The Voice From Beyond

"Hi honey."
The voice seemed so real that Priya jumped. Though she looked up instantly, she went back to reading the instruction for the pregnancy test.
"I thought you would have outgrown this behaviour now that you are older. Still behaving like a teenager!" the voice of her mother continued in that particular exasperating tone of amusement.
Priya had to look up and was startled to see her mother actually there. "I am seeing things," she told herself loudly and went back to reading."What things? Since when?" her mother demanded, now sounding concerned.
"You. I am seeing you!" couldn't help responding.
"I am not a thing!" mom said with dignity. "Have some respect!"
"I mean, what's wrong with me!?"

"Many things... Where should I begin?" her mom teased.

"Mom! Oh god! Am I speaking to myself?" Priya clutched her head.
"The words are addressed to me, I think," her mom clarified. "I think you are just missing me a lot."
"No!!! I am not. " Priya replied vehemently, a little too vehemently.
"Yes, yes, you are not," mom pacified her. "All that crying like a baby," she added with a naughty laugh.
Priya looked up with anger. "Why do you always laugh at my tears!? Which mother does that?"
"A sensible mother," mom said smugly.
"Try being caring for a change!"
"Ok... Should I cry with you? Will that make things better?"
"I am sorry I asked," Priya threw up her hands in frustration. "I mean, parents shower children with love and attention and buy them things they want... "
"And?"
"And, what? This! Laughing at my troubles. It was always like that. Whenever I cried, you had to make me look at the "larger picture"," she cried out drawing air quotes. "If I was unwell, you would tell me to breathe in and out deeply. If I wanted something, you would tell me to make a list and see what I needed and what I wanted. My friends, you were always dismissive of them!"
"So, which part of it says I don't care?" mom asked, puzzled.
"Which mother does that!?" Priya exclaimed in frustration.
"I do." Her mom looked pleased with herself. "And I suppose most moms do. At least, I know some of them do. But I also know which ones don't. And I know you dropped them one by one.""That's not the point!"

"What is?"

"That their mothers demonstrated that they cared."

"Pampered and immature," mom said dismissively.

Priya paused. "You know things are not that great between Rajan and me right now, don't you?"

"And yet you are holding that thing in your hands," her mother pointed to the test kit.

"That's a mistake, and I don't want to live with it!" Priya declared.

"Your choice, of course..."

From the way mom said it, it was clear she thought she could influnce Priya's choice. "You think it is my fault?"

"No, and I can't know, can I? I am not a peeping Tom," her mother drew herself up. Seeing the pointed look on her daughter's face, she added, "I am not peeping, I am visiting you."

"So... what do you think I should do?" Priya asked, knowing her mother wanted a way into the decision making.

"Even if you present all the details of the case and I come up with a solution, will you accept it?" mom went to the crux of the point. This was a game they always played when mom had been alive.

"Who can answer you best?"

Priya grimaced. "I am lost."

"Change tracks and think differently," was all mom would say.

Priya sighed, knowing what her mother expected her to do. Something that worked for her. But everytime, she needed her mother to tell her that. Since her mother's death a few years ago, she had not done it and was now caught up in problems of all kinds. She sat down on a rug and crossed her legs. She looked up at her mom and asked, "Can you give me some privacy?"

"Yes... When both lines turn red in he kit tomorrow morning, remember I am with you," she said and vanished with a quick flying kiss.

Priya opened her eyes and realised she was in the bed, sleeping and that it was morning. Rajan was fast asleep beside her. 

Had she dreamed about her mother? She wondered what her mother meant when she said, "I am with you..." Frowning, Priya rushed to the bathroom and did the test. She saw two strong lines emerge. She started at herself in the mirror, her heart torn. She sat on the floor for a few seconds, but felt as if she already knew the answer. She felt light - just knowing what to do about the child. It would be her time for revenge. She smiled with glee. She heard her mother laugh. 

The next round of battle was about to begin.