Chapter 54 Learning Them Again

When they reached home, the doors opened before they could even ring the bell.

Mr and Mrs Qureshi were already waiting.

Their eyes searched her face the moment she stepped inside.

Poornima gave a small, polite smile.

They smiled back, warmth filling their expressions despite the heaviness in their hearts.

“Beta, you should rest,” Mrs Qureshi said gently.

Poornima nodded. “Okay… aunty.”

There was a brief pause.

Mrs Qureshi’s smile softened further, though her eyes carried emotion.

“You used to call me mumma,” she said quietly. “And him papa. You can call us that.”

Poornima looked at them for a second.

Then nodded simply.

“Okay.”

She hesitated just a little.

Then said softly,

“Mumma… Papa.”

The words were new on her lips.

But they still held meaning.

Mr and Mrs Qureshi smiled immediately, their eyes lighting up with quiet happiness.

It was enough.

For now.

Veeresh stood beside her, watching everything silently.

Then he gently guided her toward their room.

“Come,” he said.

She followed him without resistance.

Behind them, Mrs Qureshi stood still for a moment, her mind drifting back.

She remembered that day.

The muh dikhai ceremony.

Poornima sitting shyly, opening gifts.

Then that moment.

When she saw the college papers.

Her eyes had lit up.

She had hugged her tightly.

“Thank you, mumma,” she had said, her voice filled with happiness.

And then she had kissed her cheek.

So naturally.

So lovingly.

Mrs Qureshi blinked, coming back to the present.

A tear slipped down quietly.

Mr Qureshi noticed and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“She will remember,” he said softly.

“Or she will create it again.”

Mrs Qureshi nodded slowly.

Holding onto that hope.

Upstairs, Veeresh opened the door to their room.

Poornima stepped in and looked around.

Everything felt unfamiliar.

Yet not entirely strange.

She turned slightly toward him.

“This is… our room?”

“Yes,” he said gently.

She nodded, taking a few steps inside.

There was no memory attached.

But there was a quiet sense of belonging.

And Veeresh watched her carefully.

Because this time…

He knew.

Every moment would have to begin again.

From the start.