Her Second-Hand Husband! novel Chapter 2

Author's PoV

On a breezy morning of November, Anika is practicing her yoga in the backyard of her small and compact house. Anika has a little brother who is in his high school now. Anika is in her final year of Bsc., Computer science. Anika's mom is a garland designer who works from home as per the orders she gets from the flower dealers. Just like her mom, Anika is also very good at arranging flowers for bouquets. It is a very happy family with everything they need.

"Dei Advay, get up!" Anika came in, waking up her brother to school. Advay is a slowpoke. His day only starts with the yelling of his mother and his sister.

"Wake me up after 5 minutes, Akka(sister)!" He covered his head with the blanket and curled inside it.

"Ma, Advay is not getting up!" Anika shouted from inside the room.

Anandhi is Anika and Advay's step-mom. When Advay was a month old baby, their mother got severe jaundice and by the time they found out, it was too late that all her internal organs were already failing and she died of it. It was then Saravanan (Anika's dad)'s relatives made him marry Anandhi to take care of Advay and Anika.

Saravanan initially opposed the idea but later realized that it is not a joke to bring up two kids alone. He could not manage his work and take care of his daughter and the new born baby. Knowing that he could never be good enough for the kids he agreed to the wedding but on one condition. He insisted that the girl he is going to marry should be an infertile girl who cannot bear children of her own. He thought, by doing this, the girl would treat his kids as her own. One way or another, his calculations worked. They found Anandhi from a village in Tirupur who was 32years old by then and was still not married. When Anandhi was in her teen age, she met with an accident that resulted in losing her uterus. It was well known news in her little village that no one agreed to marry her. So when Saravanan's family asked her hand in marriage, her parents readily agreed to marry her to him.

Anandhi is a woman from a poor family and she was happy to be married finally. She was depressed that all her friends had 2kids by now but she was still a burden to her family. So when Saravanan came with 2 kids, a girl and boy, she was more than happy to marry him. So that is how Anandhi became Anika and Advay's mom. She looks after them like her own kids. She is grateful for the life she has got.

"Advay, your friend Vinod will come any minute now and if you are not ready by then, he will leave you behind and you have to take the bus to the school. Wake up soon!" Anandhi shouted from the kitchen.

"Pch, I am awake!" Advay got up and made his bed.

When he was about to go to the restroom, Anika ran in and locked the door.

"Hey Eruma(buffalo), what were you doing for so long? Maaaa, look at her. She has locked the restroom door." Advay shouted banging on the door. Anika was laughing inside while taking a bath.

He pushed her aside and went into the restroom once she opened the door. "Why did you wake me up when you were not done with the restroom yet? I am going to kill you if you do this again." he yelled at her from inside the bathroom.

"Anu, why did you do that? See, he is angry." her mom asked her when she settled herself on the kitchen slab to eat her breakfast.

"Hahaha ma, chill. He still has 20minutes. Boys just need 10minutes to bathe and get ready." Anu said while eating her idli with yummy tomato chutney.

"We should build a toilet in the backyard to stop this fight. You guys are grownups and still every morning you make the house like a battlefield. It is because of you two, your dad is bathing at 5.30 am even in this winter." her mom told her.

"It's ok, Anandhi. Pack lunch soon. I have to go see my MD before going to the factory. I have to leave early." Saravanan came into the kitchen for his breakfast.

"Good morning, Pa." Anika greeted her dad.

"Good morning, Anu. How is your project coming along?" he asked her.

"Nithya and I are working on it, pa. We have help from our seniors who passed out last year. He is working along with us. Hopefully we will finish it on time."