Normal route

"John! It's so good to see you, buddy. How's my daughter treating you? Not too bad I hope?"

Rana decided to bring John to her house for a visit. When John came up to Rana's neighborhood, he realized that she lived in a totally different place than where Richard used to live. It was a rich-looking gated neighborhood with fountains and statues and the like.

"Hey, Mr. Thomas. Nice to see you."

Rana's parents had English names. Her father's name was Bob Thomas while her mother was named Aarya Thomas.

"Come in Come in, make yourself at home. Rana, how come you never bring John over, huh? Is he not your boyfriend." Bob spoke with a heavy accent. Rana said something in Hindi which Bob shouted right back at her in the same language, but it only lasted for a split second before Bob smiled again.

John stepped into the large, expensive, 3-story home. "Wow."

"Come on John, you've seen my house before. Let's go upstairs." Rana said.

"What go upstairs?" Bob interjected. "We're having lunch. Come on, everyone's already at the table."

"Uhg, fine."

John followed the duo to the dining room where several people sat around a large rectangular table with various foods. There was lasagna, pizza, hamburgers, and various Indian dishes he couldn't name.

"John, this is grandma and grandpa, my aunt and uncle, my nieces and nephews, you know my mother sitting over there, and there's also my Dad's brother, my cousin two, and over there is my Dad's cousin Riya."

John greeted the entire family awkwardly. He wasn't much of a social butterfly and was rather awkward with people he just met. The family seemed nice enough and no one gave him dirty looks or any evil eyes.

"Rana has a boyfriend!? No way! How are you not running away from her!" One of the younger nephews said with a shocked look.

"Shut up you twerp or I'll curse you!" Rana grumbled, eyeing the kid.

"Now, Now, Amit. You don't disrespect your cousin. Rana is a...charming woman. We should feel happy for her."

"John, how is your mother?" Rana's mother Aarya spoke from across the table. She looked just like Rana except she had wavy hair and was a little thicker and shorter than Rana. "She's doing well I hope?"

John's mother Sarah, was a woman 34 years of age with long brown hair and a couple of inches shorter than him. She got pregnant at 16 by her high school teacher who got fired and punished for having sex with a girl under the age. Sarah never saw him again after that. She heard he moved somewhere to another country, living with another woman with his own family, leaving Sarah to take care of John. She had to forgo college and start work immediately as her parents kicked her out of the house when she turned 18. Sarah was a smart woman who managed to find a job from home. After several years of hard work, she started her own online business and became a successful lady. She dismissed the idea of finding a husband and took care of John all by herself.

"She's doing great. Her business is coming along nicely."

"That's good to hear. If you or your mother ever need a place to stay, you can come and live with us. I wouldn't say no to my future son-in-law."

The other members of the family started to chuckle at hearing that. The grandma and grandpa had smiles on their faces while the younger children laughed and giggled.

John felt a hand land on top of his on the table. He turned to see Rana with a smile on her face. Her goth makeup and nose piercing were still on her face making her look out of place in the family but she was accepted by them nonetheless. John couldn't help himself as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, eliciting oo0's and aaa's from the family. John and Rana laughed at the reaction of everyone while John accidentally caught the gaze of Bob's cousin, Riya, a 36-year-old woman with short brown hair and tomboyish-looking features.

'Hm?'

John looked at her briefly before he saw her licking her lips and giving him a sultry look.