He patted the small of her back. “You’re fine.”
As they came into the living room, Pesh felt Megan tense at his side. He supposed that it was overwhelming coming into a room packed full of strangers. His sister, Shveta, came forward first. “Hello brother. You’re looking well this evening.”
“Thank you. So are you.” He hugged her tight. As he pulled away, he glanced down at her swollen belly. “And how is the future prince doing?”
Shveta smiled and brought her hand to her abdomen. “He’s busy kicking me at the moment.” When she spied Megan behind him, she gasped. “And who is this?”
He drew in a breath and gazed around his family. “Before I go through this with each and every one of you, I might as well get it out of the way. I want to introduce you to someone very special, my girlfriend, Megan.”
Deafening silence reverberated around the room after his statement. His mother and father exchanged a glance before staring back at Pesh. Megan tucked herself even closer to his side. Although public displays of affection between men and women were frowned upon in his culture, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Well, say something,” he commanded.
“We’re sorry, son. It’s just you caught us off guard,” his mother said.
His father’s bushy brows rose. “So you’re really dating, eh?”
“Yes, I am.”
At his declaration, his father clapped his hands and grinned. “That is most wonderful to hear!” He came forward to embrace Megan. “You are very welcome here.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’m Charlie,” his father introduced.
“Megan,” she replied, with a small smile.
Pesh peered past his father where his mother stood chewing her lip. He could tell she wasn’t entirely happy that another blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman was standing beside her son. While Shveta and Arjan had both sought out Indian partners to marry, he and Dev were somewhat the black sheep since they hadn’t chosen to settle down with women within their culture.
Finally, his mother’s manners won out over anything else, and she stepped forward to shake Megan’s hand. “I’m Lavani. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice meeting you, too,” Megan replied.
The room then fell into an awkward silence. Pesh glanced around, willing someone to say something. His mother cleared her throat. “I’ll go and finish up dinner.” As she started into the kitchen, Shveta followed her, along with Arjan’s wife. Since it was customary for women to be in the kitchen, Pesh found it to be only Megan left with the men.
It didn’t go without her notice either. “Should I go and offer to help?” she questioned, in a whisper.
“Sure. That would be nice.”
Her expression told him that she really didn’t want to leave his side, but she did anyway. Once she was out of earshot, Pesh found everyone’s eyes on him. “What?”
Charlie chuckled. “You even have to ask, my son?”
“So ask your questions and get it over with before Megan comes back in here,” he replied, as he collapsed onto the couch.
He faced a barrage of questions about where they met, how long they had been seeing each other, and how serious was it. He mustered as much patience as he could to answer them all. When he was finished, the men sat back in surprised silence.
“I never thought I would see the day,” his father mused.
Sanjay shook his head. “Oh, I knew the day would come. I saw that when he was out with Emma.”
Charlie’s brows furrowed. “Emma?”
Pesh pinched his eyes shut and wished his brother-in-law didn’t have such a good memory. “Just a friend.”
With a snort, Sanjay replied, “You certainly didn’t look at her like she was a friend, even if she was pregnant.”
“You were with a pregnant woman?” Charlie asked.
“Alpesh how could you?” his mother demanded from the doorway.
“How could I what?” Pesh asked.
Lavani’s expression was horror stricken. “Get a woman…in the family way.”
Pesh rocketed off the couch. He glanced past his mother to where Megan stood. “You’re…?” he couldn’t even form the words.
Megan’s face flushed blood red. “No! Of course, I’m not!”
Lavani gave him a confused look. “Not her,” she replied, pointing at Megan. “This Emma that Sanjay speaks of.”
Bringing his hand to his forehead, he rubbed furiously to try to ward off the ache that was starting to pound in his head. Everything was getting shot to hell so fast. “First of all, Emma and I were never intimate. She was pregnant by the man she is now married to. Yes, I took her to the opera with Sanjay and Shveta, but there was nothing really between us.” He shook his head and couldn’t help wondering if he would ever have to stop explaining what had happened between him and Emma. “Second of all, could everyone just back off for a second? I mean, you’re not exactly giving Megan a very good impression of our family.”
A nervous laugh erupted from Megan’s lips. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her giggling. He winked at her, and she lowered her hand to smile at him.
“Fine, fine. Now that we’ve cleared all that up, why don’t we eat?” Lavani suggested.
“That sounds wonderful,” Charlie replied.
As they made their way into the dining room, Pesh went to Megan’s side. “You surviving okay?” he whispered.
“I’m hanging in there. I may need a drink when we leave.”
“Just no Silver Tequila for you,” he mused.
Without the others catching her, Megan smacked his arm. “Ass,” she hissed under her breath.
He chuckled as he held out the chair for Megan. “Thank you,” she said before sitting down. He then eased in beside her. As the dishes began making their way around the table, he felt Megan kick him. When he glanced at her in surprise, she whispered, “Where is the silverware?”
“We eat with our hands.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.” He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “But don’t use your left hand because it’s considered rude.”
She jerked back to stare wide-eyed at him. “I’m left handed,” she protested.
He fought the urge to smile at her horror. He could tell that she would rather die than do something to embarrass him in front of his family. “You’ll be fine. They won’t expect as much out of you since you’re American.”