Chapter 5: A New Life In California
Tragically, the loving Chunhua Chan did not survive and died from her severe injuries minutes after giving birth to her baby, Scooter.
A week after her death, many attended her funeral at the New York Marble Cemetery. Charlie Chan and his children watched with great sadness as Chunhua was being put to rest.
"Flip?" Little Nancy tugged on her older brother's arm. "Flip, where Mommy going?"
A mournful Flip sniffled, "Mom's going away, Nance, and she's never comin' back."
Hearing this caused tears to run down his sister's cheeks. "Never?" Nancy cried. "Mommy's never coming back?"
The two comforted each other with a hug as rain clouds emerged. When it began to pour down raining, the Chans entered their limo to head for home.
As they drove off, Anne looked at an orange baseball cap that was given to her before the funeral. On it there was a tag that read, "Happy Birthday, Anne. From Mom." Anne, sadly, was having anything but a happy birthday.
A month slowly passed and the Chan children were still having a hard time coping with the loss of their mother. Everything reminded them of her and saddened them.
Eventually, their father felt a change of scenery was what his children needed. He decided the family had to move. A week later, the family arrived not in a new city, but in a new state. They had all moved to the state of California to live in a large, beautiful house.
"This is our new house?" young Henry asked as he got out of the moving truck.
"Not bad," Stanley joked. "Does it have a Jacuzzi? Heh-heh-heh!"
"Why did you pick up that 101 joke book on the way here?" his older brother groaned. Henry then walked back to the truck and picked up the baby carrier seat holding his infant brother.
"I got Scooter," he informed. "Need help with Mimi, Suzie?"
His eldest younger sister came out of the truck carrying Mimi. "No thanks," Suzie assured. "I got her." Alan, Anne, and Tom came out of the truck. Flip soon followed and helped Nancy out of the truck.
"So this is our new digs, huh?" Flip shrugged. "Not bad."
As her seven older siblings gazed upon their new home, a hungry Nancy saw a bush covered with blueberries on her left and walked towards it. However, before she could get a foot close to the bush, she tripped over a pile of leaves. As she picked herself up, she attempted to continue her journey, but something hidden under the leaves caught her attention.
Her siblings soon heard the sound of Nancy giggling. As they looked her way and saw her sitting on the ground with her back turned towards them, they mistook her laughter for crying and walked over.
"Nancy," a concerned Suzie asked, "are you okay? Did you fall and hurt yourself again?"
Nancy turned around and her siblings gasped as they saw what their little sister was holding. In Nancy's arms was a puppy! "Doggy! Doggy!" she gurgled.
"A dog!" Stanley exclaimed.
"Good, Stanley," Henry deadpanned. "You got it on the first go."
"I wonder who he belongs to," Anne pondered.
"I don't think he belongs to anyone," Suzie commented. "Look. He doesn't have a collar."
"Hey," Stanley suggested, "why don't we keep him?"
"I don't know," Henry doubted. "I don't think Pop would let us."
"Let you what?" a familiar voice asked.
The Chan children turned and saw their father coming towards them. "What is that Nancy is holding?" he questioned.
Tom pulled out an animal book, read it, and replied, "Look, Pop. We found a Canis lupus."
"We found a what?" Stanley asked.
Nancy held up the puppy and again gurgled, "Doggy! Doggy!"
"A that," Alan answered his second eldest brother and sibling.
"I see," Charlie observed. "It appears you've found a stray Pekingese puppy."
"Can we keep him, Pop?" Suzie pleaded. "He's just a poor puppy who's all alone."
Believing this was needed to lift his children's spirits, Charlie nodded, "I don't see why not."
"Yay! Thanks, Pop!" The eight kids happily cheered. This news even put a smile on the faces of the babies, Mimi and Scooter.
The new puppy barked happily, showing he, too, was delighted. He was also hungry. He leapt from Nancy's arms and started chewing on some of the berries on the bush. As Nancy picked him back up, she bubbled, "Look, Pop! Doggy chew! Chew! Chew!"
"Hey," Suzie gushed, "that's not a bad idea. How about we call him Chu-Chu?"
"Works for me," Henry approved.
The rest of his siblings all nodded in agreement.
"Come on, Chu-Chu," beamed Nancy as she carried their new puppy. "Let's go home."
Charlie Chan watched as his children all headed to their new home. "Their first smile in over a month," he happily said to himself.