Page 126 of Entangled Vows
Mahika pulled back slightly and smiled at her. “Ma, I think now you should meet that son of yours.” Mahika turned to look at Vikram. His intense gaze was already on her, and she gave him an encouraging smile, ignoring the shiver that ran down her spine.
Slowly, Vikram’s gaze shifted to his mother.
“Hi, Viku.” Devika’s voice caught on the old nickname.
The word hit him hard, but he kept his face composed. Without speaking, he walked over and stood beside Mahika.
“Hi, Ma,” he said. His tone was flat, but those two words were loaded with emotion.
Devika’s lips trembled as she moved closer. She stared at him as if trying to memorise the face of the boy she once knew, now grown into a man she’d lost for too long. Her hand came to rest on his cheek.
“You look so much like your father,” she whispered.
Vikram’s body tensed.
“I... I am sorry, dear.” Devika’s lips quivered on the words. “I never meant to leave you. I just... I couldn’t stay with your father.”
“I don’t need to hear any explanation,” Vikram said through gritted teeth.
“No. But I need to tell you,” she said, her voice breaking. “What happened between me and Sanjyot… it was about us, not you. You were never unloved, my sweet boy.”
“Then why did you take Suraj with you?” His voice cracked, years of buried hurt coming to the fore. “Why him? Why not me? Why not both of us?”
She looked shaken by the question.
“I thought you understood more than he did. You were fourteen, Vikram. You seemed stronger, more grown up. Suraj was only seven. He needed me in a different way. I couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore. I loved your father once, but he stopped trying.” Devika’s face was etched with past hurt. “And then I found love again… with my best friend from college. I didn’t know how to stay after that. I left you with your father because I thought he could provide you with best of everything you needed. I told myself it would be enough. But leaving you... it broke me too, Viku.”
She moved forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug that was filled with guilt and desperation. It was a mother’s hug that came too late, but carried years of silence and longing.
Vikram stood frozen at first. His body resisted even as something inside him splintered. Slowly, his arms lifted, and he held her. Not tightly, but just enough to let her know she was not being rejected.
“I can’t say it’s okay,” he whispered. “But I am trying to forgive. It will take time.”
Her tears soaked his clothes as she clung to him. “Thank you. For letting me be here. For seeing me.”
The mother-son duo stood like that, holding on to each other as though a long-lost part of Vikram’s childhood hadfinally been acknowledged, as though it had finally begun to heal.
Then, a soft knock broke the moment.
Sandhya Ma stood at the arch between the dining and living room, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Lunch is ready,” she said softly.
Devika turned, her face lighting up. “Sandhya,” she breathed and enveloped her in a hug. “How are you?”
“I am fine, Devika didi. It is good to see you again,” Sandhya replied, hugging her back.
“Thank you,” Devika whispered. “You took care of my sons when I couldn’t. I can never repay you for that.”
Sandhya waved the words away. “Didi, you don’t have to repay anything. They are mine too.”
Devika’s voice quivered. “Then let me say this… I will always be grateful. You gave them the warmth I couldn’t. That kind of love... It’s not forgotten.”
Sandhya gave Devika’s hand a fond pat and smiled. “Come now, everyone. The food’s getting cold.”
As they walked towards the dining area, Devika paused in front of the wall lined with family photographs. Her fingers brushed a frame from Vikram’s graduation. He stood beside Suraj and their father, all three in matching suits. Their father’s hand rested on both their shoulders.
“He was so proud of you that day,” she whispered. “He sent me this picture afterwards. He could not stop bragging about you in his email.”
