Page 51 of Curious Hearts (The Healing Hearts #2)
“It’s clarity,” Jessica insisted. “For years I’ve been trying to balance my mother’s expectations with my own desires but today has made everything crystal clear.”
“Jessica,” her father intervened gently. “Perhaps this conversation should continue somewhere more private.” He gestured to the still-gathered audience watching the family drama unfold.
But Jessica wasn’t finished. The weeks of indecision, the years of compliance, had given way to absolute certainty.
“I’m done with arranged dates and eligible sons of family friends.
I’m done with my career being mapped out by family committee.
I’m done pretending to be someone I’m not to avoid disappointing people who are supposed to love me but who can’t see who I am. Not really.”
She turned back to her mother, whose expression had shifted from authority to uncertainty. “I’m in love with Ali. Not as some rebellion or phase, but as the person I want to build a life with. A whole life—career, home, family, all of it.”
Ali’s breath caught. “Jessica...”
“I mean it,” Jessica continued, her voice steady despite the enormity of what she was saying.
“When I imagine my future now, you’re in it.
I want to wake up with you every morning, surrounded by ridiculous cats and whatever other strays you’ve collected.
I want to argue about spice organization and air purifiers and whether it’s appropriate to let animals on furniture. ”
A ripple of amusement ran through the gathered spectators, breaking some of the tension. Even James smiled slightly, though Lakshmi remained frozen in shock.
“I want to be your partner in every sense,” Jessica went on, her voice softening. “Someday, when we’re ready, I want us to have a family together. Children who’ll grow up knowing they’re loved for exactly who they are, not for who anyone else wants them to be.”
Ali stared at her, eyes wide. “You want to have children with me?”
“A whole house full,” Jessica replied without hesitation. “If that’s what you want too.”
Everyone hushed, for what seemed like an eternity, then Yaya, who had been watching the entire scene with rapt attention, crossed herself and murmured something that sounded like a prayer of thanksgiving. Fenna was grinning broadly, and even James Taylor seemed moved by the unexpected declaration.
Lakshmi, however, had gone pale. “Jessica, you can’t possibly be serious. Children? You’ve known this woman for a few months. This is exactly the kind of impulsive decision I was trying to protect you from.”
“Mom,” Jessica said, her voice gentler now.
“You need to understand something. I’m not doing this to hurt you or to reject everything you and Dad have given me.
I’m grateful for the opportunities, the education, the support.
But at some point, you have to let me use those advantages to build the life I want, not the one you imagined for me. ”
James stepped forward, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Lakshmi, listen to our daughter. Really listen. She’s not throwing away her future—she’s choosing it. And from everything I’ve seen, she’s choosing well.”
For a long moment, Lakshmi stood rigid, caught between her physician’s authority and her maternal uncertainty. Then, almost imperceptibly, something in her posture shifted.
“Partner,” she said quietly, looking at Jessica. “They made you partner without London?”
“Yes,” Jessica replied. “Walter recognized that my alternative approach made strategic sense for the firm.”
“And you’re truly happy with this arrangement? With staying in Denver, with...” she hesitated before continuing, “with Dr. Ritchie?”
“Happier than I’ve ever been,” Jessica confirmed. “And her name is Ali.”
Lakshmi nodded once, a gesture so slight it might have been missed by someone who didn’t know her well. “I see.”
It wasn’t acceptance, not yet. But it was acknowledgment—a first step, perhaps, toward understanding. James squeezed his wife’s shoulder gently, a silent message passing between them. Whatever reckoning would come in their marriage, in their family, would happen privately.
“Dr. Monahan,” James said, turning to the board chairman. “I believe you mentioned reconvening the grant committee? Perhaps we should allow you to proceed with that important business.”
Dr. Monahan nodded, grateful for the diplomatic extraction from the family drama. “Indeed. Dr. Ivers-Vargas, if you’d join me? Dr. Ritchie, we’ll be in touch shortly with the committee’s decision.”
As the crowd began to disperse, Jessica found herself standing in the hospital corridor with Ali, her parents, and Yaya, the aftermath of her emotional declaration settling around them like dust after an explosion.
“Jessica,” her father said quietly. “Your mother and I need some time to process everything that’s happened today. We should talk again, perhaps over dinner next week, when emotions aren’t running quite so high.”
Lakshmi said nothing, her expression shocked but composed once again, though Jessica could see the effort it was costing her. Whatever understanding they might eventually reach would not come easily or quickly.
“I’d like that,” Jessica replied, matching her father’s measured tone. “Thank you, Dad.”
James nodded, then guided Lakshmi away, his hand still steady on her back as they walked toward the elevators, leaving Jessica and Ali standing in the corridor with Yaya.
“Well,” Yaya said into the ensuing silence. “This was much more exciting than my telenovelas. No secret babies, but love and future children! Very dramatic.”
Ali laughed, the sound breaking the tension. “Yaya, please.”
“What? I’m just saying, when you Americans decide to have family drama, you don’t do it halfway.” She patted Jessica’s arm with surprising gentleness. “You did good, chica. Standing up for love is never wrong… it can be messy, but never wrong.”
“It was messy, wasn’t it?” Jessica grimaced as the enormity of what she had done seemed to dawn on her.
“Gloriously messy,” Ali agreed, her eyes still reflecting amazement. “Did you really mean all that? About children?”
“Every word,” Jessica replied without hesitation. “Though I had planned to have that conversation somewhere slightly more private than a hospital corridor with half the medical staff watching.”
“Since when do you not have a plan?” Ali asked, her smile widening. “Ms. Everything-must-be-ordered-by-frequency-of-use suddenly decides to declare her intentions in front of a live audience?”
“I’m learning to embrace spontaneity,” Jessica said, returning the smile. “I have an excellent teacher.”
Yaya looked between them with satisfaction. “This calls for a celebration. Not here in this hospital with its terrible food, but at home. With proper cooking and proper wine.”
“Let’s wait for Fenna,” Ali suggested. “And the official decision about the grant. Though after this...” She gestured to the now-empty corridor where the confrontation had played out.
“I think it’s safe to assume Monahan will be keen to distance himself from any appearance of impropriety in the decision process. ”
“I’m sorry it had to happen this way,” Jessica said, suddenly conscious of the public nature of her outburst. “I never meant to make a scene or put your professional relationships at risk.”
“Are you kidding?” Ali replied, her eyes bright with emotion. “You just stood up to your mother—the formidable Dr. Mehta-Taylor—in defense of me and my work. That was...” She shook her head, words failing her. “Nobody’s ever fought for me like that before.”
“Get used to it,” Jessica said softly. “Because I plan to keep fighting for you, for us, for as long as you’ll have me.”
Ali’s response was to rise on her tiptoes and kiss Jessica, right there in the hospital corridor, with Yaya beaming approvingly beside them.
When they separated, Jessica felt lighter than she had in years, as if the weight of expectations she’d carried for so long had finally been set down.
Whatever came next—with her parents, with Ali’s grant, with their future together—they would face it as partners, no longer controlled by fears or external expectations.
“So,” Ali said, linking her arm through Jessica’s as they headed toward the exit. “A whole house full of children, huh?”
Jessica laughed, the sound echoing in the hospital corridor, free and genuine. “Well, maybe we should start with one and see how it goes.”
As they walked out into the early evening sunshine, Jessica experienced a certainty like never before.
Not the calculated certainty of investment returns in a bull market with the wind at your back, but the bone-deep knowledge that she was exactly where she was meant to be, with exactly the right person beside her.