After confirming that we had reached her home, Becca turned around and waved her hand out the window. With a smile, she announced, "Welcome to the Bert county, Nick!"
I was feeling pretty fatigued because of my lack of sleep, so I weakly smiled and replied, "thanks Becca, let's have a good time on this trip."
Becca nodded at me and continued to look out the window. "I bet my parents are both going to be waiting for us at the entrance of the mansion. They always liked to greet guests themselves."
Suddenly, Becca seemed to think of something important and turned back to me exclaiming, "Nick! Can you teleport us to the entrance? It will be faster than the carriage!"
Becca's idea was a little ridiculous. This time, I decided not to humor her. I softly pat her shoulder to let her down gently. "Becca, we are only 5 minutes away on carriage. There is no need to rush. Plus, we have the gifts in the second carriage, so it's best to arrive with it."
I probably would have agreed with her if we were going to our mansion. But there is no way I would do something so impulsive the first time I was meeting my in-laws. I was trying to pull out all the stops to make the best first impression I can with the already negative feelings Becca's parents probably have for me.
Becca pouted slightly as she muttered, "fine…I was just excited to be home anyways. If we rush to the entrance, we will have to deal with my parents, which is going to be a pain."
"Let's deal with it together. We both want to set the best foot forward for the rest of the trip."
"Yeah, let's do it."
Soon, our carriage stopped. Knowing that it was time to get off, my heart was racing. I was nervous thinking of all the ways our first conversation could go. However, I knew the key would be for me to just be myself and genuine. Which parent wouldn't like a genuine and devoted significant other for their child?
Becca saw that I was nervous, so she moved over to me and gave me a quick hug. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Worst case scenario, we just leave here and move on with our lives."
"You're right." The feeling of Becca's embrace and her words helped me to put the current situation into perspective. We already had a happy life back home, so even if things go horribly here, we while have somewhere to go back to.
I opened the carriage door and hopped out. After, I turned around and put my hand out to help Becca out of the carriage. Walking hand in hand, we started walking towards the two people waiting at the center of the gathering crowd of servants.
Becca's father was a middle aged man. He had dark brown hair that was bald at the top. Most likely due to the stress of owning a business. He had a bit of a bear belly, but otherwise he looked to be in okay shape. He also was wearing round thin framed glasses.
Becca's mother looked exactly like I imagine Becca would look like in the future. She had the same light brown hair and hazel eyes. She had some wrinkles around her eyes, but she was still a beautiful woman.
Becca greeted her parents first. She walked up to her mother and gave her a long hug. She muttered while her face was in her mother's shoulder. "Hello Mother, I missed you."
Her mother's previously straight face cracked a smile as she replied, "I missed you as well."
After the two finished their greeting, Becca turned to her father and made a small bow. "Hello, Father."
Becca's father nodded his head back. "Hello, Rebecca."
They were both obviously awkward with each other. To break the tension, I started my own greetings. I walked over to Becca's mother and used both of my hands to shake her hand.
"Hello Mother-in-law! It's good to see you. You look very beautiful in this dress. I also like the way you put up your hair."
I went with the flattery route for Becca's mother. It wasn't hard for me to come up with things to say since she looked so much like Becca.
However, it was obvious that Becca's mother was not entirely happy with my complements. She looked at me with a straight face and replied, "thank you, Duke Harrison."
I waved my hand. "We are family now! You can call me Nick."
Becca's mother was clearly skeptical and turned to look at her husband. He didn't seem to know what to do either, so I moved on to greeting him. I stuck out my hand and he quickly shook my hand.
"Hello, Father-in-law. I brought you a gift in the other carriage. I'll have my servants bring it out for you soon."
Becca's father gave me a patient customer service smile. You could tell that he had a lot of experience as a merchant.
"You didn't have to do that Duke Harrison."
I shook my head at his words. "You too. You can call me Nick. Don't worry I didn't bring too much, it's only 1000 stamina potions."
Becca's father's eyes widened in surprise. Even he couldn't keep his poker face. This was the exact reaction I was looking for. Still lacking composure, he tried to change my mind. "This is far too expensive of a gift! Only 10 stamina potions would be enough. Even 100 would be considered extravagant."
"It's still only a faction of the amount of stamina potions that the Duchy produces every day. It's not much to give it to my in-laws. Think of it as my dowry to you for giving me the hand of your daughter."
Becca's father looked at me with skeptical eyes. "Dowries usually come from the brides side of the family to the groom. We should be the ones giving you expensive gifts."
"Well, we don't have to call it a dowry. Just call it me trying to make us even for giving me such an amazing wife."
Becca's father's eyes twitched when he heard me praising his daughter.