Nani beckoned me closer. ‘Who was that boy who dropped you off?’ she asked.

‘My friend Anirudh,’ I said.

She didn’t interrogate me further but asked if I wanted to have lunch. She was frying popcorn chicken in a kadai. I backed away with a tight smile.

‘Want some of this?’ Aunty V asked.

The bowl of salad looked so much nicer than the salads I normally made for myself. It had orange segments and walnuts, greens, pear slices and just a drizzle of a honey-lemon dressing. I piled some on a plate and caught the gloating look Aunty V shot in Nani’s direction.

Nani huffed and turned away. Rolling my eyes, I thought that if Ma’s BP wasn’t hanging in balance, all this would have been damn funny.

I took my plate to Ma’s room. She was just waking up.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

‘Some really delicious salad Aunty V made. I’m actually thinking of going for seconds.’ I let the words slip before I realized what I’d said. I hadn’t had seconds in a very long time.

Ma looked impressed. ‘Are you doing all right?’ she asked as she pushed her hair behind and tied it in a haphazard bun. She looked tired and pale and there were dark circles under her eyes which accentuated how listless she looked. She winced as the baby kicked. I frowned when I saw her belly actually move up and then go down a little. Wow. Major shivers.

‘I’m all right, but how long is Nani going to be here?’

‘Till the delivery,’ Ma said grimly. ‘I’m going to need all hands on deck, especially you, Ananya.’

I nodded.

‘If there’s any tension between Nani and V, you have to defuse it,’ she said.

How did she expect me to do that?

‘I don’t want your Nani chasing off V and Raghu. They’re very important to me, especially at this time,’ Ma said.

I felt my face flush idiotically the moment Ma mentioned Raghu’s name.

‘For me too,’ I told her.

‘I’m hungry. Is lunch ready?’ she asked.

I nodded. I wondered if there was going to be a war over food in my house. Just what I needed, I thought as both Aunty V and Nani called out to Ma to come and eat.

I went to the kitchen and served myself some more of the salad when my phone buzzed. It was a message from Raghu.

‘Meet me in two hours?’

He hadn’t specified where he wanted to meet me, so I decided to surprise him in the restaurant.

‘But why?’ Ma asked when I told her I was heading out to meet Raghu about an hour later. I’d met Nisha and Anirudh this morning so it was best that I stuck to the truth.