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Anjana and Iniya were sitting in the living room playing with Barbies together, Anjana making hers a chemist and Iniya making hers a fashion model. Their dolls were great reflections of their personalities, seeing as Anjana was obsessed with science and, like her parents, a huge nerd, and Iniya was obsessed with playing dress up and creating fantasy worlds.
(That’s not to say Iniya wasn’t smart though, she was, after all, Ben and Devi’s child.)
Devi made her way down the stairs and into the living room to find the girls arguing over whether or not Iniya’s doll could wear the lab coat from Anjana’s doll.
“Hey girls, why are we fighting?” she asked them, trying to stop their fighting.
“Iniya is trying to steal my doll’s lab coat! How is she going to do her experiment without it?”
“Aw, okay,” Devi makes her way over to the girls and crouches next to Iniya, “honey, do you think we could find your doll another outfit? You have a whole wardrobe of outfits here, and Anjana really wants her lab coat.”
“Um, okay. Could we make her look like a princess scientist?”
“What’s a princess scientist?” Anjana asks, turning to Devi.
“I’m not sure, Anjana. Why don’t we see what Iniya makes, and maybe that will answer your question.”
Iniya grabs a pink princess dress, a white apron, and some test tubes for her doll. She puts everything on the doll, and proudly presents it to both Devi and Anjana.
“Ta-da! Here she is, my princess scientist.”
“Woah, I really like it Iniya! Our dolls can work together in the lab now!”
“That sounds great, girls. I’m glad you worked it out.”
“Oh, I know!” Iniya turns to Anjana, looking excited, “we should show daddy our dolls! I’m sure he’d like the science outfits.”
“Yeah, we should! But,” Anjana hesitates, realizing that she hadn’t seen her dad all day, “where is he, mom? Is he still sleeping?”
“Daddy doesn’t feel well right now, he’s probably going to rest today.”
“But he promised me he would teach me science facts today! How can he do that if he’s sick?” Anjana questioned, worried about the possibility that she would miss out on a lesson about gravity.
“Well, Anjana, he probably can’t.”
“Aww, okay.”
“But you know what we could do? We could make daddy some food to help him feel better.”
“That sounds fun, maybe my doll could be a cook too! I’ll help you make the food.”
“If Anjana is helping you with the food, can I draw dad a picture?”
“Sure. Iniya, you can go get your crayons and draw for daddy while Anjana and I cook.”
Iniya runs off to grab her crayons, and Devi and Anjana make their way to the kitchen.
“So what should we make, Anjana?”
“Can we make some chocolate oatmeal? Daddy and I make that together and I think it makes him happy. It makes me happy, I know.”
“That sounds great, sweetie. I’m going to make some chicken noodle soup and dosas as well, would you like to help me with those?”
“Yeah, can I cut vegetables?”
“Only if you’re careful.”
“I promise I will be.”
45 minutes go by, Anjana had finished making the oatmeal and was now assigned to stir the chicken noodle soup.
Bored from staring at the swirling liquids of the pot, she asked, “mommy, why did you choose chicken noodle soup and dosas?”
“Well, the chicken noodle soup should help him feel a little better, soup is a good ‘sick food’. And I’m making the dosas because that’s the food we ate our first dinner together, and they always cheer him up.”
“Really? That’s why daddy always has a smile when he eats dosas?”
“Yep, especially the ones your Pati makes. She’s the one who invited him over for dinner that night, actually.”
“That’s really nice of her, I didn’t know she did that. Why haven’t you told me that story before?”
“I guess I just hadn’t thought about it. I have a lot of stories about me and your dad, I’m sure you’ll hear them all some day.”
“I’d like that, it sounds like you guys have had a lot of fun together.”
“We definitely have, Ajana, we definitely have.”
Just then, Iniya comes running into the kitchen, paper in hand.
“Mommy, look! I made the picture!”
The page was filled with rainbows, some nondescript squiggles, and a huge family portrait in the middle. Devi and Ben were in the middle with a heart above them, and Anjana and Iniya were on either side of them. Iniya made sure to include her dad’s blue eyes and her own curly hair, which she saw as key features to any portrait of her family.
“Wow, that looks good Iniya, I like the colors!” Anjana remarks, being the supportive older sister she always is.
“It does look great, I’m sure dad will love it. The food should be ready now, why don’t you girls get a glass of water and some napkins to go with it.”
“Okay!”
The girls grab everything, and arrange it all on a tray for Devi to carry. Iniya grabs her drawing, and all three make their way upstairs to Ben and Devi’s bedroom. They knock on the door before entering, and Ben looks shocked to see them all with the food.
“What’s all this?” He asks, sounding a bit groggy.
“We made you food!” Anjana calls out.
“And I made you a picture!” Iniya adds.
She hands the drawing to him, and he smiles as soon as he sees it.
“It’s a very pretty drawing, thank you sweetie.”
Ben sets the artwork aside, now taking the tray from Devi.
“Woah, this is a lot of food! And it smells delicious! I’m really being spoiled, aren’t I?”
“Don’t get too used to it Ben, it’s only because you’re sick,” Devi says, in the same old bantery tone they’ve always had with each other.
“I think we could make daddy food like this even when he isn’t sick!” Anjana adds.
“See, honey, even our daughter agrees with me.”
“Oh, whatever.”
Anjana notices that Ben is looking over all the food, and she decides to list and explain everything on the tray.
“We made chocolate oatmeal, dosas, and chicken noodle soup. I picked the chocolate oatmeal because we make it together all the time, and mom picked the soup because she said that it's good ‘sick food’. Mom also picked the dosas because she said they make you happy. She told me that pati made them the first time you guys had dinner together.”
Ben smiles when he hears this, and looks up to Devi with love in his eyes. He was so happy that she was sharing stories of them with their kids, and he had to show her that. She could easily recognize his happiness, and she smiled back at him.
“Well thank you, girls. And Devi. That’s very thoughtful of you all.”
“You’re welcome!” the girls say in unison.
“Ooh, can we show you our scientist dolls?” Iniya asks, eager to show of her newest creation.
“That sounds lovely. Why don’t you girls go grab the dolls while I talk to mommy?”
The girls run downstairs, and Devi sits down in the bed next to Ben.
“This is as close as I’m getting, I’m not gonna let you infect me.”
“Really? I can’t even kiss you? Harsh.”
“Mhm, yeah. Truly cruel of me.”
They both laugh, Devi leaning towards Ben a bit.
“Thanks for the food, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, but it wasn’t all me. The girls were worried about you too.”
“They take after their mom. And I appreciate what they did just as much.”
“Well, I’m glad you appreciate our work, and I hope you’re feeling better.”
“I am. You were right, the soup and the dosas really helped.”
“I knew they would. I love you, Ben.”
“I love you too, Devi.”
Devi gives Ben a quick kiss on the forehead and wraps her hand in his.
It may be a sick day, but he has his family there, and that’s what matters.