Mr. and Mrs. X and the Baby
Fiction Short Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
(Dear Readers, this is a fiction short story, purely apocryphal, with a message for young working couples on the threshold of matrimony)
Mr. and Mrs. X desperately wanted to have a baby.
So they tried very hard to have a baby.
Poor Mr. and Mrs. X, they tried and tried, all by themselves, but they couldn’t have a baby.
And as time flew, and the biological clock ticked away, Mr. and Mrs. X became more and more anxious, and so with resolute perseverance, they put everything at stake, made determined efforts, consulted the best doctors in town, spent huge amounts of money on the best and most sophisticated infertility treatments possible, tried all sorts of things, exoteric and esoteric, left no stone unturned, struggled and struggled, with dogged persistence, till, at long last, at the age of 35, Mrs. X conceived, and after a difficult, delicate, grueling, backbreaking, anxious, harrowing pregnancy, she overcame all sorts of complications, and finally, after enduring for nine long months, successfully delivered a beautiful bonny baby.
Everyone was delighted – the parents, having proved their mettle, the doctors, on the success of their treatment, the grandparents that the family lineage was preserved, the soothsayers, the relatives, the friends – everybody.
Three months later I happened to be in town and decided to visit Mr. and Mrs. X and their bonny baby.
On the way, at the jewellers, I bought a gold ornament as a present for the bonny baby.
I found my way to their classy house in an elite condominium located in the most posh and exclusive neighbourhood of the city.
I felt a tinge of envy thinking about Mr. and Mrs. X, the young IT whiz kids, who could achieve such expensive luxuries and an ostentatious living style so early in life.
The proud grandparents opened the door.
The baby, on her grandmother’s lap, looked cute, very cute and cuddly.
The baby’s parents, the young mother and father, were conspicuous by their absence.
It was late evening and I had expected Mr. and Mrs. X to be at home, doting upon their adorable little baby, so curious I asked, “Where is the young mother?”
“At work,” the grandfather answered.
“Oh… the young mother is already back at work…? So fast…? But I’ll wait for her – she should be back home soon, isn’t it…?” I asked looking at the wall clock.
“No! No! She won’t be coming for at least six months now. She’s gone abroad, to the States, on an important project,” said the proud grandmother, cuddling and mothering the baby.
“And Mr. X, the proud father, he’ll be coming…” I asked.
“He’s in Singapore. He got a fantastic job offer the day the baby was born,” said the grandfather.
“You know, the baby has proved real lucky for them. Her mother got promoted as project leader, a hefty raise and this foreign assignment and her father got this fabulous job offer in Singapore,” said the proud grandmother, cuddling the baby, who suddenly started to cry.
“It’s her feed-time,” the grandmother said, handing over the baby to the grandfather, and she went to the kitchen to warm up the baby’s milk.
“It’s good,” the grandfather said lovingly fondling the bonny baby, “for all these years when they were trying so hard to have this baby, they had put their careers on the back-burner; now that they have got their baby, they can focus on their careers once again.”
The grandmother came out with the milk bottle and began feeding the bonny baby while the doting grandfather lovingly looked on.
I looked at the grandparents – the surrogate parents – and the baby – the light of their lives, their raison d’etre, probably their reason for living and certainly the source of all their present happiness.
As I said earlier, this is a fiction short story, purely apocryphal, with a message for younger readers on the threshold of matrimony.
Any Comments…?
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
FICTION by VIKRAM KARVE 