My 3-year old brother is called Ito. (伊都？)And he’ll be staying with us for good. For someone who’s written marriage-&-family off my to-do list, I don’t know why I’m looking forward to having a young kid in the house.
I know my dad’s very excited. I don’t know how many sticks of cigarettes he’s had for the day. It’s a good day and I think this boy could be our lucky charm.
While at the airport, we decided to have dinner at the canteen in Terminal One. I was standing in front of a Japanese food stall, ogling at the succulent unagi when my dad came over to see what I was drooling over. He’s a fervent tonkatsu addict and since there’s not even a molecule of pork in sight, we decided to have some tempura mix don. When it’s my turn to place the order, my dad went “EEEHHH??!It’s you!”And the stallholder’s eyes grew big and round as she gasped.
It turned out that the stallholder, Miss O, was his long lost friend who used to work at a Japanese restaurant in Paragon. The deceased boss of the restaurant, Mr Yamamoto, was my dad’s friend and business partner. I don’t have any recollection of her but dad said she treated me like her daughter whenever he brought me there. She’s still single by the way.
We were surprised to hear that the restaurant had closed 2 years ago and dad was planning to bring the whole family to the restaurant so he could show off my brother to Mrs Yamamoto and Miss O. I guess it must have been luck and appetite that my dad and Miss Ong could meet by chance. In the end, Miss O prepared tempura don for me and a special tempura-unagi set for dad. On the house. (^^)
After the delicious meal, we made our way to the arrival hall of Terminal Two to wait for my brother and my maid. I could feel the excitement of my dad and my maid’s husband. I was getting into the mood too, plastering my face onto the glass to look for my maid. And then I saw them. A little boy perched on the trolley while my maid pushed it towards us. My dad had his arms wide open ‘Come, let me carry him.’ while I squeezed my maid like a teddy bear. Before we knew it, my dad was walking in front of us with my brother in his arm.
I was surprised to see that he’s not like any typical kid who’d bawl their eyes out when they find themselves among unfamiliar faces in an unfamiliar environment. In the car, he snuggled up to me and fell asleep. The feeling is real nice and peaceful. It made me feel like I am strong enough to protect someone when I’ve never believed in myself (I can’t even cook to save myself ). I thought I hated those little snotty-nosed monsters called children. Hmm… Now I can understand why parents are always at the mercy of their kids. It’s precious moments like this that anyone would give everything to experience.
I still remember the picture I drew for my dad for his birthday 9 years ago. It’s a colour pencil drawing of a male Barbary ape cuddling its baby. This species of monkey is the only one where the male actively cares and nurtures the young. Why would I bring that up here? According to the Chinese zodiac, my dad and Ito are born in the year of the Monkey. When I saw Ito sitting on my dad’s lap, I thought ‘oh my god, I never expected life to imitate art.’ Monkeys!!!
Aside from having no clue what my little brother is talking about, I’ve no complaints about having a new member in the family.
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