BAD NEIGHBORS

SBAM!

If there was one thing Shen Yue loved madly, it was the Christmas market in her old city.
The streets, lit with warm and colorful lights, were filled with stalls selling all kinds of Christmas accessories... Christmas tree and house decorations, electronic Santas singing and swaying to the rhythm of music, red and gold tableware...
There were even stations with wood stoves, where roasted chestnuts were prepared.
There was a magical atmosphere in the air, made up of laughter, smiles and cheerful cries of children.
Despite the cold, that magic was enough to warm the whole city.
Yue and her friends, every year since they were children, used to attend that event all together.
And that year was no exception.
They met in front of the large pine tree decorated by the villagers, in the small square where they used to play together in the morning before running to school.
"Yueyue! Have you eaten too much chocolate cake?!"
In Shen Yue's fifth month of pregnancy, little Sally looked at the girl's baby bump in amazement.
The little girl was not yet aware of the situation.
"Sally!" Connor scolded her.
But everyone burst out laughing.
Shen Yue leaned over just to reach her height and stroked her face.
"No, honey. There's a baby in here," she told her, pointing to her belly.
"A BABY?! ARE YOU PREGNANT?!"
Yue laughed, Sally was smart.
She nodded and smiled as she saw her joy appear on her face.
"So you will be a mom?"
"Yup".
"Is it a girl?"
"A boy".
"Oh... Too bad."
"But you can still play together... I always played with your dad! And then I'll need you, you know? I know you're a very good mommy" Yue told her.
Sally hugged the doll she was holding in her arms with a proud smile.
"It is true!" she exclaimed.
After a second of reflection, another question came.
"What's his name?"
"Didi and I are still thinking about it."
"Didi?"
"He's his daddy."
The little girl's eyes widened and rested on Wang He Di.
"What luck! I too would like a dad like Didi!"
Dylan was surprised and touched by those words... He hoped his baby tiger  would be just as happy to have a father like him.
"Thanks, Sally" Connor muttered.
"Dad! Didi is handsome!"  Sally defended herself.
"Get ready, my friend... You will have sleepless nights, you will find your shirts dirty with vomit, you will get your hands dirty with poop and pee... Only to hear they say certain things" complained her father, turning to Dylan.
Everyone laughed and hugged poor Connor.

===

"How are you, dear?"
Jaqi, Zi Wei, Xiao Wen and Yue were sitting on a low wall eating roasted chestnuts while the boys were helping Sally choose a balloon.
"I need to pee" Yue replied.
"Again?! I can't believe it!" Zi Wei exclaimed.
Yue's eyes became watery and an adorable pout appeared on her face.
"Here! You're making her cry again!"  Xiao Wen scolded her friend, who covered her face with one hand.
For some time now Yue had become super sensitive... She cried for every little thing, for the most trivial reasons.
"Didi must be a saint to be able to bear you every day" Wang Zi Wei snorted.
At those words, the girls instinctively turned to Dylan.
"They left him alone" Jaqi said, noticing that the others were no longer with him.
"And Sally gave him her doll" Xiao Wen grinned.
"What is he doing? He looks strange..." Yue whispered.
They stood there watching him for a while...
Dylan looked flustered.
He was holding the doll by one foot and looked at her with a frightened expression.
"Ok, it can't be that difficult. I can do it. Ok, baby tiger, come here" they heard him say to himself.
Dylan lifted the doll and tried to take it another way.
"Is he rehearsing when he has to hold your baby?" Jaqi whispered, surprised.
Yue felt her heart beating in her throat.
That moment was so silly and so sweet at the same time. She felt her tears threaten to come down when...
SBAM!
The doll landed on the ground with a thud.
Dylan's eyes filled with panic and Yue thought he was adorable.
She got up with some effort and joined him.
"Hey" she called him.
"Tiger! I'll kill our baby! I can't hold him!" he said, desperate.
Yue holds back a laugh.
She took the doll from his hands and helped him hold it correctly.
"Here, like this."
"Oh..."
"You're good! See? You won't kill our baby!"
"Our baby tiger... Will he be as small as this doll?"
"Even smaller, I think".
Panic returned to Wang He Di's gaze.
Shen Yue took his face in her hands and smiled at him.
"Relax, my love!"
That word alone helped him calm down.
It was nice when she called him that.
"I won't make him fall, will I?" he asked her, still a little worried.
"No. When you will have him in your arms, it will all be very natural... Your mom told me this. Baby Tiger is too precious, you will do anything to protect him and not hurt him" Yue reassured him.
"Ok... I want to believe you... Come on, you take it! I want to see what a beautiful mom you will be!"
Yue blushed and took the doll.
Seen from the outside, they might have looked ridiculous and weird, but for them that was an important moment.
"I can't wait to have him here with us" Wang He Di whispered.
Yue looked up at him, a small tear bathing her face.
"Hey! Are you playing with my doll?!"
Sally's shrill voice behind them frightened them.
And...
SBAM!
The doll landed on the floor again.
Dylan and Yue looked at each other with wide eyes, in another mini moment of panic, but then they burst out laughing.
"That new parenting class you told me about... Let's do it. I know it will all happen naturally, but I have a feeling that Baby Tiger would feel safer" Dylan said.
"Yes, better. But now I really have to pee" Yue laughed.

===

While the guys continued their walk along the streets of the Christmas market, someone saw them from afar and hurried to join them.
"Shen Yue!"
Everyone stopped and turned to Ms. Shen, surprised.
"It's... nice to see you" the woman said.
Her eyes wandered from her, to Dylan, to little Sally, who was between them, holding them by the hand.
They looked like a family...
Yue didn't answer.
"Your belly is already so big!"  the embarrassment in the woman's voice was evident.
The last time she spoke to her daughter on the phone, her intentions were to make peace with her, but the conversation didn't end well.
She had offended Wang He Di again and Shen Yue, again, had pulled out her claws to defend him.
Since then it had become even more difficult to contact her.
Yue no longer let her cell phone ring empty, but she ended the call directly.
"Good evening, Ms. Shen" Dylan greeted politely.
"Hi" she replied coldly.
Not only had he snatched her little girl from a hypothetical come back with Jasper... He had also made her pregnant and made sure that her family was destroyed! She just couldn't like him.
"Are you okay, my darling? How's the pregnancy? Are you in pain?"  she asked Yue.
Yue didn't say a word.
All the others stood aside to watch that terribly tense scene.
Dylan didn't know what to do.
He wanted to help Yue mend that relationship...
"She's fine, thanks. Fortunately she's not in pain and... Uh! The baby has been moving and kicking for some time now, you know? But he seems to like the sound of my voice, because if I talk to him he calms down! It's extraordinary!" he answered instead of her.
Ms. Shen looked hurt.
"Do you have any plan for Christmas? We would like to invite you and Mr. Shen to dinner. My parents will be there too."
"No, we don't want to" Yue finally spoke.
"Yes, we do" Dylan replied, looking into her eyes.
He was tired of seeing her suffer.  Even though she wanted to appear strong, he knew how much she missed her family.
"I gladly accept the invitation" Ms. Shen said.
Yue sighed and finally her gaze met her mother's.
"I warn you: that day you will have to treat Wang He Di as if he were the most wonderful person you have ever seen on the face of the earth. At the first offense or inappropriate comment, you will never see me again."
Ms. Shen turned pale.
She nodded vigorously and greeted them.
The boys returned to them.
"All right?" they asked, worried.
"I have to pee again" Yue muttered.
Dylan walked her back to the bathroom.
When she walked out, he knew instantly that she had been crying.
He hugged her tightly.
"Sorry I invited them without asking your permission..." he whispered.
"It's okay. I know you're doing this for me. I'm sorry you have to be in this situation" she replied in a trembling voice.
"Shh... It's okay, everything will work out. Now stop crying, hmm?"
He cuddled her until she had calmed down completely.
"Sally is right: Baby Tiger is lucky to have a dad like you... Even if he will risk falling."
"Tsk! I'm handsome. That's all that matters" he grinned.
The two exchanged a kiss full of tenderness.
"I'm hungry..." Yue sighed then.
"Again?!"
The girl's glare silenced him.
"Okay, my sexy little tiger! Let's go find something to eat!" Dylan laughed.
Hand in hand, as always, they felt stronger.

Author's Corner
Ciao!
Here is another short chapter 😊
I really hope Baby tiger won't end up like Sally's doll 😂
Thanks for everything!
A big hug,
Lucrezia