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By the time Dharmesh, Usha, Sam and Chinmay finally left Sengkang that afternoon, the emotional intensity of the morning had softened into something lighter. Real. Settled.
The kind of happiness that didn't need dramatic declarations because everyone had already felt it.
Leela had packed containers of leftover food despite Usha insisting it wasn't necessary.
"It is absolutely necessary," Leela declared.
"We are capable of cooking."
"Then why are you packing six containers?"
"Because your son looked emotionally attached to my daughter's avocado toast."
Sam looked offended. "I liked all the food equally."
"No," Chinmay said immediately. "You looked at that avocado toast like it wrote you poetry."
Everyone laughed.
Even Dharmesh had failed to hide his amusement that time.
Eventually goodbyes happened slower than expected. Usha hugged Ammu twice. Leela held her daughter's face for a quiet second after everyone stepped out, eyes shining with a kind of relief only mothers understood.
Jai shook Sam's hand first. Then pulled him into a brief hug that caught Sam completely off guard. It lasted barely two seconds.
But it meant everything.
"Take care of her," Jai said quietly.
Sam's expression shifted instantly. Always steady and sincere. "I already do."
Jai looked at him for a long moment before nodding once. "I know."
And somehow that simple exchange stayed with Sam long after they left.
The drive back to The Waterside was unusually quiet. Not awkward. Just full. Usha sat in the passenger seat smiling at absolutely nothing.
Dharmesh was answering congratulatory calls from Mani, who had apparently already been updated by Leela fifteen minutes after the answer was given.
"That woman leaks information faster than corporate media," Dharmesh muttered.
Usha laughed. "She's excited."
"She informed Mani before I could."
"That sounds like your problem."
From the backseat, Chinmay looked entirely too pleased with himself. "I would just like formal acknowledgment that I played a significant role today."
Sam looked out the window. "You did not."
"I emotionally stabilized both of you."
"You created additional instability."
"That is subjective."
"It is not." Usha laughed again.
By the time they reached The Waterside, Chinmay was dropped off at his car after loudly reminding Sam to "stay hydrated because fiancés require emotional maintenance."
"Leave," Sam said.
"Such hostility from a man who got engaged over avocado toast."
"We are not engaged."
"Spiritually you are."
"Get out."
Chinmay left grinning.
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