“We won’t give our daughter away if you don’t treat her right,” an uncle grumbled.
“He could sing another song to convince you,” Arjun piped up. The glare Rian threw his way had Kaya stepping in front to protect her husband.
“That’s a great idea,” someone else said and suddenly, everyone was throwing out suggestions for songs. Rian couldn’t keep track of who was speaking anymore. This was not a family, it was an army.
Finally, Aditi jumped up, stomping her foot like a little girl with a major grievance.
“Stop it!” she yelled, wagging a finger threateningly at them all. “Stop bothering him or I swear I will elope and not a single one of you will be invited to the birth of my child.”
“Are you pregnant?” one cousin screeched. Aditi shook her head, but her denial was drowned out in a chorus of new questions and sassy comments.
Her father seemed torn between rejoicing the possibility of becoming a grandfather and the discomfort of realising that his first born had a sex life. “I’ll have to bleach my ears too, now,” he dejectedly moaned, turning to his wife for support.
“If it helps reduce the hair growth on them, then it's a good idea,” Mrs. Krishnan tartly responded.
“I’m going to be an aunt? So cool!” another cousin wailed in the back.
Aditi kept trying to explain that it was a misunderstanding, but no one was listening.
“How is that possible? She’s not married yet,” an older aunt mumbled. “That’s not a criteria anymore,” someone else said.
“How far along are you?”
“Can I plan the baby shower?”
“Can we draw names for the baby?”
“Enough!” Rian roared, surprising even himself. Thirty-seven sets of eyes turned to look at him. He stood up and tucked Aditi into his side. “She is not pregnant,” he announced, glancing at her for confirmation once before continuing. “But that is a distinct possibility in the future so if you all want to see the baby, you will listen to Aditi when she speaks and not interrupt her until she allows you to do so!”
Proverbial crickets sounded in the background, the entire room still because of his outburst. He glared unrepentantly at them all, daring even one of them to pipe out of turn. Satisfied that they would behave, he looked at the woman beside him. Almost immediately, his frown softened into a smile.
“Go ahead, Doc.”
“Thank you,” Aditi whispered, looking at him like he’d won a war for her.
“Anytime, Sunshine,” he winked.
She took a deep breath and turned to face her family. “Amma, Appa, Paati, and everyone here. I love you all. You are very important to me and I would very much like you to accept Rian as my future husband because,” she gulped, reaching to the side to hold his hand for strength, “I love him. And I want to marry him.”
There was a severe silence and it stretched and stretched.
“Guys?” she prompted, on the verge of tears.
Her mother was the only one brave enough to venture a question.
“Are we allowed to talk now?” she asked, eyes darting between Rian and Aditi. When her daughter nodded, Mrs. Krishnan stood up and marched over to them, throwing her hands about them in a bear hug.
“Welcome to the family, Rian. Any man who can stand up so my daughter is heard in a crowd is one hundred percent okay by me.”
Aditi almost sagged against him in relief.
Her father came up to them next.
“Appa?”
“No further questions,” he said, patting his daughter lovingly on her cheek. “Your mother is correct. Welcome, son.”
Rian accepted the hand Mr. Krishnan held out, shaking it once.