Hard choice (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 2)

Chapter 20

Wei Wuxian went to wake up the children but stooped in between the door to A-Yuan's room. He had long accepted his son's decision that he wanted to share the room with Mo Xuanyu although the previous arrangement – having A-Yuan and A-Yi share a single room and giving Mo Xuanyu the other one – had been done in order to give the traumatized boy as much space as possible.

But in the end, Wei Wuxian had to admit that A-Yuan's intuition was spot on. The child had always been very sharp, intelligent and caring, now more than ever. It seemed almost like a special bond had been forged the two boys. Somehow, and Wei Wuxian had no idea how, A-Yuan could tell what Mo Xuanyu needed even better than he himself and had immediately become very protecting of him. Wei Wuxian had no intention of stopping this behaviour, especially not when it was actually helping.

And now he was standing here and looking at his two precious boys, cuddled together and holding their hands. He was no stranger to such a sight; it was a normal occurrence ever since Moi Xuanyu came to live with them.

Wei Wuxian knew perfectly well that this arrangement had been born from necessity, he had heard the soothing whispering in the middle of the night when Mo Xuanyu would wake up from a nightmare and A-Yuan would be calming him down. The first time it had happened, he had wanted to immediately rush over and go help Mo Xuanyu, however, Lan Zhan had stopped him. Only later had Wei Wuxian understood why, A-Yuan was like a medicine for Mo Xuanyu, there was no need to intervene.

Yes, the sight of the two boys sleeping in the same place did not surprise him. What however did was the fact that today, they were not laying on the mattress but instead in the bed. Wei Wuxian smiled fondly. A-Yuan had done it yet again. He had managed to somehow surpass Mo Xuanyu's apparently deep-rooted fear of beds. And who would blame the boy, for all Wei Wuxian knew, nothing good had ever happened to him there. He could still remember the visit to the hospital where he had confirmed the suspicions that Mo Xuanyu had been abused also sexually.

There was suddenly a hand being put around his waist and a quiet questioning sound. Lan Zhan must have been worried since he was taking so long and came to see what was happening. Wei Wuxian turned around for a brief moment, just long enough to give his husband a chaste good morning kiss, one of many already given today. He looked back inside the room and leaned against his husband's chest and whispered fondly: "Just look at them, are they not adorable?"

Lan Zhan stepped a little forward while still keeping him in his arms and peeked inside the room. "Hm, A-Yuan has done good." He confirmed Wei Wuxian's thoughts. He had also noticed the change and was apparently proud of their son for making it happen.

Wei Wuxian sighed a little and chuckled: "I almost do not want to wake them up. But it cannot be helped I guess, we will all miss school otherwise."

This time, it was Lan Zhan who kissed him. He then let go of him and went downstairs to finish preparing breakfast. Wei Wuxian took one more look at the sleeping boys, he wanted to preserve this image in his memory. But it was really time to start preparing for school, he had to hurry.

He was afraid that Mo Xuanyu could not be entirely alright after waking up in a bed, at least until his sleepy mind would remember that nothing bad would happen to him in their home. Even more so if he would see an adult looming over him. That would hardly be a good morning. So, Wei Wuxian refrained from going to the room and wake the boys as he usually would, with a gentle caress on their soft hair.

He voted for a gentle call of their names from where he stood: "A-Yuan, A-Yu, it is time to wake up."

Just as he had expected, Mo Xuanyu was the first one to open his eyes. He blinked a few times and shot up into a sitting position, looking around as if he had truly forgotten where he was. It was sad really, Wei Wuxian suspected that is mind was still in his wooden shack and now he was wondering where he had been brought in his sleep. The child continued looking around, still blinking, trying to take in his surroundings. Wei Wuxian was not such an optimist to hope that Mo Xuanyu was aware of being in bed because he had gotten in of his own free will during the night.

Luckily, before any stronger reaction could occur, A-Yuan also woke up. He was good with mornings so it did not even take him a second to already turn towards the other boy and greet him cheerily: "Good morning, A-Yu, I hope you slept well."

Mo Xuanyu immediately turned towards him as if attracted by some mysterious power. He blinked one more time, even more adorably than before, and his lips were already stretching in a shy smile. He nodded his head in response.

Wei Wuxian smiled to himself and left they boys to prepare for school. He still had to wake up A-Yi which was a much harder task. His youngest son was usually pretty grumpy in the mornings and needed a lot more prompting and care than just a simple wake-up call.

The rest of their routine went on as per usual. The children prepared their school bags and came downstairs to eat their breakfast. Today was a special treat: pancakes. Wei Wuxian made sure to put an extra serving of fresh fruits onto Mo Xuanyu's portion. He should not play favourites, he knew, but he just had to reward the boy for his courage and for trying to overcome his fears.

After thinking twice about it, Wei Wuxian also added some more fruit to A-Yuan's plate, after all, his older son had managed to encourage Mo Xuanyu to step out of his comfort zone. Not only this once, but during this whole week, he deserved some reward as well.

And lastly, Wei Wuxian added another serving also onto A-Yi's pancakes. He could not let his youngest go without the sweet reward either. Even he had helped Mo Xuanyu in his own way and he had been so sweet with him. Really, all his boys were so considerate and kind, how had Wei Wuxian ever come to deserve to have such perfect sons?

Lan Zhan was watching him serving the children their meal with one raised eyebrow, he usually did not approve giving them too much sugar in the morning. However, Wei Wuxian only shrugged his shoulders and continued smiling widely. If it was just this once, even his husband could not say anything about spoiling their children's tastes and stomachs. They deserved to be shown love, even if it was only in this way.

After they put the dirty dishes into the washing machine, they all headed for the door. It was high time to leave if they did not want to be late. Wei Wuxian was already outside of the door and unlocking the car, when he heard his husband ask: "A-Yu, what do you have in your bag?"