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Her eyes met Dev’s. He knew what she was trying to tell him, but his emotions were all over the place right now to pay heed to her words.
“We reconnected there,” Avantika continued, “and Dev returned to Dubai with me.”
A wrinkle formed on Neil’s forehead. “Does Sanj know? She needs to know, Mom.”
Dev frowned. Sanj? Oh, he meant Sanjana. The one person he’d trusted and who’d also deceived him. Obviously, his son cared a lot about her.
“I met Sanjana at the hospital,” Dev replied. “I wanted to meet you that day. Since Myra was unwell, your mom and I decided to wait until tonight…”
“Are you really my dad?” Neil asked in a small voice. Hope shone on his face, and his eyes were bright with tears he was trying hard not to shed.
Dev nodded.
Neil flung himself at Dev’s chest. It took Dev less than a second to wrap his arms around his son and hold him close.
“I prayed for you, daily…” Neil whispered against his chest. “I prayed that Mom was wrong and that you were alive somewhere and looking for me. All my friends have fathers. I wanted you so badly. Where were you? Why didn’t you come for me earlier? I…I missed you.”
Dev cleared his throat to ease the thick ball of emotion that had taken residence there.
“My son…” Dev said. “I’ve been searching for your mother for years. I was living in India, and I didn’t know that you were waiting for me. Had I known, I would have tried harder to find you.”
Neil shifted to look at him. “Promise me that you won’t leave us.”
“I promise.”
“Can I call you Dad?”
Oh God! This boy was so precious. His chest twisted from so much love.
“Yes…” Dev choked out.
Neil hugged him again. Dev looked up to see Avantika sniffing quietly. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched Neil. Dev held his son tight, struggling to prevent the tears threatening to consume him. There was so much his son didn’t know, and so much Dev couldn’t tell him yet. One day, he silently promised himself. When Neil was older, he would tell him everything. Right now, however, he’d bask in the knowledge that his son had been waiting for him, praying for him to be real.
19
Her son was ecstatic. He was bubbling with infectious energy. And Dev looked equally delighted. She followed the two of them as Neil excitedly showed Dev around the house, talking nineteen to the dozen. Her chest hurt to see the wide smile that hadn’t slipped even once from Neil’s face ever since he had learned Dev was his father.
Neil didn’t even have questions. He’d been missing his father’s presence in his life for so long now that he’d accepted their explanation without a seed of doubt. Her boy was too innocent.
Worry stormed through her. Dev had forced this meeting with Neil without giving her a choice. If she’d had her way, she would have waited until she’d heard Dev out and then decided whether to tell him about Neil or not.
A prickle of apprehension stabbed her chest. She’d agreed to listen to Dev’s story. But what if she was wrong about him? What if…? No, she had to stop thinking like that. There had to be a reason for his actions from the past; she felt his truth in her heart.
There had to be a reason she wasn’t afraid that her son was meeting his father. In the past, the mere thought of Dev learning about Neil had filled her with utter dread.
But now, after spending time with Dev and after seeing his heartfelt reaction to Neil, she wasn’t scared at all. She knew it in her bones that Dev wouldn’t hurt him. That was the main reason she felt at ease with this irrevocable step she’d taken.
“Mom,” Neil’s voice cut into her thoughts, “Dad’s staying for dinner, right?”
Her eyes misted again. So easily her son addressed Dev as Dad.
Dev responded to him before she could. “I’d like to stay if it’s okay with your mom.”
Avantika nodded, smiling her brightest for her son’s sake. “Why don’t you both talk in the living room while I get started on dinner?”
She could hear Neil’s excited chatter and Dev’s quiet replies as she heated the food in the kitchen. Neil was telling Dev about his extra-curricular classes and the sports he loved. When she returned outside with the dishes, Neil leapt up from the sofa.
“I have to go and help Mom set up the table,” he told Dev, rushing to get the crockery and cutlery out.
