I pestered Marina for the name of the woman, but she kept telling me, I will give it to you when I have it.

Until the morning when Sumi called me and said: Hey…the woman from the adoption agency is coming over today, do you still want to meet her?

An hour before she was due to arrive, I was at Sumi’s with a box of hot, flaky curry puffs, from the legendary stall in SS2. The Fairmans now lived in a guarded community in Mont Kiara and the pre-fabricated house was in a row along with other houses that all looked the same. Kids ran down the pebbled pathways on roller-blades and scooters, babies in push prams, some walking precariously hanging onto foreign hands. Trees were planted exactly ten feet away from each other. It was suburban heaven. Pre-fabricated homes. What KL’s middle classes aspired to own. Sumi was at the gate in full make-up and an expensive silk shirt, looking as nervous as I was.

So, she’s going to come over and brief us about the process, how long it takes, paperwork and so on and so forth.

I sucked on my cigarette, nodding. Then a quick, familiar hug. I was there to help Sumi, that was the plan, and that was what I was going to do. Appear non-fussed, helpful, supportive.

So the same one that Kim recommended?

Yeah, and apparently another friend just got a baby from her too.

I tried to keep my face unchanged, and managed a fixed smile.

Right, okay. Well let’s wait and see.

I knew that Sumi was in a state as well; this was no Tupperware lady hedging in on us, this was a woman plying infants for sale, in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, in broad daylight, in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in town.

Thanks for being here, I hope you’re okay with this.

Yes, of course. No worries. It’s kinda exciting, no?

We sat around drinking cups of tea and eating curry puffs, trying to keep the conversation easy. I had two curry puffs in one go and suddenly felt the bits of spiced chicken, potato and fried flour churning in my stomach. My appetite wavered from day to day. Some days all I could eat was fruit and salad and other days vegetables and tofu. Meat turned my stomach.

Suddenly, the buzzer went. We both jumped and Sumi ran to the wall consul.

Hello, hello. Mrs Fairman? The voice crackled through.

A woman stood outside, in a dark blue skirt, carrying a large handbag. Her hair looked slightly disheveled from the breeze that was picking up, and in her arms was a bundle. In a rehearsed sing-song voice, she said.

Hello, Mrs Fairman, here’s your baby!

A baby? You brought me a baby? I don’t want a baby right now… I just wanted to talk to you first.

We were stunned. This woman, this complete and utter stranger had brought a baby to us. Standing at Sumi’s front door, baby in hand, just like that.