What separation does to you?

Exams were cleared many months ago. That was one of the reasons why the boss refused to accompany me during my India trip earlier this year. Now that they were out of the way, a trip to India was something that just had to be planned and executed. We went for a week each to Swiss and Italy in Summer/Autumn, and I had exhausted most of my holidays for this year. We decided that Prashanth would make the trip, and me and Aditi would stay put here. Except that I never ever dreamt this coming. All I had in my mind was that I should take care of the baby and myself and stay safe. I never thought about how much the child or I would miss him. It never ever occurred to me....
The original trip was to last 2 weeks, but slowly a stop over at Dubai was added and we finally ended up with 2 weeks and 5 days. I still had no worries, and was quite sure that I would be able to manage on my own. Thanks to my friendly neighbour, whom I had almost called for help in the previous post.
Aditi and I went to drop Prashanth at the train station and Aditi cheerily waved goodbye and kisses to her dad. My heart skipped a beat, as the train moved out slowly, the thought of not seeing him for the next 3 weeks - that was the first time it hit me that Aditi might miss her dad too. She had not the least idea that he would be away for 3 weeks. Trouble started the next morning, when dad was not around when she woke up. Prashanth was already st his sister's place in Dubai, so a quick call and a chat later, things were fine. That evening and then ext were sort of okay. I could tell her that Dad was at athai's place in Duabi and she was convinced. It was after Prashanth reached Bangalore, 4 days after he had left home that Aditi started crying. She wanted to be with her dad and she made it clear - Take me to Appa's house or Take me to Bangalore was the constant cry heard in my house.
We used to chat with dad on the webcam every evening and Aditi was happy to see him and hear his voice, but within minutes of closing the conversation, she would be back to crying. Meanwhile I was battling with my own loneliness - the evenings were long and boring, I had nothing much to do, the ironing was done, the house was cleaned, and honestly I did not do much cooking during the 3 week period. I think I was not interested. There was no one to relish my food, so I lose interest in cooking. I made real simple food for me and Aditi.
I never thought I would miss him so much. I never expected that I would blog about this, but better to get it out and be done with, rather than bottle up all my thoughts. All I needed was his presence and the laughter. The house felt empty when I walked in every evening. There was nothing to look forward to in my house.
Weekends were worse. The first weekend was Halloween and it was spent in dressing Aditi up on Friday at her nursery and on Saturday to go around the estate. Sunday seemed never-ending and I was waiting for the working week. The following week was slightly better. Prashanth was at Chennai, we spoke for a long time and most importantly were pretty excited about his return the following Thursday. Four days to go and the countdown began. But due to unforeseen circumstances, his trip had to be postponed by two days. So Saturday it was. I hate night-time driving, so we decided that Prashanth would take the train from the airport to Sheffield. He did not expect us to receive him at the airport. But since it was a Saturday and both of us were pretty excited about dad's return, we cleaned and scrubbed the house clean - ready to give dad a warm welcome. We hopped literally like two little girls from home singing rhymes and what not, and took the train to the airport. Aditi told everybody who cared to listen to her - 'My Appa is back'. Dad was as happy as we were to see him. Aditi refused to get down from his arms throughout the journey. And I was the happiest to have him back.
I should admit that it has been a very long time since I have stayed alone in this country without Prashanth and this time it made me realize how much we needed each other's company more as parents and it made me think about all the single parents out there - how do they ever manage all on their own.
On and now the wet towel on the bed no longer bothers me...