29-08-2026, 10:28 PM
Our son came home in the evening.
He was still happy. There were sweet boxes in his hands, and he was talking about Paati, about the neighbours, about how they had blessed him when he told them he had passed in the reevaluation. My wife went to him first. She held his face, looked at him for a long time, and her eyes became wet again, but this time the tears were quiet.
I stood behind her and watched.
She did not say what she had given for that smile. She only kept looking at him as if that one happy face had closed the whole month. Later, when he went to his room, she came to me in the kitchen and spoke in a low voice.
“It was worth it, Shiva. I know what I did. I know what you watched. But look at him. I have not seen that face on him since the first result came. If this is the price, I can carry it.”
I did not argue with her.
At night she wore her nighty and came to bed.
No bra. No panties. She lay down next to me and put her head on my chest, the way she used to before the astrologer entered our house. I hugged her. She slept soon, tired, clean, still my wife. I stayed awake a little longer with my hand on her waist, listening to her breathe, and let the house become ordinary again.
He was still happy. There were sweet boxes in his hands, and he was talking about Paati, about the neighbours, about how they had blessed him when he told them he had passed in the reevaluation. My wife went to him first. She held his face, looked at him for a long time, and her eyes became wet again, but this time the tears were quiet.
I stood behind her and watched.
She did not say what she had given for that smile. She only kept looking at him as if that one happy face had closed the whole month. Later, when he went to his room, she came to me in the kitchen and spoke in a low voice.
“It was worth it, Shiva. I know what I did. I know what you watched. But look at him. I have not seen that face on him since the first result came. If this is the price, I can carry it.”
I did not argue with her.
At night she wore her nighty and came to bed.
No bra. No panties. She lay down next to me and put her head on my chest, the way she used to before the astrologer entered our house. I hugged her. She slept soon, tired, clean, still my wife. I stayed awake a little longer with my hand on her waist, listening to her breathe, and let the house become ordinary again.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)