Vacant MC Read online

  “My… sister!” said Hu, jumping up and down. Dragon Mother looked absolutely stunned.

  “We were looking at babies, but Jie caught our eye at once. She’s smart, and she speaks some English. We didn’t tell you because, well, we just got the final go-ahead yesterday. We were terrified of everything not falling through. Plus, we don’t want this on the TV cameras,” said Bao.

  “Can we go? Can we go now?” asked Hu. “I want to meet her!”

  “Yes, of course,” said Nico. “I have to shave, then do a final packing, then check out of the hotel. Then, it’s back to the train station.”

  Hu danced the whole time that Nico shaved, Bao did a final check, and Dragon Mother sat on the stool in the immaculate kitchen. “Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Dragon Mother, hurt. “About your baby boy, and now a Chinese girl?”

  “Normally they want a woman to wait a year after giving birth to adopt,” said Bao, “but, this is an older girl, and we already have one girl. So, they went ahead. We were very lucky. Delay is a bad idea. It will be terrible for her to age out of the system here. We didn’t have any idea how long it would take. So, we must go now, and get your new granddaughter.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” said Dragon Mother.

  “You didn’t apologize, a real apology, to either Nico or myself for your terrible behavior, culminating with my wedding day. You can’t be a real part of our lives until you do.” Bao went to check on everything, and then came back. Hu was still dancing and singing with her laughing father.

  Dragon Mother looked at her daughter, with big tears in her eyes. “I saw my old home, talked to my old friends. No one cared that Nico was not Chinese. They all said, ‘What a lovely Chinese daughter!’ I regret that your first husband’s parents are all ghosts. I would have wanted them to see her. I wanted to be in a Chinese past, one that does not exist. I don’t want to live on a hillside again. My bones are too old. And now…” Her eyes teared up. “Now, that beautiful girl and I could be living next door, and the hostility I was willing to embrace is in ashes now.”

  “You cannot live with me ever again,” said Bao. “I am very sorry, but I cannot trust you. But, it is only a twenty-minute ride away.” Bao laughed. “I’ll even get you some sort of unlimited Uber pass, just so you can visit. But, you must call first.”

  Dragon Mother bowed her head. It was the best offer she was likely to get. Nico realized that the heavy mother-daughter conversation was over, and he led the excited crew out into the hallway. The baggage woman came with her cart, and they went down to check out. Bao signed for the incidentals and handed back the keys. Bao gave a rousing endorsement of the hotel to the camera crew, with the understanding that the rest of their trip would be private, and they were ushered into a hotel limo for a ride to the train station.

  They bought snacks for a hungry Hu, who finished her bracelet, well before the train ride ended. She turned to video games, then a movie, then a nap. They got off in a remote village in the north, near the Chinese/North Korean border. They met a herd of excited, exhausted parents, all with baby paraphernalia at the ready. They signed more papers, and the adoption people quizzed Dragon Mother. She said she was on board with the whole thing and happy to help. Bao donated rice and fruit to the orphanage, along with a cash donation.

  He Jie was terrified. Hu went up, bowed, called her Older Sister, and gave her the bracelet she had been working on. Hu then introduced Dragon Grandmother, Honored Mother, and Honored American-Italian Father who spoke some well-practiced Mandarin. They signed a lot more papers, got back on the train, and Bao took Jie to the train bathroom. Jie was noisily sick, and Bao gave her wet wipes. They cut open the suitcase from its shipping wrap, and Jie went back to the bathroom to change. She came back in jeans, a pink top, and some lovely sandals. Her old clothes were carefully folded up, shoes on top. In a whisper of a voice, she asked that her old clothes be sent back to the orphanage for her friend, Mei. Bao nodded, took the clothes and put them in a bag, took out her laptop, handed Jie’s tablet to Hu to turn on for her, and extracted all the information about Mei she could from Jie.

  Bao looked out of the corner of her eye at Nico, who gave a tiny nod. “I’ll text about adding on,” he said.

  Dragon Grandmother watched the byplay, and knew she was getting yet another granddaughter. She wondered how she could have misjudged such a kind and generous man.

  They went back to the same hotel, sleeping on the train. Hu held Jie’s hand in her own for almost the entire ride. They checked back in, and the girls slept together in the large bed until morning.

  Breakfast was steamed pork buns with little pink pig ears and noses for Jie and Dragon Grandmother. Then, bacon, eggs, fruit, and croissants for the others, with more orange juice. Hu showed numerous pictures of the house to Jie. Jie was in shock, confused and saddened about leaving her friends, and excited about a new American life.

  Bao applied Jie’s new passport, and did more paperwork, then they asked Jie if she wanted to go to the Disney Resort. She said yes, so they went to MouseLand. Dragon Mother took the day to shop and visit with friends instead. They wore black mouse ears, rode rides, ate lunch, saw a show, met some princesses, and had a wow of a good time. Jie showed signs of exhaustion, so Bao took her back, leaving Nico and Hu to enjoy daddy-daughter time together.

  Jie burst into tears when she got back to the hotel. Bao held her, rang for tea, and got her a piece of paper and a pen. When the tears showed signs of slowing, she received the tea, tipped the server, and gave Jie some wet wipes and then the pen and paper.

  “Write your friends. I know you wish you had them all here with you.” Jie wondered at this new mother who understood her. She nodded, drank tea, and wrote letters before falling into an exhausted sleep.

  Bao took a short nap, then woke up, and had the chef make a delicious chicken-mushroom, rice concoction. The smell woke up Jie, who ate as if she’d never eaten before. She was thin, small, with her shoulder bones sticking out. They ate, drank tea, and Bao answered questions.

  “You can go to the Nighthawks homeschool, or you can do what Hu does, which is go to school and learn many jobs, so she can decide what to do later on when it is time for college.” Jie burst into tears again. Bao took a moment to guess the reason, and then handed over more wet wipes while patting her back. “You didn’t think you were going to college,” said Bao. Jie could only nod. “Eat,” said Bao. “Your food is growing cold.”

  It took more time for the paperwork and passport to go through. The girls went to the Oriental Pearl Tower with Nico and Dragon Grandmother, while Bao wrestled with the paperwork. They met up at Nanjing Road and had a lovely lunch and shopping adventure. They went to Tiananmen Square, then to the Shanghai Aquarium. Dragon Grandmother left before the aquarium, pleading exhaustion and time with friends. They got back, and they found the passport had been delivered to the hotel. They all did a happy dance.

  Nico found a flight leaving that night, so they packed up and slept on the plane. It was a terrific idea, because Jie was terrified to fly. They put her in the middle and distracted her with snacks, sodas, and movies once she woke up. She spent her time with a sleeping mask on, her face in Bao’s shoulder, as they landed. They decided against the relatively short flight to Vegas, and spent a day wandering through Chinatown. Many people knew Bao because of her books, and she and Hu talked at two Chinese-speaking schools. They ended the day at the Wharf, and they all ate clam chowder out of bread bowls.

  Jie deemed herself fit to fly, and so they took a very short night flight to Vegas. An Uber took them home, Dragon Grandmother first, and Hu took the girls up to the pods where she (and Grace, sometimes) slept. Jie loved her pink pod, and spent some time arranging her things the way she wanted it, her new little bears, school supplies, and new clothes all hung up.

  Grace came running over, despite the hour, to meet her new sister. They sat on the floor on beanbag chairs, and they talked in Mandarin together. They ate popcorn and drank fl
avored waters and giggled. Bao peeked in the door, Nico on her heels. They stood there for a long moment, watching their family coalesce and stick together, like planets around a warming sun.

  Entrance

  Inola watched Damia with the pony. The girl who used to be terrified of her own shadow, unwilling to leave her own mind, rode a painted pony named Trix. She did so as if she was born on the back of a horse. She didn’t think about her moves anymore, just let them flow. Ivy stood there, watching her daughter, a very pregnant Bella at her side.

  “It’s really not freaking you out,” said Bella, digging her thumbs into her lower back to relieve the baby pressure.

  “What?” asked Ivy. “Oh, Damia doing tricks in the saddle. She’s been doing that for months now. Tiny tricks, leading to bigger ones. The ponies do anything she asks them to. They’d break their hearts for her. So, yes, it made me insane at first, but now the girl stands up and rides, and she smiles.” She hugged Bella. “She actually smiles. So, if she wants to ride horses in the way that gives me a heart attack, then bring it on. Inola’s got an IED machine in the barn to shock my heart back to life.”

  “Tough woman,” said Bella. “You going to work?” she said.

  “What gave it away?” asked Ivy, flashing her a horned Rock On salute. Bella flashed it back.

  “I think we’ve lost Grace to Hu and Jie,” said Bella.

  “Field trip,” Ivy said in a sing-song voice. All the girls were off with Henry and the other Nighthawks kids on an identify-the-desert-plants trip.

  “Works for me,” said Bella.

  “Take a nap,” said Ivy, and kissed Bella’s cheek.

  “Hey, don’t scare the horses,” said Inola. They laughed and waved.

  “I’m restless for some reason,” said Bella. “Not hungry, not thirsty, no urge to mess around on the computer. Just turned in three book covers, so I’m set for the week. Coming up on baby-time in a few weeks, kind of clearing the decks, and ever since the doc said no lifting heavy crap…”

  “You’re home. Sorry. Miss you at work. Love ya, gotta go.” Ivy hugged Bella, and speed-walked toward her bike.

  Bella wandered a bit, taking a slow walk around the paddock. She realized she was distracting Inola at a time she shouldn’t be doing so, so Bella turned and headed for the barn. Maybe she would steal a soda from the little refrigerator in there, and get out of the sun. If she went in the main house, Vi would feed her, fuss over her. Sometimes fuss was fun, but not today. She wanted to be alone. So, that left out the greenhouse and the Wolfpack; they would be knee-deep in picking and packing.

  Alo wasn’t there in the barn, he’d obviously taken off to make a delivery of animal feed, she supposed. She watched the achingly-cute rabbits and fed them some rabbit pellets. They ate right out of her hand, making her feel… tired. She went into the barn, took down a tack blanket and put it on a pile of hay, got out a lemon-lime soda, and relaxed. Robert and Triesta went out, waved at her, and left, probably to get more silver wire. They were putting out stuff like crazy, going back and forth between jewelry and the last of the bikes for Henry.

  Bella sat on the blanket, and read a book, sunlight dappling her feet. She rolled over onto her side, falling slowly like a tree. She made a pillow of her arms and went into sleep. She didn’t hear when Inola and Damia came in, to watch her sleeping, then go to the main house for a snack and some Vu stories.

  She awoke to wetness, and pain, a pulsing pain, then a crushing one, then a pulsing one again. She knocked her cell phone down and couldn’t bend over to reach it. She groaned, leaning into the pain. She groaned again, riding the crest of the wave, the trough, the wave again. Finally, free from the cramp, she kicked the phone over, and reached for it. She could touch the top with the tips of her fingers, but not grasp it. She kicked it again and ran her fingers down the straw to reach it. She just had it when the pains hit again, and she blew out breath, dropped the phone, and groaned.

  It took two more pains until she had the phone. She laid back on the blanket, groaning. She tried screaming, but her breath wouldn’t come, and she couldn’t see the phone through her tears. She finally let out a small scream, then a somewhat larger one. She felt like bearing down. Wait, that wasn’t right, couldn’t be right, she thought, dimly. Didn’t that take hours? Days, even? She did more groaning, breathed in, and finally let out a thin scream. She pulled in more air and screamed again.

  She heard pounding feet through her tunnel of pain. “Bella!” It was Nantan. He did something, pushed buttons. She felt him tear off her panties. Fat people’s panties, she thought. “Oh, shit,” she heard him say, then he yelled through the phone.

  “Ahhhh,” said Bella.

  “Stay with me, Bella,” he said. “Stay… breathe. Puff, puff, puff, wheeze. Puff, puff, puff, wheeze.” She did the weird breathing, unable to remember a thing from the pregnant-people-popping-out-babies class. She breathed more.

  Inola settled in behind her and clasped both her hands. Bella grabbed on, and half-crushed her wife’s hands. Henry said things she didn’t understand, something about a basin and water, and a pair of scissors and something else. Nantan was at her knees, rubbing gently, making little guttural noises that somehow made sense to her.

  She felt a hand… there, and heard Nantan say, “Puff, puff, wheeze. That’s good. Almost…” A basin was there, in-between her legs. A blue one. She almost laughed, but it hurt too much. Puff, puff, wheeze. “Honey,” said Nantan. “Push, now. No way the paramedics are going to be here on time.” She pushed, groaning, then another groan. She rested, puffing. Someone wiped her face with a cool cloth. David. David was singing, low and slow. “Push again,” said Nantan. “Good, good.” He grinned. “Puff, puff, push!”

  There was a rush, a liquid rush, and Nantan had something red and blue and pink in his hands. He took a wipe from Henry, and he wiped out the nose and mouth. A cry, thin; then angry. He put the baby onto her stomach.

  “Oh, wind and rain and stars, he’s beautiful,” said Inola, guiding their hands down, down, to soft flesh. Vi was there, with a blanket, Ryder’s third-favorite, the yellow one. More cries. Nantan did something with the scissors and then handed them back to Henry.

  Bella felt herself clawing at the top of her preggers dress, and Inola laughed as Henry ripped the fabric so she could get to her maternity bra. Inola got the clasp off, then their baby was at her breast. He rooted, then he caught hold. Two rushes of liquid, then, after a wide, long cramp, the afterbirth went into the basin, and the baby sucked milk into his little mouth. Bella tried to speak, faltered, just got her elbow up, her arm under the spine, the legs waving, kicking at her.

  “Tarak,” said Bella, finally able to get out a word, still trying to take in air.

  “Tarak,” said Nantan, his eyes shining. “Apache. For star.”

  “Tarak Henry David,” said Inola. All three men clasped hands. David was still singing, this time a wide joy in his song.

  Henry canceled the 911 call. He hung up, and said, “I’m calling Doc Rial. She can do the weighing and immunizations and genetic testing here.” Inola nodded. Bella held the baby close.

  Henry and Nantan cleaned up, then they supported her, as they walked slowly, slowly. They got Bella and the baby up the stairs, and into the shower, and washed both baby and mama in warm water. They got Bella into bed; Ryder was already asleep in her crib. Bella started crying then, with great fat tears of joy.

  “Thank you,” she said, to David, Henry, and Nantan. Vi went back downstairs to cook the celebration dinner. Numa came in and sang over the baby and mother. The doctor came, took blood for the tests, gave the immunizations, weighed the baby —five pounds, six ounces. She checked out Bella and pronounced everyone healthy. She left them to relax.

  “Come here,” Bella said to Nantan. He sat on the side where Inola was not. “Come, hold our son.” He held the baby.

  Chayton came rushing up the stairs and saw them all. Tears fell out of his eyes. “Our son,” he said. He stepped for
ward and knelt at Nantan’s side.

  “Tarak,” choked out Nantan. “He fell, right into my hands.”

  “I’m sorry, I was at the store…” said Chayton. Nantan put a finger on his lips, and they smiled down at the baby. Numa finished her song, and Chayton and Nantan sang in Apache, tears running down their faces. They kissed Tarak. He looked up at them with huge eyes.

  “He knows his fathers,” said Henry. Then, they turned, and left the parents to love on their baby.

  “We need a bigger bed,” said Bella. They all laughed.

  The party went on for the rest of the day. Everyone took turns helping —cooking, taking out every folding chair and table, setting up tables, and groaning with food. People were allowed to sneak up and meet the new baby in small groups. There were fish tacos, chicken enchiladas in a mouthwatering sauce, two roasted chickens, two fried chickens, chips, salsa, guacamole, tortillas, cheese biscuits, butter and honey, two green salads, a corn salad, and six pies —apple, peanut butter, French silk chocolate, cherry, peach, and plum. They took food up to the mamas and daddies, and they set a cot up next to the bed, so they could all be together. Richard kept an eye on the boys —Little Nico, Tam, Josh, and Nick, keeping them from running off with their newborn brother.

  Ryder was brought down from her nap, and she thought the party was for her. David told her the party was to celebrate her getting a baby brother of her very own. She thought that was very funny. Nighthawks showed up with more food and drink, pizzas, barbecued pork and chicken, sodas, juices, and flavored water. The music was light, to let the new family rest. Bao and Nico brought over the girls and manicotti, Callie brought over Aiden and Kiya, and the babies were passed around. Lily came with Rose and Colin, and more baby-passing ensued.

  Gregory brought over a very pregnant Katya, with the boys Luka and Ivan, and Mimi and Ree. Luka and Ivan were walking, and ran around like monkeys, getting into everything. Jie was terrified at first, but the pizza and babies won her over. She played on the floor with Ryder, and then stole Kiya and wouldn’t give her back. The music was soft and calming. The Owl Pack went up to see the baby and were then waited on hand and foot after being given the best seats.