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Our mouths fall open and I blink at the itinerary in Ma’s outstretched hand. It says:
First passenger: Meddelin Chan
Second passenger: Nathan Chan
Route: LAX (Los Angeles) outbound to CGK (Jakarta)
“Ahem,” Big Aunt says, not bothering to conceal it as a cough. “You got notice that it is business class ticket or not?”
It is indeed a business class ticket. I shake my head slowly, not knowing what to say.
“This is amazing!” Nathan cries, his grin eating up half his face.
“It is?” I say.
“Not the word I’d go for,” Annie mutters.
“I’ve always wanted to see the place your family came from,” Nathan says. “Of course it is. What better time to go than forour honeymoon? I could figure out a way to work remotely while we travel. We could go to Bali, and maybe the Komodo Islands, and maybe the Thousand Islands—I can’t wait. Oh my god, this is the best gift. Thank you so much.”
He goes around the table, hugging Ma and each of my aunts again. As I stand there, taking in the scene, it hits me that my husband (husband!) is so delighted at being able to see my ancestral roots that it’s weird that we never brought up the possibility of visiting Indonesia. I guess part of me has always wanted to but assumed that nobody would ever want to go to that part of the world, because why would they? Most Californians don’t even know where Indonesia is. They think it’s part of Vietnam or Cambodia or something, not that they’d ever be able to find either of those countries on a map. It’s taken Ma and the aunts to make this happen. It’s as if they’ve taken a peep into the deepest recesses of my heart and figured out what I want before I even realize it myself. Story of my life.
I smile at my family. “Indonesia it is.”
Ma squeals with joy. “Aduh, Mama so happy. Everyone will also so happy, we have Chinese New Year celebration, you will meet everyone. Maybe have second wedding celebrate there, so everyone can come?”
“Er—” I say.
She waves me off. “Okay, we discuss later. Indonesia! You will love.”
Nathan grins down at me. “I can’t wait.” Then he bends down to kiss me, and everything melts away and I know that whatever the future holds in store for me, I’ll be fine because I’ll have my crazy family and this perfect boy by my side.