“We’re not a couple,” she told Anil. “We’ve never been a couple. Who even goes on holiday with their co-parent?”
He started counting off names on his fingers, some of whom were people Jana knew. It wasn’t a surprise—this was the era of conscious uncoupling. Modern co-parenting. But just because all those people could spend time with their exes didn’t mean Jana could.
She shook her head. “No. If you want to take her on a trip next year, too, fine. But not Disney before me.” It was out of the question.
“Jana!” Kamila said, interrupting their conversation. She sounded like she’d had more than a little of the bottle of champagne from the head table. She was pulling on Rohan’s arm, dragging him behind her. “Can you believe I’m going to bemarriedtomorrow? Married! To Rohan! I can’t even. Did you ever think this would happen when we were kids?”
“Technically, we’re already married,” Rohan said.
Kamila put her hand over his mouth. “Shhh…I told you that didn’t count.Kamila Hussain’swedding wasn’t at Toronto City Hall.” Since they weren’t Tanzanian, Kamila and Rohan had had a legal ceremony at home before this trip.
Rohan laughed and pulled Kamila into his arms, whispering something in her ear. Which made Kamila giggle, then blush, then grab her husband-to-be’s butt. Or husband’s butt, depending on one’s interpretation of the situation. Jana shook her head. Very weird to see her childhood friends groping each other in public.
Her arm still around Rohan’s waist, Kamila smiled at Jana. “I want you to be happy like this one day, Jana. You deserve it more than anyone I know. More than me. After everything.” She glared at Anil. Seems the champagne was reminding Kamila that she hadn’t fully forgiven Anil for lying to Jana and getting her pregnant. Jana appreciated her friend’s support.
“It’s late. I’m going to get to bed.” Jana stood, smiling at Rohan and Kamila. “Congratulations. Kamila is wrong—you two deserve happiness more than anyone. See you tomorrow.” She turned to Anil. “Good night, Anil.”
Jana left. She had done enough peopling for today.
Chapter 11
Thanks to Elsie’s otherworldly planning skills, everything went without a hitch the next morning. After the brigade was all primped and primed—Kamila in a beautiful cream lace tea-length full-skirted dress with a wide rose-pink sash, and the bridesmaids in dusty-rose cocktail-length sleeveless crepe dresses—they met up with the Groom’s Platoon outside the resort for pictures with the photographer.
“You look nice,” Anil said to Jana while the photographer was taking bride and groom shots.
Jana smiled pleasantly at him. “So do you.”
She was being honest—he did look nice. He was dressed the same as the rest of the groomsmen, in casual cream dress pants and jackets with white linen shirts and no tie.
Anil nodded toward the bride and groom. Rohan was currently tearing up after seeing Kamila in her wedding dress for the first time. “They look…nice, too.”
Jana looked at him with one brow raised. “This conversation is…nice,” she said.
Anil looked down, chuckling. Jana was glad to confirm he was finding this all as awkward as she was.
Rohan kissed Kamila’s hand then, and the whole wedding party cheered, including Jana. After what felt like hundreds of pictures, the wedding party was guided to two Land Cruisers to take them to the wedding site. The rest of the guests would be brought in a tour bus.
The wedding ceremony was being held at two o’clock in a clearing in the middle of Serengeti National Park, about a fifteen-minute drive from the resort. When they got there, Jana looked out the window of the Land Cruiser. The weather was glorious—sunny with a warm breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Jana was sure that Kamila had sacrificed something to a deity to get such a perfect day for her wedding. There was a large acacia tree in the middle of the clearing and tables scattered around it with white tablecloths fluttering in the breeze. A white tent was off to the side, where Jana assumed the caterers were getting the food ready. Buffet tables lined the perimeter with large silver platters with domed covers. The decoration was pretty much nonexistent—just some white flowers and a very minimalistic white tiered cake.
No other embellishments were needed—just the East African savanna spread as far as the eye could see. Umbrella trees and distant baobab trees. Short and tall grasses. And dust—which normally wouldn’t be a welcome addition to a wedding but now only served to add a sepia-toned haze to the space. It was truly magical.
Jana wouldn’t have wanted a wedding celebration anything like the sangeet yesterday. But this…the outdoor simplicity was exactly Jana’s style. She opened the door to take a deep breath of the Serengeti air. Imani wasn’t far from the vehicle, standing with Jana’s mother. Jana waved.
“Mommy!” Imani came running to the Land Cruiser. Jana almost yelled at her daughter to stop running so she wouldn’t fall, but Imani was wearing her Minnie Mouse sneakers with her pink flower girl dress, so she’d probably be fine. The shoe choice was because no one wanted an adorable flower girl face-planting in the dirt during the ceremony. The bridesmaids, however, weren’t so lucky. Kamila had chosen pink sandals with two-and-a-half-inch cork wedge heels for the brigade. Jana put her arms out for Imani, who hopped into her mother’s lap.
“You look pretty, Mommy!” Imani said, hugging Jana. “They put flowers in my hair!”
“They’re beautiful flowers!” Everyone in the vehicle cooed over how adorable Imani looked in her floral crown braid. Jana peeked out to scan the rest of the crowd. Her mother was with Kassim Uncle and Nadira Aunty. Dr. Lopez was across the space with some of Rohan’s extended family. The groomsmen had gotten out of their Land Cruiser and were mingling. Anil was nowhere near Dr. Lopez, so that was good.
When it was time for the event to start, the groomsmen came to escort the bridesmaids out of their vehicle. Muslim weddings usually consisted of a nikah recitation and blessings, and an officiant had been brought from Nairobi for the ceremony. An acoustic guitarist played a slow tune as the wedding party started walking arm in arm between the tables in their assigned order: Marc and Yuriko, followed by Nicole and Tim, Shelina and Anil, Jana and Jerome, and finally Asha and Zayan. Jana was grateful she wasn’t expected to walk with Anil, but she did slightly snicker to herself that none of the actual couples in the wedding party (Asha and Nicole, Shelina and Zayan, and Tim and Jerome) had been paired up. Finally, Imani walked toward the front scattering rose petals.
Jana saw the imminent disaster happening seconds before it did. Imani had been instructed to walk toward Jana, dropping petals along the way, then give Jana the empty basket. Afterward, she was to sit at the table with Jana’s mother. But Imani’s eyes were only on one person as she walked down that aisle—her father.
Damn. She should have arranged for Imani to see her father at some point today before this. Imani was totally going to go show Anil her flower crown, or her pretty dress, instead of going to Jana or to Jana’s mother. And Farzana Aunty would then mention the moment to him and gush about their amazing conscious uncoupling arrangement, because she was obsessed with divorce. Mom would be mortified, and Dr. Lopez would discover his new employee candidate’s family had been lying to him and his partner.
Jana could feel herself sweating as she stood next to the other bridesmaids at the front. She smiled encouragingly at Imani, hoping her daughter would remember that she was supposed to bring Jana the empty basket, then go sit with her nanima, and not get distracted by her father grinning at his daughter like, well, a proud daddy.
Imani did seem to understand that her mother was trying to tell her something with her eyes, though, because she suddenly sped up, rushing to Jana. She upended the basket when she reached her, dumping the white rose petals in a mound right where Kamila and Rohan were supposed to stand for the ceremony. Imani handed Jana the basket and said, “Like that, Mommy?”
