me to translate. I bent forward to give her a hug and picked her up off the ground as I listened to her words. “My son. I missed you. My worry was great, but my faith in you was strong. I missed you, my boy.”
“I missed you too,” I whispered in Vietnamese. “I’m glad to see you here.”
“Son.” My dad’s arm reached around to squeeze me to him as I set Mom back on her feet. “It’s good to see you.”
I pulled him in for a hug, and I held him tight as he slapped my back a few times.
“What are you doing here? You’re early! What a surprise!” I turned to find Eliza so I could introduce her, but she was gone.
“Your girl went around the side of the house,” Dad told me as he reached up and squeezed my shoulder. “Damn, son. It’s good to see you’re well and smiling. You had us worried.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized and shook my head. “I was in a dark place. I couldn’t leave and I was alone most of the time. But it’s okay now. She’s in prison and I’m free. Did Eliza know about this? How did you plan it?”
“Eliza had no idea,” Dad asserted. Mom wasn’t talking now, she was just holding me close to her with her hands around my waist. I put an arm down around her shoulders and felt them move with her sobs. “Grunt exchanged phone numbers with me after escorting us to the airport. I wanted someone else I could call if I couldn’t get in touch with you. I called and told him we were coming to town and I wanted to surprise you. He arranged this with Eliza’s brother.”
“The men are big and hairy and their children are ugly, but the men are all nice and their women are sweet and beautiful,” my mom said in Vietnamese as she pulled away from my chest. “I like them all and want to cook for them. I will come here and teach Hank too.”
“They’ve already got a few dinners planned out.” My dad laughed. “We’re all going to be eating like kings for a while.”
“Where’s Grandma?”
“Your sister flew in on Monday to get the house ready for us. She’s staying there with your grandma now. We got in on Wednesday morning and have been home getting readjusted since then.”
“I’ll come see her as soon as I can.”
“On Sunday. And you’ll bring your girlfriend and her mother,” Mom ordered.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” I whispered conspiratorially as I looked down at my mom with a smile.
“I will have a new daughter, and we will have this large family.” Mom absolutely beamed.
“Let’s go inside so you can see your friends. They’ve all been telling us stories about you, son. I’ve got a few of them coming out to look at the Hudson, and there’s a man inside, Tucker, who has some ideas about the paint.”
“He’s an artist,” I assured him. “You won’t regret it if you get him to do your paint job.”
“That’s the plan.” Dad smiled.
I held my mom close with my arm around her shoulders as we walked up the steps, and Dad held the door open for us. There were people everywhere and I could see through the house into the backyard where there were even more.
Nicole came around the corner with a smile, her baby in one arm as she held her other out for a hug.
My mom put her arms out toward the baby and said, “Let me hold that ugly baby.”
Nicole looked down at her in shock and pulled her daughter back a few inches.
“You never compliment a little one or the devil will take notice and steal them away,” my dad explained.
“Oh! Well, in that case, here’s my ugly baby.” Nicole laughed and handed her daughter to my mom. Nicole turned around and walked into the kitchen where there were a few other women with small children. “Just so you know, all of your children are butt ugly, and I can say that now because I learned it from Mai.”
My mom laughed as she put Janis up to her shoulder, and she sat down at the table to join the women. I looked down at the little girl and her big brown eyes stared up at me.
“You men go outside. You’re ugly and you smell.” Nicole waved her hand toward the back door as she walked around the table to sit beside Hannah, Eliza’s mom. Nicole