Monday morning brought more surprises, some that should not have been ones, and others which were wholly unexpected.

Wei Ying and the children were eating breakfast early because A-Yuan and JingYi were supposed to return to school today.

JingYi seemed a bit down, so Wei Ying convinced Lan Zhan to show A-Yuan some Lego kits on offer, in the living room, just so he could ask JingYi if anything was wrong.

As the days went by and Wei Ying began to observe JingYi more and more, he found that the little boy was openly happy and chattering as usual, but there were times when he seemed far too serious for a six year old.

And because Wei Ying was too familiar with this kind of behaviour, having done it himself far too often when he was growing up, he recognised the signs.

JingYi would stare at A-Yuan and sometimes, at Wei Ying and Lan Zhan thoughtfully, and Wei Ying couldn't work out what he was thinking about, or what could be bothering him.

Was he wondering about his own family? Or did he have questions about his role here, in this family?

So this morning, Wei Ying decided to bite the bullet and ask.

"A-Yi, please, can I talk to you?" Wei Ying asked him, scooting closer to the child. He had news for the boy anyway, and they had a little time to talk this morning.

His beautiful burgundy eyes seemed too big in his face suddenly, as he looked up fearfully at Wei Ying.

Wei Ying wasn't sure what he had said to make the boy scared, and he immediately opened up his arms.

"I need a hug, if you can spare one," he says, instead of what he really needs to say.

JingYi obediently climbs into his lap, smooshing their cheeks together.

"A-Yi, do you know what it means, when we call you that instead of JingYi?" He starts off, hoping the segue into the other necessary talk can happen like this.

"Does it mean you like me? Like A-Yuan?"

"Good boy!" Wei Ying praises him, smiling while holding his little body closer. Maybe he was a sap for loving every single kid that fell into his lap, but he didn't care about that.

As long as his children were happy, that was all he could ask for them.

"I always knew you were smart." His lips find JingYi's temple. "But it's even more special than that. You know we love you, right? Just as much as A-Yuan. But today some people are coming here, to look at how you're living here, and whether or not you're happy. All you have to do is answer their questions as honestly as you can. Okay?"

"Are they gonna take me away?" He asks instead.

The kid is far too perceptive.

But then maybe that's to be expected, Wei Ying thinks sadly. Kids brought up in happy families didn't have to think five steps ahead of whatever threatened their safety. JingYi had to grow up in a dangerous environment where either his mother had to protect him, or he could not protect his mother. Both situations would have caused emotional damage. Wei Ying wants to give him a good foundation instead, one where JingYi can rely on the people entrusted to look after him.

"I hope not. That's also something I wanted to ask you. Do you like living here? With us?"

JingYi stiffens in his arms.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. JingYi is so much more sensitive under his facade of being happy all the time. Wei Ying decides to get straight to the point.

"My sweet, sweet boy, please listen to me. Both your Zhan-Gege and I, we love you very much. We want you to join our family, and continue to make fun videos. If it was up to us, then we want to keep you," he explains, hoping the child's fragile mind would accept this.

"What about my mom?"

Wei Ying swallowed hard.

Mrs Lan was absent, had been for a few days, unless she had tried to visit them yesterday while they were at the beach. And no matter what happened to her, since she said she wasn't feeling right, they should look at this time as a bonus. A time for Mrs Lan and JingYi to spend together as mother and son. Perhaps find a way to ease the uncertainty surrounding her disappearance from his life.

Though about that, Wei Ying didn't envy her the difficult job of trying to tell a kid that their mother had died and likely wasn't going to come back.

"She said she was going to look for your dad." Well, technically, that was partly true.

"I hope she doesn't find him." JingYi didn't sound at all happy about that. "Where do you think he is?"

"I don't know. I don't know where your mom is, either. I think that's why Social services are coming here, to see if you're okay. But it might be a good idea not to tell them that you saw your mom a few days ago."

"So I should lie?"

Damn...Wei Ying felt so out of his depth at that. Internally, he wanted to say yes, that was a great idea! But as JingYi's parent, it was his duty to send a correct moral code, to show the kid that honesty was best.

"No, not lie. But we don't want to get your mom in trouble, right?" Wei Ying thought about this, but JingYi was an exceptional kid.

And he ended up solving the matter by himself.

"My mom said we didn't need to tell my dad everything. Is that what you mean?"

"Okay, we can work with that." Wei Ying agrees. "For now. But I'm telling you the truth when I say that we want to keep you."

"What about my home? Can I go there? Is my mom there?" JingYi asks him.

With every question, it feels like a serrated edge shredding his heart to pieces.

"It's better to stay with us, here. With A-Yuan. Alright, A-Yi? We can ask your mom after." It might be a cop out, and Wei Ying hates himself for pushing Mrs Lan in front of himself, but he really could not justify telling the kid everything.

And there was still the fear that Mrs Lan harboured against her husband. Of him coming back to harm JingYi.

"It's better if my dad doesn't know where I am." JingYi suddenly says.

"Yes, I think so too. But I have to ask, why?" Maybe he could get JingYi to open up about his father.

"When we were upstairs, my mom used to give me her phone. That's why I like cars." JingYi says it quietly, as if even talking about his dad is going to make the monster reappear.

Suddenly, Wei Ying doesn't want to know what JingYi's life was like, up there in that apartment two floors above them.

It isn't fair that someone as young as he had to deal with so much, and the betrayal of a parent. Of course it destroyed any trust the boy should have towards people normally.

JingYi tells him bits and pieces, fragments of what affected him the most.

At the end of it, Wei Ying hugs him even tighter and promises to love him forever. The boys have a little time left before they have to leave for school, and that's when the second surprise of the day happens:

Wen PoPo arrives, opening the door with her key.

She's carrying a few bags as well, and while the children dance around her legs, happy that she's going to be staying here for a few days, that's when Wei Ying remembered that Lan Zhan had told him she was coming to stay a few days ago.

Wen PoPo is welcomed and they catch up on the day-to-day things from their lives, and then Lan Zhan's phone rings.

"Good morning, Didi. Uncle is anxious to see you, and meet the new people in your life. He's saying dinner should be tonight? Does that work for you?" XiChen says, after they exchange pleasantries.

Lan Zhan covers the speaker and relays the message to Wei Ying.

"Tonight? Your Uncle wants us to meet tonight?" The last part comes out like a squeak.

Wei Ying thought he would be fine with meeting Lan Zhan's Uncle at any time, that was why he had agreed that a weekday was going to be fine, however now that push had come to shove, he was blue screening in his head.

Lan Zhan covers his hand with his bigger one.

"Wei Ying doesn't have to say yes if he doesn't want to. We can postpone it until another time." Lan Zhan promises.

Against his better judgement, Wei Ying shakes his head. How would it look if he refused to meet Lan Zhan's uncle when he asked to? Plus Wei Ying was indirectly responsible for taking the man's nephew away from him, at least that's how he would be seen, unless Lan Zhan planned on telling his uncle about his new condition anytime soon.

Even if Wei Ying doesn't feel ready, he's going to do it.

And this day has started off with one challenge after another. If Wei Ying can get through the meeting with Social services, everything else will be okay. He holds onto that thought and tries not to listen to Lan Zhan talking about the upcoming dinner later on that night.

*************

They go to school together, to drop off A-Yuan and JingYi.

This is another nice thing about having a partner to share the normal, ordinary things with, and Wei Ying feels incredibly happy about it. The children get out of the car and soon join their classmates, leaving Wei Ying walking behind them and holding Lan Zhan's hand.

He feels like a blushing teenager, walking with his first crush.

He initiated the contact at first, rather shyly, and was immensely relieved when Lan Zhan took his hand firmly in his, squeezing it just for bants. Wei Ying couldn't even explain why this, simply holding hands and walking together, felt so much more intimate than the other stuff they'd done before, including Papapa.

Wei Ying feels incredibly lucky that he gets to do this.

With Lan Zhan.

Meanwhile, on the other end of this contact, Lan Zhan is having his own freak out.

Touching Wei Ying like this, it's better than anything. Better than tasting his blood, better than any appeasement of his senses. And he gets to have Wei Ying.

He can pull his boyfriend closer, he can kiss his boyfriend whenever he likes. He can hold hands with Wei Ying. All of these seem monumental. Something huge.

Lan Zhan feels happy.

*************

When they return home, it's only for a short half hour before Wei Ying has to leave for work. He's gotten over the pangs of nostalgia about the Coffee Carousel now, and he just wants to get his last day over and done with. Tomorrow will be that day.

Today, he's going to train his replacement.

He's never been any good at waiting, and this is especially true for inevitable things.

Lan Zhan preps a meal for Wen PoPo, who is currently vacuuming around the apartment, and Wei Ying makes an effort not to get in her way.

While Lan Zhan is chopping up vegetables for a stir fry, Wei Ying grabs an apple and hops onto the counter to sit next to where Lan Zhan's working.

"I know she doesn't mean this, but I always feel parental judgement from her." He mock shivers. "It's like, I know she can't help it, but it feels like she's being picky on how I keep this place clean. Or not, according to her gold standard." He rolls his eyes. And when he notices what Lan Zhan is doing, he says, "aren't we going out for dinner tonight?" Quirking a brow pointedly towards Lan Zhan's hands.

He's holding a carrot that has seen better days.

"PoPo can make two portions so the second one will suffice for dinner. And yes, we're going to meet uncle tonight." Lan Zhan pauses to kiss Wei Ying's forehead.

He gets a whine in answer because it wasn't where he wanted the kiss to be.

"What's your Uncle like?" Wei Ying asks him, innocently.

Lan Zhan doesn't answer straight away. Seconds turn into minutes as Wei Ying watches his face, seeing Lan Zhan thinking about what he's going to say.

Up until now, Wei Ying has only heard a few things from Lan Zhan about this family member. He knows that Lan Zhan was extremely close to his mother, and when she passed away, it turned into a traumatic event for him, resulting in a deep dislike of hospitals. Soon after, his father also passed away, leaving this Uncle to raise two young boys.

That, if nothing else, was a redeeming quality.

"Uncle is a serious person." Lan Zhan tells him. "He dropped everything to look after us...I remember going to work with him a few times when he couldn't find a babysitter. He's very protective." Lan Zhan puts the peeler down and wraps his arms around a taller Wei Ying, due to where he's sitting.

Wei Ying drops the apple core into the trash can, and reciprocates, cradling Lan Zhan's head under his chin. He doesn't get many chances to do this because Lan Zhan is a few inches taller than himself, so this is a good feeling.

And he hadn't thought Lan Zhan would be nervous about tonight. But on reflection, maybe it was understandable?

As the youngest one in Lan Zhan's family of three, to bring home a family no less, complete with two young children must be terrifying. This was far more serious than just introducing a single boyfriend.

What if Uncle thought he, Wei WuXian, was a gold digger?

Lan Zhan bites him.

"Um...Ow?" Wei Ying leans back to look into pure gold eyes, burning with ferocity.

"Wei Ying is not a gold digger." Lan Zhan tells him emphatically, biting that soft skin once more.

It's going to have to be a fully buttoned shirt tonight, Wei Ying thinks, blushing hard.

"Well, no. Not any more. I mean, I have my own money now, right?" He says, shakily. It's kind of gone over his head, having so much more money now.

It's refreshing to catch himself trying to organise what to buy this week in terms of groceries, and what he's sure he has to put off until next week, when he catches it and reminds himself that he doesn't have to do that any more.

"XiChen has some papers and forms for Wei Ying to sign." Lan Zhan informs him, smiling at the face Wei Ying makes in response to that.

"That's going to be so much fun." Wei Ying says with fake enthusiasm.

"Mn." Lan Zhan is unrepentant.

He's packing everything away in the refrigerator, when Wei Ying's alarm goes off. Lan Zhan returns immediately to kiss him enthusiastically.

Wei Ying laughs about it as soon as his mouth is free.

"I told you that alarm is giving us a Pavlovian reflex."

Lan Zhan's response is to bite his bottom lip.

************

For a Monday, the Coffee Carousel is surprisingly busy, and there's no time for Wei Ying to feel scared about the afternoon and the social services visit, or even that night. It's one order after another, and patiently explaining to the young lady watching his every move, why certain steps have to be made in a particular order.

He even manages to teach her how to whack the steamer to get it to work.

Three thirty arrives in the blink of an eye, and when Wei Ying leaves the Coffee shop, Lan Zhan is waiting outside, leaning against his car.

With shades on.

Wei Ying feels his belly flopping, as a single shot of electricity shoots up his spine. He purposefully walks slowly towards his super hot boyfriend, enjoying the way Lan Zhan raises his sunglasses to sit upon his head so he can see Wei Ying clearly.

It makes Wei Ying brim full of confidence and there's a swagger to his steps as he invades Lan Zhan's personal space.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long." Wei Ying bats his eyelashes, having read about the effect it can have in a romantic relationship.

Lan Zhan chokes.

Well! That was a surprise!

Wei Ying is much too impatient to play games any more, and he leans in for a steaming hot kiss, taking Lan Zhan's mouth with his own. It's a burning need by the time Lan Zhan licks into his mouth, a mutual thirst for each other.

Wei Ying has never felt this way before, a deepening hunger for this man, an insatiable desire to show him how much Wei Ying loves him. He climbs Lan Zhan like a tree, confident that Lan Zhan can and will hold him up, while Wei Ying ravishes his mouth.

It's a wolf whistle and calls for them to get a room, which makes Wei Ying get down on shaky legs.

"Later..." he promises Lan Zhan, loving the way those gorgeous golden eyes become instantly darker with need.

They pick the children up from school and return to the apartment, where they get the kids ready for the imminent meeting that is soon happening.

When the knock sounds on their door, Wei Ying gets up to answer it.

Lan Zhan was the nervous wreck out of the two of them, a fact that Wei Ying found incredibly funny.

There are two ladies in dark skirt suits and heels, holding official-looking clipboards and wearing skin-tight buns.

They could have been twins if not for the glasses one of them is wearing. Wei Ying forgets their names as soon as they tell him, preferring to call them Lady Number One and Lady Number Two in his head.

They sit across from each other, the most severe one sitting by herself in the single seat, while Wei Ying leans back against Lan Zhan's chest. It's the only way he can sit far enough away from Lady Number Two.

Wei Ying tries to relax but it's difficult when everything they do seems to result in furious scribbling on paper, and it's both of them as they write down their observations.

They haven't even started asking questions yet.

And Lady Number One is already on her second page.

They take it in turns to ask them all the usual questions about JingYi, how he's been living here, how they think they can improve things, and what they already know about his background. They ask to see the photos of JingYi's body when they had visited the doctor that afternoon, and then they give Wei Ying another email address to send them to.

Then it's a tour of the apartment.

And more pages of writing.

They go into A-Yuan's bedroom right at the end.

The boys are making a pirate ship and they stop playing when they see the strangers.

A-Yuan grabs hold of JingYi's hand as soon as the ladies enter their room. Wei Ying has never been so proud of them as now, when he saw that.

There are more questions and JingYi answers them as best as he can, but he's only six. The ladies are trying to be gentle too, and this is a difficult situation for all of them.

There are some questions which JingYi refuses to answer, and of course, they're all pertaining to his parents.

After an excruciating hour of this, finally the ladies make their way to the door where they had taken off their shoes. As they're putting them on again, Wei Ying can't help himself and asks the question he's most wanting to voice.

"Um...so what's going to happen now?"

Lady Number One stops trying to fit her toes in the surely uncomfortable looking high heels, and looks up at him.

"Officially, we have to wait for our reports to go through our supervisors. Then they can make a decision based on the welfare of the child."

"And unofficially?" Wei Ying can't let it go, and even Lan Zhan wrapping an arm around his waist, and keeping his other hand on Wei Ying's shoulder isn't enough to deter him.

Lady Number Two takes pity on him and visibly softens.

"Unofficially, and I don't wanna jinx it, but you have a good chance to keep the child with you. You're already a parent to the boy's best friend, and now you're in a stable, loving relationship, from what we can see. That, plus your finances have improved considerably, all of which factors in your favour. I hope we can deliver good news to you soon. The department prefers stability with minors."

"It helps that you also have a maternal presence." Lady Number One adds, looking at Wen PoPo, who has been a steady if silent participant in their visit.

And then they're gone.

There's a noise behind them and when the adults turn around, both of the boys have left the sanctuary of their bedroom, and have no doubt heard what the ladies said.

So of course, it's time for a celebratory group hug, full of relief.

************

Then, there's a hurried washing of faces and getting dressed in smarter-than-usual clothes, even though Lan Zhan says it's not necessary. Wei Ying gets the boys dressed and ready, making them promise not to mess up their clothes, and goes into his bedroom to get changed himself. He's already hoping that the one formal shirt he owns is clean, when Lan Zhan steps out of the bathroom looking like a God.

Wei Ying is pretty sure he's having an out-of-body experience right now.

Lan Zhan's suit is a silver coloured jacket, on purpose not matching his cream trousers. His shirt is a pale oyster shade and he's wearing a tie.

Wei Ying would like to speak actual words but brain is not working. He settles for drooling instead.

Lan Zhan's face is priceless as he smirks, and then when he walks past Wei Ying, the latter feels a sharp smack on his backside.

He turns around, simultaneously turned on and exasperated, wanting to jump his man but knowing realistically that they don't have time at the moment.

"Just you wait!" He exclaims, waggling his finger at the suddenly naughty man. "I'm gonna knock your socks off."

Lan Zhan backs him up against the wall, a highly predatory look burning in his eyes. Just his incandescent look alone is enough to set Wei Ying alight.

"My socks are already nonexistent." Lan Zhan says in the most sultry tone.

Wei Ying has never imagined he would be listening to those words spoken in such a devilish way, and he can feel a nervous giggle rising up and erupting from his mouth at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

He wriggles out from under Lan Zhan's arms and escapes to the bathroom.

**********

When he comes out from the safety of his sanctuary, he's mercifully alone in their bedroom. He opens his closet, feeling like Cinderella and hoping his Fairy Godmother has visited him in the night and gotten him a wardrobe of fancy clothes.

His jaw drops as he realises that he's not wrong; whereas before his closet was mostly empty, now it's full of clothes ranging from sheer shirts and risqué trousers, which he's pretty sure he's never seen before, and aren't something Lan Zhan would wear.

He wants to go outside and confront Lan Zhan about it now, but they really don't have the time. If he does anything other than getting dressed, they're going to be late.

He quickly rifles through the foreign clothes and picks out what he hopes will pass muster, throwing them on as fast as he can.

There's a knock on the door and Wei Ying goes to open it.

Lan Zhan is standing there, his face full of shock.