A Son Of Two Dad's

Three's The Charm

The next day, day 5 of boat confinement (or prison as MK and Mei had taken to calling it) consisted of relaxing. True to Macaque's warning MK had woken up sore all over and had spent the morning lying in bed, exhausted. He'd gotten up in the afternoon and had promptly spent the rest of the day drawing calmly for a while before simply watching cartoons with Mei snuggled up in bed until Macaque walked in. 

"Not up for training today I see." He snarked and MK ducked his head, face warm with embarrassment and shame. This felt exactly like one of those moments where someone said 'I told you so' and he was not enjoying it. He rubbed behind his neck, looking sheepish.

"Yeah, sorry Dad. I guess I should have listened to you." He admitted and Macaque gave him a small but real smile. 

"Yeah, I know, but I'm glad you're taking time off now. It's-" He paused suddenly, a look of regret and something else flashing across his face for just a moment. 

"-It's good to know your limits. There's not much point in pushing yourself too far." What he didn't tell MK was that it was a lesson he'd learned from MK himself pretty recently. 

MK nodded, noticing the more upset atmosphere and scootching over into Mei to make room on the ned next to him, a tentative, kind smile on his face. 

"Want to join us?" He invited, patting the space next to him and Macaque let out a small huff of disbelief at MK's enduring nature. He really was a good kid. 

"Sure, kid." 

MK cheered and Macaque laid down next to him, Mei handing the Demon a bag of chips as they settled down and pressed resume on the remote. 

They settled in, yelling at the screen and having fun, and eventually, they all ended up snuggling in a pile, wrapped around the blankets like a big burrito. 

About an hour in MK's eyes flickered gold and he grinned widely, blinking to get his vision back. 

"Monkey King!" He saw Monkey King, gold and waving, and rushed up to sit straight, unwrapping everyone from the cozy blanket cocoon which Mei groaned loudly at. 

He wished at that moment that his baba was actually here so he could hug him but settled for just waving manically, hovering around the image of the immortal. 

"Oh my gosh! It's so good to see you! How've you been? What have you been up to? How close are you to that map? Do you have it yet? Are you okay? How much have you been doing? Are you sleeping well? Eating?" He rushed out and Monkey King, had he actually been there, would have put a hand over his mouth to shush him. Since he couldn't, he resorted to cutting him straight off. 

"Woah, Woah, Woah, one question at a time kiddo, slow down. Chill out." MK flapped his hands in excitement, happily jumping from one foot to the other. 

"Sorry, sorry! I just missed you." He confessed and Monkey Kings' face softened, a rare smile forming on his face before he shoved the soft expression off with an awkward cough.

"Uh yeah, of course you did, pfft. Who wouldn't? I am amazing." He boasted, still unfamiliar with sincerity or intimacy but MK simply nodded like it was fact. He did that every time and every time it surprised Wukong.  

"Yes! Oh, also Mei and I-" He then continued to explain in detail his day even though he hadn't done too much today he was still excited about sharing every small thing with his baba from the food he ate at breakfast to what time he woke up. 

He remembered the drawing he'd started that afternoon and his eyes lit up, scrambling over to his bedside drawer to pull out his sketchbook and wave it at Monkey King. 

"And look at what I drew today! It isn't finished yet but I thought it was really cool." He opened the book and flicked the pages until he got to the last one, turning it around so that it was facing Monkey King to show a sketchy but good drawing of Macaque, MK, and Monkey King, all smiling together with MK in the middle, the twos' arms wrapped around MK's shoulders with big smiles on their faces.

"It's all three of us! Do you like it?" MK asked, trying to sound unbothered even though he was watching the others' reaction with hopeful, desperate eyes.  

It made something in Monkey King ache and a pang of both endearment, adoration, pride, and guilt flooded through him. He decided to ignore the other feelings and focus purely on the pride.  

"Wow, bud! That's amazing! You did a really good job. I see you've captured my greatness." He struck a boastful pose and MK giggled, smiling ear to ear. 

Though it had been MK that had asked Monkey King to check in once a day, it was Wukong who found himself making time and feeling excited about seeing MK, his kid. He knew he shouldn't really be wasting time like this when he was supposed to be in a hurry but he couldn't help it, time with MK was important to him somehow. 

Still, he couldn't talk forever and if he let MK keep going then they would be. 

"Hey, bud, I've got to get going now so I'll talk to you tomorrow." He waved and a pout formed on MK's lips before he shook it off and smiled brightly, waving enthusiastically. 

"Okay, bye baba!" He called and the golden image of Monkey King disappeared as MK stared at the vacant spot he'd been occupying. 

Then, forcing on a happy grin MK turned back around to the other two in the room, one who had been listening and one who had been waiting the whole time. 

"Thanks for waiting guys!" MK jumped back into the bed with them, wiggling until he was under the covers, and sat between Macaque and Mei before pointing exaggeratedly at the screen.

"Now let's continue with our marathon!" Sat with Mei and Macaque, eyes wandering to his sketchbook that he'd placed on the desk, MK couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd be happier if Monkey King were here as well. 

It felt like a selfish thought. He had everything he needed here after all and he loved his dad, still vibrating with excitement that he was snuggled up next to a parent that actually wanted to be around him and he was also with his best friend in the whole world, seeing her every day. 

He shouldn't wish for more, he shouldn't! He should just be grateful, and yet he missed Monkey King despite this.  

(Hey, hey! MK wanting his family to be together is adorable and I feel for him. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I had fun writing it and I'll see you all next time.)