“Father’s name! You have not filled in your father’s name. Can’t you see? Are you blind?” The guy sitting at the college counter bawled with a sting in his tone, when he saw that there were no names written in the parent’s column.
“Don’t know,” Kris said with a couldn’t-care-less-attitude and shrugged his shoulders.
The guy at the counter was taken aback, but continued with an air of indifference.
“Mother’s name! Are you kidding me? I assume you are educated, just a little may be?” He growled again, expecting an answer at least this time.
“Dunno,” was the reply again.
“Umm, who do you think is going to sign the no-objection clause in your admission form”? He looked straight into Kris’s eyes for the first time, thinking that the kid is trying to act a little smart.
“You do know that you can’t get in if you don’t have either of parent’s signatures on the form, right”?
“I don’t have anybody to sign my form,” Kris coldly replied.

The counter guy was a middle-aged man with a balding head. He did this for a living. All he had to do was to check whether the details filled in by the students coming for an admission was alright, stack all the forms accordingly and then forward it to the department that made decisions about the admissions. That was it. He did not come across such nut cases daily. He did not need any complications. He just had kids coming, filling in their forms and going on their way.

“Alright boy, I guess you are not serious about this. So step out of the line and let others submit their forms.” The guy gestured Kris to move and was already looking at the person behind him.
“I am an orphan. I live by myself. I work at the local grocery shop as an accountant and work at a café as a steward on weekends. I go to school in the morning and work in the evenings. I want to study further and become a counselor for teenagers. I have no one who can sign for me.” Kris didn’t lose eye-contact while he was talking to the counter guy, who was feeling uncomfortable by the minute. There were hundreds of students waiting to submit their forms. The counter guy quickly took the form from Kris and tried to force a sympathetic smile. He assured Kris that he will pass on his form to the department.
 
Kris thanked the guy and started walking towards the sandwich shop round the corner, which he saw while coming over to the college. As he was going towards it, he heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see who it was and was surprised to see a girl gesturing for him to stop.
 
“Heyy! Umm, I am Ria. I was standing right behind you in that admission line.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Well, I kinda peeked over your shoulder,” said Ria, and smiled.

Kris was rather amused that she was showing interest in him, but found her cute.

“Where are you off to? Do you mind if I join you?”
“Sure. I was just gonna go and grab a sandwich. Ya, I would love if you join me.”
“Thanks.”

Kris a pulled a chair out for her to sit when they reached the little cozy restaurant, which served around 35 different kinds of sandwiches. After looking at the menu items neatly written on the wall above the counter with their prices in front of them, he waved to get one of the waiter’s attention.  

“So what would like to have?”
“I will have a chicken sandwich and a chocolate milkshake.”
“Make that two,” said Kris and thanked the waiter for taking their order.
“I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation you had with the guy at the counter. I am  really sorry to hear that.”
“Ohh, that’s nothing. I just tell that story to save me some trouble. My old man will never let me become a counselor. He wants me to become a doctor, just like him. So I would rather not go to him.”
“You are lying now. I saw you filling your form. You were trembling when you saw those two columns, which required your parents’ names. So cut it out.”
“You know, just let it be, alright! I don’t talk about this to anyone. Let’s finish our lunch and push off, because I have to go to work in the evening and moreover I hardly know you. I wouldn’t have opened my mouth at the college, but I had to or I had no way to get in. Everyone needs to know who bought you into this world. Jesus. Why can’t people just leave me alone?”
“I am really sorry. I didn’t mean to ask personal questions.”

Kris realized that he had raised his voice and it was rude of him to do so. He saw that she was genuinely sorry, and said, “I am sorry too.”

Ria could see that Kris was getting really uncomfortable. He was fidgety and restless and wanted to run away.                        

“Ok, ok, calm down. Relax. Heyy, there’s our lunch. Mmm, smells wonderful too. Oooh look at the chocolate shake, I am sure it tastes delicious. Come on, cheer up. Let’s talk about something else. So what do you like to do the most?” Ria was making all efforts to drift Kris’s mind to elsewhere.
“Fine.” He raised both his arms to convey that he would try to be cool.
“I love…singing, reading novels, traveling, though I haven’t traveled much, except driving to each and every pub in Pune,” saying this he laughed a little. Ria smiled too.
“You know you have got a great smile.”
“Isn’t that my line?” Kris said and they both laughed again.
“Don’t I have great hair too?”
“Right! Now don’t go around blowing your own trumpet.”

Both were having a good time and were trying to get to know each other better.

“How about you Ria? I don’t know anything about you yet.”
“Well, my father keeps getting transferred every three to four years as he is in the army and we all keep moving. I have a younger brother who is adorable. My mom is an Italian and my father is an Indian. My life’s been cool. I want to become a marine biologist. I just love the marine life.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty interesting.”
“What? My interest in the marine life?”
“No, you calling your brother adorable, mostly siblings are just a pain in the ass.”
“What do you know?” Ria said that and suddenly realized what she had done, and immediately apologized for her folly.
“Nah, that’s ok. You did not do it on purpose.”

By the time they finished their lunch, it was already time for Kris to go to work. Both felt a little sad at parting ways. They exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch. In fact, Kris got a call the moment he reached home. He jumped up and down in joy when he saw Ria’s number flashing on his cellphone window. He was thinking about her the entire time while at work. He picked it up eagerly and heard an equally excited and eager voice from the other end.

“Hiiiiiiii,” said Ria, showing how pleased she was to hear his voice.
“Heyyy,” replied Kris, in an undeniably excited voice too.
“So how was work sire? How many plates or cups did you break?”
“Ohh, the customers drink directly out of the coffee dispenser and eat directly out of the display window. We don’t have any plates or cups left since I joined.”

They both couldn’t stop laughing for a whole minute. They talked about everything possible. Paris Hilton’s funny ways, Britney’s breakdown, Lindsay Lohans’ boyfriends, cars, beer, Donald trump’s hairdo, JayZ’s luck in landing a bombshell like Beyonce, Eminem’s crazy life, music, sports, tattoos, bungee jumping. They went on and on for over 5 hours. That’s when they realized that it was almost morning and they needed to catch up on some sleep, as school hadn’t gotten over yet, what with the exams coming up. Their college admission was entirely based on the marks that they get in their senior year, as every college had separate cut-off lists. If you don’t get the percentage required, you don’t get in.

But they didn’t stop seeing each other. They started getting intimate after their 4th date. They used to go everywhere together, the movies, the beaches, the planetarium, the museum, shopping and whenever they wanted to get drunk, they would drink at his rented place. Ria started staying over almost every other day on the pretext of studying for exams and used to lie to her parents, saying that she was going to a girlfriend’s place. Once when they were drinking Ria mustered up enough courage to ask him about his past. She could see that Kris did not get as disturbed as he got the other day. He was calm and composed.

“Do you really want to know,” he asked. It seemed that he feared that once Ria comes to know about his past, she might stop loving him.
“Yes, I am sure,” said Ria and sensing that he was getting a little apprehensive, “and don’t worry, I won’t judge you,” she added.

Kris kept looking at her for a long time, before saying, “I don’t know who my parents are, where they are or what happened to them.” He took another sip of beer, as he checked the beer left in the bottle. After deeply thinking as to what he was going to say next, he said,

“I grew up in an orphanage. All the little kids that I had around me were my only family and of course Father Costello, who looked after us. He was like our own dad. He loved us so much. You know, he used to buy us chocolates, balloons, new shirts, trousers and cakes and what not. Of course not regularly, but now and then. He never let us feel inferior or lesser in any way, especially in front of those “normal kids” around us. He worked really really hard to send us to school and buy our books and uniforms. He worked two shifts at the local factory and used to come home dead tired and you would expect him to crib, right? But no way, he always came home smiling and hopeful and positive. He was our Rock. He gave all of us Hope. He wanted us all to have happy homes and loving parents and would dress us up every Sunday when prospective parents visited. There were 10 of us. Three girls and 7 boys."

"When I was 6 years old, I had a fight with a boy in my school, who said I don’t have parents. And I said I have Father Costello and other members at my home. He said that I don’t have a real home or a real Mom and a real Dad and called me an Orphan, the meaning of which I did not understand then. He pushed me down on the floor and made fun of me in front of the whole class. Every one was laughing at me. I went home in torn clothes with bruise marks all over my face and hands and knees. The buckle of my bag had broken too and was hanging loose from one side. When Father returned home, I was sitting on my bed and crying. He came and lifted me up in his arms and gave me the warmest hug ever and waited for me to finish my sobs. Then he gently put me on his laps and asked me what the matter was. I told him the entire thing and then asked him who or what an orphan was. He kept looking at me with so much love and kindness in his eyes and didn’t say a thing for a while.”

Ria moved a little closer to Kris and held his hands. “Then,” she asked and urged him to go on.

“Father Costello said, ""Son, you are god’s special child. He has made you better than anyone. An Orphan is someone who is an angel, so you should go tomorrow and thank that kid for the compliment. So my little angel, go to bed now, you have school tomorrow."" While he tucked me into bed, he whispered into my ears, ""you are special and I love you very much"". And he kissed me every night before he went to bed."

"When I grew up a little more, I understood what an Orphan exactly meant. So I went up to Father Costello and asked him my story. He calmly took me the room, which was our prayer room and where there were dozens of pictures of Jesus. We sat in front of this huge Jesus idol that hung from the wall. He started off by saying that he loves me and would never trade me for anything in this world and that how lucky he was to have me."

"He said he was going to the church once and had gotten really late. He had missed his bus, and wasn’t getting any cabs either. So he was under a lot of pressure, as he was to give a sermon that day. So he started walking from his home to the church, which was a good 2 blocks away. On his way, he always had to pass this run-down little place, which had a few shacks and a few people living in them. He was walking by this huge garbage can, which was smelled horrible. Dogs were all around it and were rummaging for crap."

"Just when he was rushing by it, while covering his nose with a piece of cloth, he heard these feeble cries. He just stopped his steps. When he didn’t hear anything for a while, he started moving on. He thought it was just a cat. Just then he heard the cries again. This time he was sure it was a baby’s cry. To his horror, he realized that the sound was coming from the dumpster. He quickly started moving towards it, forgetting that the place smelled like a dozen dead bodies had been dumped there. He was even more horrified to see these hungry dogs lurking around who suspected something too and were sniffing at a frenzied pace to find out what it was. He got inside the dump, braving the dogs and the stench. His white spotless gown was muddled with filth and rubbish. He started throwing the dirt bags out and frantically searched for the voice. Passersby thought that Father had gone mad. Finally, after 10-20 minutes of hard work, he found me. I was naked, with few fruit peels and a dirty condom lying on me."

"He lifted me up and held me really close to his chest, like I was his own baby. He looked up at the sky, so as to ask Jesus what crime had this poor, helpless, little thing committed. He quickly took me to a missionary hospital and told them to give me first aid and clean me up. After they had bathed me and given me a few liquids to have, they bought me back to Father Costello. The nuns there offered to bring me up, but Father Costello chose to have me. Ever since he has only showered me with his immense love and kindness."

"That’s when he decided to bring up other kids like me, whose parents gave them up for whatever reason. You know I hated my parents, more so my mother for doing this to me. I had so much pain and anger within me that I was getting hard to handle. Father Costello said I had no rights to judge my parents and said I had no idea as to what would have prompted them to do so. Anyway, life moved on. All my friends got adopted and found new homes. I was so happy for all of them, although, there was this girl, ‘Maria’, who I was really close to. Father had given her that name. I was very sad the day when she had to go, but really nice people adopted her. I am sure she must be so happy wherever she is. I have to admit, I kinda loved her."

"After a while Father Costello started developing health problems. He had trouble breathing, had trouble walking and doing things for himself. There were once this really rich couple who came in a huge car and wanted to adopt me. On that day I had locked myself in the prayer room and didn’t come out until the couple left. Father found it really amusing that I was hiding from them. He said, ""I thought this is what you wanted. A real family. Now you have a chance of having that. Why did you run away?"" To which I said, “You are my family. I don’t think any one else will love me as much as you do. I will never leave you.” He had hugged me so tight that day. He wouldn’t stop crying, and I was like, “Father, please you are being a baby,” and then when I said that, he had laughed so much. Father died at the age of 63. When he was lying in his coffin, I saw this deep peace on his face. I never missed my parents when he was with me. I still don’t. I only miss him very much.”

A drop of tear left Kris’s eyes and fell on the ground below. He opened another bottle of beer.

“Then the Government took over the premises and I had to move out of there. I got a job and got this place and the owner, who is a friend of Father’s, is helping me out by taking almost nothing as rent. I do odd jobs for him too, like plumbing and stuff. So that’s my little story and the reason why I don’t like to talk about it,” Kris said, while gulping down the last drop of the beer.

Ria was a little shaken up and was shivering by now.

“Hey baby, are you ok? See I didn’t want to make you feel this way and the very reason I kept quite all this while. I am sorry," said Kris, really concerned about Ria.

“Shut up, you don’t have to be sorry for anything,” said Ria and kissed Kris’s forehead. “Can I say something?”
“Sure honey, anything.”
“Remember how you fell once, when you went running to open the gate for Father Costello? And how you had hurt your knee and were crying for 2 whole hours.”
“Yeah, but how do you know that? I didn’t tell you that I guess.”    
“And the time when you were trying to sneak out in the night for a smoke and Father had caught you.”
“God, you are freaking me out. How do you know all that?”
“I am Maria! Don't you recognize me Kris? See this cut on my chin, which I got when you had hit me with a blade, when I was teasing you for having a chubby nose. I never forgot you. I had gone back to our building, but it was not there, only a huge supermarket stood there. I tried to look for you, but couldn’t find you.”
Kris’s eyes had filled up. He was almost choking. He had this look in his eyes, which said that all this is surreal, just a freaky dream, just a momentary bliss that would get over the moment the effect of the beer wears off.

“You are not joking with me, right? I mean this is not a dream, right? You are here with me. And you ARE Maria, right?
“No.”
“No?”
“No, because I am Ria now, saying this she smiled and moved closer and gave a long, soft kiss to Kris.
“I recognized you the moment I saw you at the college. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What did you think? A hot looking girl like me, is trying to hit on YOU?”
“Yeah, you looked so pretty and beautiful and I was like, whoa, not bad.”

He was still dumbstruck and too shocked to even move. Ria pulled him up and played an Andrea Bocelli track, for them to dance. They held each other for a long time that night and made love. When Ria woke up that morning, she saw Kris waiting on her with breakfast in his hands. He first gave her a red rose that he got early morning from the corner flower shop and then handed her coffee and a plate of toast and omelet. While she was having her breakfast, Kris suddenly went down on his knees and said,

"God’s special child now wants a special someone in his life and i can't let you go this time. I thank god for putting me where he did, for I wouldn’t have found you otherwise. I promise to never ever let you feel that you are unloved or uncared for. I promise to love you so much that you will never feel the need for anything else in life. I promise to love our children so much and give them everything that I missed out on. I will never be a coward and will be there for you and them, no matter what. Miss. Ria"…he waited for her to give him her second name.

“Ria Dawson,” said Ria, helping Kris out, with tears of happiness in her eyes.

“Miss Ria Dawson, will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes I will. This is the moment I have always dreamt of ever since I left the orphanage.”

Kris took out a ring he had made that morning by himself. It was a piece of twisted wire, with a marshmallow stuck on it. He put the ring on Ria’s finger, promising her to buy a real one, once he has some cash on him.

5 years later at a counseling center...

“If you think of dumping your child somewhere and running off, do that by all means, because he would not need a selfish person like you to take care of him. He would find his way. He would find someone who would love him. But you, you will never be able to forgive yourself. It’s you who has made a mistake; it’s you who bought this little baby in to this world, it is you who is responsible. What did this little child do to deserve this? Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if you do this? Did you spend your life’s 30 minutes or 3 hours or 3 days in the middle of nowhere or in a dumpster or on the road somewhere? Didn’t your parents take care of you? If you do something, own up to it and bloody well take responsibility for it. Do you still want to leave your kid and run away?”      

“No, No, No, I want my child. I love him. It was a moment of weakness. I would love him more than anything else in this world. I came back once I realized what I did. Please forgive me.”  

“Come here and give me a hug. You and your kid are going to be very happy. I will get you a job somewhere and also a place to stay. You can fend for yourself. You don’t need that scumbag who ditched you. Come and see me tomorrow with your resume.”

At home.

“Hey honey, how was your day?”
“Hi baby, ohh, it was awesome. Saved another angel today,” said Kris and kissed Ria.
“Papa, papa,” Kris’s little baby girl, ‘Hope’ came running and hugged him.
“He sweetypie, missed you so much today, love you darling.”

Kris and Ria and Hope were a family. A real family.