Professor Astor (Off-Limits)

“Leia! Come talk to the tailor in India. You need to tell him what kind of lehenga you want to wear to Priya’s wedding!” Mom shouts, and I groan. I guess our weekly family dinner has instead become an outfit design event.

Another wedding. I’m not even sure who Priya is. Third-cousin on my dad’s side? Honestly, she might not even be family. She could just as easily be the neighbour’s daughter from three generations ago when my family still lived in India, but we’ll still have to go. If I so much as try to tell my mom that it’s completely unnecessary to go and they won’t even notice if we don’t attend, since they’ll likely have hundreds of guests, she’ll lose her mind. Every single time, she insists that we just have to show our faces. At least they feed me well at all of these weddings, so there’s that.

I walk down the stairs to find my sister holding up a photo of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan in a Sabyasachi outfit and roll my eyes. Did she print that out so she could show it to him on video chat? Honestly, I can’t even. Yes, Asha. Our cheap tailor is going to make you something similar to Sabyasachi’s couture designs worth several thousand dollars.

“I want the skirt to be quite fluffy, but I don’t want the top to be this short or this open,” she says in broken Hindi, pointing at the picture.

I have no doubt whatsoever that what she’s going to receive is going to be something similar to the items from the cheap Chinese apps that I keep seeing online. The Wish app? Is that what it was called? Either way, it’ll look nothing like what she’s showing our tailor.

She hands me the phone, and I instantly panic. My Hindi is even worse than hers. “Hi Rajesh,” I tell him, thankful I at least remember his name. I glance at my mom when he starts rambling to me in Hindi, and though I understand every word he’s saying, I have absolutely no idea how to reply.

“Mom!” I hiss.

She side-eyes me, looking entirely unimpressed with me. “You have a PhD, but you can’t even speak Hindi, huh? Why can’t you speak Hindi?”

I squint and throw my hand up in an um, what gesture. “Because you didn’t teach me? You literally always only spoke English to me. How was I supposed to learn?”

She narrows her eyes at me and wags her finger. “Other children learn by watching Bollywood movies. You can memorize whole textbooks, but you can’t learn Hindi?”

“Oh my God, Mom,” I say, handing her the phone. “Can you tell him I want something simple? Maybe a simple golden nude type of color? How about a sequin top with a plain skirt, or maybe some sequins on the skirt too?”

My mom clicks her tongue and throws me an annoyed look. “Always with these modern modern outfits. No. Wear something normal for once. I will decide for you.”

I’d roll my eyes, but no matter how old I get, my mom will still scold me if I do. “Then why did you even ask me to come down?”

She shoos me away, and I shake my head as I walk away. Her idea of normal is some type of elaborately embroidered thing with lots of stones sown in. I’m pretty sure she’s convinced people will think we’re dirt poor if I wear what I have in mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already planning on parading her supposedly single daughter at this wedding, and the mere thought of it makes me groan. I wish I could take Thor as my date, but my parents would be endlessly scandalized.

I daze off for a moment, my thoughts turning to Thor. If he and I truly get married, would we have a religious ceremony too? I’ve always wanted a formal western ceremony with a white dress, but I’ve also always imagined myself in a red traditional dress too. I’ve always wanted elaborate mehendi, and turmeric on my face and body days before the wedding, all of it. I’ve already got several henna designs saved to my Pinterest board. I want it all, but I might never have it.

Dad chuckles and raises his brows at me. “Why don’t you speak Hindi, Leia,” he mimics, ridiculing Mom.

I glance at him and shake my head. “I’m going to tell her you did that.”

“Kill me, she will,” he says, throwing his Yoda charm at me.

My phone buzzes, and I glance at it, expecting it to be Amara. Instead, it’s Thor.

Thor: I’m outside your house. Come see me for a minute?

I full-on panic. If my parents see him standing outside of our house, I’m dead. They won’t care how old I am. I’ll be lectured and scolded for the rest of my life.

I don’t think Thor understands — sneaking out isn’t something I do, not even at my age. I did it last time because it was late at night, but now? It’s seven in the evening! “I think Amara wants to talk about something,” I tell Dad. “I’ll just go see her instead of calling her, since Mom and Asha are being so loud.”

Dad looks into my eyes for a moment, and then he nods, a smile on his face. Something is up with him… he didn’t see through me, did he?

My heart pounds in my chest as I walk out the door, expecting to see Thor standing right outside, but thankfully, he isn’t. I breathe a sigh of relief as I walk around the block, finding him parked in the same spot he’s dropped me off at before. He’s leaning against his car, and the way his face lights up when he sees me makes my heart skip a beat.

“I missed you,” he says, walking up to me to meet me halfway. He throws his arms around me and hugs me tightly. “Finally, you’re back in my arms.”

I chuckle and rise to my tiptoes to bury my face in his neck, pressing a soft kiss onto his throat. “You saw me yesterday, Thor.”

“I know. It’s been far too long. Every one of my days starts off messed up because I don’t get to wake up with you.”

“Is that my cue to swoon?”

“Go ahead,” he tells me. “I’ll always be there to catch you.”

I chuckle and tilt my face up to kiss him. He obliges gladly, groaning in disappointment when I pull away too soon for his liking.

“Not here,” I tell him. “My neighbors are honestly all snitches. There’s another Asian family a few doors down, and they’ll absolutely tell my mom if they see me with you.”

He chuckles and takes a step back while keeping his arms around me. “Are you joking? I can’t tell when it comes to your family. To be fair, everything you’ve told me about your family might very well all just be an elaborate ruse created to trip me up when I finally meet them.”

The thought of him meeting my family both excites and terrifies me. There’s no way they’ll easily accept him, but I’m confident that they will, eventually. I smirk and shake my head. “It’s all true. Come on, let’s go for a drive?”

He nods and walks around the car to open the door for me, sneakily stealing another kiss before I get in.

We’re both smiling as we drive away, and by the time Thor parks in a secluded area, I’m giddy with excitement. I’ve missed him too, but I’ve also been driving myself crazy with anxiety over his ex-wife arriving today. The fact that he’s here with me now puts me at ease.

“Ley,” he says, his voice soft. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

My heart sinks and I clasp my hands as I turn to him. Dozens of worst-case scenarios run through my mind, and before he even speaks, I’ve already convinced myself that I lost him.

“Alice is staying at my house. I wouldn’t have allowed it, but she roped Lucy into it, arguing that she wants to spend every second with them and such. It was near impossible for me to say no without hurting Lucy.”

I nod, somewhat understanding the situation, but despising it with every fiber of my being, too. “When Colton and I played Roblox earlier, we spoke to each other on Discord for a bit, but he didn’t mention his mom at all. I’ve been wondering how he is.”

Thor smiles, the look in his eyes setting my heart ablaze. “I love you,” he says. “I just love you so fucking much, Leia. You have no idea. No idea at all.” He runs a hand through his hair and looks away. “As usual, Alice’s attention is mostly on Lucy. If you… if you could give Colton some extra attention for a while, I would really appreciate it. It’s not me he wants, you know? Today when we picked Alice up, it was you he was thinking about. He was talking about gaming with you later.”

I smile, my heart overflowing at the thought of my sweet Colt. “You don’t need to ask me that, Thor. I would’ve done it even if you hadn’t asked.”

“I know,” he says. “If you weren’t so stunning, I’d tell you that your heart is the most beautiful part of you, but I think it’s an even match.”

I smirk and shake my head. “You’re a smooth talker tonight, huh? Is it because you’re worried about Alice being here?”

He threads his hand through my hair and looks at me. “I’m worried that you’re worried.”

“I am,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t like that she’s living with you now, but I’m not a child, Thor, and neither are you. I trust you to make the right decisions for your family, I just hope you consider me part of it too.”

“You absolutely are my family, Leia. Without a doubt.”

He leans in to kiss me, his touch more passionate tonight, more desperate. My heart skips a beat when he drops his forehead to mine. “You know what, baby? Mercury is in retrograde today, and it isn’t that dark yet. We could still see it.”

I giggle and pull away to look at him. “You’re kidding me, right? Your ex-wife rocks up during a mercury retrograde and you still believe there’s nothing supernatural about it?”

“No, there isn’t. I’m willing to show you some magic, though.”

I smirk at him. “Sure, and I’m about to make you see stars, babe. The kind you’ve never seen before.”

He bursts out laughing. “Wow, who is this smooth talker and what did you do to my girlfriend?”

Girlfriend. Such a simple word, yet it does all kinds of things to me. “Lay me down underneath the stars and kiss me really hard, and she’ll magically appear.”

“Oh, I’m going to do so much more than kiss you, Leia.”

I lean in, my lips hovering over his. “I’m counting on it,” I whisper, before kissing him. This thing between us… it’s strong enough to weather a storm. It has to be.