Thank you all so much for such positive response to this FF. I realise you all have many questions and I promise all of them will be answered as te story unfolds. So please be patient.
Happy Reading!
Anam
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Part II
Aditya sat at the table, looking upon the spread his Mausi had prepared with a proud smile. "Mausi, everything smells so good! I know I say this every time, but you've outdone yourself again, Mausi."
"I DID help, Papa," Anu pretended to be offended.
"She didn't even burn the rotis!" Atharva exclaimed, setting off laughter around the room, Simran's being especially infectious.
"Atharva," Bani admonished between bouts of laughter.
"But she always burns them," Atharva replied, unperturbed.
"I do," Anu admitted with a giggle. "Tony made the Rotis this time, Papa."
"I knew it," Aditya grinned to himself.
"Papa!" Anu tried to shame her father, to no avail.
As everyone was about to start eating, Atharva spoke up.
"Wait," Atharva cried, "we can't start without Papa."
Bani stared at the empty plate in at the head of the table, to her left, guilt making it difficult to look into the eyes of the people around her, Jais' family.
"Atharva," Mausi began uncomfortably, "I don't think…"
A door opened and shut, and the sensation of cool autumn air whispering against her cheeks had Bani raising her head.
"Am I too late?" Jais' dark eyes burned into Bani's soul, stealing her breath.
"No, Papa," Atharva beamed, patting the vacant seat beside him, "you're just in time."
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"More chicken, please," Atharva asked around a mouthful of food, holding up his plate.
"Ew, Atharva!" Simran scrunched up her nose. "You're gross."
"Simran!" Purva exclaimed in exasperation, shooting an apologetic look Bani's way. "Apologize to your cousin. He's not gross."
"But talking with your mouth full is," Anu scolded.
"Sowwy," Atharva shrugged, his mouth only slightly less full. He lifted his plate again, looking at Jai pointedly.
Bani hid her smile behind her napkin as Jai inspected their son's plate.
Jai took the plate from Atharva and set it back down in front of him. "Finish your rice, first."
"But Papa," Atharva whined.
Jai meant business. "Finish your rice."
"Yes, Papa," Atharva pouted.
"Then you can have some more chicken," Bani told him, searching out Jais' eyes to make sure she hadn't overstepped any boundaries.
Jai gave a small nod of his head in answer.
Once she had her answer, Bani averted her eyes, uncomfortable under Jais' watchful gaze. She'd thought he wouldn't be able to stand the sight of her once they'd come face to face again, but it seemed he couldn't tear his eyes away from her, and his scrutiny was unnerving.
"Dadi," Atharva turned his attention to Mausi, "why doesn't Rano masi want to spend Diwali with us?"
Mausi looked stricken, her eyes and her smile sad. "It isn't that she doesn't *want* to spend Diwali with us, Atharva…" she trailed off when she felt the comfort of Aditya's hand on her shoulder.
"She wants to spend it with Ranveer bhaiya and Varun," Anu finished for her mother.
Atharva seemed to accept Anu's answer and returned to his previous abandoned activity, pushing the tiny green peas that littered his plate around with his fork.
"Atharva," Jai gently chastised, covering the small hand with his much larger one. "Stop playing with your food."
On the other side of Bani, Simran giggled, covering her mouth with both of her hands at her mother's own warning look.
His fork confiscated, Atharva's attention shifted back to Bani, and he studied her with serious blue eyes, his fingers absently pulling at his dinner roll. "My aunt Rano masi live here anymore. Because she's a Dixit. Is she a bad person Anu didi?"
"Hey baghwan," Mausi muttered under her breath. "Jai," she warned.
The clatter of silverware ceased as all eyes were drawn to Jai and Bani, and Atharva, who continued on with no intervention from his father.
"Papa says all Dixits are bad," Atharva informed Bani, not noticing, in his childish innocence, the wounded look in her eyes. "Right, Papa?"
"Simran," Purva stood up, scooping her protesting daughter from her chair and setting her down with a slight groan, "why don't we go check on Dixie in the living room?"
"You said I could have cake," Simran whined as Purva tugged her away from the table.
"Later," Purva hissed.
Anu lifted her napkin from her lap and placed it on the table in front of her. "I'll…I'm gonna…in there," she finished awkwardly.
"Atharva," Mausi choked out in an overly bright voice, desperately trying to cut through the tension that seemed to suck all of the oxygen out of the room, "more chicken?" When it seemed her offer fell on deaf ears, she looked to Aditya for help.
Aditya responded by standing up and crossing the small distance to Atharva's side. Cupping his hands under the boy's arms, he lifted him up and onto his hip. "Up you go. That's enough."
"But Adi uncle," Atharva frowned. "I don't wanna. I want to stay with Mama and Papa."
"Not right now," Aditya replied. "Mausi?"
Mausi hesitated for the briefest of seconds.
"It's okay, Mausi," Bani finally spoke. "I think it's best if Jai and I have this conversation alone."
"She's right, Mausi," Jai agreed.
"Please," Mausi implored them both before she left. "Don't say something in anger that you'll regret later."
"It's really too bad," Bani turned to Jai with tears in her eyes as soon as they were alone.
Jai opened his mouth to speak but couldn't force the words out, her very nearness twisting his emotions and making it difficult for him to think and react clearly.
"She's a few years too late for that Mausi."
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Finally, Jai reacted on instinct alone, a hand reaching out, fingertips making contact with her smooth skin for one heart-stopping moment before Bani withdrew from him as if burned. "I didn't mean…"
Shaking her head at his ill-attempt at dishonesty, Bani simply said, "You did. And I am. I am a bad person. I'm a Dixit."
The urge to cup her chin in his hands and steady its trembling surprised and angered Jai. He held onto his anger because he knew, if he didn't, the tenderness would be his undoing. "The Dixits hurt everything they touch. They're poison."
A tear spilled from one of Bani's eyes, slipping down her cheek unchecked. She stared straight ahead, unable to meet Jais' eyes. "What about Atharva?"
"Atharva's a Walia." Jais' chair scraped harshly against the floor as he got up, turning his back on Bani and the pain he knew he'd inflicted.
Bani's broken whisper still reached Jais' ears. "I'm his mother."
"His biological mother," Jai whirled around to face her, forcing his eyes to be hard and unforgiving. "But in every way that counts?" he steeled himself to her soft sobs. "You're not his mother. You never were."
To be continued…
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