Into your heart! [ZhanYi FF]

Chapter 31 - The Dream Son

While Yibo put Jay and Judy to bed, the two of them insisting that their big brother put them to bed and read to them some more, Zhan stayed at the community center and still talked to Yibo's mother, who looked a little sad as the other mothers gathered their children and went home with them.

"It's not always easy when you see them walking with their children. My two sons are grown up and they don't need me anymore. Sometimes I feel empty you know? I always wanted to have more children but couldn't have any more. And now that Ana is expecting one more child, it's even harder for me." She said thoughtfully.

Zhan looked at her thoughtfully as well. "I'm not a wife and mother, and I can't put myself in your shoes. But I believe you when you say it's not easy for you. But you know what I think? You have sister wives and you say the children are all your children. No matter which mother gave birth to them. Why don't you join your sister wives once in a while and help them get the kids ready for bed and then put them to bed? You would have a meaningful task again and your sister wives would have a valuable support. Because I think with so many children, it is not always easy for them either. Especially when the husband and father, is mostly with his favorite wife and does not help them."

"So Yibo told you that I am the favorite wife?"

"Yes, he told me."

"It's not always easy for me either."

"That may be so. But it's not easy for the other women either. I don't know much about your faith or about polygamy in general. But I don't imagine it's easy either. Sharing the husband you love. Having many children and raising them almost entirely without a father. Or watching the other women have more children. For me, sharing the husband would probably be the worst. Knowing he's with another woman that night and they're sleeping with each other would make me furious with jealousy."

"The jealousy in our case is also a big problem. We all want to live like this because we are convinced of this faith and this life. Yet there is jealousy and envy."

"No wonder. You all love your husband. He's a great man, good-looking, and he loves his children very much."

"You're right. He loves his children. He loves them all very much. But did you know that he always calls Yibo his dream son?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"When Haikuan was born, he wasn't at home. He was at a continuing education program for his job. When he came home, his son was already there. A-Kuan was almost always asleep, and the bigger he got, the more it felt like he had already been born as an adult. He always wanted to be on his own. He could somehow never do much with his dad. The two got along great, but when it came to joint activities, they were fundamentally different and could never agree on anything. A-Kuan didn't feel like doing anything with his dad. His dad always thought he hated him. But it wasn't like that. At some point, A-Kuan said he just didn't know how to talk to his dad and that he didn't like his dad having other women besides his mom."

"I see."

"Well, and then I got pregnant again. I don't know why the other women hadn't gotten pregnant by then, but I had my second child. My husband was very excited. And because he had been promoted after his advanced training and had fixed working hours, he was able to be home much more often. He got to see much more of the pregnancy and experience it with me. When the day of the birth came, he was so excited that he practically raced to the birth center with me. It was two weeks before the due date and he was afraid something was wrong. He was driving really fast. And then all of a sudden the car broke down in the middle of the country road. We didn't have cell phones and the nearest emergency call box was miles away and no other car was coming. But the birth wouldn't wait, Yibo wanted out. So I laid down in the back seat in the car and explained to my husband what he needed to do. So not only was he there when Yibo was born, he got him out of me himself. After the birth, he held him crying in his arms. A police car happened to come by and they helped us. Well, I don't know if it's the fact that he helped give birth to Yibo, but the two have had a very close bond ever since. Yibo slept best when his dad held him in his arms. When he could crawl, he always crawled behind his dad. And when he could walk, he always walked behind him. When my husband was home, you could always hear, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. Yibo was crazy about him. He did a lot of things with him, even when one of the other women had her first child."