The next morning Akhil was up bright and early as per usual. He prayed before exercising and then taking a relaxing shower. It was his normal routine and one he had adopted from his late childhood into adulthood.
Since he was going to go into work late today, he decided to wait to get dressed until after breakfast and sat down in his usual seat in his traditional clothes. "Here," Malina said as she put down the freshly cut fruits in front of her brother-in-law knowing he loved to get first pick.
Smiling at how well his bhabhi knew him, Akhil put some fruit onto his plate before beginning to eat. The only time they were really required to wait for all of the family was dinnertime since even the men were back from work by then. Mr. Malik sat down at the table and smiled at his son before ruffling his hair.
Mr. Malik really did care about all of his children and had tried to be a bit more lenient with them than his Father had been with him. Though, no one could deny that he had a special place in his heart for Akhil who, as a child, was always seen by his father's side. Infact, Akhil was the only one who was ever allowed to sleep in their room as long as he had. For his other children he didn't let them sleep in his bed after age 5 but Akhil hadn't broken of the habit until he was close to 10 years old. Even then, Mr. Malik could be seen in his son's room to comfort him and stay with him through the night.
"Abu, you're not eating," Akhil noticed as he waited until he had finished chewing to address the fact that his Father seemed to be lost in another world. Snapping out of it, Malik smiled at his son before nodding and looking at the food set around the table.
Soon after breakfast was in full swing as they had all settled down until Rahul came to join them. Then the conversation that was flowing seemed to stop, as well. "Morning," Rahul said as he avoided his father's burning gaze like the plague. Instead, he began to eat his food until Malik stood up and excused himself. Watching his Father go and then noticing the untouched food, Akhil sighed before standing up.
"Excuse me," he muttered remembering his manners as he walked away from the table and after their Father who had stepped outside into the back garden. Malik had chosen to stand under the canopy covering they had and Akhil joined him, as both father and son stood in silence.
"I remember when me and Rahul were younger you would bring us out here to play cricket. It was that planter, over there," he pointed to a spot in the corner of the garden before finishing his sentence,"I think that I broke. Rahul took the blame, though, and Ami punished him instead of me." Malik still didn't reply and Akhil turned around so instead of leaning on the banister with his hands, he was leaning against it with his lower back.
"Abu, he means well," he softly admitted to which his Father shook his head and said,"Akhil, you always try to justify his actions but how can you approve of this?" Shrugging his shoulders, Akhil crossed his arms over himself as he said,"He doesn't need my approval, Abu, but he wants yours. No, he shouldn't have gone out and gotten drunk but he did the right thing after. He called me instead of driving home," Akhil left out the part that it wasn't Rahu who called but Rahul's friend, not seeing it as important.
Then, noticing the tension and annoyance in his Father's shoulders he gently put his hands on the shoulders and squeezed them. "Abu, forgive him because we don't live long enough to be able to ever truly be upset with someone," then in a quieter voice admitted, "Because we don't know if they'll be here tomorrow for us to be upset with."
Sensing the truth in his son's words Malik nodded before placing a kiss on his head and going inside. As he watched the older man go, Akhil turned around to lean on the banister with his hands once again as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to really take control of his body. Slowly, he became aware of the weight of his own body and the rhythm of his breathing before opening his eyes again with a genuine smile on his face.
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