Chapter 30 #2
As soon as the elevator doors slid open at the ground floor, Naina hurried out, her panic mounting with every step she took. She abruptly stopped and turned to Ruhaan.
“I can’t leave Neil with your mother. Let’s go back and get him.” She burst out, reaching for the elevator again.
Ruhaan frowned, catching her wrist before she could bolt back into the elevator. “Naina, stop. You need to relax. He’s fine. He’s at his future home, and he’s perfectly safe.”
“With your mom?” Naina’s voice cracked with worry. “I don’t think so.”
Ruhaan frowned, his hands moving to her shoulders.
“Come on, Naina. Do you really think my mother is going to harm him? She’s not a monster.
She’s just tough on the outside, but she has a kind heart.
” He cupped her face gently, his thumbs stroking her cheeks.
“She raised the man you love, didn’t she?
She can’t be all wrong. You need to trust me. ”
Some of the panic eased from Naina’s eyes, but concern still lingered.
“But she doesn’t want me to be your wife. And that’s exactly why Neil being alone with her is bothering me. What if she says something to him? I can’t let Neil be hurt, Ruhaan. I won’t.”
“She’s not going to hurt him. She’s upset with me, not Neil.
She’s struggling to accept my decisions, I know, but she’s not heartless.
She worries about me, overthinks everything, but Neil…
he’ll win her over. I know he will.” He paused, searching her eyes.
“And listen, we can keep calling both of them whenever we need to, just to make sure everything is okay.”
Naina still looked unconvinced. “And what if it’s not?” she asked.
“Then I’ll be the first one to get home and fix it,” he replied firmly. “You have my word. I won’t let anything go wrong.”
Naina finally relaxed, her shoulders dropping. Ruhaan’s expression suddenly turned wistful.
“You know what hurts me the most in all this?”
She looked at him questioningly. He stepped closer, his hand slipping down to hers, holding it gently.
“This is the first time you’ve come to my home, stood at my door, and I couldn’t even invite you inside. Do you know how much that hurts?” His voice held a tinge of regret. “If we hadn’t rushed off to avoid Mom arguing some more, I would have welcomed you properly. But I couldn’t.”
She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay. If your plan works today, and I hope it does, then that day isn’t far when I’ll step into your home not as a guest, but as your family. Your wife.”
A slow, boyish grin spread across his face. “Wife,” he murmured, as if savoring the feel of the word on his lips.
He leaned in closer and just as his lips were about to brush hers, she pushed him away with a playful glare. “We’re getting late. Bakshi is waiting for us at the office.”
He groaned in mock frustration, running a hand through his hair. “Always work before romance,” he teased. “You’re going to be a very tough wife.”
“And you’ll be a very late businessman if we don’t leave now,” she shot back, grabbing his arm and tugging him toward the car.
Ruhaan sighed dramatically. As they settled in for their drive to work, he couldn’t help but smile, hoping that back in his apartment, his mother was already discovering what he knew - that it was impossible not to fall in love with Neil’s charm.
His heart felt full, and for the first time in weeks, he was sure his plan was going to work.
***************
Ruhaan’s Home
It had been two hours since Neil arrived, and the apartment was unusually quiet.
Kaushalya stood in the kitchen, chopping vegetables.
She couldn’t very well let the boy go hungry, could she?
Though she’d barely spoken to him, she kept stealing glances of him every few minutes as he sat quietly doing his homework, his small brows furrowed as he carefully wrote in his notebook.
Her hands paused over the cutting board as she thought about the other kids she’d seen in the building…
her friends’ grandchildren, running around, shouting, and creating havoc.
They were notorious for leaving a trail of chaos wherever they went.
But Neil… Neil was different. He sat quietly, scribbling away, not disturbing a thing.
Was this his natural behavior, or was he just trying to make a good impression?
She sighed, shaking her head and returning to her cooking.
Perhaps, he saved his mischief for home.
Her phone rang the same moment, breaking the silence. She picked it up and frowned when she saw Ruhaan’s name on the screen.
“What now?” she muttered as soon as she answered the phone call.
“Hey, Mom. How’s everything going at home?” he asked.
Kaushalya immediately frowned.
“Don’t pretend to ask about everything. I know why you’re calling,” she said pointedly. “You want to know if Neil is doing fine with me.”
Ruhaan chuckled. “Well, of course, I know he’ll be fine, Mom. You’re amazing.”
“Don’t butter me up,” she warned.
“Oh yeah, speaking of butter - don’t let Neil have too much of it.”
“Why not?” she asked, already reaching for the butter dish.
“Come on, Mom, someone in the family has to stay fit! With all the butter you’ve fed me over the years in those delicious parathas and your legendary pav bhaji... it’s only thanks to regular gym that I maintain myself. Spare Neil from that, please?”
Her frown deepened as memories flooded back.
“Don’t act like you didn’t love all that butter. You used to eat it straight off the spoon, as if it were dessert.” Kaushalya snorted. “And that’s why I always added extra.”
Ruhaan laughed. “I know, Mom. And Naina told me Neil loves butter too. Runs in the family, I guess.”
There was a moment of silence as Kaushalya, unconsciously, added a little extra butter to the aloo paratha she was making. By the time she realized what she was doing, Ruhaan was ready to drop the call.
“Alright, Mom. I need to get back to my meeting. Talk soon.”
She sighed as she hung up and then plated Neil’s aloo parathas, the golden butter glistening atop them. Walking out of the kitchen, she placed the plate in front of Neil.
“Here you go,” she said briskly. “Eat.”
Neil’s face lit up when he saw the food. “Wow! So much butter! Thank you, Daadi!” he exclaimed excitedly, already trying to break off a piece.
But the paratha was hot, and Neil winced as he quickly pulled his fingers away. “Ouch!”
Kaushalya’s maternal instincts kicked in immediately. “Be careful!” she scolded, sitting down beside him. “You’ll hurt yourself if you rush like that.”
Without thinking, she tore off a piece, blew on it to cool it down, and held it to his mouth. Neil accepted the morsel with such natural trust and affection that something stirred in her heart.
He chewed, his face breaking into a delighted grin. “It’s so yummy, Daadi! Thank you!”
Her heart softened unexpectedly at his words. And then, when he leaned over and wrapped his little arms around her in a spontaneous hug, she froze. The warmth of his tiny embrace caught her completely off guard. She pulled back gently, clearing her throat.
“Alright, that’s enough. Now eat by yourself. And don’t forget to blow on it first.”
Neil nodded happily and began eating on his own, carefully blowing on each piece as instructed. Kaushalya stood and returned to the kitchen, to fix herself a plate.
She glanced at the dining table from the kitchen doorway.
Neil sat there, happily munching on the parathas she had made for him.
She couldn’t ignore the tug at her heart—this boy wasn’t just charming; he was kind, polite, and endearing in ways she hadn’t anticipated.
And here she was, doting on him without even realizing it.
“I’m already treating Naina’s boy like he’s my own grandson. What’s happening to me?” She shook her head, muttering to herself as she poured tea into her cup.
But as much as she wanted to maintain her hard stance, she couldn’t deny the small smile tugging at her lips. Neil had a way of breaking through her walls, and she wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to resist.