I followed them, my mind racing. I knew Nisha was right. I had to be supportive of my mother and not act like a child.

Ma was sitting on the sofa, looking into the distance as though lost in her own thoughts. Papa was also sitting silently, looking at his phone.

‘You guys . . . why the long faces?’ I asked them. Ma looked at me then.

‘You don’t know this, but . . .’ she looked at Papa as though for support and he nodded, putting his phone aside.

‘I got pregnant when you were twelve,’ she said.

‘What?’ I sat down, my legs suddenly feeling shaky.

She nodded. ‘I had a miscarriage when I was two months along,’ she sighed. The words burned into my brain. This was five years ago . . . when my own life changed. How had I missed all this? Why hadn’t they said anything to me?

She sighed. ‘Because of that and my age, the doctor says I need to be really careful with this pregnancy,’ she said, her fingers worrying the edge of her pallu.

I got up from the sofa, only to sit down next to her, wishing I could rewind to the time when I was foolishly young and clueless about everything.

‘Okay. I’m here for you,’ I told her, holding her hand.

‘Thanks, love. But we’re going to need a lot more help,’ she said. I frowned.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I spoke to V on the way back from the gynaecologist. She’s agreed to come and stay with us for a few months,’ she said.

‘Aunty V? But why?’ I asked, my heart sinking as it always did whenever Ma mentioned her name.

‘Because everyone else is too busy and I need help and support,’ Ma said. I knew that it was not that Aunty V was not busy—it was just that she could work from anywhere as all the multiple freelance jobs she did—editing, writing—were all from home, which was why she would have no problem staying with us.

I wanted to get up from there and walk away. But I needed to support my parents, no matter how difficult it got for me.

But . . . Aunty V? I have nothing against Aunty V, really. It was her son who was the problem. But then, that was years and years ago and Ma had only mentioned Aunty V. There was no talk of Raghu yet.

I was not going to think of Raghu, with his crazy hair and his shining eyes and that chipped front tooth that he flashed whenever he smiled. I wasn’t going to think of that strange hot and cold sensation that passed through my body when his name was mentioned. I was not going to think of him.