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at school anymore. Said we'd embarrass you.”
    “Yeah, I can see that.” Ana nods. “Thanks, Dad. Good idea.” She stands up and gives him a kiss.
    “Wait, wait, wait,” her mother says. “We also got you”—she pulls two cards from her shirt pocket—“gift cards for the mall and the movie theater.”
    Ana's eyes go wide again. “Hey, thanks, Mom! And Dad,” she adds, hugging them both.
    “You'll need your back-to-school wardrobe, after all,” her mom says.
    “Thanks.” Ana sits back down with a satisfied sigh. The day has taken a good turn. “Well, I guess I'll get started on the dumplings.”
    “Young lady, you are in some kind of a hurry,” Grandma White admonishes. “You don't really think your own grandparents forgot about you on your big day?”
    Ana blushes. “I didn't want to be greedy.”
    “Good girl,” Grandpa White says. “You should be grateful every day. Honey, tell her what to be grateful for today.”
    Grandma White breaks into a smile. “Ana, remember those Mississippi steamboats you used to love so much?”
    “Yeah,” Ana says.
When I was, like, ten,
she thinks.
    “Well, pack your bags, baby. Next month, we're taking you on a cruise! A musical heritage cruise down the Mississippi River, St. Louis to New Orleans. We'll even stop and meet some of your cousins and relations along the way.”
    “Um. Wow,” Ana says. She suddenly feels split in two. Embarrassing as it is, the cruise sounds like fun. Not the uninterrupted summer full of Chelsea and Jamie Tabata she's been dreaming of, but she has to admit a trip to New Orleans is pretty cool. Especially a musical tour—Ana might only be second in her class, but she's the first chair alto saxophone in her school band.
    “Wow.” She says it again, this time with a smile. She looks at her parents. Her mom is grinning from ear to ear, and Ana is too. Her dad suddenly looks worried. Then Ana knows why. Nai Nai is whispering to Ye Ye rapidly in Chinese.
Oh dear God,
Ana thinks.
The bigger the grin now, the bigger it'll have to be for Nai Nai and Ye Ye's gift. Why does life have to be so complicated
?
    “Don't look so worried, honey. You won't get seasick on those big old boats, I promise,” Grandma White says. Ana smiles again but tries not to grin, and gives them each a hug. Grandpa White chuckles and pats her back.
    “We know how much you like playing saxophone and all,” he explains.
    “Yeah. That does sound really cool,” Ana admits.
    “Our turn?” Ye Ye asks Ana's dad. He nods, the look of worry on his face poorly concealed.
    Ye Ye smiles broadly and pulls a small red envelope from his pocket.
    Ana smiles back. It is a
huen bao,
or red packet. Her father's parents have been slipping these to her on holidays ever since she was old enough to hold an envelope. When she was little, just the act of tearing it open made her smile. Now Ana blushes even thinking about it.
Huen bao
are gifts of money, the red envelope signifying good luck and prosperity.
    Ana accepts the envelope with a little bow.
“She she,”
she says, thanking them in Mandarin. The envelope is stamped with a gold foil dragon wrapped around the name of her grandparents' bank. Some of the branches give the envelopes out during the Chinese New Year. Nai Nai probably hordes them by the handful each year.
    “It is nothing great,” Ye Ye says in his careful voice. “But we are very, very proud of you, Ana Mei.”
    Ana smiles and slips the envelope into her pocket. She learned long ago that it's rude to open the little packet in front of the giver. She also learned that her grandparents always call it a small gift when it's usually very generous. Ana gets up and gives them each a hug and a kiss. Nai Nai still seems unhappy, but Ye Ye is unfazed.
    “Perhaps you will use it on your trip down the Mississippi,” he says amicably.
    Ana smiles. “That'd be great. Maybe I can even put it toward a real New Orleans saxophone or something.”
    “Would you listen to