The project I was working on was more important than a photo album of a trip to a foreign country, and it was going to be amazing.
Thinking about my project filled me up with happiness, but it was edged with a sadness, too. A sadness because besides my parents, the person I’d most want to share my project with wouldn’t be waiting for us at the airport, making sure she was first in line to hold her new granddaughter.
***
Guangzhou, China, Day 13, 4/15/14
Dear Diary,
This is our last official day in China. I can’t believe it! So much has happened, and two weeks have gone by so fast. Katherine and I are going to try to make the day last as long as we can. Because tomorrow we both get on different planes and go back to our own lives, and who knows when we will see each other again?
Love,
Emily (who really is a photojournalist!)
Our last day started the way the others in Guangzhou had, with a big breakfast at the White Swan buffet. But this one felt different because we knew it would be our last so I tried to eat extra slow so I could remember every bite. We went for a morning walk around the square at the park and visited one more store in the lobby. That afternoon, I headed downstairs to Katherine’s while Mei Lin napped.
She stepped out in the hallway, closing the door behind her. “It’s crazy in there,” she said. “Dad has his checklist, and he’s calling things out, and Mom can’t find things, and Madison keeps crying because she wants to go to the playroom.”
“I can’t believe we’re going home tomorrow’.”
“Yeah.” Katherine had a faraway look in her eyes, and she bit her lip. I knew she was thinking of her birthmom.
“She might still see your ad,” I said. “She could call you after you get home.”
“I know.” She took a deep breath and tears filled her eyes. “Mom and Dad are going to help me. They said they’d sign up for the DNA registry, and there’s an agency that can help.”
“Really? That’s great, Katherine!”
“Yeah. It’s just . . . it’s hard, you know? Sometimes I wonder, does my birthmom like to go shopping? Does she like fashion, and does she think it’s fun to fix people’s hair?” She laughed, but it wasn’t a real one. “I mean, I love my mom and all, but she doesn’t like any of those things. She shops by catalog, and she thinks fashion is a waste of time and money.”
I nodded, not sure what to say to that. I wanted to tell her I was sure she’d find her birthmom, and that they would have a lot in common. But I didn’t have any idea what would happen any more than she did.
Katherine was quiet for a minute, then reached into her bag. “Hey, I have something for you,” she said, handing me a small box.
“You got me a present?” I opened the box and pulled out a bracelet made of red thread with red beads. “Wow. Thanks, Katherine.”
“I made it myself. Do you know about the red thread?”
I shook my head.
“People say there’s a red thread that ties the babies to their new families. Forever.”
“It’s nice,” I said as I slipped the bracelet around my wrist.
“So the red thread means you’ve always been connected to Mei Lin, even though she was born in China.”
I ran my finger across the bracelet. “Really?”
“Well, that’s the saying anyway. I wasn’t sure if you’d wear it, but I wanted to give something to you.”
“I’ll think of you whenever I wear it,” I told her.
Katherine smiled. “So, I was thinking about that red thread. And I figured if it ties you to a baby you never met before last week but now she’s your sister, then it probably ties us together, too. You know, since we both got our sisters from the same place.”
“You’re right,” I said, looking up at her. It was weird how you could become good friends with someone you only knew for two weeks. And it was especially weird how you could meet someone who you think is so different from you, and it turns out you’re a lot alike after all.
Katherine and I made our way to her room very slowly. “I’ve got an idea,” Katherine said. “Let’s ride the elevator to the swimming pool, one last time.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Come on,” Katherine said with a laugh. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“It kind of got left behind when I lost the camera AND the contest, remember?”
“Oh, come on,” Katherine said again. “It’ll only take a minute. They’ll never find out.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I said with a grin as we stepped on the elevator. We rode down to the swimming pool, but after a few minutes of watching swimmers in bathing caps taking lessons, we headed upstairs.
“You should come and visit me next summer,” I said while we played Uno in the hall to get away from all the craziness. “New Jersey is a lot closer to Washington than China, and we’re like an hour from New York City. We could go to the Empire State Building. Or the Statue of Liberty or the museum. They have lots of cool museums in New York.”
“That would be so great,” Katherine said. “And you could come to Seattle. We’ll take you to the Space Needle and maybe we could go on a whale watching tour.”
“Awesome!” I said, and we high-fived each other for the first time.
Our next game of Uno was interrupted when my parents came by with the stroller. “It’s time for dinner,” Mom said with a smile. “All the families are meeting at a hotel up the street.”
“See you in a few minutes,” Katherine said, waving to me before she disappeared into her room.
The hotel was only a few minutes away. Guangzhou must have been full of fancy hotels because this one was almost as nice as the White Swan. Lisa Wu took us to a private room in the restaurant that had big round tables with spinning serving plates in the middle. All the families sat down at two big tables and then she ordered all kinds of dishes for us so we could try lots of different things.
The waiters set down appetizer plates of dumplings with ginger sauce, congee soup, steamed buns, cucumbers in a spicy sauce, and strips of fried snake.
“You should try the snake,” Katherine said as filled up her plate.
“Mmm,” Dad said after taking a bite. “Tastes like chicken.”
I started to shake my head, but then I looked over at Mei Lin. She stood up on Mom’s lap, shrieked, and grabbed a piece of snake off the plate. I wasn’t about to be outdone by a one-year-old. So I put a piece on my plate, took one bite, and chased it down with the extra-sweet tea that was in front of me. “So . . . what do you think?” Katherine asked.
“Great,” I said, pushing the snake to the side and covering it with a napkin.
A few minutes later, the waiters and waitresses cleared off the appetizers and marched out with one plate of food after another, which they set on the spinning wheel in the middle of the table. Rice, noodles, meat, seafood, tofu, vegetables, even fried pancakes with fillings inside . . . and all of it was good. Except for the duck, which I plainly was not about to touch.
By the time the waiters came back with big slabs of watermelon, I was stuffed. I was slurping my watermelon, something I’d miss as my nightly dessert, when Katherine’s dad stood and tapped his spoon against his glass. He talked about how it was our last night together, and since we missed all of their previous birthdays, he wanted to celebrate with us now.
Katherine’s mother walked in with a big birthday cake that said Happy Birthday YiYiang Babies, and everyone began to sing.
“Blow out the candles,” I said to Mei Lin. She squealed and stuck her fingers in the cake.
“Do you think they celebrated in the orphanage?” I asked my parents. “Did they have a party for Mei Lin?”
“Well,” Mom said, “There’s a photo I saw that they told us was taken on Mei Lin’s first birthday. But they didn’t give her cake. They gave her a plate of rolls.”
I looked over at Mei Lin. Her face was covered with vanilla frosti
ng and she looked a lot happier than someone would look with a plate of old rolls. “From now on,” I told her, “You’ll have cake at every birthday, whatever kind you want.”
Mei Lin let out a big squeal, like she knew exactly what I was saying.
After we’d finished eating, everyone got up to sit in sofas and chairs at the back of the room. The next surprise was that people started passing out gifts. Katherine and her parents were the first ones. But other families passed out special poems and cards to all the babies, too.
“Were we supposed to bring presents?” I asked my parents.
“We had enough trouble remembering to pack the diapers,” Dad said.
Mom smiled. “Instead of presents, we can send photos when we get home. Between the three of us, I’m sure we’ve taken some good ones.”
Katherine showed up with a present while I was thinking about my photos. “We ordered necklaces for all the babies,” she said, handing a small bag to Mom.
Mom pulled out a golden heart necklace. She drew in her breath. “Oh, Katherine, it’s beautiful.”
“Turn it over,” Katherine said. “We engraved the back.”
I looked down at the words. You’re always in my heart. Love from your YiYiang sister, Madison AiWen Bresner.
“Thank you. This is really special.” Mom wiped her eyes and gave Katherine a hug.
I pulled out my digital camera and started snapping pictures. I took photos of all the families with their babies, of Mei Lin with the other babies, of the rest of the cake that sat on the table; you could still make out the words “Happy Birth” and “YiYiang.”
Then I asked Mom to take a picture of Katherine and me. We stood with our arms around each other.
“Will you send photos?” Katherine asked when it was time to head back to the hotel for our last night in China.
“Sure,” I told her. “I’ve taken about a million tonight, you know.”
But Katherine shook her head. “No, I mean the ones you took earlier. For the contest.”
“Okay,” I said, eager to see the ones I’d taken of Katherine before we snuck out for our adventure, the ones I was thinking could have been used for “Unexpected Beauty.” “I can send you some of those too.”
“I’m really going to miss you,” Katherine said as we hugged one last time.
“Me too,” I said, looking down at my bracelet. Even though we lived on opposite sides of the country, I knew in my heart that the red thread would always connect us in a special way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Guangzhou, China, Day 14, 4/16/14
Dear Diary,
It’s still dark outside, but I’m in the van, on the way to the airport. That’s because it’s only 5:30 in the morning! Even Mei Lin didn’t like being woken up so early and having to pile all our suitcases on a luggage rack and leave the room we’ve been in for the past week without even getting to stop at the buffet for breakfast. She started crying as soon as she woke up, and she’s not in a very good mood right now, that I can tell you.
It feels weird to be on the highway, moving further and further away from Shamian Island with its little shops and tree-lined parks, away from the big buildings that form Guangzhou’s skyline, moving closer and closer to the airport that will take us away from Mei Lin’s homeland and bring us closer to her new home.
Maybe Mei Lin doesn’t understand what’s happening to her and she’s just grouchy because we woke her up early and we’re off her routine. But maybe she knows she’s leaving China and that’s why she’s crying.
Love,
Emily
(who will get to sleep in her own bed after a 21-hour plane ride, and is feeling pretty happy about that)
“I hope she calms down once we get on the plane,” Mom said, giving her a bottle. That kept her quiet for a little while, but when she was done, she threw the bottle down on the floor and started howling again.
“I bet she’ll like flying on the plane,” I said. “The movement will calm her down.”
“Actually,” Mom said, picking up Mei Lin and patting her back, “babies don’t usually like planes. Their ears are sensitive, so be prepared for a long trip home.”
“They don’t call the trip home from China the Crying Baby Flight for nothing,” Dad said.
I didn’t like the sound of that. Luckily, Mei Lin stayed busy eating Cheerios as we rushed through the airport. It was just like when we first arrived in China—lots of stops to show passports and get our bags checked. Finally, we stepped onto the plane. We had four seats in the middle, instead of an aisle seat near the window. What a bummer.
“Sorry, Emily. I wanted all of us to sit together, and this was the only choice,” Mom said when I grumbled about it. She settled down with Mei Lin on her lap. But Mei Lin stood up on Mom’s legs, trying to look over the seat at the people behind us.
“Are they going to make you buckle her in once the plane starts?”
“We’ll see,” Mom said, and that’s exactly what happened. Mei Lin wasn’t having any of it. She squirmed and shrieked, and Mom had to force her to sit back so she could snap the seatbelt. The engines roared as we took off down the runway. Then the yowling really started.
I pulled out a musical kangaroo from the baby bag and wound it up. “Look, Mei Lin. It’s Waltzing Matilda!”
Mei Lin shrieked and pushed Matilda away. The kangaroo fell to the floor. The airplane started to rise off the ground.
“Say good-bye to China,” Mom said, turning to the window.
I looked out the window on the other side. I knew we would make the trip again, maybe to post a letter at Mei Lin’s finding spot. China was part of Mei Lin’s story and she would need a trip back just the way Katherine had.
“When are we going to visit again?” I asked my parents over Mei Lin’s cries. “Since we never saw The Great Wall, or Orange Lake, or a bunch of other places. Hey, we could come back in the winter, when they have the ice sculptures. I read about it in my travel guide.” I pulled the book out of my backpack, but my parents were too busy with Mei Lin to look.
“Let’s worry about getting Mei Lin home first before we plan our trip back,” Dad said, trying to give her a pacifier.
I studied my guide, reading about all the exciting places we didn’t visit, but Mei Lin spit out the pacifier, and a few minutes later, she was crying harder than ever. A man across the aisle shot us a dirty look and pulled a pillow over his head.
“People sure are grouchy around here,” I said. It wasn’t Mei Lin’s fault that her ears were hurting.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mom said, patting my arm.
I pulled out Polky the Elephant. “Polky wants to say hello!” I said, but Mei Lin pushed the elephant away just like she’d pushed Matilda.
The seatbelt sign finally went off, and Mom unbuckled Mei Lin and put her on her lap. That helped with the shrieking, but she was still making unhappy noises and didn’t look anywhere near ready to fall asleep. I tried shaking her rattle toy. She grabbed it and threw it on the floor. I pulled out a cloth book. She chewed on it, which kept her quiet for a minute or two. Then she tossed it like the stuffed animals. A bottle worked for a little while, until she drained it and threw that down, too.
I picked everything up and put it in the bag. Twenty hours was going to feel endless unless I came up with a plan, and quick.
So, I reached into my backpack and pulled out my camera.
***
“Wow,” Mom said a little while later, when Mei Lin had fallen asleep against me. “Just like magic. You really do have the big sister’s touch.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” I said. “Mei Lin likes cameras, that’s all.”
“I think she likes her big sister,” Mom said, squeezing my hand. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
I smiled and leaned back against the seat. It was really pretty simple. Mei Lin liked to look at the pictures, and she liked to watch videos. I thought about my grandmother, and how I wished she were
here to meet her new granddaughter. I knew she would have been the first one to greet us as we got off the plane, and the first to hold Mei Lin.
“Mei Lin’s going to be a photographer when she grows up, just like me . . . and Nana,” I said.
Dad laughed. “You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”
“Well it’s true.” I opened my eyes and looked over at him. “So, about that trip to China. When are we coming back?”
“When Mei Lin’s old enough to take photos,” Dad said with a grin.
“And when she’s old enough to understand,” Mom added.
I settled back in my seat, enjoying the moments of quiet. Pulling out my journal, I read through My Fears About the China Trip one last time. It was funny how much had changed in only two weeks. I’d already checked off:
Number 1: What if the plane crashes?
Number 2: What if authentic Chinese food means the food will be terribly awful and I starve the whole time?
And
Number 5: What if I don’t like Katherine and I’m stuck hanging out with her for two weeks?
Luckily, none of those fears had come true. And as I looked at the rest of the list, I realized that even though I’d experienced some of my biggest worries, I’d survived all of it.
I flipped to the bottom of the list, to the fears I didn’t admit to anyone except my journal.
7) What if my new sister doesn’t like me...and I don’t care for her much either?
I looked up from journal, glancing over at Mei Lin sleeping peacefully on the seat beside me. When I wrote down Number 7, I’d forgotten something really important: family meant a connection that could never be broken. I’d never had a sister before, so I didn’t know what it would be like—the way finding out about Mei Lin’s past had put a dent in my heart, the way one of Mei Lin’s smiles lit me up from the inside.
Emily Out of Focus Page 14
