The Life Of Normal-Taro

"Dang, that was low, dude." Lena sighed as she heard what happened back in the day.

"Hey, everything is fair in love and war. And what I did back then was war. There's no doubt in that." Lonappan replied.

"Well, they were ridiculing him—my junior, that is. So, I'd argue that what he did was absolutely the right thing. I mean, no one dared to make fun of a loser since then. It somehow became a rule of sorts, but it all began with what he did. So, there's nothing wrong with that." Ponnappan spoke.

"Hmm, if you put it that way, I'd have to agree with the statement as well." Lena nodded her head along.

"You bastards. You don't value my words, do you? When I say something, you two would pick out something wrong in it. But when it's you speaking, you're fine with it, huh?" Lonappan sounded a bit disappointed as he spoke.

"I mean, you're basically finding fault in everything, my man. If we say something against you, it's a conspiracy against you while if we say something supporting you, it's hypocrisy or some bullshit like that. Just pick a lane, dude!" Ponnappan urged as he got incredibly tired of the uninvited guest.

"Yea, fuck it as well. Are you gonna tell me your overhyped decision or should I just get the hell out knowing that your verdict is always gonna be against me?" Lonappan shrugged.

"Stay. You've already went through all this bullshit, so hold on for a few more minutes and then you can exit the house as a happy—well, content man, at the very least." Ponnappan replied.

This made Lonappan stop in his tracks, metaphorically at least. "Go on. I'm listening."

Ponnappan took a deep breath. "So, I'm gonna side with my wife just this once because…" Before he got the opportunity to tell the reason behind his pick, Lonappan turned back and stormed out.

"Okay, then. Now that you've already told me your answer, I'm gonna leave before you give out some ridiculous reason for your well thought out pick." Lonappan said as he was leaving.

Before Ponnappan could stop him from doing so, the man had already got to the door and exited. The one place where Lonappan trumped him was agility. Even back in the day, Ponnappan couldn't keep up with him, so it was impossible for the leisure life living commanding officer.

"Seems like I'm seriously out of shape now. O couldn't even imagine chasing him down. You know how that feels?" Ponnappan turned towards his wife and asked.

"You could say that for the both of us. I don't think I could chase him down as well. And that sucks." Lena sighed. "We seriously got complacent as soon as an opportunity to laze around came out way, huh?" She asked.

"That we did." Ponnappan nodded his head to it. "So, shall we slowly head back to our previous workout routine?" He asked.

"Oh, man! That would be excruciating for the current us, don't you think?" Lena asked.

"Absolutely. That's why I asked if we could slowly return back to it—emphasis on slowly." Ponnappan answered.

"Ah, cool then. Let's do that." Lena extended her hand and Ponnappan shook on it.

"Great. I've been thinking of doing it for a long time now, so this works perfectly for me." The commanding officer gave a thumbs up to his wife.

"Ah, glad to be of your help." Lena smiled. "By the way, what was your reasoning behind your pick? Since it doesn't seem like you can talk about it to Lonappan any longer, how about you say about it to me and get some peace at least." She suggested.

"Well, I guess I'd do that." Ponnappan shrugged as he sat beside his wife.

"So, tell me what you want to." Lena ordered as she ran her hands through her husband's hair.

"Okay, I seriously considered all the possibilities, you see. Don't get offended or anything, when I say this, but I completely agree with what Lonappan said about a person being done with MIB after he or she retires." Ponnappan spoke.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not offended. It makes sense in its own way." Lena replied.

"Great. So, my initial thought was to support Lonappan just this once because he said the right thing. It was just a no-brainer, if you ask me." Ponnappan shrugged.

"Then what made you change your decision, huh?" Lena asked.

"Listen to me, okay? It's because you're way too overpowered. And I'm not talking about the physical part—in which your on par with me as well. I'm talking about your connections." He replied.

"I love how you dodged a bullet right there with your reply." Lena chuckled. "Anyway, what's about my connections?" She asked.

"So, if I'm to stop telling you about stuff happening in the MIB, that's not gonna change anything. You wanna know why? Because you are in contact with two of the people who are highly influential. I mean, your uncle spilling all the secrets is a given since he has such a loose tongue, but now that you've patched up with your father as well, you're gonna get the exact sequence of events if you want to." Ponnappan explained.

"That's true. Oh, and by the way, I'll be calling dad for lunch next week. I know you two still haven't patched up since I messed up things for us, but I thought that this would be the right opportunity to bury that hatchet." Lena spoke.

"Hmm, it's weird being around him. I mean, he rolls his eyes around me and always gives me these disapproving looks. And recently he's been talking about how he'd die before seeing his grandchild and how lucky Chinnappan is, since he could see his. I haven't said to him that you were the one who's not interested in having a kid yet, because he'd be devastated if he was to hear that." Ponnappan replied.

"And I thank you for doing that, my little secret keeper. Ah, that thanks is also for supporting my decision after all these years." Lena pecked on Ponnappan's cheek as she gave out her reply.

"Well, it's a difficult phase for both of us. So, if we were to have a kid, it would be hard for us to give the kid the love that they require. I'll most probably be out in the office while you might have to take care of the kid yourself or even have a nanny look after the kid. I don't want that. I want to be around them as much as possible. You too want that, right? So, I respect your decision." He replied.

"Ha, I'm just blessed that I got such a great hubby." Lena smiled as she pulled Ponnappan's cheeks to either sides.

"Hehe, likewise my queen. Likewise." Ponnappan smiled brightly. "Anyway, we were talking about your connections with those tow old bastards. I mean, they shouldn't get any info from the base as well, but the guys in there respect those two way too much, so everything falls in those two's ears as well." He sighed.

"Well, they did make an impact as the commanding officers of their respective bases." Lena shrugged.

"Yup. So, if you want any info, you could simply go to them, right? But I don't want that to happen, so I'd rather tell you than let that happen." Ponnappan replied.

"Huh, sounds like hus is a bit jealous." Lena smirked.

"It isn't jealousy or some shit like that. Just like those two bastards hate me, I hate them as well. It's mutual hatred, you see… So, I just don't want my wife to talk to someone I hate when I have the answer you're searching for." Ponnappan replied.

"You do remember that I asked you to join on lunch with my father—the guy you apparently hate, right? Are you gonna feel uncomfortable with that?" Lena asked.

"Meh, even though I don't think anything's gonna patch up between the two of us, I'll still try my best tolerating him. That's the least I could do, right?" He asked back.

"Why?" Lena muttered as she stared at her husband's face.

"Huh?" Ponnappan looked confused by the question with no context.

"Why does it feel like you are always taking a step back to heed my selfish requests? You can always turn down things, you know that, right?" She asked.

"A step back, huh? Well, if taking a step back by myself allows us to move forwards as a family, I would much rather do that than take those steps by myself. And I've never thought of your requests as selfish. And why do I do this? Because, I love you." Ponnappan kissed his wife on the forehead as he said that.

Lena took a deep breath. "I've decided." She proclaimed.

"Hmm, what?" Ponnappan looked confused yet again by a vague reply this time around.

"Let's have a child." She said with an excited look on her face.

#