Chapter 22

The Decision

Lena hesitated. She didn’t know how to answer Kris, she knew she wanted to let him in, no, she already let him in her life but saying that out loud, admitting it in the open scares her. “I’m scared” was the only words that came out from Lena. Kris moved towards Lena, half kneeling towards her.

“Why?” Kris asks sincerely, looking up to Lena who was putting down her head. “What are you scared of, Len?” He asks her softly, with little pressure.

“I’m just scared, I’m afraid” Lena answers, avoiding Kris’ eyes. She was starting to rub her arms slowly, her nerves kicking in.

“You need to tell me why” Kris tries to get Lena to tell him the reason why she was afraid. He puts his hand on her hands that were rubbing her own arms. “Len?” He asks as soon as they made eye contact.

“I’m just, I don’t deserve you” Lena answers, hesitant but willing. “I really don’t deserve you Yi Fan, you deserve someone better” Lena was starting to draw out.

“No, don’t say that. I need no one else, I want you” Kris now holds both Lena hands tightly, “I don’t need you to be perfect, I don’t need you to change, I am satisfied with everything, I’m willing to accept all of you, forget about everything else, Len. Background?, perfection? I don’t need any of that” One of Kris’ hand reached Lena’s cheek and them softly.

“But, I can’t, you can’t. I’m nothing” Lena look towards Kris but all she could see was Kris shaking his head, protesting Lena’s statement.

“You are not nothing, believe me, you’ve changed me a lot, you affect my life more than anyone else did” Kris explained, “All I need from you Len, is just acceptance, accept me in your life. That’s all I need. We’ll take everything slow, start all over, and forget about what everyone had said.” Kris continued.

“But your parents” Kris stopped Lena from saying anything further.

“We’ll go through that together, if you are okay with it, we’ll tell them the truth. I’m ready to tell the truth, I really want us to start this right” Kris smiled towards Lena, “Len, my parents will accept this, even if they didn’t, I’ll find a way. Let’s meet them today, and I will explain everything to them” Kris asked for Lena’s agreement.

“Please accept me in your life, Len?” Kris asks again and waited for Lena’s answer.

Kris finally let out a smile when Lena looked at him and slowly nodded, finally agreeing to let him in when he was in fact, was in her life ever since a very long time ago.

“Are you nervous?” Kris asks when he sees Lena clasping her hands. Lena could only nod. “Don’t be, it’s going to be okay” Kris immediately took Lena’s hand and hold it tight.

“Yi Fan, Lena, you two are early!” Mrs. Wu greeted as soon as she entered the private room with Mr. Wu.

Lena stood up to greet Kris’ parents and so did Kris. Mr. Wu moved to sit in front of Kris and pointed them to their seats. “We were really looking forward to see your parents, Lena” Mrs. Wu started the conversation as soon as they did their ordering.

Lena looked at Kris and looked over to both Mr. and Mrs. Wu. Kris placed his hands on top of Lena’s hand. “Ma, Pa, we’re here to discuss about that, I really hope you will listen out and just please try to understand”

Mr. and Mrs. Wu immediately looks up to Kris and gave a sign for him to continue what he wanted to say. “Lena’s, well, Lena’s parents wouldn’t be able to meet you both, Ma, Pa” Kris finally let it out; he could hear Lena breath stopped, waiting for their reaction.

“What do you mean by that, Yi Fan?” Mr. Wu asks curious and look intently to both Lena and Kris.

“My parents left me when I was twelve; I honestly don’t know how they are doing now and or even where they are now” Lena answers after she took a deep breath, Kris’ hand still caressing her. Lena felt a little calm from the action.

Mr. and Mrs. Wu couldn’t hide their surprise, the two looked towards each other and tried to understand and digest what they had just heard.

“I’ve never heard any news of them since the day they left me at an orphanage, I’m very sorry Mr. Wu, Mrs. Wu” Lena continued and genuinely asked for their understanding. “I really understand if you don’t want Yi Fan to be involved with me, I do” Lena looked towards his parents.

“But Ma, Pa, I really do care for Lena. I really, really hope that you will understand this. Please, I can’t let Lena go. She’s everything I need.” Kris stopped Lena from saying anything negative, he's willing to go through anything. “Please Pa” Kris almost begged.

His parents were silent, Lena could feel her eyes tearing up, scared for Kris, and she could feel Kris’ hand tightening itself on her hands. “I’m really sorry Mr. Wu, Mrs. Wu, I didn’t mean to hide this from you, I really am sorry” Lena now let out what she wanted to say, bracing herself for what she thought were going to happen but,

“I don’t see why you should be sorry, Lena. I can’t believe they left someone as precious as you” Mrs. Wu broke the silence, shaking her head, “I’ve seen you with our Yi Fan, you’ve been nothing but wonderful and I could see how you affect him. I don’t want to hear you’re sorry. More than anything, I think your parents should be saying that. They should be sorry for leaving their child” Mrs. Wu continued and smiled towards Lena. She then turned to her husband, asking for his opinion.

“I agree, I like what you’ve done with Yi Fan, you’ve changed him a lot. He’s more open, independent with his self now and honestly, your Ma and I have talked about this but we’ve felt that the two of you are perfect for each other, you truly care for each other. I don’t see why I should oppose this relationship when they only bring out good things between the two.” Mr. Wu was proud of his son, and this made Kris a little speechless.

“The only thing we want from the two of you now is, make it official, get married, can you do that?” Mr. Wu now asked. Lena didn’t know what to answer. Kris however knew what he wanted to say.

“We will Pa, but we need time, we want to take things slow. I don’t want to rush this” Kris tried to ask for his parent's understanding, he wanted to let Lena be comfortable.

“Yi Fan, that was what your father said to your grandfather when he introduced me to his family," Mrs. Wu laughed a little, "Do you see it now? You’re ready, the fact that you want to take things slow, the fact that you’re thinking about making it right, we are convinced, you are both ready.” Mrs. Wu now was on Mr. Wu’s side. “You could always slowly get to know each other more once you get married” She continued.

Lena turned towards Kris, still speechless. “I don’t know” came out of both their mouth and made the parents smile.

“You’re both ready, trust us” Mrs. Wu said and finally Kris and Lena saw how happy they were for both of them. Flutters, they felt it, the acceptance that the two gave, made them feel weird things. Maybe his parents were right, they were, maybe, ready.

Almost there, writer's block, go away. Haha