Epilogue.

January, 1985

Michelle eyed Nana discreetly as she pretended to do some chores in the kitchen; the older woman was lying leisurely on the couch, short hair wrapped in curlers and the day’s newspaper in her hands. Michelle took careful steps, trying not to make a sound, tiptoeing all the way across the living room. It wasn’t like she wished to keep it a secret from her mother-in-law, but the latter would have been supremely excited at the mere idea of it and she didn’t want to disappoint her, as she wasn’t so certain about it herself. The lady seemed immersed in her newspaper, flipping through the pages as she hummed a soft tune.

Once she made it to her room successfully, without catching Nana’s attention, she rushed over to the shelf of drawers kept near the bed. She felt jittery; it was nothing like the last time she had found herself in a similar situation. At that time, she had been dreading the outcome, and now she wanted it to come true. She sighed softly; grabbing two out of the dozen boxes she had stacked up, just in case. She ripped open the packaging restlessly, to put it to test. She hadn’t even realized that she had been sweating as she paced around the cold tiled floor of the bathroom, glancing at her watch repeatedly to see if the specified duration had passed.

She raised the white object to her eye-level, observing it with bated breath. “Come on, come on, come on,” she muttered, but gasped soon after a small solid line appeared. This wasn’t what she had wanted to see. She felt dejected, she had gotten her hopes up so high that it felt as if she had crashed and fallen from a height. She was about to toss the test, when she noticed the second line appearing. Furrowing her eyebrows slightly, she scanned it again. Her eyes lit up the next moment; she couldn’t help but grin like a fool. But, what if it was a false reading? She ripped open the second pack to test again, just to be sure.

The second time, however, she squealed giddily as she noticed the two lines. She fanned herself to calm herself down, but the smile hardly seemed to vanish from her bright, beautiful face. Naturally, the next thing was to inform everyone around her, but she felt her darling husband deserved to know first. He would certainly not like it if all the neighbors around found out before he did, and she knew if she told Nana, that was the first thing she’d do- inform her neighbors, rather proudly; it seemed to be her favorite pastime.

She could have waited until Yixing got back home, but she’d have to wait, impatiently, for hours. She couldn’t wait to let him know, she was unable to contain her excitement. But, at the same time she felt slightly scared. She caressed her tummy unknowingly as she pondered on the whole situation. They had been married for three and a half years; it was naturally the next step to take. Besides, she would have Yixing and Nana to support her and take care of her, she had nothing to worry about. Perhaps, she could visit her parents’ house once in a while; her father would definitely be thrilled to hear the news.

Now, the first thing to do was to make her way out of the house discreetly and not let Nana know. That was definitely tricky for Nana had the sharpest reflexes, and there was no way she wasn’t going to notice. She just needed to come up with an excuse, and pray that the older lady wouldn’t see through it, which would be rather impossible because she could read Michelle like an open book. And right now, Michelle couldn’t even seem to suppress her widening grin. She pursed her lips tightly.

“Nana, I’m heading out. Bye,” she yelled as she sprinted through the living room, slipping on her shoes as fast as she could.

“Wait,” the stout lady got up, with much difficulty, “where are you going?”

“Liling’s house,” she answered immediately, refusing to meet the woman’s eyes. “Bye, Nana. Love you.” She had successfully made it to the doorstep, when the lady interrupted her, yet again.

“Are you keeping something from me, Michelle?” She eyed the girl warily, taking slow steps towards her.

“N-no,” she said defensively, but sighed loudly when Nana simply stood there, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Fine, Nana. I have some news, but I’ll tell you once I get back.”

“No, you tell me now, you brat!”

“Nana,” Michelle cried, “stop treating me like a child! I’m going to be a mother soon…oops.” She covered her lips with both her palms, and shut her eyes tightly at her stupidity.

“What?” Nana gasped.  “You...you…”

“I’m pregnant, Nana,” Michelle finally conceded, smiling as she saw her mother-in-law’s bewildered expression. “You’re going to be a grandmother.”

“You…you’re pregnant?” Nana stuttered, unable to take in her words.

Michelle nodded timidly.

“Come here you,” Nana stretched her hands towards the younger girl, embracing her tightly. “I’m so happy, my dear. I’m going to be a grandmother,” she exclaimed, “I have to tell Mrs. Lin…she has been bragging about her grandkids since the past eight months!”

“Nana,” Michelle chuckled, “I need to tell Yixing first, okay? He wouldn’t like it if Mrs. Lin found out about our baby before he did.”

“Eh?” Nana looked at her dim-wittedly, “then why did you tell me first? You know me; I can’t keep my mouth shut. And that Mrs. Lin needs to be taught a lesson…I don’t know what she thinks of herself,” she huffed.

“I’ll head to Yixing’s office then, Nana. You can go tell Mrs. Lin if you wish to,” she laughed, stepping out of the house as Nana continued to rejoice.

Michelle decided to walk all the way, taking in the bright, evening sun that illuminated the roads more. So many years had passed; her life seemed to have taken an entirely different turn. She had a family now, a tight-knit family she could call her own. She had been happy; she had something to look forward to in life. She couldn’t really pick any particular thing she liked about her new family, she was certain she loved every single minute she spent with them. But if she had to choose, she would say it was dinner she looked forward to the most. She’d help Nana set up the table while Yixing freshened up after a tiring day at work, and when they all sat down, they’d talk about whatever had happened on that day. It made her feel overwhelmed – she had her own family now, a family that loved her and accepted her.

Over the years, her relationship with her father had progressed fairly well. She’d decided to give him a chance, and since the older man had found a lot of time in his hands as he’d handed over all his duties to his son-in-law, he’d utilized his free time to get to know his daughter better. Michelle could tell he resented not being there for her earlier, and that had been enough to warm her heart to him a little. She supposed finding her lying lifelessly in her room had been the turning point for him – he still told her how horrified he’d been at the sight. She felt bad for putting him through a lot; it wouldn’t have been pleasant to witness one’s own daughter on the verge of death.

Yixing had told her the same. He wouldn’t have forgiven himself if anything had happened to her, he’d said. And he’d begged her not to do so ever as losing her wasn’t something he could even imagine. It made Michelle’s heart swell, hearing him say those words. Sometimes she wondered why he’d picked her, and fallen in love with her. But she felt grateful that he had, he had managed to save her from the person she’d become. And now, three and a half years later, she could say she’d left that person behind – she felt a lot happier, she didn’t resent her life and moreover, she knew she had people to rely on. It was everything she could ask for.

Her footsteps came to sudden halt when she noticed the posters outside the local movie hall she’d passed by. She walked towards the hall immediately, eyes gleaming as she noticed a particular poster for an upcoming movie. She snorted loudly, earning glances