Everyone held their breath and waited for a reaction from the Patels. Finally, Ms. Patel spoke, "hello Sierra, welcome."

Neither cold nor warm, Sierra accepted the greeting, and Mr. Patel led the way into the golden bricked semi-detached house full of aunts, uncles, elders, and grandchildren. A strong but pleasant fragrance of incense came to tickle Sierra's nose. Sierra copied Elise's gestures; she took off her shoes and placed them in the most extensive shoe racks the woman had ever seen. What startled her was to see how full the furniture was.

How many people waited in the living room?

Sierra had looked up everything she could before coming. She found a greeting, but she was afraid to pronounce it badly or to appear pretentious. The woman went with simple hellos, and nice to meet you with every relative they presented to her.

The living room was huge. It represented almost two-thirds of the ground floor. Modern the large cream-tiled base only had one rug under the glass coffee table. The walls had two large family portraits, while a full display was dedicated to the Patel children's achievements with trophies, rewards, and graduation photos. A large L-shaped sofa blocked on the corner of the room, Sierra could not see since the family was seated, but round orange crumple cushions decorated it. The ensemble was sober, and it was clear that space was privileged in the furniture layout.

Sierra was both at ease and stressed in the environment.

The woman would have felt like an attraction in other circumstances, but she knew it was custom.

The elders, as expected, did nothing but watch; the other adults looked keen to see what would happen as if they sat in front of their daily episode of a sitcom.

Among the adults, three teens harbored blasé expression as if they hung on the last inches of their lifeline. Even if Sierra brought a little spice to the gathering for them, it was a family reunion too many as they wondered what exciting activities their friends were doing that Saturday.

"Ishaan isn't here yet," Elise said.

Of all the encounters, it was the oldest son's Sierra dreaded. Somehow she had an impression his say was essential.

The woman acknowledged being engaged was not a finality as long as the family did not accept her.

Sierra looked around the room and the colorful clothing the women wore. Most of the older women wore wide-legged pants and knee-length tunics with golden embroideries at the hems. If Wikipedia and other Quora didn't lie, the correct name for the clothes was Salwar Kameez. The colors were bright like those of a sari. Sierra sought the garment, she thought Saris would be the highlight at the family gathering, but only one person wore one like those seen in Bollywood movies. The woman seemed to be the eldest. She also had a complete wrap with her almost white hair and face full of wrinkles; the woman almost looked holy.

"That's our grandmother," Elise whispered.

To everyone surprise, Sierra greeted the older woman traditionally. The woman stooped down to touch the elder's feet; the gesture made the old woman smile.

"She didn't kiss our feet," Ms. Patel said in her husband's ear.

Sierra was relieved to have Elise guide her. Vincent didn't lie when he said he would be different. The man barely paid attention to Sierra's presence though they got to sit side by side.

Stressed, Sierra wished to cross her legs to stop them trembling, but she remembered it was rude to do so as her feet sole would be exposed.

"I hope you had a good flight, Sierra," Mr. Patel said.

"Yes, it was too short."

"Have you always lived in France," asked Ms. Patel.

"Yes, I'm French. My dad was Congolese, and my mother was from Sierra Leone. By the way, I brought something for you," not wanting the Patels to start on the twenty questions concerning her parents, the woman stalled with the gifts she took from the bag she carried.

"These are for you," Sierra said and handed two shoebox-size parcels to Mr. Patel before giving Ms. Patel two packages. She then took out four more, one was for Vincent's grandmother, and the others were for the children to share. Sierra gave everything with both hands and used her right hand for any other gesture.

For the moment, Sierra gained points thanks to the internet's help. Those against her union with Vincent were wrong. She did love the man and wished to marry him. Thus she was ready to abide by any custom or tradition in the marriage package with Vincent.

Ms. Patel looked at her mother-in-law with a frown. The older woman was already swaying to Sierra's tune.

Like everyone who lived in the house, the elder heard how mother and son argued. Ms. Patel did not believe Sierra to be good enough for her son.

It was the elderly woman who saved the day and spoke for her cherished grandchild, "I didn't want you as a daughter-in-law, and look at where we are now. Rani Mukherjee or Vidya Balan could come, and they would still not be good enough for your high expectations, but at one point, the boy has to marry. You tried to match him; you failed. Let him pick the one he likes."

"Mother."

"What?"

"She's not even Indian," retorted Ms. Patel.

"So?"

The old lady's shrug left everyone perplexed except Vincent, who gave her a grin of gratitude.

"And you don't look at me like that. All I want is peace," the old woman said, "what does an old lady have to do to have that before lying on her death bed, huh?"

Ms. Patel turned to her husband, "See, I told you to stop her from watching movies like Thappad.

"What you want her to watch Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge until her dying day?"

Ms. Patel grimaced. She didn't like the turn of things, and now Sierra sat in her living room, "thank you, Sierra," Ms. Patel said with a weak smile.

No one opened the gifts in front of Sierra. Even the children ran off to another room to unwrap the gifts. They came back beaming while they showed off the renowned Ladurée macarons and Maison Du Chocolats luxury chocolates.

"Thank you, Sierra," Elise added in her son's stead, who was part of the group of nine children present.

This time Ms. Patel glared at her daughter while she itched to discover what presents awaited her beneath her gift's wrapping.

Sierra smiled, "It's nothing; Vincent gave me a hand."

If the man avoided telling her about certain things, Vincent did not withhold from informing her about the gifts. He specified each of their preferences.

Children were easy to impress. Ms. Patel doubted Sierra would pick something she would appreciate even with her son's help.

"Since the sweets are already here, perhaps with can have some tea," Ms. Patel said.

Elise, Jai's wife, and two other aunts went to the kitchen to get large plates of Indian sweet snacks with these words.

Sierra hesitated to offer her help and finally opted to keep quiet.

There it was thought Ms. Patel, who thought the woman could have a least asked to participate.

"So, Sierra, what is it you do again?"

"I work for Renault. I'm a regional manager."

"Sierra takes care of five car dealerships," Vincent added to back her up. The woman's job and income were the few undisputed subjects, and the man did not hesitate to underline it.

Sierra smiled, "I manage eight now."

What Ms. Patel saw as pride was just Sierra's way of correcting information without any hidden motive.

"That's a lot for a woman," Mr. Patel added, "it must be tiresome."

Sierra made abstraction of the comment she found sexiest before atoning it as she considered the generational gap but also culture, "It demands a lot, but I like it."

"Sierra, what tea would you like? We have everything," Elise said with her usual cheery voice.

"Eh," Sierra looked at the table. Indeed, there was a wide selection."

"You should try something new," Vincent said.

Sierra nodded, and Vincent asked his sister to give her a Masala Chai.

It wasn't much, but the fact alone that Sierra accepted without fussing showed her willingness to listen to her husband.

Sierra knew she was observed but could not imagine to what extent. Every gesture or word added or deducted points.

Vincent's detached attitude didn't help, as she didn't know if what she did was right. The man could see Sierra's uneasiness. He wished he could tell her not to worry, and everything was fine.

His parent's opinion counted, and the man did not wish to do anything that would anger them, but at the end of the day, it was his choice.

He would marry Sierra against any odds.

Ms. Patel read the silent message her son sent. The woman found herself submerged with a feeling she didn't have when Isshan or Jai married. They married Indian women educated to put their mother-in-law on a pedestal.

What would it be with Sierra?

Unlike what everyone thought, Sierra's origin was not what the woman retained or preoccupied her thoughts. The woman lived in one of the world's biggest metropoles and met people from all over the world daily.

Jealousy.

The idea that her youngest son was willing to do anything for Sierra was beyond her. Until now, she was the woman above all in her son's heart. Ms. Patel feared to see her spot taken.

Hey guys,

How are you?

Sorry, I had a lot of work and no time to write the chapters. I could only publish the drafted stories.

Anyway, you get a double chapter today.

Part II will be up in a few minutes.

Take care