The Momma Clan

“Wow! Such beautiful dresses are in these days. I wish I could wear them” thought Priyanka as she browsed through all the dresses on the app while wiling away the time waiting for her bus.

Priyanka is a working woman in her mid-thirties. Married and blessed with two kids, she was loved by her family, friends, and colleagues for her joyful nature. Her husband, Aarush was a kind and understanding man who gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted. He believed in equal responsibility at home and practiced it. She was grateful to have such a loving and supportive husband.

Aarush has a pleasing personality and has a practical outlook. He is modern but also has a traditional view. He never restricted or imposed his thoughts on his wife. She had the freedom to make all decisions, do whatever she wanted to do, wear whatever she wanted to wear, except for dresses.

Yes, you read it correctly everything but dresses and that was her only regret. Whenever she showed him dresses while they would go shopping or while just browsing through the various apparel apps, he would say, “In my opinion, it would not suit you. I have no issues with you wearing it but I feel that it would not suit you. Rest is up to you”. Priyanka had been hearing this for a long time. 

Back in college, she would see her friends wearing beautiful dresses every day. She admired the way they carried themselves and longed to wear it at least once in her life. When she asked her parents, they flatly refused.

When she started working, she would admire ladies wearing one-piece dresses for office functions. She always wished to be one among them. Once, (before her marriage) her gang of friends at the office decided to wear a one-piece knee-length dress for an office party. As her parents had forbidden her to wear dresses, she chose to skip the event by pleading a non-existent headache.

At first, no one understood that this was just a ploy by Priyanka. Her best friend Sharon however, caught her trick, as she started giving excuses to almost every event. Her friend noticed that she would agree to the event and at the last minute find some excuse to back out. So she told her, “Priyanka, why don’t you come in your denim to my place and you can change into a dress that you can purchase or I can lend you mine for the event. On your return, you can drop by at my place and get back to your clothes and go home. Your parents will not know that you wore a dress. It’s a win-win situation for both”.

Priyanka was excited about this idea but thought that it would mean cheating on her parents and the trust they have in her. Wearing a dress was not worth breaking their trust and lying to them. It’s not that relevant, after all. What’s the whole fuss, I keep making! So she completely buried her wish to wear a dress in her life. Thereafter, she never skipped any event but went in the best clothes she had.

One day, she reached home and saw a huge box wrapped in golden paper with a red bow in the centre of her dining table. Curious as to what lay inside this box, she slowly unwrapped it and found a beautiful red dress inside.

This was the same dress that she had seen at the mall last week when she had gone with Aarush and the kids shopping. She recollected how she slipped from Aarush’s side while he was busy buying kids their favourite ice- cream. She had gone into the store to enquire about the cost of the dress. “It cost only ₹ 2000/-, Madam”, the shopkeeper replied smilingly. “You will look good in this dress, why don’t you try it. See, the colour, touch and feel of the fabric. I am not lying, ask anyone.” She politely smiled at his flattery, let out a sigh, touched the dress, and quietly returned to her family.

She turned back and saw the dress, once again. She did not notice that her husband saw her and looked at what she was looking at in the mall. It was a knee-length lace chiffon dress in cherry red colour with bell sleeves. There was a small golden button at the waist of the dress. To Priyanka, it was simply beautiful. Her long-lost wish of wearing dresses started playing in her mind, seeing this red dress. 

Today, that same dress was in front of her. Her excitement knew no bounds. She held the dress tightly to herself and danced around the house. Suddenly she heard laughter in the room. She looked around to see that and her kids were watching her excitement and were giggling seeing their mother dance like a small baby who was given a toy that she longed for.

Her thoughts came back to the present and she slowly realized that probably it was incorrectly delivered. She tried to search for the external cover to find the address. “What are you both laughing for, please help me find the address of this box”. She asked her kids if they knew about the box on the table but both of them giggled and continued to play with their toys, laughing and giggling all the way.

 Aarush was quietly watching the entire scene from the entrance of the room. He had come early today.

He saw how his wife was overjoyed and in minutes how she got perplexed. He found it very cute. She happened to suddenly focus her attention on him. So she hid the dress from his view and ran over to him and greeted him with a warm hug. “Arey, how did you come home, early today? Did the sunrise in the west, this morning?” He laughed at her comment.

“What did you just hide, Priyanka?” She was puzzled, “Hide? Me? What are you talking about?” He pointed towards the table to help her recollect. “Oh, that! She suddenly remembered. I was searching for the address of that box, it seems to be incorrectly delivered.”

“And what makes you think that it was incorrectly delivered”, he asked. She looked at him like a dumbstruck person and was about to reply, when he said, “Happy Valentine’s day, Priyanka”. She was speechless. He looked at her gaping at him. Without returning his greeting, she asked excitedly, “Is that dress for me?! “

He smiled and asked “what do you think, who else in this house can look good in a dress?” She could not believe her ears and started jumping with excitement in her mind. “But, I thought you didn’t like me in dresses and most importantly, how did you know that I had an eye for this dress?”

“Well! Well! Well! So many questions? Did you forget that I am your Superhero? I have a magic power to know all that concerns my wife.” 

“Oh, my dear narcissist husband, can you please answer my questions?”

“That’s my secret, why should I tell you”. He replied.

“Oh! Please! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” She insisted.

“Even kids today know that secret is a secret, my dear wife”. He smiled.

“Instead, I suggest”, said her husband, “why don’t you wear this dress and let’s all go out for dinner”. She was curious but knowing her husband for so long, she knew that it would be difficult to get the truth out so easily. 

So, Priyanka kissed him in front of their kids. Softly at first then slowly she put all her love, hope, and dreams into that kiss. She kissed him some more for all that he was and smiled. Her eyes expressed her emotions and happiness. He held her tightly to himself and kissed her right back. He kissed her for the love, the happiness and joy she gave him by just being herself. He loved her with all his heart the expressed that in the kiss. When they stopped they heard giggling again and knew that the kids had watched their display of love. But today was a special day for both so they ignored the giggles.

Priyanka immediately went to change into the dress and they all went out to celebrate. While she was getting ready, he recollected how he happened to find an old diary with his wife’s name in calligraphic print, while searching for some official papers. He flicked through the pages that had her notes and came across an old one in which she had written her thoughts on how she longed to wear a dress and, how her parents did not approve of it. He realized that he was doing the same. He regretted it as he remembered her look fondly at a dress while shopping the other day. So, he quickly packed and purchased this dress for his wife.

–Cijie Cherian James