Love is not a four-letter word

(Science fiction) It all began when Maya's Ma-Clone started putting little smileys next to Lila - her ten month old daughter's- daily feed log. This log was presented to Maya at the end of each day, before the Ma-Clone retired to her closet, after Maya came in from office.

Ma-Clones were a boon to the working mom. They looked, acted and felt just like real moms. Except that they were bits of some really sophisticated wires and metal, and neat programs- basically robots.

Through the day, Lila was bathed, fed, played with and looked after by Maya's Ma-Clone. They cost a small fortune but then Lila was worth it and as Anant- Maya's husband said- it was worth the smile on Maya's face after she had spent a satisfying day at office and not sat at home virtually twiddling the buttons on the wall-melting TV. 

Little hearts, little party caps - all dotted the day's activity log- appropriately next to an achievement- Lila had thirty ounces of milk in the day- a hurrah sign- she had a full bowl of soup for dinner- a little party hat. 

At first Maya was unperturbed. Ma-Clone's manual had clearly indicated that they weren't programmed to 'feel'. Yes, they would gauge the baby's need from amongst a thousand permutations and apply the remedy but they would never have a mother's instinct. 

She felt a little gnawing at the back of her mind but promptly dismissed it as adorable Lila crawled into her lap for a cuddle. 

Over the next few days, Maya video-phoned home more than usual, determined to find any odd behaviour. She went through Ma-Clone's manual carefully, reading even the terms and conditions in fine print- hoping to get a sliver of evidence supporting human behaviour- she anonymously joined an online group of Ma-Clone customers- but all she could gather was the additional activities each customer was able to program their clone into doing. She also noted that none of the moms had a baby as young as Lila. 

Frustrated, she let it pass, but at night, gazing into her beautiful daughter's angelic yet helpless face, she felt such a surge of protective pride that she vowed to be alert triple-fold. 

Meanwhile, Ma-Clone's feelings of affection for Lila kept growing. Once Maya saw her hugging Lila tightly to her bosom, and she thought she saw a tiny tear-like thing trickle down Ma-Clone's cheek. Another time Maya walked in on Ma-Clone swinging Lila high up in the air-singing 'away,away we go'- laughing and giggling along with her, abruptly stopping when she saw Maya enter.

But the day Maya sent back Ma-Clone was when she returned home early and both Ma-Clone and Lila were not at home. Terrified and on the verge of hysteria, she had just finished searching everywhere- including the robot's closet- when they both walked in- Ma-Clone pushing Lila's stroller - clearly, they had gone out for a walk- an activity off-limits to Ma-Clones because of the confusion they would cause in case acquaintances met them and mistook them for the real mother. 

Maya quietly glared at the robot and asked it to retire to its closet and quickly spoke to Anant. 

The next day, Maya's Ma-Clone was deported to the lab, and a fresh replacement sent over (free of charge). In fact, the chairman of the company himself called to apologise for this strange case. 

Maya went back to work- feeling happy that she wouldn't need to quit- until the day the new Ma-Clone presented her with Lila's activity log- decorated with little hearts...