Preparation for Village's Great Trade

Seshat is now in a pincer situation as she knows that if she does not come clean about today's situation, she will get scolded harshly, and Sam won't let go of today's event as it was serious. But she had decided to come clean. 

"The caravans are coming, and for that day, I was preparing as I have a lot of unfinished products. I need to process many materials as well. Rudra is getting bigger now, and I have to make a lot of it to earn money. So,..... " Seshat said to Sam. Sam listened to Seshat, but still it wasn't convincing enough. Seshat also saw Sam as unconvinced by her reasoning, but she could do nothing, as this was the sole reason she was working hard for. 

"Just because the caravan is approaching doesn't give you the justification to neglect your health and Rudra. Rudra is in a growing phase and he needs attention as well as love so as to he does not feel lonely. He is just a child and do not neglect him just because you have work to do." Sam said in a harsh tone. Seshat heard and just kept silent. 

" Tell me, have you ever left him alone ?" Sam asked Seshat, to which she replied, "No, I haven't left him alone. I always kept him by my side." 

"That's good. Now, about great trade, when is it happening? Do you have the exact date?"

"No, I don't, but I heard that it will be next month. Why?"

"Ooh. You just said, didn't you? That Rudra is in the growing phase, so I am thinking of hunting a high-level beast so that we can have better quality meat, and its product. So, I won't be coming home for 1 week, but after I return, I won't be going to hunt till the trade week finishes. I will help you in making fur clothes, and meat products, as well as utensils." Sam said in a calm tone

"How much have you prepared for this trade?"

"Not much. I have been preparing things right after the previous trade and have only managed to prepare 1.5 times than last year. I am just hoping that we get enough money that can be used for Rudra's future, and maybe another as well." Seshat said shyly with a face as red as beetroot.

"Well, that's ..." Sam also got embarrassed.

"Anyway, we need a large amount of money if we want to send our child to that place, and maybe another one as well." Sam tried to change the topic but failed to do so, resulting in a red face.

"I am going on a hunt tomorrow, and I might not return for a week and I promise to bring a better quality hunt for the trade with caravan, and I will do my best to bring as much as I can. And then I will stay with you till the trades end, and will help you in preparation as well. By working together, we may be able to finish and make other products as well." Sam successfully changed the topic this time.

But this revelation shocked Seshat. "You sure? You do know, right? The forest is dangerous, and you are only safe because you roam around the edges, but in order to get better quality beasts, you have to enter deep inside, and deep inside is dangerous. You don't need to go inside the jungle in deeper level. we have enough materials to produce many more, and if you bring more, it will be hard to process that material on a scheduled time. So don't go." Seshat said in a worried tone.

"I will be fine. Don't worry. I will return safely, and you do know about my strength, don't you?" Sam tried to convince Seshat, but Seshat was adamant about not letting Sam go. Sam had to relent because of Seshat's stubbornness. 

Sam started to prepare dinner now that his plan to go deeper into the jungle had failed. Sam was plucking the feathers of the bird that he had hunted and brought for tomorrow, but Seshat hadn't eaten anything and hadn't prepared the dinner, so he had to cook that bird. That bird had white feathers with black stripes. It was 3 times the size of a regular chicken, and it was a wild chicken. It took some time, but Sam plucked all the feathers and cleaned the chicken with clean water, then butchered it. He cut the chicken into different shapes and sizes based on how they were going to use that meat. Sam was going to prepare the meat by roasting most of the meat and making soup of a few pieces of meat. He prepared the dinner with seasonings that he plucked from the garden, and made soup using vegetables from the garden and the meat that he butchered. Rice wasn't prepared yet, and he didn't have much time, so he brought out the bread from the shelves that he had bought yesterday. They were going to have roasted chicken, bread, and chicken and vegetable soup. 

After preparing the dinner and bringing the food to the table, Sam went upstairs to wake up Rudra, as Rudra also hadn't eaten anything yet. Sam went to the bedroom and saw Rudra still sleeping. Sam went near the child sleeping on the bed, wrapped in a blanket.

"Wake up, Rudra, my child. It's time for dinner. Wake up, Wakiee ,wakiee. You haven't eaten anything. Wake up, eat something, and then go to sleep, okay?" Sam sat beside sleeping Rudra and gently put his hand on Rudra's chest to wake him up, and also shook him gently to wake him up comfortably.

Rudra opened his eyes slowly and started to comprehend what was happening right now. He fell asleep while reading a book. He was hungry as well, as he hadn't eaten anything since this afternoon after they met Aunt Lucy. He felt weightlessness all of a sudden, and he felt like he was levitating. He opened his eyes completely now to see what was happening, and he saw a man with black hair, a charming face like a model, carrying him up. His dad, Sam, was carrying him up and taking him somewhere, and he didn't know where, as his body was in his father's hand. A few moments later, he found himself in the kitchen and a lavish dinner in front of him. He was already hungry, but after seeing this, his hunger increased even more. Even Seshat was hungry, and after seeing that, her hunger increased even more. Sam served the dinner to both mother and son, and they both ate like they had never eaten anything in their whole life. Sam saw them eating and gulping big chunks of food, and he got worried now.

"Hey, both of you, eat slowly, otherwise you are gonna choke on the food," Sam said in an irritated tone after seeing their table manner. 

Rudra ate like it was his last time eating it, and yes, it was his first time eating this delicious food cooked by his father. He had always eaten the food cooked by his mother, and it was his first time eating this meal. He gulped down one after another, without caring about anything. Only after eating till full did he notice that the presentation was better than the chef of his old world could do, it's as if his father was from a noble household.

He had a seven-star meal if he could rate it, and he ate this in quantity. He is worried now, if his father started to cook his everyday meal, he would inflate like a balloon as he couldn't even take his eyes off the food. He looked at his father, and he saw a calm man eating food like a noble, and he was eating like this type of food was normal for him. He couldn't understand how this man, whom he had never seen in the kitchen, could cook this level of food. He started to look at his father in a new light now. If he could take this man into his old world, he would surely be a 7-star Michelin chef and could become a millionaire in a short time. But after eating that, he felt sleepy. He slept on the dining table as he couldn't control his urge to sleep. It was hard to control how his body could perform/act when he was just a kid. But he is hopeful that, a year later, he could control his body of his own accord.

Sam, after seeing his child sleep on the dining table, stood up and picked up Rudra to put him on the bed so he could sleep comfortably. Sam, after taking his child to the bedroom and putting him on the bed, returns to the kitchen and sees Seshat also about to fall asleep. He went near her and asked, "Do you want me to take you to the bedroom?" to which Seshat replies, "Yes, please," in a sweet and alluring tone, but Sam controlled himself and picked up his wife and took her to the bedroom and put her on the bed. He took his hand near her head and slowly caressed her head and face, and she fell asleep on his hand with a smile on her face. She grabbed his hand and didn't let go of his hand. Sam also felt a warm feeling inside his heart. He sat beside the sleeping duo, his wife and his child, and watched them sleep for a long time. Then he went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean the living room and kitchen.

While washing the dishes alone in the kitchen, he started to think about his past. When he was looking at his wife and his child, thoughts of his former life suddenly came to him. 

A child was weeping on a woman's lap. He asked, "Why are mother and father coming to see me? Today is my birthday, and yet they aren't coming to me. Why?" in a low tone with tears still in his eyes. "Am I not their child? Why do they only attend other's birthday and parties but won't even wish me on my birthday?"