Beware The Curse Of Yo

22. Holiday Cheer

Yo hid his smile in Love's baby-fine hair. Ming had argued with Kit over using a wheelchair after just being just discharged from the hospital, and somehow Ming had won without having to use sad eyes or stomp off angrily. He shared an amused glance with Pha. Kit was so whipped for Ming.

Ming cradled his firstborn, Pete, to his chest, kissing the tiny forehead lovingly. "So, are we doing this or not?"

Beam snorted, immediately covering his mouth and pretending to cough when Kit shot him a look. "My parents are gone on business, so they said we can use their house."

"Their house? Isn't it still your house, too?" Forth asked his boyfriend.

"Eh," Beam shrugged. "My house, their house. Who cares? It's a house we can have our Christmas party at without people bothering us."

Mick started squirming in Kit's arms, making whimpery noises with his face screwed up in displeasure. "Um..." Kit looked at Ming with a blank expression. "Is he hungry?"

Ming bit back a smile at how helpless Kit was. "Here, switch with me," he carefully exchanged one twin for the other, then went and sat on the couch to nurse Mick. He'd already done it a few times at the hospital, and at least once since they got back to their apartment. Yo helped him the first time, reassuring him when the baby's mouth felt weird suckling at his nipple for nourishment. Now, he didn't really register it. He was just feeding his precious babies.

"I called ahead for the maids to decorate everything but the tree," Beam said.

Ming looked up. He hadn't noticed Beam leaving the living room to make a call.

"Oh, good," Yo's eyes lit up. "I love decorating the tree! I had one in my room back at the mansion and I'd decorate it every Christmas with Ming. Remember, Ming?"

Ming smiled at the memories. They were in elementary school the first time they'd done such a thing. Lynn had helped them smuggle in the decorations, then stood guard in the hall while they had their fun with the tree, letting them know when Kasem had come home. He hadn't known at the time Kasem would've had the tree removed, had he known about it, but thanks to Lynn that never happened.

"Yo, we owe P'Lynn a nice gift."

Yo's smile grew sad at Ming's words. "Yeah...we do. She did so much for us when we were kids, didn't she."

Ming nodded silently. He lifted Mick up as soon as he was done and began to softly rub his back for a burp. No sooner had he put Mick to his shoulder, then Pete began to squall for his turn with his mother.

Kit gently rocked Pete, though it didn't seem to help. He met Pha's sad gaze with one of his own. What kind of childhood had Ming had? His couldn't have been as bad as Yo's, but surely he'd had his own set of problems.

Ming once again exchanged babies with Kit, feeding Pete now. "You don't have to look at each other like that," he said, not looking at Kit who was now surprised. "It wasn't quite as bad as it sounded. We sometimes put up a tree in my room instead of Yo's. My mother would have it taken down the day after instead of letting me keep it up as long as I wanted until I argued with her over it. Just to keep the peace, Yo and I only put it in his room after that."