A/N Hi, firstly I wanna thank you few precious people who make my day by spamming comments and vote. Nothing makes a writer happier than people who appreciate

Second, I really liked the suggestion of being able to see the sign language alongwith reading it. However, not all sign languages will have a recorded image or gif so it will be difficult to incorporate. I'll try to think of something else to add on instead, maybe like a footnote.

Let me know.

For now, the sign language is in bold, italics and spaced in middle for better understanding

Chapter VII His very first time

'Things are getting difficult.'

'Wait for it.'

'Wait for what tai (sister)?'

'Wait for it to get more difficult.'

Family was an emotion. It was more than just people you live with till a certain age. Sometimes you live with them forever and if you are fortunate as I am, till you're eighteen. These people are not selected by a choice, most definitely not and you gotta just adjust with them and compromise your entire life.

It is a blessing if these people you haven't chosen, turn out to be the role models you never wanted but deserved. And an equally strong curse; if they are just the opposite.

They are your first everything. Your first joy, your first smile, your first cry, your first success, your first failure, your first audience and your first support. Things go way downhill when these are not the firsts you wanted. When these firsts are so bitter, all you want to do is run away.

All I constantly wished, was to not have any of my firsts with them. That was for certain. So yes, I wasn't a family person, in fact family never lasted or even imprinted well in my life. I have forgotten almost every good memory with my family or whatever we are called, but this particular conversation with my Tai is still so fresh and to a point really lasting.

It was getting difficult, way difficult and this was just the beginning. The kid who I thought was just a prank was now an actual figure, living in front of my very own eyes and creating the nuisance I never thought I was capable enough to face.

Tittu wasn't normal.

Things may have changed if the kid who was abandoned in my house was a normal kid who could speak and hear. He could have rant out his frustration, maybe tell us from where he came from or just demand what he wants. It was a week and Tittu was still adapting in our lifestyle with a twenty-one-year-old woman who barely survives studies throughout the day and a twenty six year old ex-nutritionist who I have no clue of as yet.

Tittu couldn't demand food, he barely spoke to us and when he did it was those vague signs which I never got a hold of, he hardly did anything which a five-year-old should which was worrying all of us. It wasn't a good thing to have a kid who sat in one corner and be so still. He was such a close reminder of whom I was in my childhood, that it scared me what would become of him if this continues.

Currently Riya was trying her bit to make the kid talk or find out what he was up to. "What is up?"

"Speak in actions, Riya." I interrupted while surfing on the net to find a suitable topic for the project which was due.

"Blah blah." She imitated me and I let that go considering how mature Riya really was while the kid looked keenly at the light from my laptop screen.

*What are you doing*

Interested in what his answer would be, I turned to face him. "What are you doing?"

He shook his head, he made a flattened 'O' shape under his chin and then proceeded to loosen it in a 5.

Riya looked at me and I looked at her. "What does that mean?"

"Let me search."

On the fifth attempt, Google showed us that the sign he just illustrated was a mere nothing. "It means nothing." I answered her.

"A kid doing nothing is too weird."

"Trust me."

"Anyway, see how to ask for 'what do you want'?"

I quickly opened another tab for the said query. "Here is the sign for it."

Riya walked over and read the instructions and proceeded with the actions. Tittu looked at her with the most curious gaze and then he saw me, fazed at how bad Riya was with actions.

He shrugged and shook his head.

"I did it so well." She protested when he did not understand a single sign.

"Seriously?"

"Well you do it then."

Learning and reading it over again, I did the set of signs, Tittu nodded with a smile. I did it worse than Riya but he somehow liked me better, I guess.

*What do you want?*

He did the nothing sign again. This kid was too quiet.

*Potato chip?*

I asked him, showing him the lays packet from beside me.

He shrugged and nodded. "It is not good for his health." Riya intervened.

"He is a kid. He is supposed to eat junk."

For the next one hour or so, Tittu munched on some potato chips with mayo dipping as we tried a handful of sign language which was easy to get on the internet. To say he was excited to answer all of them was an understatement. Though we did not get all what he said but it was nicer to have him happy and not depressed for a change.

*What is your name?*

This was a bad question because he did a set of signs for each letter and after asking him for the third time, we didn't have the heart to ask him again.

*What is your favorite food?*

It was ice-cream. The flavor part was something we did not get.

*How did you get here?*

All eyes may seem interested in the answer. However, the kid had signed for over two minutes with much intensity and passion but it was a waste of question because we didn't understand.

*Whom do you like?*

This was a trick question because it would determine how honest Tittu was and also a step on our egos. "She?"

Tittu shook his head, when I pointed at Riya who narrowed her gaze. "Well."

"Then this one?"

When Riya pointed her finger at me, Tittu neither shook his head nor did he nod. He just had me there, holding me in his eyes. It seemed like he knew me, he wanted to speak to me and rant out everything he knew. Yet it was so vague when he immediately answered Riya by another set of actions.

"I cannot get a word he said. It is like he is making alphabets from his hands."

We asked him to do it another time and watched intensely as he started with an alphabet which was a keen 'A'.

Of course, Anirudh was his favorite adult.

But things were about to change.

Soon

_ 

"It is so weird right?"

"Okay"

"No, it is I swear."

"Okay"

"What do you think?"

I paused, taking a step back from the kitchen and meeting his eyes. "Rohan, I will hit you really hard one day."

The twenty something, business tycoon guy laughed, his attempt to irritate me exceeding his other goals in life. "Oh Purvi, I love your angry eyes."

"And how I would love when you're dead on the grave and my name would be written across the reason for your death."

"Ooh. Sassy much?" He questioned by pointing the spatula towards me, I grabbed it back.

"Why are you here?"

"What? A man cannot be in the kitchen? It is so sexist of you to even ask the question Purvi. I mean out of all the women in the world..."

"Oh! Cut it you drama goon." I stirred the red sauce boiling in the pan. "I meant here, in this house which does not belong to you and neither do the residents want you here."

"Don't say that. I know you want me here."

"More than you would imagine."

Rohan smirked at me as a small figure interrupted our not so mean talk. For a change it was good talking to Rohan. "Hi Tittu."

Tittu looked keenly at Rohan who wore a chef's hat for no apparent reason because all he did here was boil the pasta. "What ya looking at buddy?"

Tittu wasn't too fond of Rohan and it was only fair since he just met him once or twice. So, he did what he does whenever Arjun comes around. He hid behind me, not wanting to talk to Rohan or anyone in particular.

"Aww, seems like he is too fond of you."

"Is there a problem now?"

"No. Absolutely not, just glad that at least someone is getting you out of your shell."

"How am I supposed to interpret that?"

He shrugged, diverting his attention to Tittu. "I cannot believe you do not remember me."

It was decided that Rohan shouldn't get much attention and hence Tittu ignored him as he stood beside me. He looked up at me with calm, cute eyes and I knew it was a signal to consider what he wanted. Since language was a barrier here, I knew nothing of what he actually desired.

*Your food will be ready*

I manged to sign somehow by pointing at the pasta and spilling some sauce here and there by waving the spatula. "Go on, out."

He shook his head, then he did another set of actions and both us adults felt like banging our heads against the wall for all apparent reasons. "I understand nothing."

"Purvi." The second kid in the room spoke aloud. "Let a man try and speak to another man. Women should not be seconded here."

It was a compelling moment to roll my eyes and so I did, while Rohan went down on his knees and signaled to the kid to tell it to him.

Many a times did I wonder why do housewives or maids needed a T.V. in the kitchen where all you gotta do is cook? Imagine you're cooking, the dal needs a tadka (tempering) on a gas and the milk is boiling on the other, so you're just about to pour in the tadka to the boiled dal is when Salman Khan decides that it is the time to remove one person from the house and you're indifferent on who leaves the house because you hate them both. So, as you cook food, Big Boss decides your fate and the milk receives the tadka it did not ask for and the kids will now have to eat the dal they never wanted in the first place with worser taste.

So, all this while I was against the idea of having a TV in the kitchen because it can mess with food and let's face it we all live to eat.

However, on witnessing how fun it is to have some entertainment while you are cooking, I think I'll consider having one in my house someday.

Currently Tittu has tried all he can to make Rohan help him understand what he wants to say but Rohan took nothing in understanding because he was Rohan and Tittu was Tittu.

The kid had his hand in a fist and he was showing urgency by impatiently tapping his feet. "Fist bump?" Rohan spoke with hope and then fist bumped his tiny hand. "No?"

Tittu shook his head; he kept waving his fisted hand and trying very hard to explain. "You want to hit Purvi with your bare hands? Sorry bro, men do not hit women."

"Rohan, he is trying really hard." I hit his head with the spatula. "At least reciprocate."

"I am trying here too ma'am, but what can he mean by a fisted hand? Pray tell me?"

I switched off the gas, and Tittu showed me his fist properly and I could see his thumb in between his fore and middle finger.

"Alright." I caught the kid by his shoulders as he explained it again to me, he pointed at the door and then to himself and then to the earth.

"So, did you figure it out yet, Miss Apurva?"

"Not that name."

He zipped his mouth as I examined Tittu's body language. His one leg had crossed the other as he spoke with urgency, like he would run away once he told us what he wanted and then it clicked.

"Of course." I sighed. "He wants to go to the washroom."

"No, he doesn't."

"You are just unhappy because I, a woman, interrupted a man's conversation and understood your fellow man."

Rohan pressed his lips as I raised my brow in sheer pride while Tittu expectantly waited for our conversation to end.

*Do you want to go to the washroom?*

I had never seen the kid so flushed and satisfied. Rohan was major upset that I, a woman, had deflated his ego as Tittu stood expectantly besides me. In the past week, only Anirudh had bathed him while Riya and I took turns to help him pee or poop or stand right outside the bathroom and check on him, which was a big task, I swear. Anirudh even helped him see certain videos where he could self-learn but the kid knew a lot already, even washing his hands well.

Although unwilling, Anirudh handled it well, while Riya and I got a hang of it but for Rohan, it was his very first time.

And I am going to have the time of life.

"Why do I have to watch a kid shit?" The protest of the twenty-something-old were unheard by both the kid and me.

"Because you promised you would take responsibility and you should start practicing what you preach."

"How do you girls decide?"

"We draw lots."

For the first time, it was Rohan who gave me a look which questioned the wisdom of us both but who cares. It was Rohan.

"You draw lots to accompany a five-year-old to the bathroom? What is he? A game of monopoly?"

"Trust me; you'll draw lots too after tonight."

Tittu tugged on Rohan's hand and pulled him to the bathroom as I chuckled at the expression Rohan moved away with. "I hate you Purvi, you should know that before I die."

"Oh! Come on, it is just a horrid smell. You'll get over it."

But he never really got over that night.

Till this day, none of us knew what happened between the duo or how Rohan ended in a stench of disgust and stains of what shall not be named and how Tittu admirably smiles when he sees his poop buddy.

However, I did have a good night and a very vibrant picture in my phone.

A memory. A treasure. A disheartened Rohan.

_

Sleep and I never share a good relationship. I want sleep by night and sleep wants me by day. This stupid problem should have been diagnosed and treated in my childhood, maybe then I wouldn't be such an owl.

However, I was too adamant to study at nights and now I am suffering because of that adamancy. The relationship with Tittu was getting less surreal and more comfortable. Sure, he was still a pain in the ass but he was bearable now. It was long established that he wasn't like other kids. He hardly threw any tantrums and even if he did, he couldn't vent out to us.

With him, it was still difficult to have Rohan and Riya around. For years I have lived alone, there wasn't a single soul with whom I have shared my personal feelings and I was used to keeping it all in. That is how I was and hence it was still weird how Riya and I could sit in the same room and actually talk to each other without commenting and taunting.

The other day we spoke about how it would be nicer to take Tittu out in the garden so he could be with kids his age and not Rohan, and what essentials are required for him. We even shared a laugh when she told me about her childhood and how her father would do anything to pamper her.

She told me that because of her early adolescence her face changed drastically with acne and oil and none of her age kids would be around her. So, her father would take early leave from his office and join her for outings. Every time she felt low, her dad was just a call away.

The way she spoke showed how much she adored her father and how much she missed him. Something really hurtful made her leave her dad. I am sure it wasn't worth it.

Well, when she asked about my childhood I laughed and waived it off. No one interests in a sob story. Especially people who aren't close enough to understand. But it was a nice conversation and a relief to not have to talk to myself constantly.

Riya, Rohan and Anirudh were getting closer than I thought they would. Especially the latter as he showed great concern for Tittu by his constant visits to check on him.

It was ten in the night now; Tittu was by my side, sleeping while Riya was playing on the piano. Her rhythmic music was as sweet as a lullaby, alas Tittu could not hear. This isn't the time I normally asleep but Tittu had to have me beside him or he wouldn't sleep. I turned to check up on him only to find him crying in his sleep.

Nightmares

A kid his age should have dreams of all colors not darkest demons galloping his path. No person should sleep to enter into another hell after living through one for the entire day.

He woke up in a jolt, relieved to find me and hugged me, I let him calm down as I rubbed his back. His sleeping problem was getting out of hand now and I was afraid there wasn't much I could do for him.

All I could do is hold him and that I did.