The Chen's

Mei stood quietly above the crib with a loving smile plastered across her face as she gazed down longingly at the five-month-old child sleeping soundly. "She is so precious Sofia …", she exclaimed softly in French as Eric's beautiful, Parisian wife came into the nursery to stand next to her. "I envy you and Eric".

"Hush, you will have one yourself someday", Sofia comforted her. "Eric tells me that you are getting along with your ex-husband again. Do you think there's a possibility for you two to reconcile?"

"Getting along?", Mei let out a little sad laugh. "All we've done is argued since we met again".

"Oh? But arguing is good my dear", Sofia smiled. "Arguing means that you two are now at least communicating".

"Only about everything that went wrong with our marriage. That's not the type of communication that leads to getting back together again", Mei said.

"You'd be surprised my dear", Sofia took Mei's hand into hers and led her out into the living room. "As a therapist I can tell you that as long as there's still communication of any form, a relationship is not irreparable".

"She's right you know", Eric chimed in from the across the kitchen island counter as he prepared dinner for them. "But forgiving the past is a different matter".

"Guys … guys … he's getting married", Mei put a damper on their hopes. "To your cousin in fact", she looked towards Eric. "Yang Fan"

"Yang Fan?" Eric paused chopping the vegetables in front of him in surprise and looked up at Mei. "Are you sure? I haven't heard anything about it in the family and we had dinner with cousin Fanny just two nights ago. Besides if she married into the Li family, it wouldn't be to your ex-husband".

"What do you mean?" Mei asked.

"Well … Fanny and Han are childhood sweethearts. If it ever got to that point, Han would never let it happen", Eric explained.

"Fanny and Han are childhood sweethearts?" Mei repeated with surprise. "Oh, how cute! I always suspected that there might've been something there, but they were always so tight lipped about it. No wonder Han hasn't married yet".

"Yes, and poor Fanny has been waiting patiently all these years for him too. My aunt and uncle haven't exactly made it easy for her as well, being their only remaining daughter who is still unmarried", Eric said returning to his chopping.

"Okay", Mei accepted. "But even with the possibility that Shun won't be getting married, I can't ignore the fact that I may be sick again".

"Well we don't know for sure yet, so we must not lose hope", Sofia comforted Mei. "And besides when a person loves you truly, they will be there for you during sickness and health. Eric and I may be wrong, but perhaps it's time to lay out all your cards and give Shun another chance? Whatever the outcome is we will always be here for you. And at least you will not continue to have regrets like last time".

Before Mei could say anything further, a faint wailing sound protruded out of the nursery. "Let me get her, please", she said standing and walking into room to retrieve the child. As she walked back into the living room, the doorbell rang and Sofia walked towards the front door to open it.

"Good evening", Shun greeted Sofia in French as he stepped into the apartment. And as she led him to the living room his heart stopped at the image of the small child in Mei's arms. This was something he had always wanted with Mei, a child, a family and he hoped like crazy that it wasn't too late now. "I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting", he said walking up to Eric in the kitchen and placing a bottle of wine on the counter. "I thought this would go nicely with dinner".

"Château Canon Saint-Émilion", Eric said picking up the bottle. "Very nice. But I think it'll only be the three of us drinking it. Mei's tolerance for alcohol isn't that great", he hinted.

"Of course,", Shun agreed meeting Eric's eyes to indicate he understood .

Shun found dinner with the Chen's surprisingly pleasant. A fluent French speaker himself he was able to keep up with all of Sofia's little stories about all the little things she had gotten up to with Mei in France. And he was grateful that Mei had met such lovely people when she needed them the most.

After dinner Shun discreetly asked Eric to step out onto the balcony while Mei and Sofia cleaned up in the kitchen. "I would like to talk to you about Mei", he said as they rested their arms on the railings and took in the beautiful night view of the Bund.

"So, you figured it all out", Eric said without making any small talk. "Your brother had warned me you would. But I must inform you that as Mei's doctor I cannot tell you anything without her permission".

"But I am her family", Shun protested.

"You 'were' her family", Eric corrected. "But, I am curious about what your intentions are right now. It may be crucial in the future".

"What do you mean?" Shun asked with concern.

"Well ... I will tell you what I told Mei earlier today. Speaking generally of course", Eric hinted. "We document survival rates for Leukaemia patients in five-year buckets. And in some cases, the chance of recurrence is 'very high'", he looked Shun in the eyes. "What would you do if Mei had a relapse?"

Shun's mind blanked out for moment as he registered the implications of Eric's words. What should he do? What could he do? "I would everything and anything I need to do. I will never abandon her again", Shun said firmly.

"Good", Eric smiled. "Then try to get her to open up to you".

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