Page 88 of Not Your Basic Love Story

“Oh, beta. Being a stay-at-home wife can be awfully boring. I used to work in the shops, but since I retired, I have to do something to fill my time. Especially now that the kids are all grown.”

Mentioning her kids made me stiffen. A palpable silence grew between us until I got the nerve to say his name out loud. I swallowed hard, staring down into my cup. “Did Dev send you?”

She sipped her wine. “He would kill me if he found out I was here.”

Huh. “So… whatareyou doing here? I’m sorry I called off the engagement. I mean, if I owe you for the party and the deposits and stuff, we can set up some sort of payment plan.”

She waved her cup in the air. “Rubbish. No, I didn’t come to say that. But I did come to say something.” Shawan took a long sip of wine. Then, she turned in her seat to look me in the eye. “Rebecca. Why did you break off the engagement with Jagdev?”

What a loaded question, one I didn’t know how to begin answering. Nor did I particularly want to.

“Is it because you don’t love him?” she asked.

I set down my half-eaten slice of pizza. “No.”

“You broke up with him…becauseyou love him?”

How did she know? I managed to nod, fighting back a fresh wave of tears.

“How does that make any sense, Rebecca?” Her voice was soft, soothing.

She waited as I found my words, as I granted myself permission to be vulnerable around her. I didn’t owe her an explanation, but it didn’t feel like that was why she was here. It didn’t feel like she was here to judge me or convince me to do something outside of my own interests. It felt like she was here to support me, too. To make sure I was okay. It was the first time she really felt like a mother to me, and I had to admit, it felt good. It felt really good.

“It’s just… everything he wants, everything that would make him happy, it’s not me who can do that for him. We’re too different. We come from different worlds. It would never work.”

Shawan tutted. “Being from the same culture, of the same religion, these things are important, but they don’t guarantee happiness. They don’t guarantee a good marriage. You know what does?”

“Hmm?”

“Love. And that is what you two have, in spades.”

“Why are you telling me this? I thought you didn’t want me to marry Dev. I thought you wanted him to marry Sonja.”

Shawan nodded, weighing her words. “I’d imagined my children’s lives to be one way, and it takes some getting used to watching them forge their paths. You will understand someday when you are a mother. You can do everything to help your child, to do what you think is best for them, but in the end, they are their own person. They know what is in their own best interest. Do I worry about Dev? Yes. And about Priya? Heavens, yes! But I also trust them. I trust that I raised good, smart people who are capable of making their own decisions. And in the end, what I want more than anything is for my children to be happy. And Rebecca?”

She reached out and took my hand.

“You make Dev happy.”

I smiled and sniffed as a tear ran down my cheek.

“You make him happier than I’ve ever seen him. His whole life, he’s tried to be the good son, the responsible son, to do what he’s told. It made me proud, yes, but it also made me sad. There was something missing. The spark. The light in his eyes. Then he met you. I could tell right from the first date something had changed in him. It was like a rainbow followed him around everywhere he went. He didn’t even need to talk about you, I could simply look across the table and see the smile on his face and know he had you on his mind. You encouraged him to do what he loved, to follow his heart, even if it meant changing things in his life, taking risks. He knew you’d support him if it made him happy. That is what I want for my son. Someone to see the most in him, to encourage his happiness. Everything else? It’s just background noise.”

By now, tears were running down my cheeks. Shawan shuffled closer and hugged me, both of us holding our mugs of wine out to the side so they didn’t spill.

She pulled back, her own eyes shimmering, a smile on her perfectly lipsticked lips. “I can’t tell you what to do, beta.But do not end things because you think it is what Dev needs. He needs someone to love him. That is all.”

I nodded and wiped at my tears with the palm of my hand. “I thought you didn’t like me and that you didn’t approve of me… That you didn’t think I was good enough for him.”

She laughed. “No woman would ever be good enough for my baby boy. That’s another one of those things you will understand when you become a mother. As for liking you? I just needed to get to know you a bit. And what I’ve gotten to know so far? I like very much.”

With that, Shawan gulped down the last of her wine and stood.

“I don’t want to take up any more of your time. But you know how to reach me if you should need anything,” she said with a kind smile. I stood as well and gave her another hug at the door, closing it behind her, my heart heavy. Her absence was like snuffing out a candle, as if all light and warmth were suddenly vacant from the room. I didn’t want her to go. I didn’t want her to walk out of my life, to close the door on the possibility of having her as my family, to call her mom.

Then, on the 3D printer, I eyed the black and silver package, half-opened. I ripped through the rest of the paper.

It was a framed picture; the one Dad had taken of Dev and I down at the dock, the fog rolling in off the forests and across the water, the setting sun glowing upon our faces. Dev held me in his arms, and we gazed at one another in complete and utter rapture. That was the day we’d first exchanged “I Love Yous,” even though we’d both felt it much sooner. I stared at the two of us, two people so completely lost in one another that the world could go up in flames around them and they’d hardly notice.

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