Continued from >>> Entry 10
I am very excited and call Mia. "She is giving us Christian!!!" "Calm down", Mia tells me. This means nothing. I am stunned. Mia doesn't suffer fools and if you tell her you are giving her a million dollars she won't believe it until it is deposited in her bank account. This is frustrating for me. But she has a good mind for business and bullshit and so I calm down.
Mia takes over with A and they are in communication with each other. A and her sister are now estranged. Mia takes her sisters place. I become her surrogate mom. A and I apologize over and over to each other for our bad behavior. "Why you not believe me. Mom?" I want her to like and trust me. I still think she is evil and the reason my son is dead. Sometimes after talking with her on the phone I wonder if I might be a sociopath, I am so convincing in my "caring ", for and about her. She tells me how much she loves the baby and I ask how her job is coming along. She lies and tells us she is a computer technician. She lies, we lie. She calls me mom. I call her sweetheart.
The months go by with Mia working with A. A must go to The Embassy to get the baby a passport and to have him registered as Josh's son so that he may have dual citizenship. She flakes time and time again. I send her money for the trip to Bangkok and the Embassy, only to find she is living in Bangkok! Mia flies to Bangkok to meet with A and Christian. She stays with Tarn. Mia gets A to the Embassy to get Christians passport and sends me pictures of herself and Christian. I worry that he never smiles. We put A up in a hotel, and she keeps the baby for a day or 2 and then A takes the baby back to Surin City, I think, although I don't know.
Mia has fallen in love with Christian and wants to take him home with her so badly. But Mia is pregnant and due in January. I have conjured up this amazing trip where Rick and I take an equity line of credit out on our house and Rick and I, Mia, Nat, Luca and Micaela; my older grandkids, as well as Mia and Nat's new born baby, well, he's not born yet but will be by the time we take the trip, all fly to Phuket for the one year marking Josh's passing and to celebrate Lucas 13th birthday.
Luca was born Feb. 28. along with Tarn and Adam's wedding date. My darling husband goes along with this brilliant scheme and we begin applying for an equity line of credit. I also ask my brother for a short term loan. We need about $40,000. WTF It's only money, was my thinking.
Unfortunately, or not, the plan fell flat early on. Trey was born Jan. 10 with respiratory problems and flying was out of the question.
BACK TO BANGKOK
And now it is my turn. I decide to fly to Bangkok for Christians first birthday, November 1. But this time I will use the money we put aside for the family trip to fly business class. I am flying alone and it is too stressful to fly coach with connecting flights in Seoul, Korea. I find a flight broker and for 1/3 what it would normally cost for business class I have a round trip ticket, and I get bumped to first on the second half of the trip; from Seoul to Bangkok. This is amazing and I am picked up curbside and rushed through customs and deposited in the Star Alliance Lounge. I take pictures of bottles of Piper Heidseick and Chivas Regal, all for the taking. I plug my cell phone in and if I want I can even take a shower in one of the private bathrooms. My flight is actually enjoyable and Tarn meets me in the stifling heat of the Bangkok airport. We head to her house and she tells me to get a good night's sleep because tomorrow we will be meeting with the family that has been caring for Christian for the past 4 months.
Tarn's best friend and assistant Ant arrives. I have brought candles and gifts for everyone. We pile into Tarns Mercedes and head to the hotel. Tarn has arranged for a taxi to pick up the family drive them the 8 hours from Surin City and put them up in a hotel. This woman should be running a country.
I am so excited to meet officially and for real my grandson. I cannot hold back my excitement. I trip getting out of the car and skin my knee. No bother. Before we get to the door of their hotel room I am overcome with emotion. I burst into tears. Tarn and Ant look at me like: these crazy Americans with all their emotions. Sumeet opens the door. She is the woman caring for Christian. I hug her warmly and tell her thank you. She doesn't understand a word I say. Tarn translates. She asks me if I would like to see Christian. He is napping in the other room. I nod yes. She takes me in and there lying on the way too big bed with rolled towels on either side of him, so that he won't roll off, is my grandson. He is sleeping soundly. He is beautiful. Sumeet nudges him gently and he opens his eyes. It's crazy he has the eyes of a Thai child and yet they look exactly like Joshes. I am instantly in love with this little guy. His pudgy fingers, exactly like his daddies, his fat sturdy little legs, just like Josh's at that age. His hair is dark like his moms and his little ears stick out. Whose are they?
To be continued...