Made for me

Epilogue

Wow, it's truly amazing to look back and see what Zhan and I have been able to achieve together

We have worked so hard in our respective jobs. I managed to grow my company into one that could hold its own amongst the best. My dad was so proud of my abilities he kept adding all the struggling companies onto my plate.

It didn't help that Xian went back to London with Yubin. They have been married for 2 years now.

Zhan has been working hard at coming up with affordable and innovative ways to preserve old houses. Those that can't be restored, he captures through models or paintings. I am really amazed at his commitment to the history of Chinese architecture.

His dad had to get over his lack of trust because , one, he had to help his son with the old buildings' method of preservation, and two, because he realized that I was not going anywhere.

Last year, Zhan, just out of the blue, wanted to talk about the possibility of us expanding our family. Even though we knew that we could not legally get married, that couldn't stop us from building a family of our own.

"I feel like I am at a point where I want to take a break from traveling up and down and start a family, love. Remember, a while back, we spoke about revisiting the topic about adding babies to our family. It feels so weird because I know it's physically not possible for me to carry our babies, but I know your mom has a file of potential surrogates we can use. Let's do that."

"OK, I would definitely love for us to do that. I have wanted to build and add on to our family for a very, very long time. It makes me happy to hear you say that. Of course, let's do it."

"I have already decided that i would stay with the baby for as long as they need me to. I don't really like the idea of entrusting someone else to watch our baby. Maybe it's because my mom stayed home with me until i was ready for school, and she only worked half-day so that when i got home, she was there. As soon as we find out that we are going to have a baby, I will stop working so that I can be there every step of the way. I want to feel like I carried the baby, you know."

"I agree. Growing up, I only remember how busy my parents were and nothing more. I love that you want to stay home with our baby. I will work extra hard for our family."

"You better do that."

After we were done speaking, I called my mom to tell her about our decision.

She sounded like she was waiting for the call. She did a good job of helping us find a great lady to be our surrogate. Her name was Carmen, and she was 25 years old. Shebis a mother of 2 healthy kids. We had already decided that for our babies to be 100% ours, we would use 2 eggs. Each one of us would fertilize one. We were so happy to find out that both eggs were planted successfully, and after 6 weeks, the doctor told us that the procedure was a success.

Now, here we are at the hospital awaiting the birth of our babies. We already knew the genders of both babies. We were having 2 boys. Little Zhan and a mini me. I can't wait to meet them.

There was a bit of complications earlier only because the twins were too big for Carmen to push, so an emergency operation was scheduled. Our families couldn't be in the room when the babies were born. It was only the 2 of us allowed in. I was not mad at the new setup it made it feel really intimate.

"Yibo, we are finally going to meet our babies, I can't believe it. I want to pinch myself to make sure it's real."

"Don't pinch yourself. It's very real, only a few more minutes before we meet them."

The room was immediately filled with the cries of a baby.

"It's a bouncy, baby boy. Congratulations, parents."

We both started crying with joy. They wrapped him up and put him in my arms.

"Here come the second baby, and it's a little princess.  Congratulations, it's a girl."

I was so confused,  I thought maybe it's because I was an emotional wreck that I did hear properly. Until I heard Zhan ask also as shocked as I was.

"A girl, is it not supposed to be another boy?"

The doctor glanced at the baby again and, with confidence, responded that it was most definitely a baby girl.

"With those lungs, I don't even need to check. She is making her presence known."

Indeed, she was. Baby boy was already settled in my arms, and oh my word, was she screaming.

They wrapped her up and handed her to Zhan, and she settled immediately. We were so happy and thankful to Carmen.

She included us in every step of the way, even when we made ridiculous requests like asking her to move in with us, she indulged us. We went to every single hospital visit with her, even if it had nothing to do with our babies. We were so anxious as soon to be parents that we couldn't help it. She didn't mind, but I am sure she wants to return to her family and normal life.

After she was wheeled to her room, we knew we would need to leave her to rest and go to another room where our families can visit and meet the twins. They will be really shocked that it turned out to be a boy and a girl. We quickly took this moment while we were still together to thank Carmen.

"Thank you so much, Carmen, for these beautiful gifts, I know we were all hoping that you would have a natural birth so that you can heal quicker. Please know that we are committed to you as well to your healing and medical care as well. Let us know when you need anything."

"You guys are most welcome, I would do it again for you guys at a drop of a hat. Your love for each other tells me you will have plenty to share with these two. Don't worry about the operation it will heal in no time. You guys have done so much for me and my family. I am truly thankful as well."

We hugged her and made sure she knew we were still here for her.

Soon after, the nurse came to get us to show us to the room we would stay in for the 3 days that the babies needed to be kept for observations.

To my surprise, when the families came in, Zhan's father was an emotional wreck. In the 6 years I have been with Zhan, I had never seen this man cry, not even once. Now I know why Zhan cries so much. When it came to my mother, I already expected it.

There are so many adults surrounding the 2 little babies. There was chaos in the room. First, they held a guessing contest as to which baby looked the most like me or Zhan. Then, after we told them the news about one of them being a girl, they wanted to guess which one of the two was the baby girl. Then they all had name suggestions for us, and the ultimate prize for the winner was who was the designated babysitter when we went back to work.

"Should we tell them now or later that you will be home with the twins, or let them continue to fight it out?"

"Let them continue. It will also help us in the future should we need a babysitter."

We started laughing by ourselves.

Looking around the room, seeing everyone who loves us, all there at the same time, really melted my heart. Our families have really come a long way. Now, after all the hurdles we have gone through, our babies will get to experience love from all sides.

I am happy I was eavesdropping on the conversation Zhan had with the professor that day because if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have known he needed a place to stay.

If you ask me when I think I fell in love with Zhan, I would tell you it was the moment he figured out I needed help. He figured out that I was in pain even when I didn't want to express it in words.

When I had a headache, he gave me medication even when i rejected it. When I was sad, he gave me hugs without me asking. When i was lonely, he gave me companionship. When I didn't know what love was, he was willing to slowly teach me. I will forever be grateful to this man. Now I know the love of a family of my own because he never left my side.

Zhan was indeed made for me.