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“I am. And I hope that, you know, he and I... well, last. He’s still a lowercase boyfriend. Meanwhile, Jaya’s marrying Rakesh and having ababy.I can’t believe she’s going to be a mum and I’m nowhere near.”
“It’s still quite early days; she hasn’t passed twelve weeks yet. It might never happen.”
Reeva’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You did not just say that!”
“What?” Sita shrugged. “I’m not saying Ihopeit happens. But it could. It’s happened to me. And Mum.”
“Really? I... never knew that. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal.” Sita wrinkled her brow. “Mine was only a year after the girls were born. Blessing in disguise, really; I couldn’t deal with three of them.”
“And what about Mum?” Reeva looked at her sister. “I never knew she’d miscarried. What happened?”
“Something Mum shared with me and not you,” said Sita, crossing her arms. “Guess you’re not as much the chosen one as you think.”
Reeva gently hit her sister’s arm. “Tell me.”
“Oh, I can’t really remember. But I think she miscarried a few times before she had you. Then the rest of us were in pretty quick succession, so I doubt she had time to miscarry. Yeah, they were all before you, I think. Not fun. It’s way more traumatic than they have you believe.”
Reeva leaned back on the sofa. “Poor Mum. And poor you. I can’t believe I never knew. I’m sorry, Sita.”
“Thanks.”
“When did she tell you?”
“When I told her about mine. One of the few moments she acted like a mum, to be honest.” Sita turned back to the TV screen. “Before she went off gallivanting all over the world again, basically ignoring her grandkids.”
“I guess it is her career though. She has to travel.”
“As if you’re taking her side!” Sita glared at her sister. “After what she’s done to us this time, I thought you’d be over that.”
Reeva put her hands in the air. “I’m not taking her side. I was just saying.”
Sita’s expression softened. “Sorry. I suppose I can get quite defensive about Mum.”
“Wait, did you just say sorry? Can you do it again so I can film it?”
It was Sita’s turn to hit her.
“Ow!” cried Reeva. “That hurt.”
“Don’t be facetious then.” Sita paused. “Nitin’s coming to the funeral tomorrow.”
“Is that going to be hard for you?”
Sita bit her bottom lip. “Yeah. Probably. But whatever. We’re used to it. The show must go on.”
“Well, I’m here if you need me. If that’s any consolation.”
“Thanks, Reeva. I know it’s not easy for you. What Jaya did was pretty shitty.”
Reeva raised an eyebrow. “That’s one way to describe it. But you can’t think it’s all that bad. You’re the one who covered for her.”
Sita sighed again. Reeva was starting to notice that she sighed a lot. “What else was I meant to do? Create World War Three by telling you? I told her she had to sort her shit out and confess or make the whole mess go away. I didn’t condone her actions, Reeva. I just didn’t want our family to blow up.”
“Well, you could have been a bit more sympathetic about it all. You took her side over mine!”
“We’re not five,” retorted Sita. “I just thought—and still think—that the only way to handle a disaster like this is for you to forgive her and move on. Otherwise, the family gets ripped down the middle.”
