“Ready, baby?” Ajay asked as he waited outside the main door, pushing the stroller towards the gates.

“A minute,” said Sia as her eyes scanned what he assumed was her checklist on the phone.

“Uh uh,” he admonished her. “Remember our rule? No phones during our walks. Turn it off.”

Sighing, she turned off the phone. “I think I might have missed something,” she said, opening the overstuffed diaper bag and checking the items packed.

Ajay chuckled. “Baby, seriously. Anika will be fine. It’s just a one hour and half walk. We just fed and changed her. And even if we need something, we are only fifteen minutes away.”

Sia nodded and locked the door behind her. And then, frowning at the stroller, she joined him. “Can you hold this for a minute,” she said, handing over the diaper bag to him.

“Baby, this bag is about to burst and weighs a ton. What did you pack?” he asked, laughing.

Sia was too occupied to answer him. She was leaning over the stroller and adjusting the blankets in a canopied way.

“That way, no one can get closer to her and spread their germs.” Ajay found Sia’s over-protective parenting style amusing. He was quite protective of Anika too. But Sia... she took it to a whole new level.

He opened the zip and peeked in. Wipes, back-up wipes, half a dozen diapers, a change of clothes, hand sanitizer, a hat, socks, a change of socks, baby formula packets, and a first aid kit. There were other things stuffed into the side pockets! Bottles with warm water most likely.

“What? Nothing for us in here? No snacks and stuff?” he teased.

She paused as though considering it. “There was no place. And besides, if we are hungry, we can simply get back home,” she said.

He laughed. Then pulling her into a bear hug, he kissed her noisily on her lips. “Let’s go. Before this perfect, not-too-hot and not-too-cool time of the day finishes,” he teased.

They had been going on walks pretty regularly from the past few weeks. It was for only an hour. But it was perfect for them to relax and spend time together as a family, leaving their worries, and also switching off from the outside world.

Ajay opened the gate while Sia pushed the stroller out. Kamala, their help was visiting her family for a week. Somehow with no one to cook, they spent their evenings just like before. Before Anika was born.  Ajay spent half a day at his office and the other half working from home. Sia completely worked from home. She delegated most of the operational tasks to her executives in US and to Anjali in India. Whenever they needed her decision on critical things, she dialed in from their home office.

 During the evenings, he cooked while she helped with prepping. Even though their problems were still there, they were lost in a safe bubble within their home.

The park was perfect. It was noisy with children laughing and playing in the play area while their mothers and caretakers watched over.

Sia watched the kids wistfully. “I can’t wait for Anika to play with all those kids,” she said. Observing them closely, she frowned. “Although, some of those things that kids are playing with look a little dangerous. I think they need a safety helmet or something.”

Ajay smiled. “Baby, the slide and the swings are fine for the kids.”

Sia sighed. “I know that sometimes I go overboard with my paranoia.”

“It’s not unusual, baby. Apparently all first time parents go through the same.” Then he grinned. “And it seems, only a second child can cure that over-protectiveness.”

She didn’t reply and just smiled wistfully. “Let’s take the flowery route. Last time, Anika woke up and watched the trees for quite a while,” she said.

They spent the next one hour, walking. Sia spoke at length about her work meeting that day. “My board thinks we’ve spent enough money marketing in the India and that we should be satisfied that we have surpassed the expected amount of profits. But I feel we’ve only tapped into maybe 15% of the potential market. There is still a huge potential marketing to the middle class and to the towns, and not just the major cities. People, not just women, want to use natural products for themselves and their families. It’s just that we need to market in a way that they have the technical understanding of how are products are made.”

“I’ve read that a lot of people are using Yogic products that are being endorsed by the popular holy man. They are supposedly much cheaper and natural.”

“Yeah, Yogic as a company is growing rapidly. But Blush and Yogic products are totally different. There is a lack of technical understanding of the word natural. There is natural, nature derived, nature identical, and semi natural. Our products at Blush are natural in every sense. We have strict technical guidelines regarding raw materials, quality control and ethical practices. We can’t afford to compete with rest of the much cheaper products that simply slap the word natural without adhering to the rules. I—” Sia broke off when loud sirens passed by the normally quiet park and street. “What’s happening?” she asked with a frown.

“Don’t know. Must be some kind of emergency.”

Sia’s heart began to thump heavily. “Let’s head back,” she said.

“We’ve only been here a little over an hour. We can—”

“Turn on your phone, Ajay,” she said, pulling out hers to turn it on. She knew she was letting her paranoia take over. But given the circumstances, she didn’t want to take any chances.

Ajay didn’t argue, he turned on his phone, even as they began to walk back rapidly towards their house.

“Shit!” Ajay exclaimed, looking at the messages on his phone screen.

“What?” she asked, almost breaking into a run as Ajay hurried towards their home.

As soon as they entered the gates, they saw the police cars and an ambulance.

Harsha and Jo were waiting outside with worry on their faces. As soon as they saw Ajay and Sia with Anika, they look relieved.

“What happened?” Ajay asked.

“Where the hell were you, Jay?” Harsha asked. “Someone tried to break into your home. The footage showed at least a half dozen men surrounding the area. They used some kind of crude explosives to break open your door and a few windows. But luckily, they didn’t succeed.”

“We went for our daily walk with Anika. We usually keep our cell phones turned off.”

Sia was stunned. “What were they after?” she asked.

“We don’t know,” replied Harsha. “One of the outside sensors picked up on a movement and went off. When neither of you responded to the message sent to your phones, I was contacted. I was at Jo’s place at that time. I just got here five minutes ago.”

“They must have been observing us. Or they wouldn’t know the exact time we’d be out for a walk every evening.”

“We can’t be too sure, Jay,” said Harsha in a somber tone. “One of the men wore some kind of a makeshift baby carrier. Almost as if...”

“As if they expected to snatch a child,” finished Sia, her heart thumping at a crazy speed.

“Wait here outside, I’ll check if everything is clear inside,” said Ajay, heading towards the policemen who were scanning the outside and making notes. He spoke to them and opened the door before disappearing inside. Harsha followed behind him as well.

Sia was left alone with Jyotika along with a few policemen that continued to check the perimeter of the house.

“They wanted her,” Sia said aloud to no one in particular. She was still in shock.

“We don’t know that for sure, Sia,” Jyotika replied softly.

“Even if they hadn’t come particularly for her, I can’t take any chances with Anika. Her safety is my utmost priority. What if we were inside our home, or worse approached by these men while we were on the street.”

Jyothika didn’t offer a reply. Mostly because she had considered those scenarios as well. When Jay or Sia didn’t answer their calls, she begged Harsha to take her along to see if they were okay.

Ajay appeared outside the doorway. “It’s all clear. Come inside,” he said, heading towards them to bring Anika and the stroller inside the house.

Fifteen minutes later, the police left after taking down the information needed.

“You think someone knows what we are planning?” Ajay asked.

“I don’t know, Jay. Things are only going to get dangerous for a while until everything is over, Jay. You guys need to be on high alert,” said Harsha.

“But whatever we did so far at Citizen’s Hotel, we did it while hacking into the systems. Not personally or involving anyone so far.”

There was a long stretch of silence, until Anika woke up with a cry.

She was hungry. Sia began to fix her bottle, while Jyotika picked her up from the stroller and put her over the shoulder to pat her. Then as though she thought of something, Jyotika froze.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I-I... just assumed it was okay to pick her up. I was so used to her for a few weeks. I...” she drifted off looking torn and apologetic.

“It’s fine, Jyotika,” said Sia.

Once they settled down to feed Anika, there was another tense silence as all the gazes fell on Anika, who was a helpless baby they all loved and adored.

Ajay broke the silence. “We’ll hire some private security with guards who will be outside the house 24/7. We’ll have to just limit our walks and outings for the next few weeks until that bust happens.”

“No, Ajay. That’s only going to make Anika miserable.”

“I want her safe, more than anything, Sia.”

“Me too. But not at the cost of her well-being. And how can we trust the guards? They’ll change shifts and come up with excuses on why the people we vetted cannot be with us always. It’s easy to buy loyalty with money.”

“Sia, the guards are only going to be outside. We won’t let them in. I can—”

“So, is Anika never going to play out in the open?”

“It’s only until it’s over. Only three more weeks. “

“We don’t know when it will be,” said Sia. “What if we find nothing at Citizen’s hotel? We are planning on alerting the police and possibly getting some video footage. What if something goes wrong?”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Jay... Sia...” Jyotika interrupted hesitantly. “Can I suggest something?” she asked.

Sia didn’t reply. She simply nodded.

“Sure Jo,” said Ajay.

“Do you both mind if I take care of Anika until everything settle’s down? She can stay in my house. It’s as huge as your house with lawns and open spaces. My parents and grandparents will have constant vigilance on her. They loved her when she was with us the first four weeks of her life.”

“No, Jo,” Ajay said immediately. “That’s not an option. We want Anika with us. We can’t—”

“Jyotika is right,” Sia interrupted Ajay.

“What?”

“Anika’s safety is critical at this point.”

“I think so too, Sia. But we can’t stay without Anika. Especially you. Sometimes you still wake up every few hours in middle of the night to ensure her breathing is normal!”

“We don’t know how long this whole thing will take Ajay.” Sia answered instead. “We can’t afford to be selfish right now. I prefer to keep Anika safe while also let her be free. Her well-being is important too.”

Ajay didn’t reply for the longest time. He simply stared at his wife’s face. She had a blank but determined look that he recognized. Nothing was going to change her mind.

Everything inside him rebelled, even if he knew it was the most logical thing to do.

“Okay. But no one outside Jo’s family and us should know that Anika is not with us,” said Ajay.

Harsha and Jo nodded. Sia was silent. And then she got up, “I’ll pack Anika’s things for you to take. I prefer if you take her when no one is watching the house. The police checked the outside already.”

Sia began to pack a large suitcase. Ajay joined her to help. They both didn’t talk while they quietly, put each and every item into the suitcase.

Thirty minutes later, the four of them along with Anika stood inside the enclosed parking garage. Hugging her close and kissing her, Sia handed Anika to Jyotika. “Please take care of her,” she said softly.

“I will,” Jyotika replied reassuringly.

Ajay didn’t speak for several seconds. Then taking a deep breath, he finally relented. “If we have missed packing anything, I’ll bring it later,” he said.

Soon, Harsha and Jyotika left with Anika.

Sia went straight to bed. She lay down holding a small baby sock in her hands.

Ajay joined her a few minutes later. He didn’t say anything and simply lay behind her and held her.

Her body began to tremble as she cried softly. “God. I miss her so much already. Sometimes I wonder whether all this is really worth it. Especially if it is keeping her away from us,” she said.

He kissed her ear as he held her tighter. “It is worth it. She will understand when we tell her why we had to leave her for a while. It was for her safety.”

 Sia didn’t respond. Her body shook with emotion. Possibly heartbreak.

He felt devastated too. But he knew he had to hold it together for the sake of his wife. He held her until her body stopped trembling and she slipped into an exhausted sleep.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, when Sia woke up, she felt empty.

The cradle next to her was laid bare with missing bedding and Anika’s favorite toys. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out.

She must have been crying because Ajay woke up and turned her towards him. 

“Baby, Jo and her family will treat her like one of their own. And you can see her on camera every day.”

“I know,” she whispered. When Jyotika had seen them return from the park, her gaze had fallen on Anika first. Her body visibly relaxed when she realized Anika was safe.

Sia wondered why she couldn’t be like Jyotika. Sweet and giving.

Jyotika would also probably have a big heart to be able to forgive a person like her uncle.

If she were more like Jyothia, then Anika would have been safe and with her.

But unfortunately, she was still messed up beyond the thought of any kind of forgiveness when it came to her uncle.

He was a pedophile and a possible child trafficker. The fact that she held him responsible for distancing her from Anika only added to the hate she held against him.