Could this really be her home? It’s too good to be true.  This might just be coincidental.  I can’t believe she would live here.  No wonder, no one could find her.  This place had nothing to do with her but it had everything to do with me.  I had so many memories in this place.  I had spent seven years of my childhood here.  I parked my car a few blocks away from her house.  I hoped the tip I got is right this time.  I have been trying to find her for two and a half years now.

I have travelled throughout Asia and Europe, to places I knew that held meaning for her.  I have visited all her relatives and friends but not one of them could give me any information.  Either she was good at covering her tracks or that they had sworn to keep their silence to protect her.  Her father didn’t want to see me no matter how hard I begged.  I broke his daughter’s heart and I fully understood why he would despise me.

Yesterday, I was in my hotel room in Los Angeles when an important call woke me up.  My contact told me that I could be looking at the wrong place.  Since my arrival in the United States a few months ago, I focused my search in California - Los Angeles in particular, knowing that she had family and friends here.  We searched public records for anyone bearing her Chinese name Wu Ying Jei or Emma Wu.  I visited all the places that were on my list but each time, I came home disappointed.

My contact sent me a new list, but none of the places listed were in California.  As I perused the list, one of them caught my attention.  It was an address I was very familiar with but the owner of the house was named Even Wu.  I had knowledge that she had used this name before but only for a short period.  She was known more under her English name Emma.  Is it possible?  I wouldn’t really know until I investigate.  I booked the soonest flight I could get to Boston.   

So here I am in Avalon Drive in Bedford, Massachusetts, watching what once was my childhood home.  I have only slept a few hours while on the plane.  Although tired and hungry, I never took my eyes off the house.  It was about two o’clock in the afternoon when I arrived in the neighborhood.  The house appeared to be empty.  My contact told me that the house was currently occupied.  To allay my worries, I asked a kid, who was riding his bike around the cul-de-sac, if a certain Even Wu currently lived in this address.  He was reluctant to answer my question, which I completely understood because children have always been taught to not talk to strangers.

“Are you Chinese?” the teenager asked.

“Yes.”  I lied.

“Are you related to her?” he asked suspiciously.

“I am a distant relative.  I lived in California and just arrived today.  I haven’t seen Even in a very long time.  I have learned quite recently that she lived here now but there’s no one there I think.”  I could be a smooth liar if I chose to.  My English accent was still good and the boy was probably convinced that I lived in the US for sometime.

“Oh, I see.  She owns a boutique downtown.  She usually gets home around this time.  Maybe you should just wait a little longer.  At times she brings the kids to the park.”

Did I hear him right?  Kids? Is she baby-sitting too?  It may not be Gui Gui but I have to make certain it wasn’t her.  I patiently waited inside the car.  After an hour, I noticed an approaching SUV and it stopped at our old home.  A petite woman got out of the car, opened the back door and was busy doing something on the back seat.  She closed the door and then carefully lay what she was carrying on the ground.  I saw two little feet.  The child started to run towards the back of the car.  That was when I saw her.  My heart skipped a beat and I had to catch my breath.  She was as beautiful as I remembered.  She ran after the child and effortlessly scooped him off the ground.  The child squealed as she held him.  She was tickling him and the child was delighted.  She opened the other back door.  On her other arm she held a girl, about the same height and age as the boy.  They both had Asian features.

I felt a stab of pain.  Could she have married?  Were they her kids?  I felt myself suffocating.  I opened the glass window so I could take a breath of fresh air.  What if I was too late?  I was suddenly afraid knowing that there was a possibility that she will forever be out of my reach.  What should I do?  I stayed in the car for a few more minutes to decide on what course of action I would take.  Courage, Taec.  Courage.  I kept chanting it in my head.   

The children were playing in the backyard now.   Gui Gui was somewhere in the kitchen, probably preparing dinner.  I decided to make my move.  I took a deep breath and got out of the car. 

Gui Gui did not see me approaching.  I went through the backyard first.  As soon as the kids saw me, they stopped playing.  If they screamed and a neighbor calls the cops, I would be in big trouble.  I was practically a stranger intruding into someone else’s property and might even be charged with attempted kidnapping.  I expected them to run away but instead they were running towards me.  “Daddy, daddy!” they yelled together.  They ran as fast as their tiny legs could carry them.

“Daddy!”

I kneeled down and opened my arms to welcome them.  They tenderly embraced me and kissed me on each cheek. Their tiny little fingers were caressing my face.  I don’t know why I started to cry as I held them, kissing them tenderly on their foreheads.  She looked like her mother and he, was a tiny replica of me.  Wait, they looked familiar.  I haven’t seen them for a long time, but I could not forget the faces of those beautiful children.

“I remember both of you!  You were those little angels who saved me.”  I embraced them tighter.  “Thank you.  Thank you little ones.”

“Don’t cry daddy.”  They wiped my tears with their little fingers.

“What is your name?” I asked the boy.

“Leon.  Mommy said I am the king of the jungle and I will have lots of girls around me when I grow up.  Just like my daddy she said.”  I stifled a laugh.  I ruffled his thick black hair and shook my head in admiration.  She was still the Gui Gui I knew.  Who would have thought of saying that to a child?

“And you my little munchkin?”

“My name is Emma.   Mommy calls me little chick,” she said this with a pout.

“Why the sad face?”

“Well…Mommy said that eagles could sometimes snatch a little chick and eat them.”

“Jinjja? Aishh, really this woman hasn’t changed a bit,” I mumbled.  “Is that so little chick? Well as long as the little chick has a huge fearless cat beside her, the eagles won’t stand a chance.”

“Really, Daddy?” she wanted to be reassured.

“Really, my little chick.”  She beamed and was delighted. 

“We must go find Mommy, Daddy.   She’s making cookies for us,” they said together.  They were yanking my pants and pulling me impatiently into the back porch.  I opened the sliding door towards the living room then stood motionless at the door.  The kids didn’t notice me stopping, they just scurried into the kitchen calling for their mother.

Mounted in the middle of the huge living room was an enormous portrait of us – her in a wedding dress and I, with a striped beige tuxedo.  It was the picture from our virtual wedding photo shoot.  She was seated on the chair with a bouquet of pink flowers in her hand.  Her hair was braided back, her make-up was light and she had the most beautiful smile.  I was standing beside her - a picture of a happy and proud man.  No wonder the kids recognized me.