Chapter 29 #2
Ruhaan turned to Naina. “Whether my mother accepts it now or later, I’m not letting go of you and Neil.”
Though happiness bloomed in Naina’s heart at his words, concern clouded her features.
“Ruhaan, I don’t want to be the reason you’re estranged from your mother. I know what a son means to a mother. I’ve seen it, felt it, with Neil. I don’t want to take that bond away from her.”
His hand came up to cover hers.
“You are not taking me away from her. My love for her and my love for you are not mutually exclusive. I can love you both, and I will fight to make her see that.”
Naina relented for now. But deep inside, she knew this was just the beginning of a long battle.
****************
A week later
A week had passed since Ryma’s return to UAE, where she’d left with a promise to come back for Ruhaan’s wedding. Despite her best efforts to reason with their mother before departing, Kaushalya remained unmoved in her opposition to the marriage.
The silence in their home had taken on a physical presence. Kaushalya spoke to Ruhaan only when absolutely necessary. Their comfortable routine had fractured, leaving awkward spaces where easy conversation used to flow.
One evening, Ruhaan found his mother frantically searching through drawers in the living room.
“Where did I keep those reading glasses?” she muttered to herself, deliberately ignoring his presence.
“They’re probably in the kitchen,” he offered gently. “You were reading the newspaper there this morning.”
“I don’t need your help,” she replied curtly, but Ruhaan was already heading to the kitchen. He returned moments later with her glasses.
Kaushalya accepted them without a word, but he didn’t move away. “Mom, how long are you going to keep this up?”
“Keep what up?” she asked, suddenly very interested in cleaning her glasses with her dupatta.
“This silence. This coldness. You barely look at me anymore.”
“What else do you expect?” she finally met his eyes. “My son makes life-changing decisions without consulting his mother, and I’m supposed to smile and pretend everything is fine?”
“I’m not asking you to pretend,” he said softly. “I’m asking you to try to understand. To get to know Naina and Neil.”
“Get to know them?” Her voice rose slightly. “At the moment I think I don’t know my son at all, the one whom I raised.”
Before Ruhaan could respond to his mother, his phone rang. The device lay on the table near Kaushalya, and she couldn’t help but see Naina’s name lighting up the screen. Her face darkened instantly, as she looked away.
“Hello?” Ruhaan answered.
“Did I call at a bad time?” Naina picked up on his subdued tone.
He cleared his throat, consciously trying to sound more normal.
“No, you can call me anytime. What’s up?”
“Well, Neil was asking if you could come with me to pick him up from school today.” She rushed to add, “I told him you might be busy, so...”
He smiled at the thought of picking up Neil from school. His eyes drifted to his mother’s rigid posture, and his heart ached that she was choosing to exclude herself from these precious moments.
“I’ll pick you up from your office,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “We can go together from there.”
Naina happily agreed. As he ended the call, he turned to Kaushalya, but she was already rising from the couch.
“Don’t waste time trying to convince me,” she said coldly. “You might be late picking up your new family.”
The word ‘family’ fell from her lips like ice, and she walked away before he could respond, leaving Ruhaan standing alone with his phone still in his hand.
‘I have to find a way to fix this’, he thought, running a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘But how do I make her see that loving them doesn’t mean loving her less?’ The answer eluded him as he grabbed his keys, heading out to meet Naina.
***************
The car hummed softly, parked just outside Neil’s school gate.
The windows were rolled up, shielding Ruhaan and Naina from the world outside as they enjoyed their ice cream cones.
Ruhaan sat in the driver’s seat, his fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel in rhythm with the faint radio music.
Naina, sitting beside him, lazily licked her ice cream, her gaze darting between the melting treat and the school gate, waiting for the final school bell.
Ruhaan had just finished telling her about his morning confrontation with his mother.
“I don’t know how to reach her,” he sighed, absently licking his vanilla cone. “It’s like talking to a wall.”
Naina looked up from her strawberry ice cream with a small frown creasing her forehead.
“At this rate, how will we ever move forward with the wedding? I can’t imagine walking into your house as your wife, with Neil, knowing your mother resents our presence.”
“She won’t resent you forever,” he assured her, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “Once she lives with you both, she’ll see what I see…that I couldn’t have chosen better.”
“Hmm,” Naina raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in her eyes. “Fair warning though. I’m not exactly known for my patience. If she takes a jab at me, don’t expect me to just smile and nod.”
Ruhaan chuckled, knowing she was teasing.
“You two can sort it out yourselves. Just keep me out of it as I’m very bad at taking sides. Although I do believe that the day isn’t far away when you both will probably gang up on me at some point.”
She giggled and, instead of finishing her own cone, leaned over and took a cheeky lick of his ice cream. “What’s yours is mine now.”
He mock-frowned, pulling her closer. “Oh, is that so?” he growled playfully. “My turn then.”
Naina expected him to go for her ice cream, but instead, he captured her lips, slowly licking away the traces of ice cream that lingered there. She melted into his touch, her free hand finding its way to his chest.
The kiss deepened, tasting of vanilla and strawberry, sweet and cooling against the afternoon heat. Ruhaan’s hand slid into her hair, drawing her closer, while her fingers clutched his shirt. Their ice creams were forgotten, slowly melting, as they lost themselves in each other.
His other hand had just found its way to her waist and just as their breaths grew heavier and their touches more insistent, a sudden burst of noise broke through…the unmistakable chatter and laughter of schoolchildren pouring out of the gates.
Naina pulled back quickly, her cheeks flushed. She darted a nervous glance out the window.
“The kids are coming out,” she whispered, quickly grabbing tissues to clean the mess of melted ice cream on their hands and clothes. “You need to behave.”
“You started it,” he teased, reaching for another tissue. “Neil’s coming out,” he announced, spotting their boy among the crowd of students streaming through the gates.
They stepped out of the car, and Neil’s face lit up at the sight of them both.
“Mom! Ruhaan!” he shouted, throwing his arms around them in an exuberant hug.
Ruhaan knelt down, catching the boy in a warm embrace. “Hey, champ! How was school?”
“It was awesome!” he exclaimed, already bubbling with stories about his day. “Can we go to the park? Or maybe get pizza? Or both?”
While Naina busied herself storing Neil’s backpack in the car, Ruhaan watched the boy’s excited chatter with growing realization.
The answer had been in front of him all along.
His mother’s heart had always been her weakness, and Neil, with his innocent charm and pure love, might just be the key to unlocking it.
A plan formed in his mind. The ice cream’s sweetness still lingered on his lips as he smiled, hope blooming in his chest for the first time in days. If he could get Neil and his mother to bond, there might still be hope for the family he dreamed of building.