Chapter 32
Ruhaan’s Home
The second day with Neil felt easier for Kaushalya.
Unlike the hesitations and awkwardness of their first day together, a rhythm seemed to form naturally.
She watched Neil as he sat on the living room carpet with his coloring book, tongue peeking out in concentration as he carefully filled the drawing of a rocket ship.
She smiled to herself, surprised by how quickly the boy had found comfort in her home.
The urge to know more about his and Naina’s daily routine scratched in her head.
“Neil,” she called, adjusting her glasses as she looked at him over the rim. “What do you usually do with your mom at home? During weekends?”
Neil looked up, his face lighting up at the mention of his Mom. “We do lots of things, Daadi! Sometimes we bake together. I help her roll the dough for cookies. And sometimes we do puzzles or read books. She even lets me paint on the balcony!”
Kaushalya nodded, hiding her surprise at how involved Naina seemed in Neil’s life.
A pizza commercial on the TV caught their attention.
“That’s my favorite!” Neil exclaimed. “Daadi, do you like Pizza?”
The mention of pizza made her mouth water. She loved it too.
“Ruhaan doesn’t let me eat much pizza,” she sighed.
“Why not?” he asked curiously.
“He says it’s junk food... Too much of it isn’t good for your health.”
Neil’s nose wrinkled as he set his coloring book down.
“Mom says the same thing! But she makes it at home, so it’s not junk. I’ll ask her to make pizza for you, Daadi. You’ll love it.”
The simple offer warmed her heart more than she cared to admit. “You’ll ask her to make pizza for me?”
“Yes.” He nodded happily. “And that too extra cheese one.”
Her face brightened. How could she turn down such an extra cheesy offer. She nodded and again continued to watch the repeat of her daily TV soaps.
***************
Later in the afternoon, the house help arrived to do her daily cleaning.
Kaushalya settled on the couch with her tea, switching to her next favorite soap opera, while Neil remained busy with his drawings and doing his homework.
The boy was intelligent. She had seen him studying and completing his school homework without any help.
She remembered Ruhaan needed tuitions at that age.
The house help moved about the rooms, dusting and mopping as usual. Neil, although busy with his homework, his sharp-eye noticed something amiss. When the house help emerged from Kaushalya’s bedroom and declared she was done for the day and was leaving, Neil immediately piped up.
“But you didn’t mop Daadi’s room!” he said confidently.
The house help frowned, taken aback by the child’s observation. “I did,” she argued. “Maybe you didn’t see properly.”
Neil crossed his arms and shook his head. “No, I saw you. You skipped it.”
“Tell the truth,” Kaushalya said sternly. “Did you mop my room or not?”
The house help hesitated, then sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry, Daadiji. I didn’t. I was in a hurry today.”
“You could have just told me instead of lying. If Neil hadn’t said anything, I would have believed you. Don’t do this again.”
Embarrassed, the house help apologized once more and quickly left. Kaushalya turned to Neil with gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Daadi!” he replied cheerfully, his chest puffed with pride.
“I don’t know since when she is lying to me. I always believed her you know. Ruhaan is right. I should cut down on my TV timings, at least when the house help is around. So that she doesn’t fool me again.”
“It’s okay, Daadi,” he replied with an impish grin. “I know you’re too innocent. But don’t worry, now that I’m here, I’ll always help you. You can watch TV as much as you like.”
She blinked at him, momentarily speechless. All she caught was the word ‘innocent’ which Neil used for her. She was anything but that.
“I’m not innocent,” she replied. “I know everything that is happening around me. It’s just that this house help comes at the wrong time... when I have my TV serials to watch. Otherwise, I would have kept a close watch on her.”
“Okay,” he shrugged. “If you are not innocent then tell me why Mom and Ruhaan made me stay here with you.”
She raised an eyebrow, confused. “What kind of question is that? It’s because they’re busy with work this weekend.”
Neil shook his head, his grin widening. “Not just work, Daadi. They wanted us to spend time together because…” He paused dramatically, lowering his voice. “Because Mom and Ruhaan are getting married soon, right? So, they want us all to be one happy family.”
Kaushalya’s jaw dropped. This was all their doing?
“How can you be so sure? Did you hear them say that?”
“No,” Neil admitted, shrugging. “But I know my mom. She never lets me stay with anyone else like this, even if she has work. She always works from home if she has to. This time, she didn’t mind at all.”
Kaushalya had suspected something similar but dismissed it, thinking her son wouldn’t play such tactics with her to get her close with Naina and Neil.
But he really did what she had not expected.
Ruhaan had simply announced that Neil would be spending time with her, leaving her to assume it was a matter of convenience.
Otherwise, why would Naina leave Neil here? She didn’t like her much either.
“It’s okay, Daadi. That’s why I say you’re too innocent. But now that I’ll be here forever, we can chill together, okay?”
“Who said I like chilling with you?”
His face fell. “You don’t like me, Daadi?” he asked softly with sadness.
Tears pricked her eyes at his dejected tone and she pulled him to her.
“The only thing I don’t like is seeing you sad. Otherwise, I like everything about you.”
His face brightened instantly. Neil squealed with joy, throwing his arms around her neck.
“Yay! I like you too, Daadi. Very very much!”
As she held him, her thoughts wandered. Years ago, she had resisted Naina’s decision to adopt Neil, unable to accept that her son would be raising someone else’s child and hence she had called off their engagement.
But in the last seven years she had yearned for a grandchild herself and had been coaxing Ruhaan to get married soon.
She had even pressured her daughter Ryma to think about children.
All this time, she’d been pushing away the perfect grandson.
Pushing away this little boy Neil who was now unknowingly bringing more joy than she could have imagined.
If she’d supported Ruhaan and Naina’s marriage seven years ago, she could have been Neil’s grandmother all this time. But perhaps it wasn’t too late to make things right. But not without a little drama in her style.
Pulling back from the hug, she kissed Neil’s forehead. “Neil, how good are you at acting?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
Neil tilted his head, confused. “Acting? What kind of acting?”
“You’ll see. Just do as I say, okay?”
His curiosity was piqued, but he nodded eagerly. “Okay, Daadi! What’s the plan?”
Kaushalya leaned in, whispering her idea into his ear. As Neil listened, his eyes widened, and he broke into a mischievous smile to match hers. “This is going to be fun!” he declared.
She chuckled, patting his cheek, awaiting to put her plan into action.
*****************
Late Evening
The elevator doors opened to the seventh floor, and Naina and Ruhaan stepped out together, both tired but content after their long workday.
Though they hadn’t gotten much time alone, having to work with the team all day, at least they could head home together tonight.
Naina had insisted on coming personally to pick up Neil from Ruhaan’s place, curious to see how another day with Kaushalya had gone.
After all, their bonding yesterday had exceeded expectations.
As they approached the apartment door, Naina reached for the doorbell, but Ruhaan caught her hand, gently pulling her back against the door. Her breath caught as he moved closer, his face mere inches from hers.
“You know what I was thinking?”
“What?” Naina whispered back, her heart racing at his proximity.
“I was thinking… with Neil already winning Mom over...” he moved even closer, “don’t you think it’s time we start planning the wedding date?”
She bit her lip, her cheeks flushing. “Are you sure about that? Do you think she’s ready to agree?”
“Trust me, I know my mom and she adores Neil already,” he assured her. “Remember how yesterday she told him stories during nap time, and they ended up cuddling on the bed? Today must have been even better.”
Naina smiled, her nerves easing. “Well then, let’s see for ourselves.” She pressed the doorbell.
The door swung open to reveal Kaushalya, her face clouded with unmistakable anger. Ruhaan’s smile faltered as he immediately sensed something was wrong with his mother, though he couldn’t fathom what had happened.
“Thank god you’re back,” Kaushalya snapped. “Just take this boy home. I’m done with him.”
Ruhaan froze, his hand still on the door. “What happened?” he asked. His mother’s tone sent alarm bells ringing in his head.
They followed her inside, where Neil was aggressively stuffing things into his backpack, his small face contorted with anger.
“You don’t have to be so mad at me,” Neil shot back, glaring at Kaushalya. “I don’t want to be here either. Mom, take me home!”
Naina stood frozen, unable to process the dramatic change from yesterday’s warmth to today’s hostility.
“Neil!” she said. “What’s going on? Why are you talking like this?”
“Yes, yes, go home and never come back here again,” Kaushalya retorted, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“I wouldn’t come even if you called me!” Neil fired back.
Ruhaan finally intervened. “Mom, what went wrong? Why are you two fighting?”
“Ask him!” Kaushalya pointed accusingly at Neil. “The boy has no manners. He’s been nothing but impolite and has been making my day miserable.”