With both boys in my arms, I come face to face with Auntie Anjali as I’m headed towards the stairs. Her eyes are big with worry.
“Do you need help?” she asks with a shaky voice.
Love for my auntie floods my veins. She could easily side with her brother and try to keep me from leaving, but she’s choosing not to.
Anjali isn’t the only one helping. As we head down the stairs, Corey in Auntie’s arms, the cabin is in chaos below us. Jocelyne argues with my mother while Suresh and Ajay do the same with my father. Aisha rushes in to join her mother in helping me.
In no time at all, the boys, who are completely lost as to what’s happening, are dressed and ready to head out.
Once at the car, I place a hand on Anjali’s shoulder. “Can you get them strapped in while I go grab all our stuff?”
She simply nods with a bittersweet smile.
“I’ll help you pack,” Aisha adds as she follows me back inside.
As soon as I open the door, Mom rushes me, Jocelyne at her tail. “Come on, now, Karan. We can talk. Please don’t leave like this!”
“Martine, let it go,” Jocelyne sighs behind her.
“Please stay,” Mom repeats anyway.
“I can’t stay,” I tell her with a shake of my head. “This isn’t what Rachel needs right now.”
“What about me?” All the pain in my mother’s voice is a spear right through my heart. “You’re my son. I need you, too.”
I laugh without humour. “For the first time in my whole fucking life, I can actually see. Mom, you might need me, but Rachel’s my wife. Her needs trump yours.”
The words burn like acid coming out of my throat.
I hate saying them. I hate that it’s come to this.
My father takes a step forward, and I recognize a similar flame in his eyes to the one currently burning through me. “You cannot speak to your mother like that.”
Certainty floats through my veins when I step forward to face my father. For the first time in life, I am facing him without fear.
“I’m going to tell you the exact same thing you told me earlier today, Dad. Nothing is more important to me than my sons. To that, I’ll add my wife.” My gaze flits between both of my parents. “Dad, I love you, and I love Mom, but I’m not going to sit here and be a doormat while my wife gets treated like this.”
“It’s all completely ridiculous!” Mom screams. “She’s the one who attacked me first! What am I supposed to do, then, Karan, huh? Should I be the doormat, then?”
A seedling of doubt flowers in my brain, but I don’t allow it to take root.
Trust Rachel. Trust your wife.
I don’t respond. Instead, I move forward, Aisha at my heels, and we move through the cabin to pick up everything my boys left behind.
Like before, my parents don’t follow us upstairs when I go pack our suitcases with my cousin’s help. They can’t. The rest of my family has, if not entirely taken my side, at least decided that I should be allowed to leave without conflict. Them holding my parents back is enough for Aisha and me to finish packing.
Ajay arrives upstairs to help Aisha bring the suitcases down while I go get Rachel. She’s now completely silent. Catatonic. Her body barely responds when I take her into my arms.
The beating of her heart against mine is enough to keep me moving forward.
Before I head through the door for the final time, I turn my head to meet Jocelyne’s gaze.
“I’m really sorry, Aunt Jo.”
“Don’t be,” she whispers, her voice nearly breaking. “Go take care of your family.”
“Karan!” both of my parents cry out as I leave the cabin.
