“That would be wonderful,” her father said. “I used to really enjoy gardening.”
“I don’t see why you can’t have a garden now, Papa,” said Nimita as she shifted Naya to her other hip.
His face lit up as he chatted with Roshan on the walk home. They talked about plants and growing cycles and fertilizer. When they finally reached home, Nimita took her father and Naya in. Roshan folded up the stroller and then followed her in with Finn. Nimita spared a thought to be thankful the dog had dried off in the sun before entering Reena’s house.
“Where have you been?” Reena called, emerging from her office.
“Mama!” Naya stretched out her arms for her mother.
“It’s past her nap time,” Reena snapped. “I’ve been trying to call you.”
“Yeah, sorry. The stroller hit his car.” She motioned toward Roshan, then quickly added, “Naya was not in it.” She held out her hands to assure her sister. “And the car was parked.”
But Reena wasn’t listening. Instead, she was regarding Roshan intently. “Sorry about your—why do I know you?”
“Roshan Dave,” Nimita said. “From high school?”
Reena stared. “Soccer player, right? My sister used to tutor you.”
Roshan grinned. “Yes.”
Her sister pursed her lips and nodded. “You yelled at my sister on graduation day.”
Roshan blanched. “I did. And I apologized.”
Reena snapped her head to Nimita. “What? When did he apologize?”
Nimita sighed. “In Hawaii.”
“You went to Hawaii with this man?” Reena said. “You didn’t say—”
“We ran into each other there. It doesn’t matter, Reena,” Nimita said.
“Aren’t you going to tell your sister the news?” her father asked
Reena stared at her.
“So… Roshan and I are seeing each other,” Nimita said, feeling like she was holding her breath.
Reena nodded but narrowed her eyes at Roshan. A small part of Nimita was amused that her sister was still angry with him on her behalf after all these years. Finally, Reena said, “Okay. Come on. Naps for everyone.” To Roshan, she added with a shrug, “My sister can be klutzy.”
And there it was.
“It wasn’t really her fault—” he started, but Naya let out a wail.
Reena backed out of the hallway. Her father was already halfway to his room.
“Bye, Beta! Nice meeting you,” he called.
Then the hallway was empty of everyone except for Finn, Roshan and her. “Wow. You weren’t kidding.”
Nimita shrugged. “She likes an organized schedule. She’s high achieving.”Like you. “And she expects excellence from everyone around her.”Maybe like you as well.“She’ll have to come around eventually.” Or so Nimita hoped.
* * *
Malini was in the hospital today for her routine CBC, the complete blood count test that would tell her if she was still in remission. This happened every three months, but today’s felt momentous—it was her fourth anniversary off treatment.
“Hey.” Roshan knocked on the exam room door before entering. Her oncologist, Dr. Boseman, was very capable. She and Roshan had gone through residency together. But of course Roshan stopped by to check in on his sister during her consults.
