"Two," Ivan said.
"Three."
"Two."
"Three is fine."
Mikhail's eyes went a little wet. He looked at Daniil, then at me, and the joke went out of his face for a second.
"I have known my brother my whole life," he said, quieter. "I have never seen him soft. Not as a kid. Not after our father. Not after anything. And then this woman walked into our family with a diaper bag and a Korean American attitude problem, and my brother went soft right in front of me. Right where I could see it. Sweetheart, I do not know what you did to him. I do not want to know. Whatever it is, do not stop."
He raised the glass.
"To my brother, who finally got smart. To my new sister, who has been smart from the start. To both of you. To whatever you build."
We drank. He sat down. He immediately wiped his eyes on his napkin and pretended he was wiping his mouth.
My grandmother stood next.
The room hushed without anyone asking it to. There is a kind of quiet a small old woman can pull into a room when she stands up, and it had moved through the gallery before she had even lifted her glass.
She held her water glass in both hands.
"I have been waiting a long time," she said, in her careful English, the way she always spoke when she wanted everybody to hear her exactly, "to give this girl away to a man who knew how to keep her. Tonight I have done it. I am tired now. I am also very happy. Daniil, take care of my granddaughter. Chloe, take care of your husband. Be good to each other."
She lifted the water glass.
"Live long," she said. "Live well. That is all."
She sat. The gallery was very quiet for half a second. Then everybody at once was raising their glasses, and Daniil, beside me, was pressing his thumb hard against the corner of his own eye in a way he thought I had not seen.
Rhea stood up on her chair.
"I have one too," she announced.
"Sweetheart," Lily started.
"I have one too."
Daniil reached out and steadied the chair with one quiet hand and nodded once at her. Permission. She lit up.
"Okay," she said. She held up a small juice glass. She held up Beom-Beom in the other hand. "Okay. So. Beom-Beom and me have a speech. We practiced. Beom-Beom didn't really practice because he's a stuffed animal. But I practiced."
Mikhail was already crying again.
"Daddy is the best dad," Rhea said, very seriously, looking at Daniil. "He's not the best at games. But he's the best at everything else. And Chloe..."
She stopped. She looked at me. She looked at me for a long second. Her chin did a small wobble she fought very hard.
"Chloe is my mom," she said. "Not instead of my other mom. Just also. She's also my mom. And the baby is going to be my sister or my brother, and Beom-Beom is going to be their cousin. Because Beom-Beom is my brother. That's how it works."
She lifted the juice glass.
"To Mom and Dad," she said. "And Beom-Beom. And the baby. And Halmoni."
She took a careful sip.
"Okay. I'm done."
