26 - So They Say...

They say time heals all wounds, but Maia decided that was a lie.  Time healed nothing; it just made pain something you got used to feeling.

But she was sure she was getting better.

Like when she was involved with trying new recipes and keeping up on all the cooking that needed to be done,

Maia didn’t think about Aashif at all.

She kept herself occupied with the laundry,

and never thought of him then, either.

And when Maia went to sleep, all alone in her bed, she definitely did not cry herself to sleep or dream of having a broken heart.

Besides, she knew Aashif would come back.  He had to.

Another thing they also say is that time flies, and Maia decided they were right about that one. In no time at all, the triplets and their IF’s all aged up. 

Rahu

Ketu

Nikhil

Rahu’s IF Pal

Ketu’s IF Patches

Nikhil’s IF Puzzle

Now that she had six teenage boys living in the house, it was a good thing Maia was keeping herself busy by working more often again, because the car insurance premiums were extremely expensive now.

And after performing shows and getting gigs pretty much every day,

Maia would exchange her magician’s wand

for a witch’s wand and practice spells every evening.

The only reason she could keep going without running out of magic was because of Ashai, the stray cat Nik adopted. 

While the boys were at school or occupied with other activities, Maia had Ashai for company.

It was nice to be needed.

Yes, Maia was a busy bee.  Oh, and she also took up beekeeping. 

So even if she had wanted to talk to Aashif when he called the boys,

Maia simply had no time to do so.

Until the day came when Aashif didn’t call.  Suddenly, Maia had nothing but time which she spent staring out the window; hours that stretched into days without any word at all.

And when days turned to weeks, Maia became more and more certain something was wrong, even though she tried to keep things routine for the boys, and kept them engaged in their normal activities.

Like sports.

And music.

And art.

And chess.

Maia dealt with their pranks.

She made sure they did their homework.

And she encouraged them all to go to prom.

Rahu was named Prom King.  Unfortunately, the King and all the rest of Maia’s boys got into at least one fight each that night. But while Patches and Puzzle were both turned down by their crushes, something sparked between the two that night, and they returned home as a couple.

But finally, Maia couldn’t pretend things were normal anymore. 

“I’m taking a trip to Egypt,” she told the kids.  “I’m trusting that you guys can keep out of trouble.  That means no parties, no sleepovers, no dates, no pranks, no staying downtown past curfew, and no being late for school.  Understand?”

“Yes, we understand,” Ketu answered for them all. “And don’t worry, Mom, we’ll be fine.”

After Maia left, Ketu turned to the others and said, “You guys realize Mom never made us promise to not do one very important thing...”

 “Yeah, she didn’t make us say that we would actually go to school, just that we wouldn’t be late,” Rahu said with an impish gleam in his eye. “And if we skip school, we can follow her to Al Simhara!”


Author's Note-I can lie to myself... I ain't missing you at all...