Professor Astor (Off-Limits)

Five years later

“You’re here, son,” Leia’s father says as he opens the front door, his eyes on our little one. “Riya, my darling,” he adds, holding his arms open.

My daughter jumps out of my arms and into his, giggling. She’s about to turn three, and it’s crazy how time has flown by. Leia and I struggled to conceive, and it took us several rounds of IVF before we were able to welcome Riya. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. The way Leia burst into tears when she finally took a pregnancy test that was positive will forever be seared in my mind.

Her pregnancy wasn’t easy, but she never complained, not even when her morning sickness lasted a full nine months, or when she ended up being in labor for thirteen hours. The moment she had Riya lying on her chest, every second of agony just faded away. I could just see it in her smile.

“Well, hello to you too, Dad,” Leia says, side-eying her father.

“Yeah, Nana,” Lucy adds, using the Hindi word for maternal grandfather. The kids have quickly become part of Leia’s family, as much as I have. It’s amazing to me how they don’t differentiate between the kids. Riya is their sweetheart because she’s the youngest, but my in-laws always make sure to spend just as much time with Lucy and Colton.

It helps that Colton and Lucy both took an interest in Star Wars once they realized Leia was named after one of the characters. They spend every Sunday watching movies or building LEGO sets with my father-in-law, while Leia and I sneak off on a date.

“Adrian,” my mother-in-law says, grinning as she waves me over. “Come see what I made you.”

“What is it, Mom?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen.

Amara is sitting on the kitchen counter and narrows her eyes at me. “Why are you here again?” she asks, and I bite back a smile.

“I’m actually part of this family? Why are you here every week?”

My mother-in-law places her hand on my shoulder and shakes her head. “Will you two stop arguing, please?”

Amara crosses her arms and glares at me. “Before you, I’d always get all of my favorite foods here. Now it’s all about what you want to eat. It’s unfair.”

My wife walks into the kitchen, her eyes bouncing between Amara and me, and she sighs. “You’re arguing again, huh? How do you two think I feel? I got married, and suddenly both my parents forgot about me!”

“Come look, Adrian,” her mother says, illustrating Leia’s point as she holds up a jar of mango chutney she made for me. It’s the only type I can actually stomach. My tolerance for spice has increased, but it certainly isn’t at the level Leia can handle.

“Mom,” she complains as she walks up to me. “You’re spoiling him too much.”

My mother-in-law huffs at her and turns back to me, smiling. “Come try it.”

I oblige and grab a spoon, tasting the chutney she made. “It’s perfect,” I tell her. She made it sweet, and it’s exactly how I like it. She’s made spicy versions of this before that I struggled with.

Leia yanks my spoon away and throws it in the sink, her eyes flashing with jealousy. “Babe,” I murmur. “Don’t be like that.”

She glares at me. “Before I married you, my mom would make me nice food. How are you going to make this up to me? You stole my parents!”

I bite back a smile and nod. “Okay, I guess I’d better repent, huh?”

She nods, pouting. Fucking hell… my wife is far too fucking cute. I can’t deal. One look, and I’m a goner, and she knows it.

“Adrian,” my mother-in-law warns. “You’re spoiling her too much!”

I grin and shake my head. “I can’t help it. She’s just too adorable.”

Amara groans. “You both sicken me,” she says, grabbing my jar of mango chutney. I watch as she sticks it into her handbag. She’s crazy if she thinks she’ll get away with that, but I’ll deal with her later. First, I need to appease my darling wife.

“How about I take you on a date?”

Leia nods, the frost in her eyes melting away.

“Come on then,” I say, grabbing her hand. “Mom, can you take care of the kids for a few hours? I’ve just been informed that I’ve wronged my wife by stealing your love.”

My mother-in-law rolls her eyes and waves us off. She’s used to this from us now, and they love babysitting the kids. We have a full-time nanny, but my in-laws prefer to babysit when they can. They love having all three kids over.

I entwine our fingers as we walk out of the house. “You know what, baby?” I murmur. “Mercury is in retrograde tonight, and we still have a few hours of sunlight.”

Her eyes widen. “No way. Every time we try to catch mercury in retrograde in our spot, something happens, and we miss it.”

I look up at the blue skies above us and shake my head. “Looks like a perfect day to me. How about we give it a try?”

Leia nods, and I lead her to the car. I glance at her, my heart still racing at the sight of her. I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but I thank my lucky stars she was in that bar tonight.

If she hadn’t been, I’m sure I would’ve fallen for her nonetheless.

Leia and I have always been inevitable.