Page 105 of The Defiant Wife

My heart immediately starts doing that ridiculous sprint again.

Stop it.

We're sitting in the middle of the NGO.

I cannot blush every time I remember my husband.

"Didi had a fever before," Keshav suddenly shouts from the sandbox.Within seconds, every child within hearing distance abandons whatever they're doing and runs toward me.Apparently, the words Diya didi and sick are enough to trigger an emergency meeting.

"I don't think it's fever," Rani announces importantly as everyone gathers around my chair."She isn't sleepy." She studies my face again."But her eyes are all shiny."She nods to herself."Like when someone gives me jalebis."

I cover my face with both hands."This discussion is officially over."

Nobody listens. Raj walks over quietly with his sketchbook tucked under one arm. He looks at me for a long moment. Thenhe starts signing.His hands move so quickly I almost miss the first sentence. “Not a fever.”

Rani watches him carefully while I translate automatically in my head.

“Didi's face always becomes this colour whenever the giant Prince uncle comes here.” My eyes go wide.Raj keeps signing with complete confidence. “She looks exactly like the heroines in the tv shows when the hero smiles at them.”

"Raj!" I nearly squeak."That is completely incorrect!"

I shake my head so hard my ponytail swings behind me."There are no television dramas happening here."

Rani gasps dramatically."I knew it!"She spins toward the other children."Raj is right!"

She points at me like she's presenting evidence in court."Didi turns into a tomato because of Prince uncle!"

Keshav frowns thoughtfully."I thought it was because Prince uncle made her count all the wooden blocks before."

He nods wisely."Mani didi says too much maths makes your brain hot."

"No, silly."Rani rolls her eyes so dramatically I'm amazed they don't fall out.She lowers her voice into what she clearly believes is a whisper.

Unfortunately . . . It's loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear."It's because Prince uncle is very handsome."She wiggles her eyebrows."And very tall.And whenever he talks to Didi in that deep voice . . . "She points straight at my face." . . . she forgets how to breathe."

I feel every drop of blood in my body rush straight into my cheeks."Rani!"

"And one day," she continues excitedly, completely ignoring me, "I even saw him tuck her hair behind her ear near the veranda."

She claps both hands together."Didi looked like a red balloon!"

The entire group bursts into laughter.Keshav falls sideways into the grass.Two of the younger children start chanting, "Prince uncle! Prince uncle!"

Raj simply stands there with the tiniest satisfied smile on his face, clearly convinced his diagnosis is medically accurate."Oh no," Rani suddenly says.

"What?"

She looks genuinely worried."If Prince uncle comes right now . . . " She studies my face again." . . . will Didi explode?"

The children dissolve into another round of giggles."I am not going to explode," I protest weakly.

"You might," Keshav says. "You're already the colour of ketchup."

I bury my face in my hands with a groan."I spend years getting degrees," I mutter dramatically, "and today my reputation is destroyed by children who still need help tying their shoelaces."

"Didi likes Prince uncle," one of the younger girls sings.

"Didi likes Prince uncle."