Phillip knew Bindu was nervous about meeting his parents. He had felt her shaking when he kissed her. In India, the parents of a couple could approve or disapprove of a marriage. If they disapproved, that was that. There would be no marriage.

Phillip sought to calm his future wife. He took her by her hands and said. "Honey, I know my parents will love you as much as I do. They are good people and will welcome you into our family as much as Julia and I have. I promise. Now come on. We don't want to be late."

The drive out to JFK was uneventful. The passed through the security check point with little delay. They got to the appropriate gate just as the plane carrying Phillip's parents taxied to a stop. Phillip, Julia, and especially Bindu, anxiously waited for the passengers to begin deplaning. Bindu was a bundle of nerves. Phillip took her hand and squeezed it. Again, he reassured her. "It'll be alright, Honey. I promise."

Julia spotted her grandparents first. She broke away and ran to them. The three of them stepped out of the flow of people getting off the plane and hugged each other.

Julia was bubbling with excitement. "Oh Grandma, Grandpa, I've missed you so much. But wait 'til you meet Bindu. She's really nice and wants to be my new mommy." Taking a hand from each of her grandparents, Julia led them to where her father and Bindu waited.

Forgetting her father was even standing there, Julia excitedly introduced Bindu. "This is Bindu. She is going to me my mommy."

The senior Mr. Edwards held out his hand to the still shaking Bindu. "It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Bindu." He said.

She took his hand and politely shook it.

"Robert, is that any way to greet your new daughter?" Mrs. Edwards admonished her husband. She then warmly hugged Bindu. "Darling, I am Mona. I am so happy to meet you." Mona then released Bindu from the hug and continued. "You will be a wonderful addition to this family. I am so glad Phillip has found a sweet and lovely young girl like you who is willing to marry him. He has been calling us almost every night for the past month telling us all about you. He has made you sound so wonderful."

Bindu blushed, bowed her head, and said. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Phillip, you better be good to this girl." For the second time in just a few minutes, Mona had admonished both men in her family. Bindu was impressed by Mona.

As the men gathered luggage and loaded it into Phillip's car, the women, including Julia, had climbed into the rear seat and chatted. Mona, of course took the lead in their conversation. "Bindu dear, please don't be intimidated by us. We will accept you into our family. Phillip has told us of your fear of rejection from us. Don't worry. If Phillip loves you enough to ask you to marry him, that's good enough for us."

For the first time that day, Bindu began to relax. With tears in her eyes, she hugged Mona. "Thank you, Ma'am."

Mona continued. "There's just one thing I would like to ask you."

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Please dear, call us Mona and Robert. We're not too big on formalities.

"Yes, Ma... Mona." Bindu smiled broadly.

In the mean time, Phillip and his father were loading luggage in the car's trunk. Robert asked. "Damn boy, I thought Simone was pretty, but this one is a knock-out. Where in the world did you find her?"

"That's it exactly, Dad. I had to fly half way around the world to find her working at our Mumbai plant. She caught and held my attention the very first time I laid eyes on her. On top of being beautiful, she's a real asset in the office too. She led the team that put together the proposal that will keep our company in the black for the next five years. She and Julia have hit it off right away too. Over the course of a few weeks, I fell in love with her. I know that's very quick, Dad, but I really do love her."

"I can see that, son. Hell, I fell for your mother the first time I saw her. Of course, I didn't tell her for a week or two. You should have seen the look on her face when, after dating only two weeks, I told her she was going to marry me."

"Yeah, it was probably a lot like Bindu's face when I asked he to marry me just the night before last. I guess the Edwards do big things in a big way in a big hurry."

Both men laughed and Robert slapped Phillip on the back. "Go for it, son. Besides, she looks like one hot little lady. That little gal is going to keep you worn out, boy."

"Dad!" Phillip was only a little embarrassed by his father's sexually loaded comment.

The men were still laughing when they climbed into the car and headed home. Mona asked. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing Mom." Phillip lied.

"Nothing important, dear." Robert backed his son.

"Bindu darling, you're going to have to watch those two. They'll scheme you right out of your panties if you let them."

Bindu blushed and giggled. She realized that her in-laws were really nice people.

The wedding planning began that afternoon. "Where would you like to get married, dear?" Mona asked.

"I don't know. I don't know NY very well at all. Can you suggest some place."

"Well, this place is huge. Why don't you and Phillip get married in the garden out back?" Mona suggested.

"The garden is beautiful. It will be good to get married there, if Phillip wants to." Binu agreed.

"Honey, when it comes to weddings, men will do as they are told as long as all they have to do is show up on time." The women laughed and it was settled. Phillip and Bindu would be married in his own garden.

Mona then asked Bindu how she could contact her parents in India. It seemed only right that they would want to be at their daughter's wedding.

Bindu told Mona how to reach her parents. "They probably won't come. They don't want anything to do with me after I divorced Mangat."

Mona called India anyway and spoke with Bindu's father. He told Mona. "Bindu? Bindu who? We used to have a daughter by that name, but she disgraced us. She is dead to us!" He then hung up.

Mona looked at Bindu who had tears in her eyes. Hugging the tearful girl, she said. "No matter my dear. Phillip is my only son. I always wanted a daughter, but it wasn't meant to be. Simone had her own parents nearby. If you don't mind and will allow me, I would love to be your mother and help you prepare for your wedding. Will that be OK with you?"

Tears flowed down Bindu's cheeks. "Oh yes, Mona. Thank you. Thank you for being so kind to me."

"Nonsense, dear. You are going to be a daughter soon anyway. So, why wait. We can get started being family right now. In America, first time brides usually wear a white gown. How do brides dress in India? How would you like to dress? It is completely up to you."

"I have been married in Indian style once. It did not work out. I think a western dress would be good this time, but I don't know if I should wear a white dress." Bindu hung her head as she replied.

About that time, Phillip walked into the room. He had overheard the dress comments. "Mother, I know for a fact that Bindu is more than entitled to wear a white dress. If she wants a western wedding dress, it should be white."

Bindu raised her head and smiled. "Phillip, you always know just the right thing to say. Thank you. If you don't mind, Phillip, may Julia help too. I want her to be a big part of our wedding too."

"Of course she can. She will love that. She just can't go on our honeymoon with us." Phillip laughed and Bindu blushed.

"Where are we going?" Bindu asked.

"You'll find out after the wedding." Phillip chuckled again and left Bindu and his mother.

Bindu, Mona, and Julia left right away to go dress shopping. As was the nature of the Edwards family, the wedding date was going to approach fast. They had set a date only a month away. So much to do and so little time to do it.

The time flew by. Soon, the wedding was only a week away. Guests had already begun arriving from all across America and many countries around the world. Still, Phillip had not told Bindu where they were going on their honeymoon.

With just a week to go until the wedding, a frazzled Mona said. "Bindu dear, we need to take a break. Come with me to the airport. We need to pick up a couple of special wedding guests." Without further explanation, the women headed out with Mr. Brown driving the company limo.

As they stood waiting at the gate, Bindu wondered who rated such personal service from Mona. As the people filed down the walkway from the plane, Bindu thought she recognized someone. Was that...? Really...? "MANJU! IS THAT REALLY YOU? AND MANGESH! I am so happy to see you." The two best friends hugged and began gabbing rapid fire.

Mona stood back enjoying the sight of the two babyhood friends reuniting. Poor Mangesh felt like a fish out of water as his wife and her friend gabbed. He seemed lost with no one to guide him. This was the first time Manju had so completely ignored him.

Mona noticed Mangesh's discomfort and and took him by the arm. She led him toward baggage claim. The two girls continued blabbing as they followed closely. Mr. Brown took their baggage claim checks and gathered their luggage. He soon had it loaded it into the limo's trunk.

Before Mr. Brown closed the car's trunk with the luggage inside, Manju retrieved a wrapped package. When they entered the car, Manju handed the gift to Bindu. "This is from Mangesh and me. It is for your wedding. I know you didn't bring anything like this with you. It may come in handy. Go ahead and open it."

Bindu nervously opened the gift wrapped package. What she found caused her heart to race. Even Mona was in awe when she saw it. Manju and Mangesh had given Bindu a beautiful bright red saree decorated with gold embroidered patterns. It came with a short matching blouse.

Bindu was speechless. "T...t...thank you. Thank you both so much. I love it."

"Mona told us you will be wearing a white wedding gown, but we thought this might come in handy on your honeymoon.