The days were passing faster than Wei Ying could count. Now there was only one week of school left for the boys before they broke up for the Christmas holiday.
Wei Ying had been thinking it was the perfect time to have them switch schools as well. Their current school was too far away from either the Lan Manor, Lan Zhan's flat (try as he might, Wei Ying was having a severe difficulty thinking of it as his, too), and what was soon to become their new home, the ex-ranch.
If they had to uproot the kids at all, it should be done as soon as possible, when they were young enough to make new friends, and the disruption to their education would cause the minimum problems.
Any free time Wei Ying had, in between looking after the boys and the new baby girls, was spent finishing his book with Lan Zhan, and scoping out places of education around their new homes.
Uncle Qiren had made it clear that while they might move out to their new home, their rooms in the manor were staying, and that was that. He also pointed out how useful they would be when (not 'if') the boys came to visit/stay.
Meanwhile, Wei Ying was going to get ready for Christmas.
This year, he was going to lavish their children with attention, and also presents, but in a good way. A-Yuan had never really complained about their finances and about them never having enough funds for the extraneous things not immediately related to their survival.
But Wei Ying was sure his first ever baby must have felt sad when he saw other kids asking and getting expensive toys whenever they wanted them. So he had a plan.
XiChen had moved mountains to get the old Town Hall repaired and renovated in time for Christmas. With the added funds Wei Ying was able to help him with, their now joint charity company had finished the Homeless People Centre at the Town Hall and was working on a second one across town.
On Christmas eve, earlier in the afternoon, the whole family had visited the old Town Hall where new guests were arriving every day. So far, they were able to provide a permanent residence for up to fifty people, above the soup kitchen which regularly fed two hundred plus people every single day.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan agreed that teaching the children how to look after others before themselves was a gift well-learned, and they wanted to do it every year.
There was also a local orphanage that they visited on the Friday before the Christmas weekend.
That came about in the most surprising way.
Uncle Qiren was napping with Juhua and Meihua upstairs in the manor, and Wei Ying was helping the boys with their homework, while discussing the homeless shelter with Lan Zhan, when JingYi asked them a question.
"A-Die, you know there are grown ups without a home? Are there children like that too? Like me and A-Yuan, but you and Baba helped us."
While he gathered his thoughts and tried to make better sense of his question, Wei Ying was quietly shocked. He supposed he shouldn't have been; after all, both JingYi and A-Yuan were aware of their situation and knew they were adopted, and that should have prepared Wei Ying somewhat for this extension of the topic.
"Are you asking us about kids without parents?" Lan Zhan asks him, glancing at Wei Ying for help, and buying himself some time to answer.
"Yes!" JingYi looks relieved that he's understood.
"What happens to them?" A-Yuan asks, anxiously.
"There are places that take them in. They're called orphanages." Wei Ying says, picking him up.
JingYi goes to Lan Zhan to climb onto his lap.
"But what happens at Christmas for them? Who buys them presents?" They want to know.
"I suppose the orphanages do. I mean, they're supposed to, right?" Wei Ying tells them, directing that last part towards Lan Zhan. And then he gets a super idea. "But if you wanted to, we could help them!"
Both JingYi and A-Yuan cheer as loudly as they're allowed to, and Lan Zhan smiles at Wei Ying.
He's been doing that more and more, ever since they married.
"That is a great idea," he agrees. "We can go shopping on the Thursday after your school ends, and wrap them up on Friday. If we're done early enough, then we can visit the Orphanage in the evening."
"Wrap them up? As in presents? That many?" Wei Ying echoes, mildly terrified.
"Mn. It is character building. We should know what we are doing, and if it's not us having to wrap them, then someone else has to."
Wei Ying waits until the children are sufficiently preoccupied before scooting closer to his husband.
"You know that's going to be a lot of work?" He whines, tucking his face in Lan Zhan's neck. He smiles when he feels the press of Lan Zhan's lips on his head.
"We can invite others to help," Lan Zhan concedes, his lips twitching at Wei Ying's antics.
His husband was far from being lazy, in fact, Lan Zhan didn't know anyone who worked harder, even when he didn't have to.
Their lives were so busy and yet Lan Zhan felt complete, fulfilled in the way the minutes unfolded of his day. There was so much to enjoy and appreciate, even when Wei Ying was asleep, his beauty was incomparable.
Three new lashes had grown upon Wei Ying's eyelids and Lan Zhan was delighted, needing to count them again, because he had to make sure!
And the best part of every day was when Wei Ying woke up.
His eyes would flutter open and for a few seconds, his confusion would linger until those lovely starlight orbs would rest upon Lan Zhan's face. Oh, to be the centre of his focus forever was something Lan Zhan would never tire of, seeing the warmth and the love lighting up his whole face!
And then their first kiss of the day.
Soft with sleep and just waking up, for Lan Zhan to see Wei Ying like this every morning was a joyful encounter, one that he hoped would always happen.
They had a routine now: gentle kisses that quickly became urgent, greedy even as neither could get enough of each other. They came together like a match and a flame, bursting into an inferno of passion that always seemed to hum like an undercurrent in a river, thrumming under their skin.
And at the end, Lan Zhan never failed to take Wei Ying's left hand and kiss the candy diamond ring, the one he never took off, not even to shower.
Life was incredibly good, together.
*****************
They made it into a party.
It wasn't supposed to be. But XiChen was bringing his fiancé, and MingJue told Nie Huaisang that he had to come along, that he was spending too much time in front of his screen. Somehow, word reached Baoshan Sanren and she came to visit, armed with Mo XuanYu, Xiao XingChen, Song Lan and A-Qing.
They put music on and this time, it was Michael Buble, his lovely deep voice reminding them of the season drifting through the Bluetooth speakers and lifting their spirits.
"Are you sure you bought enough?" A-Qing groused, looking at the piles of toy car boxes, the Lego series' and the board games. There were dolls from varying sizes, babies through to girl band members, yo-yos, Rubik's cube, classic and the newer shapes, Nintendo gameboys and puzzle books.
Wei Ying had stopped them from buying anything too expensive, like the PlayStation and X-boxes that Lan Zhan kept looking at, and he couldn't really answer the "why not?" that Lan Zhan had casually asked him.
"Well, the sooner we start, the sooner we can go deliver," MingJue says, and it's a hive of activity after that.
They sort themselves out into work stations, with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan helping A-Yuan and JingYi wrap their presents with guidance on cutting the correct sized paper, and adding a nice message on the tag, letting the children stick the satin bows on the finished items.
Either Song Lan or Xiao XingChen drifted in between everyone picking up their rubbish, and taking the white plastic sacks to the cars parked outside.
They took a break for the humans before continuing to wrap, though there was clearly less enthusiasm on everyone's part when they returned.
"Next time, please can we pay someone to do it?" Wei Ying whines, falling onto the floor in a dramatic starfish sprawl, blinking up at Lan Zhan, who couldn't resist giving him an upside down kiss on his forehead. "Think about it this way: we're funding someone's Christmas dinner!" Wei Ying flutters his eyelashes and one dislodges, making Lan Zhan release a noise of dismay.
There's a chorus of subdued agreement and Lan Zhan winds up agreeing, but he knows that come next year, they'll all want a repeat of today.
The shared tasks and enduring of paper cuts, sticking bows on parcels, chatting amongst themselves and laughing together was a good experience for all, and they will want to do it all again, next year.
So he smiles indulgently at his husband as he pulls Wei Ying up from the floor.
"It is time to go and deliver the presents," he says, amid cheers from everyone as they get ready to leave.
When Lan Zhan looks into Wei Ying's beautiful silver eyes, he hopes that today will become part of their new tradition to enjoy every year from now on.
*****************
In the week after Christmas, Heathcliff informs them that he's moving out for good. It's too cold for him to stay alone on the ex-ranch, and his son is pushing him to come and live with him.
There are enough rooms upstairs for the boys to have their own but they opt for one with large bunk beds, and they, as a family, decorate it in the same way as the one in Lan Zhan's flat.
Though now, it should be called Huaisang's flat, because he moved there as soon as the ex-ranch became Lan Zhan and Wei Ying's new home. They were still staying in the Manor for now, wanting to give their children some stability after changing schools, plus they needed the extra help in raising the twins.
No matter how well-behaved Juhua and Meihua were, it was still exhausting to go through the never ending cycles of feeding, changing, putting them to sleep etc. And having those extra pairs of hands was worth more than any independence they could have when living away from home.
The 12th of January was A-Yuan's birthday.
When Wei Ying asked him what he wanted for his special day, A-Yuan had smiled and told them he already had everything he wanted: a brother and two sisters, who were taking ages to grow up, but they were trying so he didn't mind too much, and he had a grandfather and a grandmother, but best of all, he had Baba and A-Die. So he only wanted a special hug from his favourite people.
Wei Ying cried.
How was it possible that his own son, that he had birthed from his own body, could turn out to be so loving and so great, he had exclaimed, wailing louder when Lan Zhan said that was exactly the reason why, because A-Yuan was Wei Ying's son.
So again, they tried for a little dinner party and got a big one instead, since no one was capable of keeping their mouth shut especially when it came to either A-Yuan, JingYi or the twins.
***************
Lan Zhan's birthday came along soon after, on the 23rd of January.
There was only one thing he wanted and only Wei Ying could help, but neither predicted what happened instead.
They received a thick manilla envelope that morning, with both of their names upon it.
Wei Ying saw the return address and shoved the whole thing at him, terrified at what it might contain, while Lan Zhan slowly ripped it open, puzzled by Wei Ying's reaction.
Documents pertaining to their adoption of Juhua and Meihua, approving them in the eyes of the law as the parents and guardians of the twins, the two little girls who gave the sweetest of toothless gummy smiles, eyes wide and shining with warmth and happiness, their tiny perfect fingers holding onto their family whenever a finger or thumb came close by.
Wei Ying cried enough for both of them.
***********
Next was the surprise party that XiChen threw for Lan Zhan. Again, it was held in his ex-flat, imposing on an indifferent Nie Huaisang who didn't seem to mind.
Lan Zhan did, though.
Parties were not his 'thing', and had never been, so why was he expected to smile and chat, and Heaven forbid, "mingle"??
His patience ran out when XiChen came to check on him, as he watched his social butterfly of a husband flitting about the room and thanking everyone for coming.
XiChen took one look at his face and said, "Didi, I-"
"You are going to babysit both A-Yuan and JingYi tonight, as a present for me. Thank you, Xiongzhang." And with that, Lan Zhan walked past a contrite older brother as he collected Wei Ying and they left as fast as they could.
"Bofu!! Let's plaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!" The boys say enthusiastically, kidnapping him into their room where they've mixed up multiple sets of Lego.
It was going to be a long night....