“I don’t know! I just—I want us to move forward from this. I want all of us to do better. I want to feel enough for you and for you to stop—”

“Aiyah, Jing-Jing, I pick at you because you’re my daughter,” my mother interrupted. “That’s how I show I care. I want you to be the best.”

“Why isn’t me just being me good enough?”

“That’s not the point. No one is perfect, and I’m showing you that I think you can be even better. I believe in you.”

We were speaking different languages. “I will… try to keep that in mind, if you can try to do it less.”

She lay back down and rolled over so her back was to me. “My head hurts, Jing-Jing. Please let me rest.”

I started to leave, but then I remembered something and paused. “Someone wise once told me that all relationships have problems. It’s how you solve them that matters. I hope you can forgive me for the mistakes I’ve made. When you’re ready, I really do want to start fresh. I believe we can.”

She said nothing. I waited a minute longer than was comfortable in this stifling silence. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and fled.

When I returned downstairs, my father and Drew were sitting frozen and silent. Both their faces flooded with relief at the sight of me.

As soon as I sat down, my father started talking.

“Jing-Jing…” He looked down at his hands, not at me, as he spoke. “I’m sorry our relationship became so broken you felt you had to go to such extremes. I’ve been paying more attention and I’ve noticed… things… about Hongbo I didn’t notice earlier. They’ve been lying about their company—did you know that? The stocks I bought have tanked, and when I tried to ask what happened, he yelled at me. Anyway, the point is, I should have trusted you to decide for yourself. I may…” He trailed off, a little winded—from emotion I hope, and nothing else. “I may have been scared of my illness. I wanted to know you’d be financially secure just… in case. But Andrew—I mean, Drew—reminded me a few months ago that you’re quite capable yourself. I wasn’t ready to hear it then, because you’ll always be a little girl to me, but…” He sighed. “Maybe things aren’t as black-and-white as I once believed. I used to think life was so straightforward, but then… you can do everything right—exercise, take vitamins, go to acupuncture—and still get sick.”

“Oh, Bǎbá,” I said softly, leaning over and reaching a hand across the table toward him.