Olivia protested. “That’s not fair. It won’t be a lucky dumpling anymore, then.” The few of them chattered and laughed for another two hours before dinner was finally ready to be served. Eugene poured a glass of wine for everyone at the table. Ellen, meanwhile, pulled out red packets that she had prepared earlier. She picked out one of the largest red packets before handing it to North. “Here you go, North. This is my red packet for you,” she said.
North glanced in his parents’ direction. “Take it. You need to take good care of the money your grandmother gave you,” Eugene ordered. “Thank you, Grandma,” North uttered as he took. the red packet from Ellen.
Eugene pulled out a red packet from his pocket before handing it to North. “This one’s from Daddy.” Then, North continued to take red packets from Olivia, Brian, and Jewel. The young boy was elated to receive all the red packets. “It’s so fun to spend the new year here! I got so many red packets!’ North cried. excitedly.
“I’ll give you a red packet each year if you come back every year,” Ellen uttered while beaming. “Okay!” North gave her a firm nod. After everyone handed their red packets to the youngest of the family, Ellen took out more red packets before handing them to Jewel, Olivia, Eugene, and Brian. Everyone had a red packet of their own.
However, Jewel refused Ellen’s red packet by pushing it away. Olivia quickly spoke up for Jewel. “We’re all grown-ups, Mrs. Nolan. You don’t have to give us red packets.”
“It doesn’t matter how old you guys are; you guys will always be kids to me. Take it and keep it, Ellen uttered flatly. However, Jewel continued to reject the red packet. Everyone else there were Ellen’s family members, but she wasn’t a part of the family, so she felt embarrassed to take anything from Ellen.
Ellen pushed the red packet back to Jewel. “Take it, Jewel. You saved Olivia once, so that equals to you saving the whole family. I’ve never had a daughter, but I’ve always wanted one. If you don’t mind, I could be your godmother. This could be your home, and you could drop by and visit whenever you want to,” she elaborated.
All of a sudden, Jewel felt a stinging sensation in her nose. I’ve been alone for so many years, and I’ve never had a family or relatives to be with. It feels like no one has ever cared about my feelings. I’ve never even had a chance to receive red packets! This is the first time anyone’s telling me to treat their house as a home and to treat them as my mother! How can I say no to that? Jewel stood up and knelt down in front of Ellen before kowtowing to her. Then, Jewel parted her lips and tried her best to generate some noise with her throat. “Mom…”
Although her voice was hoarse and croaky, everyone heard the sound that she made. Olivia stood up in shock. She couldn’t make any noise when I was teaching her to do it yesterday, but it seems like she’s able to do it today!
“Can you talk now, Jewel?’ Ellen was just as excited, and she helped Jewel to get to her feet as she spoke. “Oh… You poor child. Hurry and get up. That’s great! You know how to talk now!”
Jewel was just as shocked as everyone else because she couldn’t believe that she was the one who had made that noise. Eugene, Brian, and North were all staring at her while Olivia tried to get her to speak again. “Try talking again, Jewel. Ah…”
Although Jewel tried her best to open her mouth, no sound came out anymore. Olivia was puzzled. “Is Mom the only word you can say? Try it, then. Mom…”
Jewel felt rather nervous. The more she tried to speak, the harder it seemed to get. It felt almost as if the rest of them just shared an auditory hallucination when they heard her voice earlier.
“Stop forcing her. You can take your time, Jewel, Ellen uttered. Then, she gazed at Jewel and held Jewel’s hand while comforting her and reminding, “Since you were able to make that sound, it shows that Olivia’s treatment is helpful for your voice. Don’t rush it. You’ve had this condition for some time, so you can’t expect yourself to recover overnight.”
Jewel beamed while nodding at Ellen.
