That softened the defensiveness in Ashna’s eyes and it made Rico wish he hadn’t said it.

He turned back to her aunt. “I grew up in Rio de Janeiro and I’ve lived in London for this past decade.”

“I read something about you living in the Bay for a few years. Is that true?” Yash asked.

“Really?” Nisha asked. “I didn’t know that. Ashi, did you know that? Where in the Bay?”

Rico knew there was a reason he’d grown so fond of this baby, because she chose that moment to grab his bearded jaw and let out a mighty grunt, which was followed by the most vile stench of all time.

The smell cut through the air before anyone noticed the expression on Ashna’s face. Groans broke out across the group along with choking laughter.

“Wow, that’s . . . um . . . potent.” Mishka pinched her nose. “Mom, is this what babies do?”

Nisha, who was obviously pregnant, laughed and tried not to wrinkle her nose. “Yup, and big sisters get first dibs on diaper duty.”

“Practice?” Rico held the stinky little thing out to Mishka and she made a gagging face. Everyone was flat-out laughing now. Nothing like basic potty humor to save the day.

Ashna still looked like she’d seen several ghosts.

As if the smell weren’t bad enough, the baby let out a godawful holler. Song and her sister ran over.

“I think she needs a change,” Rico said.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Song took the baby from him. Her sister apologized profusely as they left to tackle their honorable task, which Rico did not envy.

“Speaking of babies, we need to get Nisha to her doctor’s appointment,” Mina said, tucking an errant lock of hair behind Ashna’s ear, and a memory too clear and stark twisted inside Rico.

Ashna tracked her aunt and cousin as they walked away, her gaze filled with something between wanting to follow them out and the relief of having dodged a car while crossing the street.

It’s not because I’m ashamed, his pai had always said to his mãe about never publicly acknowledging Rico and her.

I don’t care, his mãe had always said.

Rico had wanted to believe them both. Now he didn’t know what he believed and he would never know for sure.

Yash turned to Rico. “What you said before about my health care plan, not many people get that. Not many people have even read the report on my website.”

Rico moved his focus to things that weren’t lost causes. “The first time I read it, I thought I was reading wrong. The way you address the disbursement of funds and removal of costs, I couldn’t quite believe it. You’re halving cost while doubling benefit by bringing in volumes to a single source and supplementing funding from corporations. It’s genius.”