Chapter 53 – The First Meal Together

For a moment, nobody moved properly. Rakesh stood near the table, Nitin a few steps behind him, while Rahul looked between all of them and the single dining setup in silence. The old habit of turning away was still there, visible in the hesitation, but before anyone could leave, the children came running first.

“Poha aunty!” Vedant called excitedly the moment he saw Poornima.

Aradhya ran behind him. “What did you make today?”

That broke the tension slightly.

Poornima smiled. “Sit first and see.”

The kids quickly took their places, completely unaware of the awkward silence between the adults. Reyansh was already pulling Sri Devi’s chair closer while Aradhya peeked into the serving bowls with curiosity.

Slowly—

The others sat too.

Not comfortably.

Not naturally.

But they sat.

And that itself felt like progress.

Poornima started serving calmly without making the moment bigger than it was. “Bhai, little more dal?” she asked Rakesh naturally, and before he could refuse, she had already served him. Then she passed the sabzi toward Nitin and placed extra curd near Rahul because she remembered the maid mentioning he preferred it with lunch.

Nobody missed that.

The children started eating first.

“This potato fry is nice!” Vedant said immediately.

“I like the paneer,” Aradhya added happily.

Reyansh was busy eating quietly for once instead of complaining, and even little Sri Devi was eating properly without creating chaos, which made Ragini stare in surprise.

The atmosphere slowly changed without anyone realizing exactly when.

Rakesh took another bite and finally looked at Poornima properly. “This is beautiful,” he said honestly. “And tasty.”

Nitin nodded slightly. “The food actually feels… homely.”

Rahul looked less guarded too. “It’s been a long time since everyone sat like this.”

Poornima smiled faintly but didn’t react too much. “Then continue sitting,” she replied simply.

Ruhi looked around the table for a second before asking, “Where’s Veeresh?”

“He went to college, bhai,” Poornima answered while serving rotis. “Morning class.”

Ritika looked at her and smiled a little, understanding immediately what Poornima had done.

Because this lunch—

Wasn’t accidental.

It was planned.

And somehow—

It was working.