Everyone came back to our house after the service. It was strange to think that the last time my mom’s side of the family was all together, it was for Grandma Anna’s funeral. The vibe was much happier today, obviously. Grandpa Fred performed some magic tricks. Jaime and Uncle Dan talked about baseball for, like, two hours. My cousin Isabel drew a giant family portrait out of chalk on our patio. Mom even let Aunt Jess take me around the block on her motorcycle. (Mom buried her face in Dad’s chest, and I screamed as loud as Grandma Anna did when she rode the Cyclone!) Everyone lavished me with compliments and hugs and presents. My face started to feel sore, I was smiling so much.
By the time the sun set, most of my relatives had trickled out to their hotel, and things had started to wind down. Madeline’s family stayed late, though. Our parents chatted out on the deck while Jaime and Henry tried to see who could catch the most fireflies. Madeline and I joined them for a while, then moved to the hammock, my head by her feet for ideal balance.
“What was Ethan’s present?” Madeline asked me.
“A gift certificate to the movies,” I said, glad that she couldn’t exactly see my face.
“So you guys can go together?”
“That’s what he wrote in the card.”
If Parker and Magda were there, they’d have shrieked in unison. But Madeline just sighed. “This trip from your parents. Your DNA results. A date with Ethan. I probably shouldn’t even bother giving you my present.”
I lifted my head. “What is it?”
Madeline shrugged.
“Come on!”
“It’s inside with all the other presents. Yellow gift bag.”
I got off the hammock as quickly as I could without making Madeline fall out. Then I sprinted into the house and started sorting through the cards and boxes piled on the kitchen table to find her yellow bag.
Grandpa Fred was standing by the wall, looking at the results of all of our DNA tests. My dad had printed them out on big pieces of paper and taped them up for all our relatives to see. He and Mom had similar makeups: mostly European, but with a few surprises thrown in, like my mom being 10 percent Pacific Islander, and my dad having a trace of Central Asia. Jaime was mostly native to the Americas, but he had West African and even Irish roots too.
“Fascinating,” Grandpa said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I found Madeline’s gift bag and went to the door.
“Hang on a minute,” Grandpa called. “I want to give you my present.”
I came back to the table. “Which one is it?”
He pointed to a small box. Then, like a little kid who’s too excited to wait, he blurted out, “It’s an iPhone.”
My eyes bulged. “No way.”
He smiled. “You’ll enjoy it?”
“Are you kidding me?” I said, practically screaming. I wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you, Grandpa!”
He squeezed me tight. “Thank you, Imani.” When he pulled back, his eyes were shining. “You gave me the greatest present, finding my mother’s diary, and then finding her brother. To think that we’re all going to go to England in a few weeks. And I’ll get to meet him. . . .”
Grandpa trailed off. It was like my cheeks were superglued up, thinking about the trip. We were going to England—me, Mom, Dad, Jaime, Grandpa, and (since this was my present) Madeline! Our first stop would be Surrey, to meet Oliver and his family and give all of Anna’s stuff to its rightful owner. I especially couldn’t wait to hang out with Regina; she and I had been messaging back and forth like crazy. After that, we were going to spend a whole week in London. My mom even bought tickets to a match at Wimbledon. Just three, for herself, Madeline, and me. I wanted to see Luxembourg too, and to get some tortellini in Italy, but Mom and Dad said they don’t have the vacation time or the money to go on an entire European tour. That’s okay. Maybe Jaime can ask for that for his bar mitzvah. I’ve got a few years to convince him.
“Okay,” Grandpa said. “Go back to your friend.”
I gave him a kiss, grabbed Madeline’s gift bag, and ran back to the hammock. The outside lights flicked on, one after another, as I ran past.
“Ta-da,” I said, holding up the bag.
Madeline shifted as gracefully as possible in the hammock, until her legs hung over the edge. I lay down carefully beside her so that my legs dangled too. I reached inside and pulled out a small box. “Chinese checkers!” I announced.
“Travel size,” she pointed out. “So we can bring it to England.”
“Oh my God,” I said, “that’s perfect.”
“There’s more.”
I reached back in the bag and pulled out a thick book with a soft fabric cover and a long red ribbon to mark the pages. A blank journal.
“So you can record your own story,” Madeline explained, “whether you decide to find your birth family someday or not.”
I didn’t think it was possible for my grin to get any bigger, but I was wrong. “Thank you,” I said. “This is awesome. And if I do look for them, I’ll be sure to give you an exclusive interview for your radio show.”
“Really?” Madeline asked, excited. “I mean, only if you want to.” She tapped my new journal with her knuckle. “Just make sure you tie up all the loose ends,” she joked. “You don’t want to upset your great-granddaughter and her best friend.”
My eyes widened at the thought. Me, old, with a great-granddaughter of my own. Would she be anything like me, look anything like me? Would I hand down a Torah to her on the day of her bat mitzvah? Would she have a bat mitzvah? Maybe she or her friend would be adopted too. Who knows. It’s such a long way away.
I hugged the journal and stared up at the darkening sky. A few stars were just starting to appear. Those were far away too. But they were brilliant just the same.