She could definitely have less of that.
Rishi’s phone buzzed. “Well, things will get a lot less calm in a few minutes. My parents’ train got into town, and they just got an auto to bring them here.”
“What do we do?”
“Make them coffee?” Rishi shrugged.
“Right, coffee.” Coffee was pretty miraculous, but she wasn’t sure it was the poultice that would solve all their problems.
Rishi was talking to Sona and Sudhar in the main room of the apartment, and Emma had heated the milk until it was bubbling up into a boil, just as a knock sounded at the door. In that moment it was like everyone in the apartment held their breath. Only the sizzle of the milk could be heard as it leaped up the sides of the pan.
Rishi greeted his parents at the door. Emma joined him, and his parents looked surprised to see her. “Hello, uncle and auntie. Did you have a good journey?” Emma asked.
“It was good,” his dad said. His mom nodded, that sort of side-to-side nod that acknowledged you.
Rishi grabbed the coffee from the kitchen and brought it out for his parents. “So, I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?” His parents both looked at him.
Rishi leaned over to Emma. “Can you go get Sejal?”
Panic leaped up in Emma’s chest. She was supposed to carry the baby in? What the hell were his parents going to think? “Are you sure that’s a good—”
“It’s fine,” he said before he started talking in Tamil to his parents.
“Oh-kaaaaay.” She walked into the bedroom and picked up Sejal carefully. She’d really only held a handful of babies before. A cousin when she was ten, a niece and a nephew, and her coworker’s baby who had been thrust in her arms. But looking down at Sejal, who stared up at her with big round Rishi eyes, she simply melted. Sona and Sudhar just smiled at her. Apparently they knew all about this plan, with Operation Baby Sejal as the cornerstone of the family win-over.
Emma walked back in, smiling as she savored Sejal’s weight against her—until his parents jumped off the couch and started yelling at Rishi in words she didn’t understand. Sejal started crying, and Emma froze as his parents scowled at her. “Uh? What’s going on?”
“It’s not our baby!” Rishi yelled back at his parents, shaking his head. “This is Sejal.”
Emma tried to rock back and forth to calm the baby down while also holding her so his parents could see her face. “See? No red hair.” She smiled. What else was she supposed to say? His mother’s scowl returned. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best thing to have said.
“She’s Sudhar’s baby.”
“He’s just left her with you? Why?” His mother pushed herself off the couch and came to Emma.
“Do you want to hold her?” Emma held Sejal out. Rishi’s mom’s face had that dewy, melting quality like Emma’s had probably had a few moments before. She took Sejal from Emma’s arms, and the baby looked up at her grandmother. “She has eyes like Rishi.”
His dad came up and stood next to his wife, smiling at the baby, but then he glanced back at Rishi. “What is this all about?”
“Well, I thought it was time we put the past in the past. Sudhar has a baby now, and Sona’s family didn’t intentionally try to ruin you. You should be grandparents to Sejal, and she needs to know the other side of her family. It’s been too long, and I want us all to be happy together.”
His mother’s mouth hung open. “So you’re talking with Sudhar? You are in contact with him?”
“Mom, I’m here.”
Sudhar and Sona emerged from the bedroom, and suddenly it was like a cannon had been set off. Sejal was in Emma’s arms again, and his parents were spouting off in Tamil, and even though Emma couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, she could tell it was not good.
Sona came up to his mother and tried to touch her feet, her hands in front of her chest as if in prayer, and his mom actually stepped back so she couldn’t touch her. She turned her attention to Sudhar and started railing at him, while Rishi and his father argued. Sejal started crying in Emma’s arms again, and she was at a loss for what to do. Her eyes searched for Sona, who was crying as well, and Emma tried her best to keep the baby happy while Rishi’s family sorted out this mess.
“How can you think that you can just have us meet, and all will be fine?” Rishi’s dad asked.
“Appa, I didn’t. I want you to talk!”
“We’re done talking. Last time we talked, we lost everything. Everything!”
“Rishi, don’t be a fool. I hope you didn’t give them any money!” his mom said.
“Mom, please. Let’s just all sit down and talk.”
His mother shook her head like talking was the craziest thing ever suggested. “Rishi, who are you? What has happened to you? You cancel your engagement, you start talking to Sudhar, you think you want to be with this American woman! You’ve lost it!”
As they kept talking, all the warmth and joy that had briefly filled Emma from meeting the rest of his family started trickling out of her, along with the hope that Rishi’s parents would one day accept her. The brief daydream of having a cute baby of their own with eyes like Rishi’s vanished. She’d been trying so hard. She’d been trying to learn the language, cook his mother’s recipes, wear the right clothes, and say the right things. And for what?
They’d switched back to Tamil and were still arguing. This was between them. It was a family issue, and clearly, Emma was not family.
She walked to Sona and gave Sejal to her. “I’m sorry, but I think I should go,” Emma said. She didn’t belong here with his family. They had enough to deal with, and apparently she was a component of why Rishi had “lost it.”
“That’s how they were to me too,” Sona whispered back. And although Emma smiled and nodded, that was all she needed to hear. That’s how they were to her? Sona, who was from the same country and the same religion? They hadn’t gone to the wedding, and they didn’t talk to her. Emma’s fate was standing before her.
While his parents might have been tolerating Emma, that was really all it was. Tolerating. She was essentially waging another war within his family. Did she want to do that again to them? They were still fighting a battle from two years ago. Why was she doing this to Rishi? His parents would never get over this, or them.
She walked toward the door and put her shoes on. “Emma, what are you doing?” Rishi asked, coming over to her as his parents argued with Sudhar.
“I need to go. I don’t belong here, and your parents clearly don’t want me in your life. I’m just an added complication. You should just focus on your family.” She opened the door, begging herself not to cry, although she could feel the tears resting on the surface, ready to cascade down.
“No, wait. Let’s talk about this. My mom was just upset; she didn’t mean what she said.”
“Yes, she did.” Emma shook her head and walked outside as his parents continued their rant. At least this time it wouldn’t be about her.
“Just give me a minute,” Rishi said, and he walked back to his parents, but an auto drove by. She flagged it down and hopped in before he could come back outside.
She felt increasingly deflated as the auto neared her home. Somehow, as she’d gone to Rishi’s today, she’d been hopeful. Dressed the part of helpful girlfriend who tried to fit in with her boyfriend’s family. She’d toted the baby around, trying to play parental reconciler. Who was she kidding? If they’d never accepted Sona, how would they ever accept her? And she was not going to be the one to keep Rishi from his family. If Rishi wasn’t going to stop them from being together and wrecking what remained of his family, then maybe she was the one who would have to take the first step.
When she got home, she poured a glass of wine and sat down at her laptop. She looked at Maria’s email again. The offer to go home. A promotion. A new life. A life where she wouldn’t tear up the family of the man she loved. Maybe she’d start fresh and meet someone new. Someone whose family would acc
ept her for who she was.
Because Rishi needed his family, and Emma wanted a family too.
CHAPTER 46
His parents were insane. That was the only way Rishi could rationalize why the two caring people who had raised three successful children could lose their minds and not listen to reason.
“Just stop it!” Rishi had never yelled at his parents so loudly, but he couldn’t take it anymore. Yes, he was supposed to respect them, but he was doing all this because he respected them. Because he wanted to put back together the broken pieces of his family. Now Emma was upset and had left, and that was the end of any leftover facade he was still trying to maintain. “What is wrong with you? Don’t you see that you’re destroying your family?” That might not have been how he was supposed to talk to elders, but he’d had enough.
“He destroyed it first!” His mother pointed at his brother, like he was a toddler. “He married her and abandoned the family.”
“No, he did not. He married the woman he loved. Just like I want to marry the woman I love. I know it was hard when you were younger to do that. Life was different. I get that. You learned to love each other. My friends, who also had arranged marriages, love their wives. Dharini, who will have a traditional marriage, will also love her spouse. But there are different ways to go about who you want to spend your life with. You need to understand that.”
“Her family has taken our money,” his dad said.
“My family also lost their money. Didn’t you get our letters and emails?” Sona asked, her eyes still teary.
“Oh, we got them, but we tore them up and threw them in the dustbin.” His mother, defiant, crossed her arms and sat back against the couch. He’d never seen her so determined to not listen to reason.
“Mom, maybe you should hear what they have to say, since you tore up all their letters.” He was really trying to not roll his eyes.
Sona and Sudhar told their side of the story, both of them crying at different points, about how hard Sona’s family had struggled, how terrible they all felt. How her uncle had disappeared, and when the family contacted the police to find him, he seemed to have just vanished. Rishi’s parents seemed to calm down at that.
Rishi walked into the kitchen and tried calling Emma again. But she didn’t answer. Again. She wasn’t replying to his texts. Where was she? She’d just disappeared outside, and he didn’t know what had happened to her. Had she just gone home, or had something happened?
He walked back into the hall and was shocked to see his mother crying and holding Sejal again. Sudhar had come to her side and had his arm around her, and his dad was leaning over, his finger in Sejal’s pudgy fist.
Like a family portrait. But someone was missing.
“This is really great, but I need to go to Emma’s house. She’s not answering the phone or my messages, and I’m worried. She left here upset,” he said, shooting his mom a look. “And I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You really care for her, is it?” his father asked.
“Yeah, Dad, I love her.”
His mom looked up. “I should apologize to her. I shouldn’t have said those things in front of her.”
Rishi thought only one of those things had been in English, but that had been enough. “You mean just saying those things in general, right, Ma? Not just in front of her? You know she’s been trying so hard to fit in for you. She’s taking Tamil from a tutor after work twice a week, she’s trying to cook your recipes, and she’s making every attempt to understand your world. You’ve done nothing to try and understand hers.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I should apologize to her. For thinking those things too.”
“Well, maybe just apologize to her and say you appreciate her effort. You know she doesn’t have her own family. It’s really important that you accept her.”
They nodded.
“Why don’t we all go to her place?” Sudhar said. “I have a car, and if something happened, you won’t be alone.”
“Okay.” Rishi tried not to overthink the implications of his entire family journeying to Emma’s house. “Let’s go.”
They all piled into the small five-seater, with Sona clutching Sejal in the back, and drove to Emma’s house.
Rishi knocked on the door, his heart thumping in his chest. If something happened to her because of his parents’ words, he’d never forgive himself. Car wreck, auto accident—whatever could have happened to her, he didn’t want to think about it. But then the lock on the door clicked.
“Emma? Are you in there?” He pounded on the door.
She opened the door. “Hi. Why are you here?”
“What do you mean, why am I here? You scared the hell out of me.”
“Rishi, I just couldn’t. You’re like my Achilles’ heel. My weak spot. My . . .”
“What? Look, I’m sorry about my parents. They’re crazy, but it’s getting better, I swear.”
“You always say that, but I realized today that no matter what I do, they’re never going to accept me. I can dress, act, speak however I should, but they’ll never just like me, for me.” She shook her head.
“Yes, they will. They already do. My mom was just upset, and she’s going through a lot.”
“I can’t do this to you. I don’t want a life like your brother and his wife have, where their child is cut off from half their family, because I don’t have family to give them. Or you. Don’t you see, if I stick around and we’re together, you’ll regret it, and you won’t talk to your parents, and even if you’re pissed at them, I don’t want any resentment between us, and . . .”
She rubbed at her eyes. Was she crying? “Emma . . .” Rishi took her hand. “I know you’ve been through a lot. I come with a lot of baggage, I guess . . .” He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. “But I swear, it’s better. It’s going to be better. They’ve had a . . . what do you call it? A ‘come to Jesus’ moment.” He inhaled the scent of her hair.
“How is that possible?” She stepped out of his embrace. “It’s been, like, an hour. And maybe they’ll be nice today or tomorrow, but when it comes down to it, would they ever accept me? No. Not in a million years.”
“Just give them a chance.”
“I did. I gave us a chance; I gave myself a chance. And nothing’s changed. Why are we going to torture ourselves for the next seven months? If I leave now, you can pick right back up where you left off. Your normal life.”
“Emma, this is my normal life. You are part of it.”
“Rishi, is she there? Is she okay? I want to apologize.” His mother’s voice was almost at the door, and Rishi practically jumped away from Emma, but it was almost worth it to see the absolute shock on her face.
“What’s going on? Is that your mom?” She wiped at her eyes, which were now betraying how completely freaked out she was.
His mother walked up to her doorstep from around the corner. “Emma! You are here. Listen, I am so sorry for what I said, and I appreciate all the effort you’re putting into language and everything.” And then his mom did an odd thing; she held her hand out to shake Emma’s. Rishi tried not to laugh.
Emma took her hand and shook it limply in hers. “Thank you, auntie.”
The noise of activity behind them grew as the sounds of Sejal crying and Sudhar moaning something echoed toward the house.
“What’s happening? Is everyone here?” Emma asked. From around the corner, the rest of the family emerged in a great bustle, his dad trying to help Sudhar. Sudhar and Sona fussing over Sejal. Sejal crying as Sona held a bottle and tried to test it. His mother turned to try to also interject into the conversation.
“Oh, yeah, we all came,” Rishi said. “Uh, can they come in, or is your place . . . ?” He didn’t want to ask if she had bras hanging from the doorknob or if she had picked up all the condom wrappers off the floor.
“Uh, yeah, come in.” Emma held the door open as the flood of people came inside, asking her if she was okay, Sona asking if she could change
Sejal’s diaper, his dad asking for the toilet. It didn’t get more family than that. “I’ll make coffee,” Emma said. “Rishi, can you help me?”
He joined her in the kitchen.
“So, what’s happening? A few hours ago everyone was about to kill each other, and now everyone’s all happy and your mom is talking to Sona, and I just really don’t understand.”
“Oh, Emma, that’s how family is. You know, it’s always the worst before it’s the best.”
She opened her mouth to say something and then stopped.
“Are we good?” he asked. “You didn’t answer my calls or anything, and I was really worried.”
She wiped at her eyes again. “It’s nothing. I was on my laptop and was about to do something stupid about work. You saved me just in time. Maybe life is like your family. Like you said, it always feels really bad right before it gets really good.”
“It’s true but totally unfair,” he whispered and then kissed her.
The sizzle from the boiling milk caught them off guard, but Emma just laughed and turned the stove off. She said, “That was the last of the milk. Now who’s saved the day?”
CHAPTER 47
The firecrackers had started going off at dawn. Actually before dawn. Emma was sleeping on the daybed at Rishi’s parents’ house when she woke up, and only the faintest hint of light was outside. The room was swathed in that predawn blue, and it would have been peaceful with the sound of birds in the trees, like the morning before, except then—BANG! Bang bang bang bang bang bang! Ten times over. Again and again. Like she was stuck in some machine-gun battle at the front.
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