It stood at the end of the room, near the window. I froze next to the desk while my dad walked over to examine it.
“Not bad,” Dad said. He jiggled the railing and slid it down. “Might take a little practice though—it looks like it’s been through some wear and tear. Lynn, you want to give it a try?”
I looked over at Mom. She had sunk down on the edge of the bed and wasn’t moving.
“Mom . . . are you all right?”
She just stared at the crib.
“I bet it’s easy.” I walked over and squeezed the latch. Then I jiggled it like Dad did, but the rail didn’t budge.
“Needs a parents’ magic touch,” Dad said, sliding it smoothly again. Then he looked over at my mom. “Lynn? Are you okay?”
Mom shook her head. “It’s really happening,” she said in a quiet voice.
I sat down next to her. Mom’s eyes were full of tears. “Mom? What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and put her arms around me. She laid her cheek against my hair.
“Your mother’s just happy,” Dad said. “We’ve waited a long time for your little sister.”
I thought about that for a minute. Whoever heard of having a second baby when an only child had worked out great for twelve years? I knew my parents had been on a waiting list for a long time, but when exactly did they decide I wasn’t enough? “Did you cry when I was born?”
Mom wiped her eyes and smiled. “Yes, Emily, I certainly did. Your father cried, too.”
“You did?” I looked over at Dad. “I don’t believe it. Did you really cry?”
Dad nodded, then broke into a grin. “Only because it meant the end of milkshakes every night. Did you know it was doctor’s orders?”
“Daddy! It was doctor’s orders for Mom.” I’d heard the story a million times. The doctor didn’t think I was growing enough. So he told Mom to stay in bed and eat lots of ice cream for six weeks.
“It’s never any fun to eat ice cream alone,” Dad said. “But it’s a good thing you came when you did. I was starting to look like I was the one who was going to have a baby. Just like this.” He stuck a pillow under his shirt and paraded around the room.
I giggled. Soon we were all laughing, even Mom. For a moment I forgot what the crib really meant. But as I glanced over at it, I remembered. And I stopped laughing.
Mom and Dad and I fit together just right. Three was the perfect number for our family. But tomorrow, we would become a family of four.
CHAPTER FIVE
China, DAY 2, 4/4/14
Dear Diary,
We just got back from the breakfast buffet at the Dolton Hotel. You can find everything in the world spread across long tables: pancakes and waffles, muffins and breads, cereal and yogurt, fresh fruit, bowls of hot soup and noodles. I also saw platters with weird slimy things: eel? worms? jellyfish? I decided not to ask.
My parents told me to eat up because it’s going to be a long morning at the government buildings, so I did. Hopefully they don’t know what they’re talking about. I mean, how long can it take to hand out babies?
The truth is, I’m worried about this big-sister thing. I know I’ve had YEARS to get used to it, but I never thought it would really happen. Well in a little while we are going to meet her, and we’ll never be able to go back to our family the way it is now.
So, I have this rotten feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I actually ate some of those slimy things on the buffet bar, and they are squirming around inside of me. Because I know I’m supposed to be excited about being a big sister, but instead I’m thinking about everything that will be different. And that makes me feel like a spoiled five-year-old instead of a mature twelve-year-old who welcomes new adventures.
Love,
Emily
(who is trying to get rid of negative thoughts and be the person my parents think she is)
Soon it was time to load up the van. Lisa Wu stood in front again with the microphone. At first, she talked about boring things like paperwork. I stared out the window at the rainy day, not even listening. Until she started to sing.
“Crawfish pie, jum-ba-lai me oh my oh!”
I clapped a hand over my mouth, so I wouldn’t burst out laughing. Not only was it the silliest song I had ever heard, but Lisa Wu could not sing. I’m not sure what the tune was supposed to be, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t the tune I was hearing. I looked up at Dad. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I could tell he was trying very hard not to crack a smile.
I glanced over at Katherine. Her hair was braided and twirled in two coils on both sides of her head, and she wore a red sundress with little white flowers all over it. I’d gotten used to the fact that she liked to dress like she was in a fashion show every day, but how did her mom have time for a fancy hairstyle on a morning like this one?
I couldn’t remember what I was wearing, so I peeked down at my T-shirt and realized the tag was tickling my neck. Sliding my arms out of the sleeves, I turned it around so the sunshine design was on the front. A backward shirt was something Mom would usually notice but . . . not today.
Everyone clapped and woo-hooed when Lisa Wu finished her song. She took a little bow. “We go to a club on Tuesday nights,” she said. “Everyone loves to sing karaoke. Who wants to be next?”
I hoped Dad wasn’t thinking now was a great time to show off his singing skills. Luckily, he just sat there with an amused look on his face.
Katherine was the first to volunteer. She sang a song in Chinese she’d learned at school, and she sang perfectly on-key, without sounding nervous at all.
Everyone cheered and asked her to sing another one. Which she did.
I was glad when we pulled up in front of an old brick two-story building and the karaoke came to an end. A hush fell over the van, and everyone stepped out and climbed the steps in silence.
“Why isn’t anyone talking?” I whispered to my mom.
“Shhh,” Mom said for an explanation.
The lady who greeted us at the door wore a long straight skirt, her dark hair pulled back tightly in a bun. She led us to a great big room with large windows, tile floors, and wooden benches lining the sides.
Then we waited and waited, without much talking. There was nothing interesting about the room, and the view out the window was gray skies and another ugly brick building next door. The families kept to themselves, and when I finally got to the point where I was ready to walk over to Katherine just to listen to her chatter, the ladies walked in with the babies.
The room filled with the hum of excitement. “Look, Emily! Here they come!” Dad said as the parade of babies passed by, each in the same pink jumpsuit except for one little boy, who was wearing blue.
“There she is! That’s Mei Lin!” Mom said, pointing to the smallest in the bunch. One of the ladies called out, “Yiang, Mei Lin? Saunders family?”
My parents waved their arms in the air, and the woman made her way toward us. The cinnamon roll and yogurt and banana bread I’d eaten for breakfast sloshed together in my stomach in a funny way as the lady handed the baby, my sister, to my mom.
“Mei Lin,” Mom said softly as she held her close. Tears filled her eyes again, like the night before. “It’s you, at last.”
“Hi, baby!” Dad said in this funny high-pitched voice, like he was talking to one of our cats. “It’s your daddy!”
“Hi, Mei Lin,” I said softly. I reached for her hand. She was tiny, same as in her photo. Long bangs covered her forehead and lots of dark shiny hair fell to her shoulders. “I’m your big sister, Emily.”
Mei Lin didn’t seem to notice I was talking to her. She was too busy squirming and looking all around the room. For the next few minutes, Mom dabbed at her eyes, Dad cooed, and I finally pulled out my digital camera, though I probably could have reached for Nana’s and no one would have even noticed. I didn’t plan to use the photos in the contest, but my parents were too taken in by Mei Lin to reach for theirs.
We spent a long time in the roo
m filled with crying babies and toddlers, trying to get Mei Lin to pay attention to us instead of everything else around her. I handed her one toy after another, which she’d shake for a minute, then toss down on the floor.
“Do you want to hold her?” Dad asked me.
I shook my head. I’d never held a baby before, and she seemed content while Mom and Dad took turns holding her. Besides, I didn’t want to risk the chance that she’d turn into one of the howlers in the room. “How much longer do we have to stay here?”
“I don’t know,” Mom said. “We have to wait until they call us for our paperwork.”
Dad put a hand on my shoulder. “I told you it would be a long morning.”
The minutes crept by. I put away my camera and tried not to get in the way while my parents held Mei Lin, fed her, changed her, and calmed her down whenever she started crying.
A little while later, I heard a squeak and looked up to see Katherine. She was walking around the room with a baby whose shoes squeaked every time she took a step.
They stopped in front of me. “Madison,” Katherine said, “Can you say hello to Emily? Ni-hao!”
I waved at Madison, who was at least twice as big as Mei Lin and looked more like a little girl than a baby. Her parents had changed her out of the jumpsuit and into a sundress that matched Katherine’s. She had an opening in her top lip so you could see her front teeth. “Ni-hao, Madison!”
Madison didn’t answer. She just stood there, marching up and down to make her red shoes squeak.
“How old is she?” I asked Katherine.
“Twenty-three months.” She looked over at Mei Lin, who was lying on her stomach on the blanket, kicking her feet and reaching for the strap on the diaper bag. “How old is Mei Lin? Doesn’t she know how to walk yet?”
“Not yet,” I said. “She’s only eighteen months.”
“Most babies walk by the time they’re one,” Katherine said. “Can she say any words yet?”
“Not that I’ve heard. She’s pretty quiet.”
“I was talking by the time I was eighteen months,” Katherine said. “In full sentences.”
“Everyone learns at their own pace,” I said, quoting my dad. According to him, I didn’t speak until I was two-and-a-half. “And you haven’t stopped talking since,” he always said with a grin.
Katherine stared at Mei Lin. “But, doesn’t she crawl or anything? Are you sure she’s not a Waiting Child?”
“She crawled halfway across the room,” I told her, even though I’d only seen her crawl a few steps before she flopped down on her belly. “Mom says she’ll go straight from crawling to running. And we’re the ones who’ve been waiting, not Mei Lin. We’ve waited over seven years.”
“Katherine’s mouth dropped open and she clapped a hand over it. Then she said, “You should get her some squeaky shoes. Maybe that will help.”
“Hey, Katherine,” I said, wanting to ask her about her secret instead of worrying about whether something was wrong with Mei Lin. But Madison stomped her feet and tugged on Katherine’s hand before I could get the words out. “Better go!” she said as Madison pulled her away. Hopefully there would be plenty of time to talk later. Hearing about a secret would certainly liven up things a bit and keep my mind off my own worries.
I turned to my mom. “When will Mei Lin learn to walk?”
“I don’t know,” Mom said as she filled a bottle with formula. “She’ll get there soon enough.”
I nodded. If Mom didn’t know babies were supposed to walk by the time they were twelve months old, I wasn’t about to tell her.
“Do you want to give her a bottle?” Mom asked.
“Okay.” I sat down on the bench, and Mom put her in my arms.
“Be careful,” Mom warned. Mei Lin was squirming all over the place. “You have to hold her tight.”
“I’m not going to drop her,” I said, tightening my arms around her. She let out a squeal. I tried to hold the bottle the way I saw some of the other parents doing, but she grabbed it out of my hands and fed herself.
Her eyes closed as she sucked away on the bottle. Did she even know who was holding her? Had she noticed me at all?
Mei Lin got heavier and heavier as she sat in my lap. I knew she didn’t have any plans to move until she finished that bottle.
“Hey, you’re pretty good at this,” Dad said. “Where’d you learn to take care of babies?”
“I didn’t,” I said, handing Mei Lin back before he got any ideas about babysitting.
After hours of sitting inside a stuffy building with crying babies, the people in charge called us to sign some papers. Finally! Now we could do something fun.
“Well, we have twenty-four hours to decide if we want to keep Mei Lin,” Dad said as we climbed back in the van.
“You mean . . . we can give her back?” I asked.
“That’s how the Chinese government sees it. We don’t sign the official adoption papers until tomorrow.” Dad grinned. “So, what do you think?”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I raised one eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?”
Mom put her arm around me. “Of course your dad’s teasing! We have no plans to give your sister back. She’s ours to keep.”
I looked over at Mei Lin sitting in Mom’s lap. She’d settled down for once, her eyes half-closed as she sucked on her fingers.
“I’ve got a great place we can go when we get back to the hotel,” I told my mom.
“It might be a good idea for Mei Lin to have a nap.”
Before I had a chance to say anything else, Lisa Wu spoke into the microphone again. “Next stop, Walmart!” she announced with a smile. “You can buy everything you need. Diapers, strollers, baby bottles, clothing. This is a good store to shop, like in America. You’ll love it!”
CHAPTER SIX
Igroaned. “Walmart? Can’t we ask her to take us back to the hotel?”
“Shhhh,” Mom said, putting her finger to her lips.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and flopped back against the seat.
“I’m not crazy about Walmart either,” Dad said.
“Then why do we have to go?”
“It’s okay, Emily,” Dad whispered. “I’m sure we won’t be there for long.”
Mom gave me a warning look, and I knew what it meant. But I didn’t care if I was being rude. We had an entire foreign country to explore, and we were going to spend the afternoon in Walmart?
We pulled into the parking lot of a three-story building. Then we stepped inside. It was bright, flashy, and definitely the loudest Walmart I’d been to in my life. It was also packed with people, like we’d shown up for the Day After Christmas Sale or something.
We found a cart for Mei Lin, who was suddenly wide awake. She looked around like it was her first trip to the circus.
The other families put their babies into carts, waved at us, and disappeared right into the crowds. Mom and Dad stood there in the entrance looking even more lost than they had in the airport.
Well, I wasn’t about to stand there all day. It was time for action. I grabbed onto Mei Lin’s cart. “So, where to now?”
Dad shook his head, his hands over his ears. Booming music blasted from huge speakers and a high voice sang in Chinese. A disco ball like the one at the skating rink spun around and around shooting lights everywhere.
I glanced down at Mei Lin, afraid the loud noise and lights would make her burst into tears. But she gazed around, eyes wide open, taking it all in. So, I pushed her past the cashiers at the front, toward the escalators, where signs covered with Chinese writing had arrows pointing in different directions. “Should we go upstairs, or downstairs?”
“We need to find the baby section,” Mom said, acting more like her regular self. “And maybe some groceries, too.”
“Then let’s go,” I said.
“But, wait!” Mom rushed after me. “Shouldn’t we ask someone first? We could wander around this store for hours.”
�
��Good idea,” Dad said. “There’s someone in a Walmart vest over there.” He pointed to a worker who stood in the middle of the electronics section. I pulled out my digital and snapped a few pictures. The place was crammed full of stuff. CDs and stereo equipment stood next to a display of lotions, perfumes, racks of chopsticks, and little bottles of liquor. I giggled when I spotted the red bras.
“I heard about this!” Mom said. “It’s a lucky bra, since red is considered a lucky color.”
I giggled some more. People squeezed past us as we made our way down the narrow aisle. I’d been dragged to a lot of Walmarts, but I’d never seen one quite like this.
Dad walked up to one of the workers. “Excuse me?” he yelled. “We’re looking for the baby section?”
When the man shook his head, Mom pointed to Mei Lin. She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, “Baby stuff? For babies?”
The worker shrugged and pointed toward the middle of the store.
“I don’t know if he understood us,” Dad said, steering the cart away from the noise. “We’ll try this way.”
I snapped a few more shots and followed behind. “Hey! Squeaky shoes!” I said, spotting a display in the aisle. I ran over to pick up a blue pair. “Katherine said these will help Mei Lin learn to walk.”
Dad laughed. “Since when did Katherine become an expert on babies? She just became a big sister today, same as you.”
“Katherine’s kind of an expert on everything,” I said.
“More like she thinks she’s an expert on everything—” Dad said but Mom hushed him.
“Madison was wearing a pair of squeaky shoes and she’s a really good walker,” I said. “Maybe it would help.”
“She’s almost two, a lot older than Mei Lin,” Mom pointed out.
“But can’t we get Mei Lin a pair?” I squeaked the shoes and Mei Lin reached for them.
Mom picked up a pair. “Look at the price. Fifteen yuan! That’s only two dollars.”
Dad nodded. “Well, you can’t beat that deal. And once Mei Lin starts walking, at least we’ll always know where she is.”
So, we ended up buying two pairs of squeaky shoes for Mei Lin, and a pair of Pokemon flip-flops for me. I wasn’t a fan of Pokemon, but it was either that or Hello Kitty. People in China must love Hello Kitty, because it was everywhere I looked—on shoes, towels, clocks, purses, pajamas, you-name-it.
Emily Out of Focus Page 4
