Gabrielle said as she sat on the brown, leather sofa in Padma’s living room. She watched a frown intensify in Padma’s forehead and instantly felt tears well up in her own eyes. She had been fighting back tears on her drive to Padma’s house because she hadn’t given Padma any sort of warning that she wanted to leave. She hated to blind-side her with the news, but realizing it would’ve been much worse if she left without saying a word, Gabrielle knew she had to stop by to tell her, no matter how painful it was for both parties. “Padma, did you hear me?” Gabrielle asked because Padma sat speechless and motionless. “Padma?” Snapping out of a temporary shock, Padma covered her opened mouth with her trembling hand. For a moment, words were hard to come by. Was she hearing things? She loved Gabrielle like a daughter. Was she really saying goodbye? Padma, the Mother of three sons, always wanted a girl. It just never happened, and after she gave birth to her last son, Dilvan, all those years ago, she was told by doctors that she couldn’t have any more children, tossing her chances of having a daughter out the window.
