2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Mira
I all but collapsed on the couch after I put Pari's toys in front of her so she could play while Beau and I talked. He had been my last resort…ultimately, my only .
I was starving.
I hadn't eaten much…or anything for the past day unless coffee counted. I had exactly enough money to buy gas and make sure I had milk, juice, fruit, and enough food for Pari to get to Beau's place. If he turned me away, I wasn't sure what I'd do. When I left Atlanta, I knew that I was going against my sister's wishes—and even Beau's. She'd told me that Beau had signed away his parental rights, not wanting to be burdened with a child. I thought it didn't compute, not with the Beau I'd gotten to know when he dated my sister. But then again, Beau was a well-known playboy in Atlanta, so if he said he didn't want a child, it wasn't that far-fetched.
"Let's take it from the top, yeah, darlin'?" Beau suggested after he handed me a glass of water.
I wished I'd asked for juice to get some sugar inside me because I was feeling a little lightheaded.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. My sister had made sure we were provided for because I'd had to quit my job and my life to take care of her and Pari for the past three years. But my parents had managed to convince a judge not to release her inheritance or insurance to me and were fighting for custody of Pari, which I couldn't possibly allow. That was why I'd decided to come and convince Beau to help me. He may not want to raise Pari, which was fine. I'd do it, and as long as he staked his claim as the father of the child, my parents couldn't take her away.
"I…." I had no idea what to say or what taking it from the top meant, so I drank water.
Sensing my inability to string sentences together, Beau patiently asked, "What's her name?"
"Pari." I smiled because everything about my niece made me happy. "That means angel…a fairy."
Beau's eyes crinkled with laughter.
Of all of Asha's boyfriends, and she'd had several, he was the most handsome and the only one I'd crushed on. The rest of the men she'd been with had been Indian like us, except for Beau, and wouldn't you have it, he was the one that knocked her up.
"That's a lovely name. Where's Asha?"
"Asha is dead, Beau." I set the glass of water on the coffee table.
He was frozen for a long moment, and I wondered if I should've said it in a better or different way. He then shook his head as if in pain and surprised me by hugging me.
"I'm so sorry, Mira. So, fuckin' sorry."
I leaned into his solid warmth.
It felt so damn good to be comforted.
For the past two years, I'd had only Pari to hug and hold. All our family had abandoned us. Asha having an illegitimate child was met with scorn in the Indian community. My friends from the restaurant had been there for me in the beginning, but as Asha continued to be sick and Pari was born, I had less and less time to even reach out to people, so I'd lost them, too.
He looked at me and wiped at the tears that had rolled down my eyes. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Before I could speak, Pari came running to me. "Need to pee, Miramashi ."
I looked at Beau, and he showed me the way to a bathroom. I took Pari inside, and she talked nonstop as she peed. She was a good girl and, at two and a half years old, was potty trained, which was a miracle. She still needed a diaper to sleep in at night, but during the day, she hardly had any accidents unless she was upset.
After we washed our hands, I brought her back into the living room, where Beau was texting on the phone. He looked up at us and smiled.
Pari went back to her Duplo blocks on the carpet, and I sat down on the couch again. I was so tired. I'd barely slept in the three years since Asha's last trimester of pregnancy, and the past months since Asha passed away had been even more harrowing.
"Beau…." I didn't want to, but I was feeling faint. "Do you think I could get something to eat?"
He raised both eyebrows.
"I…I haven't eaten since yesterday and—"
"Of course," Beau cut me off. He texted on his phone again. "Anything specific you want to eat?"
"Anything," I said urgently. "Even an apple will do."
"How about a chicken sandwich?"
I managed not to drool at that.
"Ten minutes. My housekeeper is on her way. She lives in a cottage at the end of the garden."
He left me then to go into the kitchen.
I peeked out of the large café windows and saw nothing but a lush garden.
He had a beautiful house. I knew he was wealthy, but this was all the way crazy money. This was the kind of estate you saw in movies, with towering oak trees draped in Spanish moss lining the long driveway that seemed to go on forever. The house itself was a sprawling mansion; all white columns and grand archways, with perfectly manicured gardens on either side. Inside, every detail screamed luxury—from the gleaming hardwood floors, the crystal chandeliers that looked like little diamonds on the ceiling, to the antique furniture that looked like it belonged in a museum. Massive windows framed views of the Savannah River that curved around the property, the water sparkling in the distance. The place felt more like a private resort than a home, with its winding staircases, countless rooms, and the quiet hum of wealth echoing through it all.
Beau came back with what looked like a smoothie in a glass. "Drink," he instructed.
I did and barely tasted the liquid. It was just what I needed to feel refreshed enough to have the difficult conversation I needed to have with my niece's father.
"What happened to Asha?" he prompted.
"She was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy. PPCM. It's a rare type of heart failure that showed up during her last trimester of pregnancy. PPCM weakened her heart muscles, and she fought it for two years, but then…her body just couldn't…."
Beau nodded thoughtfully. He remained calm. I liked that about him. I wasn't sure what reception I'd get and worried he'd tell me to go fuck myself.
"You want to tell me about Pari?" he prompted.
I was thrilled that he could pronounce my niece's name so well. "Asha told me how you didn't want to have anything to do with her, and—"
He shook his head slowly, "Mira, Asha never told me about Pari."
I stared at him like he'd just told me the Earth was flat. " What ?"
He looked sad and shook his head again. "She never told me she was pregnant. If she had, trust me, I'd have been there for her, for you, for my daughter."
He watched Pari with such affection that I knew he was telling me the truth.
"She said you signed away your parental rights." But she'd never shown me any paperwork. I couldn't afford any lawyers, and when my parents had sent their attorney to me, I'd packed up and left Atlanta, hoping that no matter how Beau felt about being a dad, he'd help me keep Pari with me as Asha wanted.
"You've been taking care of Pari?"
I smiled; I couldn't help it. Every time I thought about my beautiful baby, everything inside me lit up. "Asha couldn't. I quit my job, and…we were fine. Really. Asha had savings and life insurance. But…my parents wouldn't let me access them. Now they want custody of Pari, and Asha specifically left a will naming me as Pari's guardian."
"When did Asha pass away?"
"Six months ago, a week after Pari's second birthday."
Beau sighed. "Why are your parents so intent on getting custody of Pari?"
I licked my lips and shrugged. "They…they didn't appreciate that Asha was a single mom. They wanted her to…you know." I couldn't say the word abort . I didn't have anything against women making their own choices, but my beautiful niece was here, and the thought that my parents had wanted her gone before she was even born was hard for me to compute. "But once Asha was gone, they wanted their granddaughter. I'm taking real good care of her, Beau. I promise. I—"
"I can see that, darlin'." He put a hand on mine. A door opened somewhere, and I pulled my hand away from him, startled.
"That's just Roxy, my housekeeper."
A woman came into the living room, a tray in hand, and stared at Pari, who looked up at the stranger, a red Duplo block in hand.
Roxy's silver-streaked hair cascaded loosely around her shoulders. She had a warm, earth-mother vibe, wrapped in flowing, boho-style fabric that made her seem like she'd just stepped out of a farmer's market. With her colorful clothes and layered jewelry, she radiated a comforting energy.
"My word, Beau, she looks like your mother…you know, just darker." Roxy left the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch we were sitting on and went on her knees in front of Pari.
"Hi, sweetheart, my, aren't you lovely. I'm Roxy."
Pari pursed her lips. "I, Pari."
Roxy looked at Beau and then at me.
"Pari," I repeated slowly so she could catch the pronunciation.
"It means angel," Beau explained.
"My word, that's a beautiful name." Roxy smiled at me. "And what's your name, hon?"
"Hi Roxy, I'm Mira," I introduced myself. The smell of the sandwiches tickled my stomach. "Pari, do you want something to eat?"
Pari shook her head. "I had biscuit and jam." She then looked at Roxy. "I drank all my juice."
"Now, that's a good girl." Roxy was enamored, and I didn't blame her. Pari was adorable. The cutest kid in the whole world.
"Why don't you eat, darlin'?" Beau prompted, put a half sandwich on a plate, and handed it to me.
So much for feeling hungry; I could barely finish the small sandwich before I said I was done and reached for more water.
"Better?" Beau asked.
My shoulders slumped in relief. "Much."
"Dot, sweetheart, can you take Pari outside and—"
I stood up then. "No."
Beau arched an eyebrow.
"I…don't know you…her. I can't just leave Pari with…." I felt like an idiot. Beau was Pari's father, and I was behaving like a helicopter mother.
Roxy gave me a comforting smile. "How about we play right out there?" She pointed to the covered porch right by the living room. "You can see us the entire time, yeah? There is a fan out there, so it's not too hot."
"I trust Roxy," Beau spoke softly.
I sat down on the carpet next to Pari. This was going to be hard, I realized. I was so used to being the only person taking care of her, twenty-four-seven, that it was going to take some doing to let others in, no matter how much I'd appreciate a break from being on all the time.
Beau joined me, and he took Pari's little hand in his. "Sweetheart, Roxy is going to play with you. Is that okay?"
"Okay," Pari said seriously and then looked at me, tacitly asking for permission.
"Roxy and you are going to have so much fun." I gave her my broadest smile, the one that told her everything was fine. Children were quick to sense stress, so I did my best to shield Pari from the storm inside me.
"What's your name?" Pari tilted her head and looked at Beau. I all but smacked my hand on my forehead. I hadn't introduced her to him.
"I'm Beau."
She looked at him with blank eyes.
"Pari, he's your daddy." I choked up at the words. Pari had a father, someone who wanted her. I wasn't the only person in the world who'd love her.
Pari was too young to understand what Daddy meant. "Bodaddy?"
Beau stroked a finger down her cheek. "Bodaddy works."
Once Roxy and Pari went out, Beau seemed to relax, as if he could now speak more freely. Pari was two and a half, so it wasn't like she could understand half the stuff we talked about.
"I'm going to need to do a paternity test," he stated.
"Asha was certain she's yours." And my sister didn't sleep around .
"I'm pretty sure as well, but to be able to claim custody, I need to show parentage."
I felt foolish. Of course, he did.
"How old are you now, Mira?"
I licked my lips. "I turned twenty-two…last week."
He nodded somberly. "And you've become an impromptu mommy and were Asha's only caregiver?"
"Something like that."
"I thought you were planning to go to culinary school?"
He remembered, and I was flattered. "I got into CIA, but I had to defer. Asha was bedridden, and after she had the baby…well, I couldn't go."
Going to the Culinary Institute of America had been my dream, but life sometimes gets in the way, and you have to change your dreams. I had for Pari and didn't regret it at all, except for wishing I had that associate's degree in my pocket so I could earn a good living and take care of my niece.
"You put your life on hold to take care of my daughter, Mira. I'm grateful."
I felt everything inside me tighten. Was he going to send me away? Now that he had his daughter, he didn't need me. He had a lot of money. He could hire an army of nannies. I felt fear course through me.
"I'm her guardian. Asha wanted me to be her…I'm her person." I was breathing hard and was pretty sure I was about to hyperventilate any second now.
"Hey, hey, calm down." Beau slid an arm around me. "You are Pari's parent in all the ways that matter, darlin', and no one's goin' to change that. Okay?"
I felt his lips brush against the side of my head, and that was the last straw.
I had been holding on so tightly to everything, to Pari, to keep her safe and away from my parents. I'd had to take care of Asha and all the things you had to do when someone died. I hadn't breathed properly in the past month since I was kicked out of Asha's house, and her accounts were frozen, so I couldn't access them any longer. I'd been struggling to make ends meet, and then they stopped meeting at all. Then, my parents' smarmy Indian lawyer came to tell me that they'd take Pari away. It had been the last straw.
Everything just came crashing down after that.
The stress of it all suddenly became unbearable, like a dam bursting. A pressure built inside me, and my vision blurred as tears welled up in my eyes. I gasped for air, but I felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the room. My hands shook uncontrollably, and before I knew it, I was sobbing—loud, ragged cries I couldn't hold back, even if I tried. The world spun, and all the pain, fear, and exhaustion I'd buried for so long came rushing out, overwhelming me. I felt like I was unraveling, falling apart, piece by piece, and there was nothing left to hold onto…nothing except Beau.