
“And what’s that?”
“To introduce me to my brother. I want to meet him” I looked at both my parents who had a big smile on their faces.
“You will meet him next week” my dad stroked my hair gently.
“I’m also very eager to meet him” my mom was also very happy.