Lili and Matthias buckled their seatbelts. 

"Ok, do we 'ave everything?" Matthias quizzed. 

Lili nodded, though she didn't even bother to check. She turned around in her seat and reached her hand into Jacob's car seat. She could feel the now-5-month-old soundly sleeping. She couldn't bring Joseph along, for Matthias still thought he was dead. Even so, because he was a ghost, he most likely wouldn't have even been able to enter his parents' house because of the Force Field of Faith (as Ludwig liked to call it). She didn't think Joseph minded staying behind with Roy; he seemed to like him a lot. After the boys turned 5 months, they became very grabby, grabbing anything from Roy and Lili's earrings to random crap on the floor. Roy encouraged Joseph to grab at Lili and Ludwig, so that he would learn the art of phasing between the solid and paranormal realm. 

Even though the GPS claimed the drive would only be 3 hours long, this would be Jacob's first road trip and Lili didn't want anything to go wrong. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we have everything. You checked and double checked." 

"Sorry, love," He apologized sheepishly, "I just don't want us to leave anythin' important behind." 

"And we won't. You know, when you're not on the job, you don't have to be such a...stick in the mud. You're fun Matthias now!" She exclaimed, taking Matthias' brown hand in her own and running her thumb over the veins on the back. 

He said nothing as she pulled away from the curb, officially beginning their road trip.

There was a somewhat heavy silence as she drove; she wondered if she'd offended him. She decided to start up a conversation to fill the void. 

"So...I'm a little nervous about meeting your family. I'll be the first to admit that I'm still a little ignorant about Muslim and Indian culture, so I'm a little scared I'll offend somebody. I guess…I was just wondering if there's anything I should know in advance." 

His brown eyes lit up with recollection. "Well actually, there is somethin' that went down at the last family gatherin': So, me older sister Raji decided to bring 'er mate Laila along, which wasn't surprisin'. Our baby Sriya likes to bring 'er best mate Tariq to the gatherin's all the time, mostly just 'cause it annoys Dad. BUT THEN--" He shouted, startling Lili half to death. 

"...Raji revealed that Laila was actually 'er girlfriend." 

"Is homosexuality, like, haram in Islam--hehe, that rhymed..." Lili questioned.

"It's...debated. Whatever it is, Dad got really angry an'--for some reason--'e tried to rip off Laila's niqab--which didn't work. After that, the both of 'em left an' last year's gatherin' basically ended there; the whole mood had been spoiled." Matthias concluded.

"That sounds….pretty tough." Lili commented, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah, but they're comin' back this year, an' they're bringin' me nephew with 'em! 'E's 1 now, the la's name is Qamar. 'E was a surprise, Raji never seemed like the type to like kids. She still don't actually, she says she doesn't like any kids who aren't Qamar! Miriam, the oldest, on the other hand, she's got 7!" 

"7?!" Lili repeated incredulously. 

"Is right, la', and she's got 2 more due in about a month. 'er 'usband, Raheem, is an OB/GYN--actually, he works at Addenbrooke's so you might've worked with 'im." 

"Oh that Raheem? I didn't know you had any relatives living in Currant." 

"Well...you never asked. Anyways, as I was saying, I guess they can afford it but...still...pumpin' out baby after baby doesn't seem to healthy but to each 'er own, I guess. I used to get the kids mixed up on accident, but now sometimes I do it on purpose just to tease 'em." He chuckled. 

"It must be nice to have such a...big family." Lili choked, dreading the thought of not getting a wink of sleep. 

Matthias placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know it sounds like a lot, but it's only for, like, 3 days, an' then we'll be 'ome before ya know it!" 

"Yeah, you're right." She nodded, "I've always liked the idea of a big family anyway: more love to go around, I guess." 

"...Is it the la' that's makin' yer head chocka?" He asked. 

"What?" Lili snorted with laughter. 

Even though she was laughing at him, Matthias smiled, happy to get a chuckle out of her.

"Does your whole family talk like you?" She asked. 

"No, me parents were born an' raised in India, an' you can still 'ear their Indian accents, but me sisters all speak Scouser, more or less. But seriously, is Ludwig stressin' you out? 'e seems like….a stressful person to live with. Are you sure 'e'll be okay on 'is own for so long?" 

She sighed deeply. "Why are you always so concerned about him?" 

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend I just….well…" He trailed off uneasily.

"Well...what?" 

"I suppose I should be honest with you, I've heard honesty is important in relationships: I don't think Ludwig is very...safe. I 'ave...bad feelings about 'im. I...believe that 'e could actually be dangerous." Matthias admitted. He felt as if a heavy weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. 

"Why?" Lili retorted defensively, "You don't even know him! Is it because he's deaf? Black? Because his behavior is...unconventional?" 

"I don't know him, but I've...seen 'im. Sure, the kick in the face was an accident, but...then 'e burned down yer house, which caused Joseph's death. I'm just...concerned about the two of you stayin' under the same roof, that's all." 

"Well, you have my permission to stop being concerned." She replied. 

"Well, I just think, as yer boyfriend, I always have the right to be concerned. What kinda partner would I be if I didn't care about you?" Matthias prompted.

Lili shook her head silently, keeping her amber eyes locked on the road ahead. Matthias continued looking at her for a few more seconds before letting the subject go, putting his wireless earbuds back in. 

She could hear little Jacob in the back seat, now awakened from his nap. She wondered how Joseph was doing back home. 

                              ****

"Welcome to another episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure! Today's adventure starts in….the Garden!" 

The camera panned to baby Joseph, who was laying on his stomach in the grass. As Roy was trying to narrate the episode, Joseph kept screaming back; Roy just assumed he was trying to help. Ludwig was off to the side, tending to his precious yellow asiatic lilies in the flower beds. 

"Look Joseph, a leaf!" Roy exclaimed, pointing at the nearby leaf. "Grab it and add it your inventory, you'll never know if you'll need it later!" 

"Seriously, a leaf? There are tons of those everywhere!" Ludwig commented. 

"Don't listen to Uncle Ludwig, just go get it." Roy told him. And as he'd planned, little Joseph slowly maneuvered his chubby body over to the leaf. When he reached it, he was able to grab it for a few seconds, before it would phase back through his hand. He tried to grab it again, but his hand just kept going through it. 

"Oh well, it's okay. You did much better than last time!" Roy assured him, giving him a gentle pat on the back. 

"Look over there Jojo, a foul beast has invaded the garden!" Roy shouted dramatically, pointing to Beethoven, who was idly basking in the sun's warm rays as he watched his best friend work. 

"The beast's weakness is in it's tail--grab it!" Roy instructed. Joseph took one good look at the cat before he began to whine and fuss. 

"He's still afraid of me?" Beethoven inquired.

"I guess so," Roy shrugged and stopped the recording. He picked up Joseph and held him close to soothe him.

"He's just jealous of your devilishly good looks." Ludwig joked, giving Beethoven a few scratches between the ears. 

"It's fine, I think we have enough footage to send to Lili today, anyway. You're getting so big and strong, aren't you Jojo?" Roy cooed, booping their noses together. "Only two more videos and then she'll be home." 

"Or maybe...she won't be." Ludwig chimed in. "This could all be some elaborate plot to kill her or..or...do weird things to her." 

"What kind of weird things?" 

"I don't know what kind of weird bullshit people like Matthias do." 

"You know, if you're really that concerned you could'a gone with them." Roy reminded him.

"No way! It's obvious Matthias wouldn't want me there. He wants to have Lilium all to himself so they can kiSs and hOlD hAnDs. Bleck! Allhewantstodoishavesexwithher, that'sallanyonewantsthesedays! That'swhyhe'stryingtospeedthingsalong,sohecangetthatffreepussy! AndLili'sjuststupidlyobvlivioustothewholething--" 

"Okay, okay, okay, chill out, man. Take a few deep breaths, and calm down. I get that you're upset about this whole Lili thing but it is kind of your fault: if you hadn't done all that stalling and just asked her out, she might've said yes." Roy reminded him.

"I don't know what kind of rose-coloured glasses reality you're living in but there was a 99% chance she would've rejected me. And if I would've made the dumbass mistake of letting myself be fooled into believing for even a second that there was the slightest chance she might want me, it would make things awkward and she would've kicked me out. TV says you can't be friends with someone after you know they have feelings for you. It just makes things weird."

"Well yeah, and what does TV know?" 

"A whole lot more than I do, when it comes to this whole relationship thing anyway. I think you just need to accept that you and I are different. You're already hot, so that's already an advantage. I'm pretty sure if you weren't gay, you and Lili would've ended up together….." 

There were things Roy wanted to say, but he knew none of them would change his brother's mind. After all, it wasn't his approval he was searching for; it was Lili's. All of this disturbed Roy immensely, because he'd always remembered Ludwig being so good with women. He had a girlfriend, and sure he got rejected that one odd time but there were plenty of other girls pining for him. But Ludwig was different then, not at all how he was now in neither looks nor character. Roy wondered if Ludwig himself even remembered how he used to be. That brain injury really did him dirty. 

Perhaps it was better to just let him mourn his "loss" for now, and work on some sort of much-needed confidence building later. 

"...Besides, even if I went with them, I'd just end playing deafie for all those bozos because of their stupid magic force field." He grumbled. 

"Well, it's not like you're faking, you are deaf. So it's more like with all these spells and things you're playing 'hearie'---" 

Ludwig shot him a harsh "don't correct me" glare, and Roy promptly stopped talking. 

"Why would I want to go anywhere with Matthias, anyway? To a place where there would be tons of Matthias' all over the place….it would be a...Mattageddon." 

"Hey, that's the spirit...I guess. Just keep that bright attitude, it's only for 3 days." Roy assured him.

"That's what you think. But when they return, they'll be even more in love, and Matthias will want to move in and make our lives a living nightmare. Then when they get married, they'll kick us out so they can have all the sex they want!" 

"Don't be like that, Lili would never do that to us. We're her friends!" 

"Yeah...sure…whatever you need to tell yourself..." Ludwig trailed off, unconvinced.

"When you're in love, your partner is the only one who matters. So if Matthias wants us out, we'll be out...I'm sure of it." He concluded. 

~~~~

Around noon, Lili parallel parked her Ford on the curb in front of Matthias' parents' house. It was a brick townhouse with 3 windows, a chimney, and a dark brown door. The house had a nicely sized front patio fenced in by a low brick wall and 2 wheelie bins out front; One blue, one purple. When they got there, there was already a dark blue Mercedes Sprinter Passenger Van parked in front of them. There was another car too, but it was much less noticeable. Outside on the porch, sat a small, older woman with light brown skin and dark eyes. Lili recognized her from the photo at Matthias' house: It was his mother. She wore a dark green dress with gold accents and matching veil that let only her round, chubby face remain uncovered. 

Lili's heart began to pound quickly in her chest. "This is it...the moment of truth." 

"Don't be too nervous, love, they don't bite." Matthias assured her as he finished re-braiding his long dark hair. 

"But...what if they don't like me?" 

"I don' see 'ow they'd manage to; everybody likes you. An' even if they don't, I'd be a little disappointed but that isn't gonna change how I feel about you." Matthias replied, tucking a stray lock of brain hair behind Lili's ear.

"You look great, by the way." 

She looked down at her 1950s inspired black dress with multi-colored dinosaurs all over it. Ludwig and Roy had both approved it (Ludwig for the dinosaurs, mostly) but she wore it so she would match with Jacob, who was also wearing dinosaur themed attire. He was already awake in the back seat, no doubt ready for his lunch. She grabbed him while Matthias grabbed his baby bag before approaching the front door.

Matthias' mother stood to greet them. When he got close enough, he began to say hello but she interrupted him by pulling him into a warm hug. "Oh my baby," She said, "it's been ages!" 

"But Mum, I was just 'ere a few months ago for Christmas." He reminded her. 

"I know! It's been ages!" She replied, giving her son a barrage of kisses on his bearded face. 

When she was finally done, she turned to Lili. "Gosh, where did you find her--she's so tall!"

"Mum…" Matthias trailed off, embarrassed by her directness. Lili only chuckled--she was quite used to comments about her height. Because she was currently wearing heels, she was even taller. Matthias' mum only seemed to be about 5'1", so Lili found her strangely adorable.

Unsure of what exactly to do next, Lili offered her hand. "Hello Mrs. Chaudhary, I'm Lili--"

Before she could finish introducing herself, Matthias' mother pulled her into a big hug. "You are part of the family now, Lili," She said, "You can call me, Mum." 

After she pulled away, she finally addressed the little baby perched on Lili's hip. "And who is this little lad~?" She cooed in the high-pitched voice that always made Jacob laugh and squeal. 

"Oh that's Jacob, he just turned 5 months old recently." Lili replied for him. 

Mum pursed her lips together for a few seconds. Then she asked, in a low voice, "He isn't yours, is he?" 

"NO!" Matthias blurted, "Uh--I mean, no Mum, 'e's not my baby."

Lili nodded quickly. "He's from a previous marriage, the father and I are no longer together….unfortunately." She explained. She regretted adding the last part as soon as the words escaped her lips. 

Mum's eyes darted between the two of them. "Adi, go inside and say hello to everybody." 

Matthias continued on inside to do as he was told, the girls following behind him.  When he pulled the door open, the group was bombarded by the enticing scent of spices, warm air, and a cacophony of loud voices. The house was already fairly crowded with guests, young and old.  

"Everyone!" Mum yelled, but it was so loud nobody could hear her. 

"EVERYONE, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE?!" She bellowed. Lili wondered how such a loud sound came out of such a tiny woman. Jacob babbled loudly as well, just happy to have an excuse to scream.

Now that everyone had gone silent, Mum continued, "Everyone, this is Lili, Aditya's new girlfriend~." 

"Hi Lili!" The large family replied, mostly in sync. 

An older man with dark brown skin, dark eyes, dark hair, and a matching beard, peppered with gray hairs approached Lili. He wore a cream, gold embroidered Sherwani with dark red bordering on the Nehru collar and gold buttons, with matching dark red churidar pants. Following closely behind him was a black and white Siberian Husky with icy blue eyes. 

The man (who she recognized as Matthias' father from the photo) looked her up and down. At 5'11", he wasn't nearly as short as his wife but he was still amazed at Lili's stature. The vast majority of the women he knew were shorter than their partners, his wife included. 

"...Is she a Muslim?" He asked, though he could tell by her outfit choice that she probably wasn't. 

"No…" Lili replied. 

"Madhav…" Mum warned. 

"What? Nandita, this is an important question! We all need to remain equally yoked. If Aditya was a woman, it would be haram for him to marry a heathen! Do you plan to convert to Islam?" 

"Um, not really--"

"BAH!" Madhav interrupted her rudely with a dismissive hand. "Nonsense! I do not approve of this at all! I can't believe it! Aditya was always the good one, but now he's choosen to wed a spawn of Al-Shaytan!" He grumbled as he walked away. 

"I'm...dreadfully sorry about that." Mum apologized. 

"It's fine." Lili lied.

The husky that had followed Madhav remained. He barked happily at Lili, his black tail wagging. 

"Who is this?" Lili cooed, petting the dog affectionately. 

"Oh, that's Naan Bread." 

"Naan Bread?" Lili repeated. 

Mum chuckled. "Yes, Sriya picked the name, but we just call him Naan." 

Suddenly, someone yelled something from the kitchen in a foreign language.

"Would you please excuse me? Make sure to take off your shoes, and I'll be back soon." Mum said before walking away, leaving Lili standing at the front door. 

She waited there awkwardly for a few minutes, but Mum did not return. Lili eventually got tired of standing there, so she removed her high heels and went to find a place to make herself comfortable. She ventured into the living room and sat down on the brown couch next to two women. 

The woman closest to her had brown skin, full lips, and dark eyes accentuated by black mascara and eyeliner. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt, matching white leggings, and a bright yellow skirt that matched her hijab. The woman sitting on the farthest end of the sofa had a more youthful face with large brown eyes, full pink lips, and a bit of a lighter complexion. She wore a black shayla that hid her hair, ears, and chest. Her outfit consisted of a black corset over a top with sheer mesh ¾ sleeves. She wore a matching black skirt over mesh stockings that matched her sleeves. The two women were interesting contrasts of each other: one in black and the other in cheerful, bright yellow and white.

As Lili stared at the woman in yellow, she felt as if she'd seen her before somewhere….

"Excuse me," She says politely, "Are you the Raji Chaudhary from that new sci-fi movie, Astral Projection?" 

The woman turned to her. "Yeah...I'm surprised any recognized me..." 

"Of course, you were great! But...your accent sounded more like a 'normal' British accent, not like a Scouse one." She pointed out. 

"I use my Tomato accent for my serious actin' roles, 'cause sometimes foreigners 'ave hard time takin' my Scouse accent serioushly, so I save it for my comedic roles!" Raji explained.

"Oh, that's smart. I knew Matthias had a sister named Raji, but I thought the name Raji Chaudhary was probably  common so I didn't assume it was you." 

"Actually, it's Raji Hakim-Chaudhary." She corrected her lightly as she gladly showed off her silver wedding ring. Lili gave her a little clap. 

"Your baby is so big," Raji moved on, "What's 'is name? How old is 'e?" 

"His name is Jacob and he just turned 5 months." Lili replied, beginning to feel like a broken record. 

"Ah! We adopted our li'le one, Qamar, last year when 'e was the same age. The la's toddlin' 'round 'ere somewhere…" Raji told her.

"Yeah I know, Matthias told me." 

"'E did, did 'e? I'm surprised 'e even told you about us." 

"Yep. He even told me about what went down at last year's reunion...where is Laila, by the way?" 

"She's in the kitchen with Miriam an' Adi."  

It was time for the girl next to Raji to speak. "You better not let Miriam see Jacob, or she'll try to devour 'im!" 

"....Oh yeah, I'm Sriya, by the way, the youngest." She added, "Who's baby is that?"

Raji gently slapped her sister's shoulder. "You can't just ask people questions like that!" 

"My...ex is the father, but he's my little man." Lili replied, kissing Jacob's chubby cheek.

"Mmmm...Dad's not gonna like tha'." Sriya commented. "I mean, 'e probably won't like you, period." 

"Yeah, I already told him, but of course, Matthias would adopt him if we got married."

"Marriage already?" Sriya gasped, "Well, that is something Dad would want. 'e thinks dating is haram an' that it leads you on the path to Jahannam. That's...not a good place, by the way. I'm not surprised Adi would want to 'urry up an' tie the knot, tha's just what Mum an' Dad would want. 'E an' Miriam 'ave always been the goody-goodys of the family. Raj an' I, not so much. We're The Disappointments." She joked lightly. 

As the women laughed at the joke, Jacob began to fuss. 

"You don't like me jokes, now don'tcha?" Sriya asked Jacob, "No need to cry about it." 

"Sorry," Lili apologized, "It's his lunch time and he's getting a little impatient."

"Is 'e still on the boob?" Raji asked. 

"Yes."

"You can use me old bedroom upstairs if you want to feed 'im somewhere quieter an' more private." She offered. 

Lili smiled. "That would be great, thanks." 

After Raji instructed her on how to get to her room, Lili left to go take care of business. 

"She seems...nice." Sriya commented. 

"Yeah, I didn't know Adi liked white girls, though. Heck, I didn't even know he fancied girls at all!" Raji exclaimed. 

"If Dad had two gay children, he'd probably 'ave a heart attack an' die. 'E was already mad enough that Lili is a divorcee, that she isn't Muslim, an' that she decided to wear a dress that shows her bare arms an' legs." 

"I think this year's reunion'll be….interesting." Sriya speculated. 

***

Meanwhile, Matthias, Miriam, and Laila were in the kitchen helping Nandita prepare dinner. He'd tried to go find Lili after he said hi to everyone, but his mother put her son in charge of kneading the parathas, so he'd have an excuse to hang out with her. Besides, he saw Lili everyday while he only saw his dear old mum a few times a year. 

"So...Lili is quite beautiful." Nandita commented in Hindi, attempting to start a conversation. 

"Yes, I know." He replied curtly, keeping his eyes on the dough in his hands. 

"You know, there are many beautiful, good, pious Muslimāt out there too. Like, all the girls from your guys' madrasah! Like...eh...Surayya Al-Ghazzawi! You remember Surayya, right?" 

"Um…."

"Yeah, you remember her. She's still unmarried and her parents are looking for a nice husband for her." 

"That's nice and all Mum, but I'm already in a relationship. I can't believe you're being so shallow! I expected this reaction from Dad, but not from you!"

"Sorry," Nandita said, "I didn’t mean to be shallow. Lili seems nice, but a union between a religious person and a non-religious one will inevitably cause problems. If Lili is unwilling to convert, then she doesn't respect your religion and she doesn't respect you. I don't want my son to end up with someone who doesn't respect him. How will you raise your children in such an environment? Will they be Muslim or kafir?"

"Neither, they'll be confused." Madhav butt in. 

"Come on, you guys are really overreacting." Matthias said. 

"No, we are not, your mother has a point." Madhav insisted. "Lili is not the kind of woman I want my son married to. She's already been divorced, she has a kid, and she's not interested in converting. You have no business with a woman like that! There are a multitude of beautiful Muslim women who you might even be more compatible with, if you just gave them a chance. I don't know what the Muslim community is like down in Currant, but I've heard of some young Muslims using halal dating app thingamajigers to meet people. Whatever you see in her, you could surely find in someone el--"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, "Matthias asserted. "You're not going to change my mind." 

"Fine. If you don't want to talk about Lili, then we should talk more about you, or more specifically your career. You had so many opportunities before you, but you chose to become a SecUrITY OfFicer! Raheem makes almost 4x what you make! Why can't you be more like him?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Laila could tell Matthias was silently frustrated. He was kneading the dough way too vigorously. Miriam finally spoke up. "Dad, stop it. Don't compare them, it's not fair!" 

Madhav continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Why didn't you become a doctor like Raheem?" 

"Because I'm not Raheem and I didn't want to become a doctor." 

"Oh, stop lying! You aren't a doctor because you couldn't be one, not because you didn't want to be. You were always too soft and too lazy. When things get hard you always just quit and run away. Though that's probably your mother's fault, she was always too soft on you kids--" 

Matthias stopped abruptly before charging out of the kitchen, pushing through the crowd of nosy people who'd been silently eavesdropping. 

"See, look what I told you: Aditya's always running aw--" 

"Madhav, that wasn't very appropriate at all. How could you treat your son so coldly? Get out of my kitchen!" Nandita commanded. 

She started to go after her son, but Laila stopped her. "Let him be, he probably wants to be alone right now."

                              +++

Later, the whole family sat down to eat together at the dinner table, with the exception of Miriam's kids who had their own kid's table elsewhere, and Qamar and Jacob, who were quietly napping upstairs. 

Lili didn't believe she'd ever eaten any of the things they were serving for dinner, but they looked and smelled delicious nonetheless. 

Matthias was seated next to her on the left, whereas on the right, there was a woman wearing a black abaya and pink niqab that concealed her whole face except for her brown eyes. Based on what she'd been told, Lili deduced she must've been Laila.

Before they all dug in, Madhav stood at the head of the table and recited, "Allahumma barik lana fima razaqtana waqina athaban-nar. Bismallah." 

"Bismallah." Everyone repeated, except for Lili, who had no idea what anyone was saying. Afterwards, they began to eat the feast prepared for them. 

As Matthias took a bite of his mother's chicken biryani, Madhav began to say something to him in Hindi.

He interrupted him. "It's rude to speak in a foreign language in front of people who do not understand." 

Appalled, Madhav replied, "So we're just going to stop speaking Hindi because some girl doesn't know it? That's not my fault! Aditya, you know how important preserving the culture is to your mother, but now you're just throwing it all away for….nothing!" He shouted. It was like someone opened a bottle of soda that had been shaken up. All of Madhav's words just spilled out, one after another. 

"What has gotten into you? Have you started having sex? Is that why you can't let go of her?!" He asked. 

Sriya and Raji looked at each other, shamefully eating up all the family drama. Raji and Laila had had their turn in the spotlight at last year's reunion, and Sriya before that. It was only a matter of time before he moved on to picking at their brother. 

Abruptly, Miriam stood up and slammed her fists on the dinner table. Everyone went quiet and stared at her. 

"Dad, stop bullyin' Aditya an' Lili." 

"But--"

"No buts!" She interrupted, everyone astonished at her audacity to interrupt the head of the family. 

"I admit that I don't believe the relationship is a very good idea either, but I also love Adi enough to see past that; it's 'is life, 'e gets to make the decisions. Not me, not Mum, and not even you. You're so critical of Lili an' you haven't even given 'er a chance! Who knows, she may eventually decide to convert an' learn Hindi, but she might not if you all keep treatin' her so terribly!" 

After a few minutes of tense silence, Miriam said, "If no one 'as anythin' else to say, I would like it if we could keep the conversation at the dinner table more civil." 

She then sat back down as if nothing had happened, repeating "Bismallah" before taking a bite of her food. 

                              ××××

After the final prayer time of the day, all the family members went home to their respective lodgings, leaving only Nandita, Madhav, Matthias, Lili, and Jacob in the house. Oh, and Naan too, of course. The house was the quietest it had been all day without all the chatter and discourse. 

Lili and Jacob were given the girls' old room to sleep in, and Matthias slept in his old room next door. Jacob went down for the night a few hours before. 

"Hey." Matthias greeted her quietly from the doorway. He was wearing a simple T-shirt and sweatpants, and his long, dark hair was down. Lili thought his hair looked nice that way and wondered why he didn't wear it like that more often. 

"Hey." She replied. 

"...Can I come in?" He asked. 

She shrugged. "I guess so."

Matthias entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, causing it to dip. Lili tried not to stare at his thighs.

"So," He finally began,"about today…" 

"It's fine." Lili interrupted.

"But it's not fine. My parents were bein' really disrespectful." 

"They're probably only acting like that because they want what's best for you." 

"Lili, I'm 32 years old. I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to know what's best for me." He replied. 

"...I love me parents," He continued, "but I 'ate 'ow overbearing they are. Like, my dad doesn't like that I chose to be a security guard…"

He paused before saying, "'e never 'ad those expectations for my sisters. Dad never explicitly discouraged them from werkin', but 'e's also never 'ad a problem with 'em just becomin' stay-at-home mothers. In fact, 'e might even prefer it! Sriya and Raji both 'ave jobs but Miriam doesn't, but Miriam is still 'is favorite and 'e praises 'er for keepin' the 'tradition'. But if I wanted to be a stay-at-home father, Dad WOULD HAVE A FIT!" He whispered loudly. 

Lili snickered before saying, "I get having family issues...I just wish...you would've done more to defend me when I was being attacked."

Matthias went quiet for a moment. Finally he said, "I'm sorry. I don't...really like conflict, so when someone attacks me, I'm just used to keepin' quiet, so when they attacked you, I took the same approach. 

I...didn't mean to 'urt you. Even though my parents were bein' mean, what they said about you doesn't change the way I feel about you, so I guess I just didn't really care. I don't need them to understand." 

"I understand." She said, unable to stop grinning. She wasn't sure whether it was because she was genuinely flattered or because she found his statement very cheesy, or perhaps it was a mixture of both. 

They sat there in silence for a little while longer. If Lili were living in a romance novel, this would be the part where she and her love interest share a kiss. It didn't have to be hot and steamy (though she wasn't completely against this), maybe just a little one on the cheek. She wondered what their first kiss would actually be like. 

"If you don't need anythin' else, I'm gonna turn in for the night." Matthias eventually said, getting up off the bed. 

"Good night." Lili replied quietly, giving him a small wave.

"Goodnight."

And just like that, he was gone. No kiss, no nothing, much to Lili's disappointment. She was disappointed, but not surprised. He'd never kissed her before, she didn't know why she expected anything different now.

~~~~~

The next day, Matthias insisted that they head home early, so his family would no longer be able to disrespect Lili. His absence would serve as his parents' punishment, hopefully causing them to improve their behavior at the next gathering. 

Matthias, Lili, and Jacob returned to Currant around noon. Even though it had only been a day, Lili was excited to see Ludwig, Roy, and--most of all--Joseph again. She dropped Matthias off at his house and helped him take his luggage inside, even though he said he could handle it. 

After she finished helping him settle in, he walked her to the front door. 

"Even though the reunion didn't go too well, I had a nice time traveling with you." She confessed. 

"Same." He replied shyly. 

"Well...I guess...this is goodbye." She said. 

"Yeah…" He agreed sheepishly.

They both stood there idly for a few awkward seconds. 

Just as Matthias was about to say something, Lili grabbed his arm abruptly and planted a kiss right on his lips. She gave him a bit of tongue, since his mouth was already open. She wasn't sure if she was just imagining things, but she was pretty sure he heard him moan a little. She didn't allow the kiss to go on for too long so as not to overwhelm him. She pulled away, ending the kiss almost as abruptly as it began. 

"See you later!" Lili exclaimed before skipping back to the car. 

"Uh….bye." Matthias waved absent-mindedly as she drove away.