Newhaven: Week Six - The Chang Family
This week saw many changes for the Chang family, including its separation in the last half of the rotation (fueled also by my neighbourhood roads glitching and me having to rebuild over half my families houses).
The week started for the family with the celebration of Mei’s 21st birthday. Jin knew Lillian would have been proud of the smart and driven woman their daughter had grown into.
Present for the celebration was the newest addition to the household, Vasyl Collins, who seemed genuinely surprised his soon to in-laws didn’t “have room” for grilled cheese sandwiches after the birthday cake.
He always had room for grilled cheese sandwiches!
The grief of not having his late wife Lillian and their youngest daughter Jiyayi (who had both tragically died years before in a fire) present at Mei’s birthday had been eased for Jin by his new relationship with Chris Zaidi. Lillian would always have a place in his heart and soul that no one could ever replaced, but he couldn’t deny that he felt truly alive for the first time since he lost his precious wife and daughter.
The attraction between Jin and the colleague of his eldest daughter Lin had been a surprise to both of them but very much undeniable. He had erred about pursuing a relationship with the much younger Chris, but in her usual outgoing manner, she made it clear the potential pitfalls of their age difference were trivial in comparison to how she felt for him.
She moved in shortly after they went public with relationship.
While it felt strange for Mei to see her father with a much younger woman, and even more so for Lin as that woman was her best friend, the girls and the rest of the family were happy for Jin.
The only exception was Gretchen who, in no uncertain terms, had made it clear she detested the younger woman and didn’t trust her intentions.
It made the house tense to say the least.
Jin had no such reservations about Chris herself and once he realised the only antidote to their age difference was to make sure they made the most of their time together, the two decided to get married.
Jin’s parents had been so against his marriage to Lillian that the two had eloped and never had a wedding ceremony, and he didn’t want Chris’ first marriage to be equally uncelebrated, so the two held a ceremony to celebrate their union.
Attended by family and friends, the ceremony took place on the beach behind their property in crystal clear weather on what everyone agreed could not have been a more perfect day.
Knowing they couldn’t top such a flawless ceremony, not to mention being fuelled by the frivolity and alcohol of the event, Lin and Vasyl chose to exchange their vows that very evening with only the stars and sea as their guests.
Unfortunately her brother-in-law marrying Chris didn’t do anything to alleviate Gretchen’s reservations about the woman, and the tension in the house continued. Xun, not wanting it to reach breaking point, suggested that maybe it was time they moved out. He had already spoken to his youngest niece Mei who had said, as much as she loved her father and sister, that she didn’t feel like being a fifth wheel to their marriages and was keen on the idea of moving out too.
That very night Vasyl spoke of the very same thing with his father-in-law. He explained, as much as they loved living with their extended family, he and Lin were planning on taking a loan against the restaurant to finance a place of their own where they could begin a new life as the newlyweds they were.
Although Jin knew he would miss his daughter, he remembered being a newlywed (the first time) and agreed he would do all he could to help the couple.
After his brother and sister-in-law expressed their plans to move out too, Jin decided the fairest way to split the property equally was to sub-divide it. After purchasing the small adjacent lot, the entire land parcel was then divided into one large, and two smaller plots of land. Jin and Chris took one of the smaller plots, and taking a small loan, built themselves a modern three bedroom home.
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Not long after their new home was constructed, Chris told her husband how much she wanted a baby.
He told her as much as he would love to give her a child, he didn’t think it was fair. He wouldn’t live forever, soon or later he would be leaving her to take care of their child alone.
She told him she knew that, all too well, but that having their child, a piece of him, would bring sunshine to the darkest days without him.
It seemed in no time at all that their child was well on its way!
Chang Collins
Lin and Vasyl too decided to build on a smaller lot due to its convenient location across the road from Lin’s business Chang’s Chinese Cafe.
Aside from lovely beach views, the house also boasted a well equipped kitchen for Lin. That being said, due to her husband’s preference for grilled cheese sandwiches, she mostly ate at work and allowed him to cook his favourite food whenever he wanted it, which was, of course, all the time.
That being said it didn’t bother Lin that much as it seemed that she was at work all the time anyway. Although she had finally hired some front of house staff to replace her family working there, her responsibilities meant she still spent most of her day at the restaurant.
She obviously spent some quality time at home though as soon she and Vasyl discovered they were expecting their first child.
Soon the newlyweds were joined by a brown eyed, raven haired daughter they named after Lin’s late mother Lillian.
Having such a namesake meant their infant daughter had big shoes to fill, but her family, who were immediately besotted with her, had no doubts that she would do exactly that.
Chang-Ngai
Mei, along with her uncle Xun, aunt Gretchen and their son and her cousin Xiang, chose to build a property for themselves on the largest of the three lots. As the family business Mei was now running, Chang’s Collectables, was doing exceedingly well, they hadn’t even had to borrow any money to fund their new home.
Mei felt proud and fulfilled by the many achievements she had accomplished during her time running the business, but when both her sister and step mother became pregnant, it was hard not to feel the pressure from her family hinting it was time for her to too consider settling down.
The truth was Mei had never really given romance much thought; she had been working in the family businesses since she was young and it was where she had found her passion for making money. But she did have friends, friends who although she didn’t feel any passion for, she could see herself spending time with.
So, much like her elder sister (unbeknownst to Mei), she chose to pursue a relationship with a man at her family’s urging and based on friendship rather than chemistry. Matthew Pasang had known the family for a while and had always admired Mei’s business acumen, although her proposal of a relationship appealed to his romantic nature more than anything.
Mei knew Matthew wasn’t the commitment type, but she knew that if the time came when she wanted a family of her own, it wasn’t his commitment she needed.
Although the truth was, she couldn’t help but be surprised how well Matthew fitted into her family. So much that when her cousin celebrated his birthday, he not only took after his father’s love of pleasure, he also took over Matthew’s love of, well, love.