In 2018, when I decided to move back to my parental home, the only thing that mattered to me was to improve my relationship with them. It was not always bad, but wasn't great either. I just wanted to spend a lot of my time with them and make memories, good memories. Yes, that was the plan. And I was sure it was all going to go smooth. But little did I know that there was another human being waiting for me, who would steal my heart and become the most important part of my life.
I didn't know that my mother was into babysitting. Thankfully, this little one had his diapers and everything set all the time he comes home, so I was less worried about the poop and the pee that had to follow. Apparently, my mom started babysitting him right from his 30th day of existence as his mother had no one to help her around. So, his visit, 3-4 times a day became a routine and my parents were having a ball of a time.
When I first met him, he was 8 months old. A plump, cute, squishy little human. The only thing he did was crawl and smile wide at you. Initially, it was just a few minutes of playing with him but before I knew it, I became the babysitter. Oh, I forgot to tell you, he is my neighbour and his name is Anandhan.
So, my routine started with him waking me up, laying by my side until I really woke up, playing with him for a good 30 minutes, and this repeated through lunch and dinner. He loved lying on my shoulders and I would tap him to sleep, or he would just lie on my chest until both of us drifted into a good slumber.
Years went by, and he started walking, playing, talking along with biting and beating you around. With my low tolerance, this should have been the last straw but I somehow loved getting beaten up by him. Oh this sounds like a toxic relationship lol.
I didn't know I was falling in love with this Lil munchkin. It's not because he is sweet or cute, but majorly because his presence made me happy. I started looking forward to his visits and everytime he was out of town, I just couldn't stop missing him. Never did I know that I would fall in love with a little human, that too someone who isn't my blood. We aren't blood, that doesn't mean we have nothing in common. There are so many things, of which one major similarity would be our predominant love language - touch. Every time I lose hold of him, he asks me to hold him again, and that's the most beautiful feeling ever.
Considering my aversion towards little boys and children in general this love came in as a surprise. And another surprise was that I started getting along with children of all ages, they all like me regardless of my feelings for them and I had become a very tolerant person.
He is only 5 years old, and the worst of my nightmares has begun. He is slowly drifting away, it's too much for me to take, but I think this love I have for him is unconditional, I just stick to the memories and revisit them often. The
most surprising part for me is that I am still not tired of his visits, in fact I look forward to see him each day, and my love is only growing day by day.
Someday, he wouldn't even recognise me, but I think that's ok. I have the memories and those are really precious. Love after all is a painful game, and when it becomes one-sided it's truly painful. But I can take it all for him, for that one look and smile, which flatters me. However, none of this has made me change my plan to not to procreate. I would be a terrible mother, but now I know I am a terrific aunt!
