Summary

In the Prelude, the narrator has just been born. Doctors and nurses struggle to get him to breathe on his own. His mother, Seema, is already dead. Seema has already named the baby Ishraaq which means radiance and sunshine.

The narrator describes in the present tense the encounter between his parents in which he is conceived. Seema brings home Bill’s favorite foods. They have not seen each other in two months. They discuss President Obama’s attempt to get the Affordable Health Care Act signed into law.

Bill changes the subject as he says he agrees with Seema that he does not think their marriage is going to work because Seema is not ready for a baby. They have sex one last time during that visit. Having had her IUD removed the first week of their separation, Seema becomes pregnant...