Chapter 56: Hers and His
Chang felt the wind stirring her hair, faintly hearing her mom and Jian talking in hushed voices. Feeling the warmth against her cheek, Chang realized she was laying in Jian's arms with her face pressed against his chest. She started to stir in his arms as she woke up alerting the two.
Liang JianAmal immediately released her and set her down on the bench beside her mother, seeing that she had woken. Chang was still slightly incoherent and drowsily turned her head to her mom, gripping onto one of his sleeves. Clarity instantly hit her seeing the trail of tears working their way down her mother's face. Instantly she released her hold on Jian and turned to her mom.
"What's wrong mom, are you ok?" Chang worriedly questioned her, and put both her hands on both sides of her shoulders.
"Ah, its fine, I was just thinking about Hénri. Nothing to worry about." Li Hua wiped her tears away with the flick of her finger dismissively.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Chang wanted to be there for her mother, she knew her mother always bottled everything up inside. Especially since the funeral, she had seen her mother cry only once after the service. Her mother had also avoided talking about her father since he had passeed, and Chang had not had the heart to bring it up knowing her mother was purposefully avoiding the subject.
"Sure, let's walk and talk, it's been a long time since we had time just to talk between the two of us." Li Hua gracefully rose off the bench, hand folded into her other hand.
Chang hopped off stumbling a little due to her stiffened hips. Jian held an arm out to help keep her from falling. Chang smiled up at him in thanks.
"Jian would it be ok if my mom and I just have a talk alone, it's been just so long and-"
"No need to explain anything to me. Spend some time with your mother." He brushed a stray wisp of some hair out of her face after he interrupted her rambling. Smiling at her, leaving her dazzled, before turning and leaving her as she stood staring after him.
"He's a good man Chang." Chang heard the quiet mellow voice behind her dragging her out of her thoughts.
"Mm yeah he is." She turned away from his departing figure to see her mom smiling sadly at her.
"I'm glad you found a good man like your dad. He's a keeper, be sure not to let him go."
Chang blushed looking down at her toes and said in her mind as well as aloud, "I wont, I really couldn't imagine life without him, not anymore."
"Don't then. Do everything you can to keep him in your life."
"Mom you're talking really weird, are you really ok?" Something about her mom's words and the way she was talking made her feel uncomfortable. There was something wrong that she could not put her finger on.
"I'm sorry, I've just been extremely sentimental as of late. I've been dreaming about your father a lot."
Chang felt a pang of sorrow thinking of her father's smiling bearded face, the last thing she had seen of him before he left for work, never to return again. It had only been just over 2 and half years since he had passed away.
"I still miss him a lot." Sighing, Chang admitted to her mother.
"I do too sweetie, every day." Li Hua put an arm around her daughter's figure. 'Every day, but I'm going to see him soon. I can feel it.'
"Do you ever regret anything about meeting dad?" Chang asked her mom, knowing the high price her mother had to pay to be with him.
Li Hua shook her head smiling. "Maybe letting him leave for work that day, but no, nothing other than that, every day I had with your father was a gift, a treasure. You being the biggest and greatest gift amongst them all."
"How come you and Dad never had any other kids besides me, I don't think I ever asked you and dad." It had also been a subject she had never dared to bring up before after he had passed.
"Ah well your Dad was so horrified by the whole birthing process, he couldn't bear to see me going through it again. I swear back then you would have thought he was the one giving birth with the way he carried on." Li Hua chortled as she fondly remembered how the big man had panicked running back and forth for a few minutes after her water broke while they had sat watching TV together.
He had then flipped the house upside down looking for car keys that were hanging in their normal spot by the door. Li Hua had taken the whole process very calmly, as she had readied herself mentally for the whole process, in contrast to her panic stricken husband.
The pain had still been way beyond anything she could have imagined, but when she held the tiny bundle that was their child, it had been nothing. Hénri had bawled holding their daughter, who had looked so tiny in his large hands, so so tiny. It was hard sometimes for Li Hua to believe that the beautiful young woman, who stood a head taller than her, was that tiny baby. Hers and his.
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