From the other side

Chapter 9

She went down and out her head on her mom's lap.

Without hesitation, she reached down to run her fingers through her daughter's hair, the familiar gesture bringing a sense of comfort and peace. She looked down at her with affection, her heart swelling with love. "You're too grown-up to be lying on my lap like this," she teased, her voice soft.

"I will never be to grown up for it mummy"

She chuckled softly, the weight of her daughter's head on her lap feeling both grounding and tender. "That's sweet of you to say," she said, her fingers continuing to play with her hair. "But you are an adult now, you have your own life and responsibilities. You don't need to be clinging to your mother's lap like a little girl."

"About grown ups tell me how is it going with Douglas??" She shifted now looking up from her lap.

Her face heated up a little at the sudden change of topic. "What do you mean, 'how is it going with Douglas'?" she asked evasively. "It's...fine, we're fine."

"Tell me everything."

She sighed, knowing that her daughter wouldn't let her off easily. "Fine, fine," she relented. "Douglas and I are doing well. It's...complicated, but we're managing. We have our moments, as every couple does, but we care about each other, and we're trying to make it work."

"Something is wrong."

She raised an eyebrow, a little taken back by her daughter's bluntness. "What makes you say that?" she asked, her voice a touch defensive.

"You were always all up in the sky talking about him and now you're not tell me"

She sighed again, knowing that her daughter could read her like a book. "Alright, fine," she admitted. "Things have been a little...rough lately. We've been arguing more than usual, disagreeing on things, not seeing eye to eye on some important matters. It's...it's just been difficult."

"Tell me"

She let out a deep sigh, feeling like she was being interrogated. "We've been clashing on a lot of things lately," she admitted. "Work, decisions, even little things like what to have for dinner. It feels like we're constantly disagreeing and bickering, and it's exhausting. And lately, we've been spending less and less time together, and I don't know how to bridge that gap."

There was a silence as her daughter took in her words, her expression thoughtful. Kamala could see the concern etched on her face, and it both touched her and made her feel guilty. She fidgeted with her daughter's hair, feeling the need to explain herself. "I don't mean to burden you with all this," she said, her voice soft. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm just...I'm just not having the easiest time lately."

"Mum, for 20 years the same talk, you are not only my mother, but also a friend and now you're having boy problems."

She couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's description of the situation. "Boy problems, huh?" she said, her voice tinged with amusement. "Is that what I'm reduced to now? A middle-aged woman with boy problems?"

"You missed the mummy thing"

She rolled her eyes playfully, a fond smile on her lips. "Yes, yes, I'm also your 'mummy,'" she conceded, playfully tugging her daughter's hair. "Although I sometimes feel like you're the one parenting me, not the other way around."

Her words were a playful, but there was truth in them as well. Her daughter had always been fiercely protective of her, had always been there for her through thick and thin. She'd grown up so fast, and now she was the one giving advice, the one taking care of her. It was a strange reversal of roles, but she couldn't deny how comforting it was to have her by her side.