“Oh.” Kamila said, eyeing it. “We weren’t supposed to be doing the biryani thing tonight.” Homemade was better than store-bought, though. And biryani was probably the only food that Kamila could never get tired of eating. She took the plate. “Too bad there’s no biryani ice cream. That would have worked with tonight’s theme.”
Asha cringed. “Ew. I hate fusion biryani.”
Kamila put the biryani on the dining table and looked at Jana. This was the first time Kamila had seen Jana since finding out she was pregnant, and to be honest, Kamila couldn’t believe she hadn’t figured it out earlier. Jana had been wearing baggy pants and tops since coming back to town, and she had ridiculously glowing skin. Because of course perfect Jana would even do pregnancy perfectly.
“Where were you sneaking out to?” Maybe to see her baby’s father?
“Just a café. Mom’s having her card party, and I needed to escape the judging aunties and uncles.”
Asha gave Kamila a look. She knew what her friend meant—she was telling Kamila to be nice. That it must be terrible to be an unwed, pregnant Indian woman at a party full of aunties and uncles. Well, Asha didn’t have to say it. Or imply it in this case. Kamila totally sympathized.
“Don’t go to a café,” Kamila said, sitting back on the sofa. “Hang with us—we’ve retitled tonight’s party Bollywood Heartbreak Recovery by Eating Ice Cream night. The only rule is we’re not allowing male members of the human species in tonight, because we plan to bash them pretty harshly.”
Jana chuckled, then rubbed her belly. “Well, it’s a good thing this is a girl, then. I’ll stay if you really don’t mind.”
Kamila grinned, patting the spot next to her on the sofa. “You’re having a girl? Can you even imagine how stunning this child will be?”
Jana raised a brow.
“Did you eat?” Nicole asked. “Let me make you a plate.”
Once they were all satisfied Jana had food and drink, Kamila looked at her. “So…” Jana hadn’t mentioned Anil yet, and Kamila wasn’t sure she wanted to be the first to say something, but she really wanted to know the details of how Jana came to be carrying his child. “So…” she tried again. “Pregnant, eh?”
Jana sighed. “Yes, I’m pregnant. Four months along. Yes, Anil Malek is the father. Yes, I’m keeping the baby, but no, I’m not marrying Anil. And finally, yes, he asked me, but I said no.”
Kamila’s eyes widened. “Were those the questions the judging aunties asked?”
“Yes, but they were accompanied by disapproving tsks and scowls.”
“Well, I’m not judging you.” Kamila took a spoonful of toasted marshmallow before clarifying that statement. “Well, I am, because I always judge you and probably always will, but not for this situation specifically. I don’t think less of you for having a baby. Personally, I prefer dogs, but to each their own.”
Jana narrowed her eyes, looking at the melting pints on the table. “How much ice cream do you guys have?”
Kamila frowned, collecting a few of the pints and taking them to the freezer. Not all, though. She still needed some. “Doctor’s orders. It’s the primary treatment plan for Bollywood Heartbreak Recovery by Eating Ice Cream.”
Jana scowled. “I hope this heartbreak is not over Anil. He isnotworth a sugar crash. And I warned you about him.”
“Oh my god, no.” Kamila sat back down and shook her head vigorously. “No, it’s not Anil I’m heartbroken over.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Jana. I let Anil manipulate me to get to you.”
“So, he’s not the reason you’re upset?”
“No. We didn’t have anything going on, honest. We were friends. Tell her, Asha. My heartbreak is because of…someone else.”
Asha nodded. “Yeah, what she said. Someone else.”
Kamila sat up straight, deciding this conversation was straying too close to Rohan, and she didn’t want to be close to Rohan, even though she very much did want to be close to Rohan.
“Okay, not judging—honestly—but curious,” Kamila said. “What happened with you and Anil? He asked you to marry him?”
“He did the gentlemanly thing when I told him I was pregnant—I only told him yesterday so he could come to that ultrasound. We had a thing…an affair.” The word made Jana cringe. “I’m not proud of it. My birth control failed because I was on antibiotics for a sinus infection and I didn’t think.”
“He was married.”
“Yeah. But he told me he was separated at the time. He failed to tell his wife that, though. He was very…charming. I moved back to Toronto to have the baby, and I had no intention of telling him I was pregnant. But when he heard I was moving here, he changed his plans to come here, too—lord only knows why. To torture me, I think.”
“I thought he came to start the incubator.”
Jana shook her head. “Technically, yes. But the original plan was to do it in Washington. He moved it to Toronto because I would be here.”
