After what felt like an eternity, the little guy finally, finally got to sleep with his two dads again.
“Brother Qin, this suitcase is all Youyou’s things.”
Tang Dou pushed the suitcase he had packed earlier over to Qin Kun, gave a few brief explanations, and went back to his room. With Youyou back with his foster fathers, Tang Dou could finally catch his breath. In the room, one tall and one small were washing up in the bathroom. Qin Kun opened the suitcase and took out the little guy’s daily necessities and clothes. As he rummaged through it, he found something familiar: a small pillow embroidered with the little guy’s name, and a small blanket he and Siwen had bought in the clearance section of a supermarket three years ago.
He couldn’t help but smile. He placed these two items on the bed and hung the neatly folded clothes from the suitcase on hangers in the closet. When Su Siwen and the little guy came out, this was what they saw: a small section of the closet was now empty, with a few sets of little clothes hanging there, colorful and adorable. The little guy ran over to his big dad, opened his mouth wide, and showed off the teeth he had brushed so carefully.
Qin Kun paused in his folding, then his face immediately lit up with a smile: “Wow, Youyou’s teeth are so beautiful! Which little kid brushed his teeth so clean all by himself?”
Little Su Youli puffed out his chest and raised his hand to answer: “Youyou did it himself.”
Qin Kun deliberately leaned in and pinched his cheek. “Did Youyou brush his teeth well even when his dads weren’t around?”
The little guy had an expression that said, “Of course.” “If you don’t brush your teeth well, you’ll get worms.”
After organizing the little guy’s things, Qin Kun went to the bathroom to wash up. Su Siwen lay on his side on the bed, telling the little guy a story. It had been a long time since the little guy had heard his Little Dad tell a story. He rested his chin on his hands, his eyes bright and attentive. After one story ended, Su Siwen turned his head. The little guy, who had been so sleepy just moments ago, was still awake.
Su Siwen’s heart melted into a puddle. He wrapped his arm around him, gently patting his back in a steady rhythm. “Baby, it’s time to sleep.”
“Dad, baby isn’t sleepy.”
Su Siwen pinched the tip of his nose and leaned in close. “Dad will always be with you. Go to sleep.”
Su Youli was just reluctant to fall asleep. If he slept, he wouldn’t be able to see his dads anymore. When Qin Kun came out of the shower, the little guy was still clinging to Su Siwen, refusing to sleep and pestering him for more stories.
Qin Kun walked over, scooped him up, and gave his little bottom a playful pat. “Let me see which little kid refuses to go to sleep.”
“If you don’t sleep, you won’t grow tall,” Qin Kun threatened playfully.
Su Youli immediately squeezed his eyes shut, his eyelashes trembling. Qin Kun flashed a mischievous grin and tickled the little guy’s ticklish spots.
“Hahahaha, that tickles, Dad.” The little guy squirmed and rolled in Qin Kun’s arms, begging for mercy.
“Do you still want to hear a story?” Qin Kun asked.
Su Youli laughed until tears came out. He shook his head frantically: “No, no. Youyou is going to sleep.”
Su Siwen sat on the bed, watching the playful interaction between the big one and the small one. A smile appeared on his pale face. Not just him, but Qin Kun hadn’t been this happy in a long time either. After all the commotion, the moment Su Youli’s little body touched the bed, he fell asleep instantly. Just like before, the little guy slept between them. The moment he was close to his dads, his little hands reached out to grab onto them. Qin Kun took a thermometer from the drawer and checked the little guy’s forehead. Only after confirming his temperature was normal did he turn off the lights. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he noticed Su Siwen’s eyes were still open.
“Siwen?”
Su Siwen gave a very soft “Mm.”
“Can’t sleep? Is your leg hurting more?” Qin Kun’s drowsiness vanished instantly. He turned over and switched on the bedside lamp.
His movement woke the little guy. Su Siwen quickly soothed him. Only after seeing the little guy’s brow relax did he shoot a reproachful look at Qin Kun.
“Be careful. Don’t wake Youyou.”
Qin Kun moved over to him, opened his arms, and hugged him, resting his head on Su Siwen’s shoulder and nuzzling against it.
Su Siwen sighed, pushing away his prickly hair. “Sleep.”
Qin Kun gave a muffled “Mm,” burying his face in Su Siwen’s shoulder and inhaling deeply.
“Do you know, I was actually a little scared when I went to pick up Youyou today.”
Su Siwen was surprised to see him so vulnerable. “Scared of what?”
“I was scared Youyou wouldn’t be as close to me anymore. Scared he’d blame me for not taking care of you. Scared that he’d grow up too fast. And scared that he’d grow up too slow. I was scared of so many things.”
Su Siwen’s nose tingled. He pressed his cheek against Qin Kun’s ear and called him a “fool.”
Qin Kun nodded. “I am a fool. And this fool is going to be stuck with you, the smart one, for life. You’re not allowed to abandon me.”
Su Siwen was speechless and amused. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Qin Kun was happy even being scolded. He wrapped his arms around Su Siwen’s waist, the familiar scent of him calming his heart.
“Get better soon, Siwen. Once you’re better, we’ll go back to China together. We’ll be with Youyou every day. Our family will never be separated again.”
But Su Siwen didn’t answer. The future was still far away. Youyou was now the young master of the Shen family. Even though the Shens were good to them, Su Siwen wasn’t like Qin Kun, who saw things so simply and optimistically. The Shens helped them solely because of Youyou. They could help for a while, but they couldn’t help forever. They were two grown men with hands and feet. They couldn’t live under someone else’s protection forever.
Su Siwen’s fears were different from Qin Kun’s. He was afraid that the Shens would use the money they lent them and the help they gave as leverage to force them to cut ties with Su Youli. After all, it wasn’t a good thing for the Shen family’s young master to have spent three years in a small town in Nancheng. If that day came, what would they do?
He nudged Qin Kun behind him, his voice a little hoarse: “After my third surgery, I want to start painting again.”
Qin Kun’s arms tightened around him. Su Siwen’s grades had always been excellent, especially in art, where his talent was remarkable. In middle school, he met a teacher who loved art. Under that teacher’s guidance, he studied the basics of drawing and color theory. He worked harder than everyone else, practicing his art year after year. He entered the city’s key high school without a hitch, choosing the art specialty class.
When he was sixteen, the inheritance his parents had left him was nearly gone, barely enough to get him through high school. Fortunately, the school learned about his family situation and waived his tuition fees, even giving him a monthly meal allowance of two hundred yuan. A teenager in his teens was still growing. Two hundred yuan was far from enough. Su Siwen often went hungry. One time, when he was so hungry that he felt dizzy, he met Qin Kun.
Sorry for the late update, lights have been out for the last 30 or so hours
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from this recent chapters i realized that not only youyou missed his dads, even them missed him. it was so sad, they took care of him since baby and they 3 as a family for years suddenly the routine broken, of course it was hard for them to adjust. btw why suddenly the light was out? hopefully everything is ok at your place
i mean, yeah i knew they missed youyou but before this we only read thru youyou’s pov. now when its thru their pov, we knew more about their feeling
The mutual longing breaks me. We’ve seen so much on Youyou’s pov that his dads’ emotions sorta slipped our minds. It’s great that we’re finally seeing theirs too.
It was apparently an issue with the local grid. Thankfully, the lights are back on.