He could imagine how a traditional family may have been upset when his parents left for America in the name of science, but he found it hard to imagine those grudges would still linger after thirty years.
“Josh, I didn’t know you were here,” a female voice shouted from the end of the aisle, causing his head to snap in her direction.
“Ni hao, Auntie Chen. I didn’t see you at the customer service desk when I came in. I figured you were taking a day off for once,” he said as he approached the older woman and gave her a hug. “You deserve a vacation after all these years.”
“Nonsense,” she said, laughing. “This place would fall apart without me.”
Auntie Chen ran the Asian grocery with her husband and had been the first Chinese friend Josh had ever made. She caught him wandering in her store in his teens, on the verge of tears as he desperately tried to find ingredients for his mom’s dumpling recipe. She wrapped him in a hug after he fell apart explaining what he needed. Theyhad spent the rest of that day exploring the store together. Auntie Chen gave him a tour of everything he’d need to know to replicate his mom’s recipes, even sharing some of her own when Josh could only describe the foods she used to cook.
From that day forward, she became his honorary auntie, guiding him in all things Chinese. Thanks to her, he had that connection to his roots. She was from Hong Kong, just like his parents, and also spoke Cantonese. She even tried teaching him the language, which helped him remember the most basic words, but he had too much difficulty memorizing thehanzicharacters to get much further.
Eventually, Josh’s frustration with the lessons ended in tears, so instead Auntie Chen focused on food and culture instead of the language. Between her and his therapist, he thought he turned out all right.
He’d even brought Leigh Anne to meet her a couple times and helped explain some family meals they could make together.
He’d never forget their first Lunar New Year with her. Their family had invited Auntie Chen and her husband to their house so they could lead them in their own dumpling workshop, and they all ate together. Riley had even been there, adamant that he should know how to make them as well.
It was the first time Josh had felt accepted by hisfamily’s culture, but now he was curious for more.
“Funny I ran into you,” he said, nervous about her reaction. “I was thinking of sending my DNA in to see if I still have family in China. What do you think?”
“Make sure it’s a good company and not one that will steal all your DNA and try to clone you or something.”
He chuckled. “I’ll make sure it’s a good one. So, you think it’s a good idea?”
“Yes, there’s always room in your life for more family. It’s the best gift you could give yourself.”
Shifting his weight between his feet, he took a moment to steel himself to ask the question he was actually worried about. “What if they don’t want anything to do with me?”
She set her hands on his shoulders and waited until he was looking her in the eye.
“If they cannot accept you, that is their loss. But if they’re also submitting their DNA, maybe they’re looking foryou. Don’t you want to find out?”
“Oh, wow, I never thought of it that way.”
He was in shock at Auntie Chen’s outlook.What if they’re looking for me?
“I’m sure Riley will help you with it too. How is that boy? Have you made an honest man of him yet?”
“Riley’s always honest with me,” Josh said, pausing as he wondered how honest they were being in regards to their new… development. “But yeah, he’ll for sure help me with this. I’ll talk to him about it once I get home with my groceries.”
She shook her head. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty. Take that boy out on a date, already.”
“A date?” he said, his jaw dropping. Could she tell something had happened between them? “He can do much better than me, Auntie Chen.”
“No, Josh,” she said. “No one could do better than you, and you remember that.”
————————
Auntie Chen’s words were still repeating in Josh’s head long after he got home from the market.What if they’re looking for me?
Over lunch, he asked Riley if he’d help him with the DNA test when they were finished with work, and of course he agreed. He was always there to help.
Once work was out of the way, they got comfortable on the couch and tried to figure out the best company to use for Josh's DNA. Riley had found a nonprofit organization called the Nanchang Project that specialized in uniting adopted children with their Chinese relatives. They’d have to submit his results before the organization could help Josh find the rest of his family, if they weren’t already on the DNA website.
“Okay so how do we submit my DNA?” he askedRiley as they browsed the different genealogy sites. “Do you have to cut me or something?”
Riley gave him the side-eye and navigated to a different page. “Yeah, we have to drain all your blood. Dude, no. First of all, I could never cut you. We’re not doing that. Second, it looks like you need to submit your saliva via a swab test they mail out to you, then we mail it back and wait for the results.”
