Beyond The Horizon!

Chapter 20: The Open 'Talk'!

(Mature Language 18+; Double Update: Read Chapter 19 first!)

"Dad!" Eric hugged Rowan with a bright smile playing on his face while Rowan playfully thumped his son's back asking, "Good to see you son!"

As Eric moved back and hugged Ruby, Mahima smiled at them and greeted very politely, "Hello Mom!" and politely smiled at Rowan as if greeting him too.

And why not?

Now this was her world, her way of living, her present and her future!

She knew she must not only understand their cultures and traditions but should also accept and respect them with open heart just like the whole Salvatore family did with her customs and cultures.

Now that she was a part of Salvatore family, she knew she had equal responsibilities towards this family just like Eric. To say she was looking forward to this life would be just nothing.

And this little gesture of greeting was just the start!

As Ankit and Kirti hugged her from both the sides, Charlotte hugged her too and whispered in her ears, "How was last night?"

While her shameless sister-in-law wiggled her eyebrows up and down teasingly, Mahima bit her lower lip trying to stop that dash of pink spreading on her cheeks. Well, a mere thought about their wedding night and for that matter about their little naughty time in the bathroom a few minutes back, this girl felt tremendously shy.

"How was the travel? Comfortable enough? I mean, was it good?" Rowan asked trying to strike up a conversation with his daughter-in-law.

And why not, he knew how shy this girl is and being a family he also had a responsibility to make her feel at home. Striking up a normal conversation was obviously a great step.

Looking at Rowan with a cute smile playing on her face, she gathered up her courage and nodded her head finally speaking ever so softly desperately hoping she wouldn't mess this up.

But poor woman, all she wanted and meant to say was "Yes dad!" but all she could get out of her cute little mouth was "Yes dead!"

Yup! Her pronunciation of dad came out more like 'dead'!

"Dead?" Rowan asked in absolute confusion and exchanged a quick look at Eric while Charlotte had a super tough time controlling her urge to break into a huge series of laughter. It was not that she wanted to make fun of Mahima, she would never do that. But the way that innocent pronunciation mistake came out ever so cutely, she almost busted out laughing.

For sure, her sister-in-law was truly an interesting woman!

Even before Eric could clarify this little innocent confusion, Ruby rolled her eyes and elbowed Rowan in his ribs sideways whispering, "She means dad! Oh for god's sake Rowan, use your brain!"

And as this cute little mistake made complete sense, Rowan nodded his head and smiled brightly at Mahima as if he understood what she meant. And why not? The last thing he ever wanted was to make this sweet girl uncomfortable.

"Oh sweetheart, come here! You have no idea how much I missed you." Ruby said hugging Mahima ever so tightly while Charlotte threw her head back and pointed the obvious, "Mom, that's really sweet but we are catching 'attention'."

True, they did have a few spectators!

And why not? Ruby did let out a dramatic squeal as she hugged her daughter-in-law gaining unnecessary attention from the other guests dining at the restaurant.