Backdated Log: Introducing...
Who: Tommy Chang & his brood, Tina Cohen-Chang, Eli Lucas
When: Thursday, March 10, 2019
Where: The Internet - uTalk
What: Time to meet your godson
Lily Chang bounced around the living room in her favorite purple pony pajamas singing a song she was making up. Her father wasn’t sure what green spaghetti with sparkly sparkles was but she certainly was happy singing about it. The computer in the corner beeped to alert Tommy that someone was calling them on uTalk. He stood up and shifted his sleeping son to his shoulder as he quickly walked across the room. After a quick push of the space bar the smiling face of (almost) cousin filled the screen.
Tina smiled as Tommy came into view onscreen. “Hey, stranger.” Her eyes drifted to the baby in his arms and her smile only widened. “Oh, look at this handsome guy.” She resisted the urge to coo through the Internet.
Sort of.
Tommy turned the baby around so show the sleeping boy to his godmother. “Isn’t he getting big already, T? Lily was so tiny for so long he just looks like such a bruiser.”
The little girl passed by the camera view a few times before she leaned in close to pretend she was kissing the lens. “Hiya Auntie T! I am singing about ponies. What are you doing?”
“Speaking of getting big.” Tina smirked at Tommy before greeting her goddaughter. “Hi, Lilybug. That sounds like a fantastic song.” She watched the little girl beam at her through the screen. “I’m just getting some sketches done before dinner. You taking care of your mom and baby brother for me?”
Lily spun a few times before collapsing on the floor. “Yup, yup Auntie T. Mama is sleeping now so Papa and I are watching my bunso. When are you coming home to see us? I miss you.”
“Bunny,” he cringed. “Your ninang is very busy in New York City with her art and the art gallery. She can’t just come back to Lima whenever we want her to. It’s very expensive to fly back here too. Let’s just be happy that she has the time to talk to us, okay?”
Tina frowned a little at that. “Yeah, I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’ll be awhile until I can come. It’s good to see you though. You’re growing so fast.”
“That makes me sad that you aren’t coming home,” Lily said quietly, “Will you please come home for my birthday? I’ll be four Auntie T! That means I can go to preschool to learn how to read books just like you.”
“I’ll try,” Tina smiled softly. “But you know what? I want to be there when your cousin is born, so hopefully I’ll see you before then, alright?”
“Your new cousin is due in June sweetie.” Tommy interjected. “That’s not very long at all. I’ll show you on the calendar before you go to bed tonight. Your Auntie T will be here when she can and until then we’ll have fun seeing her on uTalk. I know you miss her and so do I but that’s part of the deal.”
“So how is Liz doing?” Tina asked lightly, but gave Tommy a look indicating the real question of How’s Liz and her hostile hormones?
“She’s been sleeping a lot since Timothy got home so she’s doing much better,” he replied. “Much better. It definitely helps that she doesn’t get heartburn from everything she eats so her appetite has been leaps and bounds better. It’s like she’s back to her old self again.” he grinned.
“Well, that’s definitely good. We missed her,” Tina replied with a wry half-smile, turning abruptly at the sound of the front door unlocking.
Eli used the key to Tina’s apartment that she had given him to let himself in. He adjusted the large brown paper bag cradled in his left arm. “Hey, Gorgeous.” He called out from the foyer. “How does pad thai sound?”
He set the bag down on the dining room table. Tina had called out his name and he found her sitting in front of her computer. “Hey.” Eli smiled and bent down to kiss Tina. He heard a cough that hadn’t come from his girlfriend. He looked more closely at the computer monitor and realized that Tina was talking to Tommy on uTalk. “Oh. I didn’t know you were... conversing. Hey Tommy. And his kids.”
Lily leaned into the camera with a grin on her face, “Hi Mister Chef Eli! I like pad thai. I just don’t like the sprouts on top. Yuck.”
Tommy nodded ‘the guy hello’ as he patted his son’s back. “Good to see you sir. T and I thought it was about time that she met her new godson.” He turned slightly so the camera showed the baby’s face, “Timothy Ignacio Chang this is Eli Lucas. He is very special to your Auntie Tina so be on your best behavior tonight.”
Eli leaned over and smiled at the small girl. “Well I guess that means more sprouts for me Miss Lily.” To her father, he joked, “Great. Another male Chang to come after me. You guys are just making a gang over there.”
Tina smiled at the exchange, leaning back into Eli.
“We’ll let Timothy cover everything under three feet so Mike and I can focus on everything above that point.” Tommy mused. “You might want to wear shoes when you’re around him the next time in Lima in case he uses your toes as a teething ring.”
Lily stuck her tongue out, “That is yuck, Papa! Babies should not eat people’s toes. Yuck.”
Tina couldn’t help but laugh a little at her goddaughter’s antics. She was definitely a Chang. She gazed serenely at Timothy again. “Just wait til this one starts talking. You’ll definitely have your work cut out for you, Tommy.” She smiled as Timothy let out a tiny little yawn.
Tommy groaned, “I know. I know. The reason my parents had just two children is becoming incredibly obvious to me now. I used to wish I had another brother so I could actually win fights against Migs. Of course then I got you who was even better.”
He remembered the first awkward meeting between his family and the Cohen-Changs. His father had hosted a BBQ for a few of the new families at their parish and the other Mr. Chang had been a college roommate of his father’s. To the older men this meant that their children had to be friends. All the children had been bathed and scrubbed as well as dressed in their summer best. He couldn’t remember much else of the first meeting except for Tina’s hair in long braids that had gone down to her waist.
“Yeah? I wished for a brother or a sister when I was growing up.” Eli smiled a bit. He would have loved for a younger sibling since it had just been him and his grandmother back then in Akron. “I always promised myself that when I met the right woman, I’d want to have more than one kid.”
Tina cast a curious sideways glance at her boyfriend. While it may or may not have crossed her mind before, they hadn’t really talked about having kids, but the thought wasn’t as scary as she thought it’d be. She looked back at her new godson with a gentle smile.
“Two seems to be the right number for us.” Tommy replied. “It was a big jump from zero to one but adapting to Timothy along with Lily hasn’t been nearly as difficult. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had but being a parent is definitely the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my opinion.”
Lily danced back into frame again with a tiara on her head as well as several stuffed ponies in her hands. “Auntie T? When you come home to Lima to see us when the new baby comes can we play with ponies and you can put big girl ribbons in my hair? And can me and you and your Eli make cupcakes with sprinkles? Please?”
Tina smiled at the little girl and nodded. “Of course. My Eli and I would love to.” She sent a smirk in Eli’s direction. “So what are you three up to? Did you have dinner already?” She glanced at the clock at the top of her computer screen; she didn’t even know what time it was.
“Lily and I made some pizza for dinner, didn’t we Bunny?” he replied as his daughter danced. “We made one with zucchini and mushrooms and another one with alfredo sauce and seafood. Liz was pretty whipped from her day so she fed Timothy before she fell asleep. We’re basically just trying to keep our heads above water. How about you guys? Well, besides the pad thai for dinner.”
“I picked up the pad thai special order from one of my friends. Best Thai place in the ‘burg. He owes me.” Eli supplied. “But I could totally practice my cupcake making skills so I’m ready when Tina and I go to Lima.”
Timothy began to squirm and squeak in his father’s arms. The infant hadn’t been fed in a few hours so his stomach was beginning to growl. After a few gentle pats to his back he began to quietly cry then quickly ramped up to a red faced bawl.
“Is somebody sleepy?” Tina asked uncertainly. Despite already being a godmother, she admittedly wasn’t used to being around babies.
“Or hungry. Or uh poopy.” Eli raised his eyebrow at the use of that word. “I mean it’s one of those.”
Tina let out a laugh, fixing him with an affectionate grin. “Did you really just say ‘poopy’?”
Lily fell to the floor out of range of the uTalk camera gagging dramatically as well as giggling. “Ew Auntie T!” she said loudly. “That word is so yuck! Timothy is hungry and that’s why he’s crying. Papa changed his diaper before we called you. You and your Eli are silly.”
“Lily,” Tommy chastised. “Please be respectful to your Auntie Tina and Mr. Lucas. You need to stand up and apologize to them.”
The little girl stood up quickly to do what her father had asked. “I’m sorry I wasn’t following the rules Auntie T and Eli. Will you forgive me?”
Tina simply nodded then watched as Lily released a little yawn as well. “Timmy might not be sleepy, but looks like somebody else is,” she commented, the end of her sentence ending in a light singsong.
“Thank you, Lily.” her father said gently. He turned back to the camera. “We had better get going, bunso. Your earlier assessment of your inaanakwas spot on Tina. Thank you for the great chat. We look forward to taking to the both of you again soon. I love you T."
Tina nodded again, taking a second to remember that inaanak meant godchild in Tagalog. Her fluency stopped at English and Korean. “You, too. I’m going to be busy these upcoming weeks,” she explained, both looking forward to and dreading the new exhibits that needed to be constructed at the gallery. “But I’ll try to call soon. Take care, you guys.”
When: Thursday, March 10, 2019
Where: The Internet - uTalk
What: Time to meet your godson
Lily Chang bounced around the living room in her favorite purple pony pajamas singing a song she was making up. Her father wasn’t sure what green spaghetti with sparkly sparkles was but she certainly was happy singing about it. The computer in the corner beeped to alert Tommy that someone was calling them on uTalk. He stood up and shifted his sleeping son to his shoulder as he quickly walked across the room. After a quick push of the space bar the smiling face of (almost) cousin filled the screen.
Tina smiled as Tommy came into view onscreen. “Hey, stranger.” Her eyes drifted to the baby in his arms and her smile only widened. “Oh, look at this handsome guy.” She resisted the urge to coo through the Internet.
Sort of.
Tommy turned the baby around so show the sleeping boy to his godmother. “Isn’t he getting big already, T? Lily was so tiny for so long he just looks like such a bruiser.”
The little girl passed by the camera view a few times before she leaned in close to pretend she was kissing the lens. “Hiya Auntie T! I am singing about ponies. What are you doing?”
“Speaking of getting big.” Tina smirked at Tommy before greeting her goddaughter. “Hi, Lilybug. That sounds like a fantastic song.” She watched the little girl beam at her through the screen. “I’m just getting some sketches done before dinner. You taking care of your mom and baby brother for me?”
Lily spun a few times before collapsing on the floor. “Yup, yup Auntie T. Mama is sleeping now so Papa and I are watching my bunso. When are you coming home to see us? I miss you.”
“Bunny,” he cringed. “Your ninang is very busy in New York City with her art and the art gallery. She can’t just come back to Lima whenever we want her to. It’s very expensive to fly back here too. Let’s just be happy that she has the time to talk to us, okay?”
Tina frowned a little at that. “Yeah, I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’ll be awhile until I can come. It’s good to see you though. You’re growing so fast.”
“That makes me sad that you aren’t coming home,” Lily said quietly, “Will you please come home for my birthday? I’ll be four Auntie T! That means I can go to preschool to learn how to read books just like you.”
“I’ll try,” Tina smiled softly. “But you know what? I want to be there when your cousin is born, so hopefully I’ll see you before then, alright?”
“Your new cousin is due in June sweetie.” Tommy interjected. “That’s not very long at all. I’ll show you on the calendar before you go to bed tonight. Your Auntie T will be here when she can and until then we’ll have fun seeing her on uTalk. I know you miss her and so do I but that’s part of the deal.”
“So how is Liz doing?” Tina asked lightly, but gave Tommy a look indicating the real question of How’s Liz and her hostile hormones?
“She’s been sleeping a lot since Timothy got home so she’s doing much better,” he replied. “Much better. It definitely helps that she doesn’t get heartburn from everything she eats so her appetite has been leaps and bounds better. It’s like she’s back to her old self again.” he grinned.
“Well, that’s definitely good. We missed her,” Tina replied with a wry half-smile, turning abruptly at the sound of the front door unlocking.
Eli used the key to Tina’s apartment that she had given him to let himself in. He adjusted the large brown paper bag cradled in his left arm. “Hey, Gorgeous.” He called out from the foyer. “How does pad thai sound?”
He set the bag down on the dining room table. Tina had called out his name and he found her sitting in front of her computer. “Hey.” Eli smiled and bent down to kiss Tina. He heard a cough that hadn’t come from his girlfriend. He looked more closely at the computer monitor and realized that Tina was talking to Tommy on uTalk. “Oh. I didn’t know you were... conversing. Hey Tommy. And his kids.”
Lily leaned into the camera with a grin on her face, “Hi Mister Chef Eli! I like pad thai. I just don’t like the sprouts on top. Yuck.”
Tommy nodded ‘the guy hello’ as he patted his son’s back. “Good to see you sir. T and I thought it was about time that she met her new godson.” He turned slightly so the camera showed the baby’s face, “Timothy Ignacio Chang this is Eli Lucas. He is very special to your Auntie Tina so be on your best behavior tonight.”
Eli leaned over and smiled at the small girl. “Well I guess that means more sprouts for me Miss Lily.” To her father, he joked, “Great. Another male Chang to come after me. You guys are just making a gang over there.”
Tina smiled at the exchange, leaning back into Eli.
“We’ll let Timothy cover everything under three feet so Mike and I can focus on everything above that point.” Tommy mused. “You might want to wear shoes when you’re around him the next time in Lima in case he uses your toes as a teething ring.”
Lily stuck her tongue out, “That is yuck, Papa! Babies should not eat people’s toes. Yuck.”
Tina couldn’t help but laugh a little at her goddaughter’s antics. She was definitely a Chang. She gazed serenely at Timothy again. “Just wait til this one starts talking. You’ll definitely have your work cut out for you, Tommy.” She smiled as Timothy let out a tiny little yawn.
Tommy groaned, “I know. I know. The reason my parents had just two children is becoming incredibly obvious to me now. I used to wish I had another brother so I could actually win fights against Migs. Of course then I got you who was even better.”
He remembered the first awkward meeting between his family and the Cohen-Changs. His father had hosted a BBQ for a few of the new families at their parish and the other Mr. Chang had been a college roommate of his father’s. To the older men this meant that their children had to be friends. All the children had been bathed and scrubbed as well as dressed in their summer best. He couldn’t remember much else of the first meeting except for Tina’s hair in long braids that had gone down to her waist.
“Yeah? I wished for a brother or a sister when I was growing up.” Eli smiled a bit. He would have loved for a younger sibling since it had just been him and his grandmother back then in Akron. “I always promised myself that when I met the right woman, I’d want to have more than one kid.”
Tina cast a curious sideways glance at her boyfriend. While it may or may not have crossed her mind before, they hadn’t really talked about having kids, but the thought wasn’t as scary as she thought it’d be. She looked back at her new godson with a gentle smile.
“Two seems to be the right number for us.” Tommy replied. “It was a big jump from zero to one but adapting to Timothy along with Lily hasn’t been nearly as difficult. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had but being a parent is definitely the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my opinion.”
Lily danced back into frame again with a tiara on her head as well as several stuffed ponies in her hands. “Auntie T? When you come home to Lima to see us when the new baby comes can we play with ponies and you can put big girl ribbons in my hair? And can me and you and your Eli make cupcakes with sprinkles? Please?”
Tina smiled at the little girl and nodded. “Of course. My Eli and I would love to.” She sent a smirk in Eli’s direction. “So what are you three up to? Did you have dinner already?” She glanced at the clock at the top of her computer screen; she didn’t even know what time it was.
“Lily and I made some pizza for dinner, didn’t we Bunny?” he replied as his daughter danced. “We made one with zucchini and mushrooms and another one with alfredo sauce and seafood. Liz was pretty whipped from her day so she fed Timothy before she fell asleep. We’re basically just trying to keep our heads above water. How about you guys? Well, besides the pad thai for dinner.”
“I picked up the pad thai special order from one of my friends. Best Thai place in the ‘burg. He owes me.” Eli supplied. “But I could totally practice my cupcake making skills so I’m ready when Tina and I go to Lima.”
Timothy began to squirm and squeak in his father’s arms. The infant hadn’t been fed in a few hours so his stomach was beginning to growl. After a few gentle pats to his back he began to quietly cry then quickly ramped up to a red faced bawl.
“Is somebody sleepy?” Tina asked uncertainly. Despite already being a godmother, she admittedly wasn’t used to being around babies.
“Or hungry. Or uh poopy.” Eli raised his eyebrow at the use of that word. “I mean it’s one of those.”
Tina let out a laugh, fixing him with an affectionate grin. “Did you really just say ‘poopy’?”
Lily fell to the floor out of range of the uTalk camera gagging dramatically as well as giggling. “Ew Auntie T!” she said loudly. “That word is so yuck! Timothy is hungry and that’s why he’s crying. Papa changed his diaper before we called you. You and your Eli are silly.”
“Lily,” Tommy chastised. “Please be respectful to your Auntie Tina and Mr. Lucas. You need to stand up and apologize to them.”
The little girl stood up quickly to do what her father had asked. “I’m sorry I wasn’t following the rules Auntie T and Eli. Will you forgive me?”
Tina simply nodded then watched as Lily released a little yawn as well. “Timmy might not be sleepy, but looks like somebody else is,” she commented, the end of her sentence ending in a light singsong.
“Thank you, Lily.” her father said gently. He turned back to the camera. “We had better get going, bunso. Your earlier assessment of your inaanakwas spot on Tina. Thank you for the great chat. We look forward to taking to the both of you again soon. I love you T."
Tina nodded again, taking a second to remember that inaanak meant godchild in Tagalog. Her fluency stopped at English and Korean. “You, too. I’m going to be busy these upcoming weeks,” she explained, both looking forward to and dreading the new exhibits that needed to be constructed at the gallery. “But I’ll try to call soon. Take care, you guys.”