The nerve of my mother! Ordering me home as if I was a child! And referring to Diego as a boy? Oh, that was definitely not lost on me. And I know for a fact that I’ve written her sometime over the last two months, not two years. And if she thinks that I believe her mind is growing feeble she’s got another thing coming. She’s a brilliant witch. Her specialty is guilt and manipulation. I cannot believe her! I can’t just take a month off of work! The last thing I need is my mum showing up here, telling Melinda that she was taking me home. How mortifying! What would Diego say? I could scream. In fact, I just might.

“Padma, luv, could you keep it down? You know I’m trying to get some work done,” Diego says, sticking his head out of my bedroom.

“Sorry,” I reply. I close my eyes and count to ten so I’ll be calm enough to explain to Diego what happened. But when I open my eyes, the bedroom door is shut and he was back to work. “Fine, I’ll deal with my mother on my own,” I mutter under my breath. I collapse onto my sofa and hug a pillow against my chest. A sadistic smile crosses my face as I think of the letter I could send my mother.

Dear Mum,

It’s a good thing you have another daughter that looks just like me because you will never see my face again. You can’t control my life; I’m a grown woman who doesn’t need you!

I sigh as I realize that I could never say those things to my mother. I love her. As much as I hate her, I love her. Maybe going home would be fun. Okay, probably not. But it could be nice to see my family. As much as I love it here, I miss them from time to time. I can’t remember the last time I heard from Parvati. It makes me sad to think about her for some reason. I guess it’s just because she’s a part of me. But the point is my mum has to know she can’t control me anymore.

“Well, I’m ready for a break,” Diego says as he walks into my living room and plops down next to me. “You haven’t fixed anything for dinner yet, have you?”

“We may just have to go out tonight. I was going to cook, but I got sidetracked by this letter from my mum,” I reply, resting my head on his shoulder. I hand him the letter and sigh as he reads it.

“Well obviously we won’t go.”

I’m slightly taken back by the tone of Diego’s voice. “So you think I should just no longer be a part of my family?”

“Well, no, but you’re a grown woman. Your mother is being nosey and overbearing. Write her back and tell her to mind her own business.”

I’m enraged by Diego’s comments. I’m the only one that’s allowed to think my mother is nosey and overbearing. “Excuse me, but you don’t know my mother! You would if you would ever agree to go home with me, but you haven’t so you don’t. Don’t call her names!”

“Padma, calm down. Think about it, why would you even want to go home? To spend time with your flighty sister? To let your mother tell you how to live your life? To let your father—”

I cut him off there. “Don’t say another word! I cannot believe you are insulting my family this way!”

“I’m only saying the same things you say,” he replies.

I glare at him and get off the sofa. “Don’t assume to know what I do and do not want to do, either. For your information, I want to go home for the holidays. I want to see my family. You see yours almost every month!”

“Fine, go, I don’t care.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “No, Diego, I’m not going. We’re going.”

“You can’t make me go stay with your parents, and neither can your mother.”

For all that I do for him… for all that he means to me… “I don’t know why you’re so opposed to meeting your future in-laws. But if you want to behave this way, you can do your own cooking, your own cleaning, and sleep at your own villa,” I inform him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You’re just letting your mother control you,” he replies.

“Maybe.” He has a point. I didn’t really care much about going home until he was so vehemently opposed to going. But if we’re going to get married he’s got to get over his fear of not being liked by my parents. I’m doing this for his own good.

“Are you really going to make me go?” he whines. He’s giving me puppy dog eyes. I have to be strong and resist.

“Yes.”

He sighs. “If you find us a place to stay, other than your parents’ house, I’ll go.”

I grin and bend down to kiss him. “You won’t be sorry, I promise.”

He shakes his head. “I doubt it, but we’ll see.”

“I’ll go start dinner.” As I walk into the kitchen it occurs to me that my mother won. She got what she wanted. Now I just have to figure out if going home is really what I want.