“Beta,” his mom said. “We know that taking care of Malini consumed all of our lives since her diagnosis.” He heard the tears in her voice. But all he saw was the gentle fire in Nimita’s eyes. “I had no idea what that was doing to you. What we had asked of you.”
His father spoke. “You seemed to be able to handle everything. We were distracted by her, we ignored you—but you always seemed like you were doing well, succeeding at everything.” He paused. “I assumed that meant you were happy. I was…mistaken.”
Roshan shifted his gaze to his parents.
“We love you. We are proud of you—and not just because of what you do for Malini. But because of who you are,” his father said.
“Your worth is not relative to Malini. Your worth is that you areyou,”his mother said. “Can you ever forgive us?”
He looked at Nimita and she gave him a small smile and gently dropped his hand, before stepping back. “I should check on my dad,” she said, leaving him to talk with his parents.
Roshan watched her go, and the room was a bit colder than it had been. He stood and faced his parents. “Thank you for saying that.”
They talked for a while. His parents talked about all of the things he had done—awards he had won, accomplishments—they had been paying attention.
“You pushed yourself very hard,” his father said. “Even when you gave her bone marrow, you hardly rested.”
“I had to.” Roshan shrugged liked it was obvious.
“What do you mean, Beta?” his mother asked.
“I mean I pushed myself to be the best just as much for you to notice me as for you to know I was okay and didn’t have to worry about me.”
His parents blanched. “Beta.” His father leaned toward him. “That was never… I mean…” His father swallowed hard, tears brimmed in his eyes.
“What we mean,” his mother picked up, “is that that was never the intention. We were and are always proud of you. We love you, awards or not, no matter what.”
They sat and talked a bit longer.
“We are going to see Malini now,” his mother said.
“How is she?” his father asked him.
“Vinay!” His mother chided his father. “What did you just say to him? We will go, and we will see for ourselves.” Her brow furrowed, she shook her head at her husband before looking at Roshan and rolling her eyes. “This will take time. But we will do it.” His mother grabbed his father by the arm and marched him from the waiting room.
Roshan almost chuckled. He had never seen his mother roll her eyes like that before.
“I’ll join you in a moment.” Roshan sagged back into his chair. There was a feeling of lightness where there had not been before. He texted Vishal and Karan.You’ll never believe the conversation I just had with my mom and dad.
His friends blew up his phone as he told them. They would always be his family, but it was nice to have his mom and dad.
Chapter Twenty-one
Nimita checked on her sister and her father and then went home to take a shower and make dinner. She was close to being drained, but sitting still was not an option. She checked her email to see if anyone had responded to her job queries. Not yet, but it would happen. Nimita missed Roshan now more than ever.
She was happy to have made some progress with her sister. But guilt was weighing her down now more than ever. She should come clean, tell Reena the whole truth, but she was afraid. They were just now making progress. What if Reena hated her all over again once she knew?
She let the nanny go home and fed Naya first. Then she rummaged in the fridge, determined to at least have dinner ready when Reena came home. She was in the process of chopping a salad and thought she should get some tomatoes from her father’s little garden. She stepped out and found Roshan watering the plants.
“Hey,” she said. It was awkward. So much had happened today. Her father, the conversation with Reena, Roshan’s with his parents. The cold way he’d looked at her when Malini hurt herself, a reminder of all the things he’d said to Nimita on Holi. Was it only this morning that he’d carried Malini away from the beach? “What’s going on?”
“Hey.” He looked up at her from the plant he was watering. He eyes met hers, soft and peaceful. “Well, I hung out with my parents for a bit, and then I decided I needed to get some air. I’m on tomorrow, and time away from the hospital is helpful.” He gestured in front of him. “This is soothing. So I came here to check on Uncle’s plants.”
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“I’m just making a simple salad for my sister and her husband. There’s plenty,” she said. She should be minimizing her time with him. But people need to eat.
