‘Hey. El Niño.’ Her mother was sitting too far away to touch, so Gehna flapped a hand in her face instead. ‘I’m sorry. I know becoming a grandmom in, like, your forties must suck, but I’ll make it up to you. I’ll keep my room clean forever and I’ll—’

‘It’s not that,’ Nina Rai said. She found a wipe in her bag and dabbed at her nose. ‘It’s just, I’d forgotten what it was like to become a mother for the first time. All the hope and joy and fear. My son, Varun,’ she said to the doctor, ‘was the most beautiful baby.’

The ob-gyn, who routinely delivered dozens of ‘most-beautiful babies’, managed a warm smile for Nina Rai.

Gehna waited for some mention of her own amazing babyness, but Nina Rai wasn’t done reminiscing about her firstborn. ‘Everyone fell in love with Varun because he was such a smiley baby. Even when he burped or spit up—’

‘OH MY GOD is that a penis?’ Gehna pointed at the screen. Bit too dramatic but it’s the only way to get some attention. It’s my ultrasound. Varun has no business being here, especially when he’s not even here.

Even the doctor looked to see what Gehna was pointing at, though she at least should have known better. ‘No, that’s the head. We won’t be able to determine whether it’s a boy or girl until you’re about twenty weeks in.
And even then, I’m sorry, you know the law doesn’t allow us to disclose the sex to you.’

Gehna knew this was to prevent people who considered a girl child to be undesirable from getting rid of the foetus; often, at home, with a heated coat hanger. Imagine wanting to not have a daughter so much that you’re willing to risk dying to stop it.

She decided on the spot that her baby was going to be a girl.

Later, at a Blue Tokai outlet, the Yam dropped a bomb on Gehna.

‘I’m going to London for three months. To intern at the esteemed law firm of Davis, Polk & Wardwell, which sounds like a bunch of waspy old men, I know, but they are in fact the largest—’

‘You what?’

‘Three months. Intern. Davis, Polk & Wardwell. I just love saying that name, don’t you? It makes me feel like a rich bitch.’

‘No, I heard you, Yam. I just can’t believe you. Did you miss the part where I’m pregnant? While you’re out there in your cut-throat rat race, did you ever stop to think that “my best friend’s pregnant so maybe I shouldn’t go all cutthroat-y on her”? No, you didn’t. You only thought of yourself.’

The Yam frowned. ‘What are you on about? Nobody’s cutting any throats. Listen, it’s just three months. You’re cool, the baby’s cool, everything’s cool. Even Nina’s cool.’

Gehna’s mom did, in fact, seem to be cool. Seeing the baby smudge on the ultrasound had thawed her iciness. While dropping them off at the cafe, she had instructed Gehna to stick to decaf and not tire herself out. It wasn’t ideal, but at least she had accepted the basic premise of Gehna’s pregnancy itself.