Page 112 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

“Listen, when your mom was here.” He continued stroking my arm. “I spent some time talking with her. She was pleasantly surprised that I spoke Hindi, and that’s how we began chatting. She casually mentioned that she hopes to return to her life in India soon. She has very few friends here and no relatives, and despite your best intentions, it gets lonely. And she worries about Aditya.”

“She never said anything to me!”

“She knows you worry about her, and she doesn’t want to add to your burdens. She thinks it will upset you.”

I squinted in disbelief. “And she said all this to you?”

“Not in so many words. But I can read between the lines. Don’t forget, I’m just as smart as you.”

“That’s what you think!”

Planting a kiss on my forehead, he grabbed a lock of my hair to twist around his finger. “No one should be forced to live where they don’t want to, Tara, if they have another option. I brought my father here against his wishes, and he hasn’t been happy a single day since. He can’t return, but your mother can, and she should have the freedom to do so. I asked my friends to talk some sense into your brother and got him into that rehab. Once he’s sober, they’ll keep checking up on him. I’ve also talked to someone about getting him a job. One that he likes. Your mother should be able to return if she wants. It is her home.”

I pulled in a deep breath. “That’s an expensive program, Sameer. You shouldn’t have paid for it.”

“Hey, our destinies, our fortunes are linked now. It’s no longer just my money. It’s ours. So are our families, for better or worse. Mostly for worse.” He grinned. “We have to deal with them together. I hope I didn’t overstep my privileges.”

“Oh, darling!” I leaned in and kissed him.

He took my hands in his and kissed them, and then I felt him exhale hard against my forehead. “I haven’t told you everything about Riya,” he said.

I looked into his eyes.

“I was the one who compelled Dad to leave them and come to the U.S. with Mom and me. I left them alone and desolate in a cruel world where an unmarried mother and a child born out of wedlock face the worst kind of stigma. I took Dad’s love out of their lives and replaced it with money. Juhi and I were both grown up. We didn’t need him, but Riya did, and I stole him away from her.”

I gaped at him, speechless.

“There are two things I need to ask you,” he whispered. “Can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with a man who would do this to a woman and her child?”

I pulled in a breath at the end of a long pause. “Did they forgive you?”

“Sangita did. I’m not sure about Riya.”

“I think you’ve more than atoned for it, Sameer. You shouldn’t keep punishing yourself.”

He clutched my hands between his and kissed them. “Thank you,” he said as a tear rolled down the side of his face and onto the pillow.

I wiped his eyes with my palm. “What’s the other thing?”

“When Riya is here, I might end up being responsible for her. Will you be alright sharing our life with her?”

I smiled and smacked his forehead. “You are a silly man. I’m already sharing you with your parents, your friends and loved ones, and I’m happy about it. You’re sharing me too, with my family and my loved ones. What makes you think being in love means loving only one person in life?”

“But it’s not the same. Riya is…”

“Family,” I concluded assertively. “We’re not living in the 1980s, Sameer. No one cares anymore, and if they do, it’s their problem.”

“There will be whispers, eyebrow raises, and questions all the same.”

“And we’ll tackle them together. Did you really think this would bother me? I’m offended,” I grumbled.

He gathered me in his arms, and I breathed in his comforting scent. “When you told me about your pregnancy, my first thought was that she would’ve been about eighteen months younger than Riya,” he said in my ear.

I held my breath. When I finally found my voice, I confessed, “I want a baby, Sameer. I want our baby.”

“We’ll have as many as you want, my love. We can have a whole cricket team.”

I laughed at his ridiculously silly joke, but it flooded my heart with warmth.

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