Debby waved at me and said, "See you tomorrow, Alex! Have a good day!"
I waved back at Debby and said, "Bye, Ms. Blumgren!"
After that, I let Yue lead me over to her car.
It wasn't anything fancy. Just a reliable Toyota Corolla. Used, but in good condition.
Yue opened the door for me and buckled me in. After that, she got into the driver's seat and said, "Do you mind hanging out with me at my place, Fatty? Or do you want to head back to your parents' place?"
I put on my now familiar bright smile and said, "I wanna see Auntie's place!"
Mostly because I wanted to sniff out her life situation.
Hindsight was 20/20.
I didn't remember my childhood much in the future. But now that I was reliving it, many uncomfortable dots were lining up.
Like the fact that my young, beautiful, and ambitious aunt might have gone too far for the sake of a dream and regretted it her entire life.
Yue blinked. Then she let out a genuine smile, ruffling my hair. "That's funny. I thought you were a mama's boy, Fatty. But you finally realized your auntie's cool, huh?"
I gave a thumbs up and said, "Auntie's the coolest!"
Yue laughed and then started up her car. "Alright. Then sit tight. It's a long ride." She pulled out of the school parking lot and then drove us out onto the high way.
I let her lead the way, idly swinging my legs like a kid normally would.
As she drove, Yue glanced at me and said, "...You really did change though. I didn't see you for just a few weeks and you're suddenly less chunky. You sure you're eating well?"
I grinned and flexed my arms like a kid would. "I'm practicing kung fu!"
Wasn't a lie. I WAS doing kung fu. The real stuff. Kinda.
Yue snorted. "Told Sis that letting you watch that guy's kung fu movies would mess with your head. You know that stuff's not real, right? You can't run on walls or split mountains."
"Totally can! I'll show you when I get bigger!" I puffed out my chest, playing it up. Mostly to get my aunt to relax since she seemed a bit stressed.
Yue smiled and said, "Sure, sure..." She kept driving and said, "How was school? Guess you're too smart for first grade if your teacher's talking about gifted and talented things."
I shrugged and said, "Boring. It's easy."
That wasn't a lie. For me, it really was boring and easy.
I'd been hoping to check out the school library or textbooks... but I overestimated the material available to me as a first grader. Also misremembered. It wouldn't be until fourth grade and beyond that we'd actually start learning real subject material.
Yue snorted. "Must be nice. School was always hard for Auntie. But it's a good thing Auntie's so pretty, right~?"
I gave another thumbs up. "Super pretty!"
Yue laughed. "Oh, you're going to be a charmer when you grow up. Just like your wicked Dad who stole my big sis before she graduated and put a baby in her."
I blinked. Then I ran the math in my head.
Mom was 23.
I was 5.
I was BORN when she was 18.
But for me to be conceived...
Oh.
Huh.
Dad was two years older than Mom, so he was Yue's age right now at that time...
Yue paused and realized that she probably said too much. But true to my wild aunt's nature, she shrugged it off and doubled down. "Eh, whatever. As long as Auntie's around, I'll keep you on the straight and narrow. Can't have you ruining girls left and right like your father."
...Just what kind of man WERE you, Dad? I mean, you always mentioned you were wild in your youth and that Mom made a family man out of you, but...
I decided to change the subject and said, "How are you doing, Auntie?"
"Me?" Yue drummed her fingers along the steering wheel as we waited at a red light. "Oh, Auntie's doing the usual. Making lots of money in tips at night talking to lonely guys at the bar. Working on acting to get super rich and be in a movie."
I instinctively frowned when I heard that.
Yue noticed and reached over to ruffle my head. "Don't worry about, Fatty. Auntie's pretty strong too, you know? Unlike your dad's movies, I know REAL kung fu."
Huh? I didn't know that.
I blinked and said, "You do?"
Yue continued driving and said, "Of course I do. While your mom was a cheerleader in high school, *I* did Wushu. It's like the real version of the crazy kung fu movies your dad watches."
Auntie never mentioned that in my past life.
...And Mom never mentioned she was a cheerleader.
There was a LOT I missed, wasn't there?
Yue chuckled and said, "I'll teach you some things when we get to my house. Maybe we can get you slimmed down properly so I can stop calling you Fatty."
I let out a genuine smile and said, "I'd love learning from you, Auntie!"
Yue paused. Then she scratched her cheek, hiding her smile. "...Stupid kid. Making me all emotional. Dammit." She coughed and said, "Anyway... Talk to me some more. We've still got like half an hour in this traffic, Fatty. You can't let me do all the talking." She turned to glance at me, her face teasing, but her light brown eyes warm.
For a split second, I was stunned at just how much she looked like my mom. Especially since she absolutely DIDN'T in my past life. The years of stress and bitterness had made the aunt I remembered into a pretty vindictive looking woman.
But the young woman across from me wasn't anything like that. She was just starting off her life, ambitious, beautiful, and filled with the determination to make it big in the world.
"Alex?" Yue frowned. "You're spacing out. You sure you're okay? Sis said you've been a bit out of it recently too..."
I let out a soft smile. "I'm fine. You just look a lot like Mommy."
Yue blinked. Then her eyes softened as she puffed her chest out. "Of course I do! Your mommy's my big sis, after all!" She continued driving and said, "And she's smart too. If she didn't get seduced by your dad, she'd be making it big right now."
Huh?
I tilted my head. "Making it big?"
I never heard about that.
Yue nodded. "Yeah. Sis got accepted into Yale. But since she had you, she got married and became a full-time mom instead." Yue clicked her tongue and said, "Mom and Dad are STILL mad about it. They'll come around though... probably."
...Well. That was definitely a lore bomb.
Explained a lot though.
I never met my grandparents until I was in high school. Even then, they were always a bit distant and cared more for my cousins than me and my brothers.
...Ironic, considering me and my brothers all were far more successful than our cousins.
But that explained it.
...And it also explained why Auntie Yue always cursed them out at the Lunar New Year.
Yue sighed and said, "Don't worry about it, Fatty." She let out a teasing smile and said, "You just worry on being a kid. Let the grown ups think about the grown up stuff. We'll make it work."
I slowly nodded. Mostly to assure her.
But...
...If we were talking about letting the grown ups think about the grown up stuff, I was the grown up with the most experience here, you know...?
Still, can't rush things.