Mind blowing holidays (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Side story)

Chapter 6

As soon as Lan Wangji opened the door of his and Wei Ying's house, he knew that something was not right. He was sure that at this time, his husband and the three children should have still been baking the trial round of sugar cookies. And since he knew Wei Ying only too well, it was hard to imagine he would not make this into a particularly exciting and loud activity.

The thing was, the house was as silent as if no one was home. Which also could not be true, the door had been left unlocked, presumably waiting for his return.

Lan Wangji quickly put down his bag and took off his winter coat. With worry etched to his very being, he hurried to the kitchen.

Before he could reach it, Wei Ying suddenly appeared from the living room. He was keeping a finger across his lips, signalling to stay quiet. Lan Wangji stopped on the spot, his worry spiking through the roof. His husband's face was all worn out and pale as a ghost. Something must have happened! He only hoped that all the children were fine.

Wei Ying shot a look into the living room. Lan Wangji was now standing close to him and could see inside over the other's shoulder. He saw that all three of his boys were asleep on the couch and covered by a single blanket. Mo Xuanyu was in the middle, being sandwiched between the other two. It seemed like they were hugging him. When A-Yuan suddenly moved closer to Mo Xuanyu, the blanket fell a little to the side and Lan Wangji could see that one of A-Yu's hands was bandaged.

He took a step forward, intending to go inside and check that his son in all but name was alright. He knew it, something had happened! His instincts have been spot on.

Before Lan Wangji could however disturb the children's rest, Wei Ying took him by his arm and gestured back towards the entry way. Understanding bloomed in Lan Wangji's mind and he followed his husband to talk behind closed door so they would not wake the boys up.

As soon as they were out of sight, but not earshot, Wei Ying drew closer and buried his face in Lan Wangji's chest. Lan Wangji hugged back and stayed silent, hoping to provide support and reassurance with his presence. He had no idea what could have happened and how, the only knew that his husband was distressed and needed him right now.

After several minutes of silence, Wei Ying finally spoke: "Lan Zhan, do you think I am a terrible parent and guardian?"

Lan Wangji was not completely shocked by the question. Although it was breaking his heart to hear it, he was aware that his husband was often feeling insecure, especially when it came to caring for their children and being a good and responsible parent. With his own childhood being less than ideal and lacking a proper example, it was understandable really. After all, he knew from fist-hand experience how painful it could feel to be to be hurt by the people who were supposed to take care of him and love him unconditionally.

Understandable, yes, but that did not mean Lan Wangji was about to leave him dwelling in self-doubt. He leaned down and kissed the crown of his husband's hair. Since Wei Ying was still keeping his face buried in Lan Wangji's chest, that was the only place he could comfortably reach. He hugged him tighter and started gently running soothing circles into the small of his back.

"Wei Ying, that is not true," he made sure to speak slowly so the message could sink deep. "Tell me, what happened?"

Unfortunately, Lan Wangji was well aware that his husband would not believe his simple words of reassurance. He had to bring him to realize he could not have done anything differently. For it was as clear as day to Lan Wangji that Wei Ying had in fact done all he could no matter what the situation surrounding Mo Xuanyu's injury could have been.

A dam was broken with his prompting and words were pouring out of his husband's mouth as if he was afraid to forget some important detail if he did not let everything out as fast as possible:

"Lan Zhan, it was so heart-breaking. A-Yu have been baking cookies from who knew how early in the morning. When I came to the kitchen – you know I wanted to surprise the kids with preparing everything ahead of time even though we already kind of did last evening – I scared A-Yu so much he dropped a hot tray and got burned. It was all my fault, I should have expected that he would try something like this... Remember the first day he came to us? He had cooked breakfast for all of us then as well. His family must have forced him to prepare everything for Christmas, even the baking... He is so young, Lan Zhan, he should not be touching neither a stove nor an oven. It was because of me that he got burned..."

Lan Wangji scrunched his forehead a little bit. This seemed serious. For a second, he had no idea how he should go about reassuring Wei Ying that it had not in fact been his fault, but the fault of the terrible relatives that Mo Xuanyu had lived with before. The rest, that had been just an accident.

Carefully and while continuing his hopefully soothing ministrations, he asked: "Is it bad?"

Wei Ying hesitantly shook his head in Lan Wangji's chest: "Not too much. We put it under running water and I sent Wen Qing a photo. She said some first aid burn cream would be enough to treat it and A-Yu should be fine in a couple of days. But still..."

Lan Wangji had heard enough. He eased the hand which had been until now on Wei Ying's back and used it to gently pull his husband's head up so they would be looking into each other's eyes. Wei Ying stopped talking immediately, but he still looked very guilty. His eyes were suspiciously red, but luckily, he was not crying. Even if only barely.

"Wei Ying, you did all you could. It was just an accident. You could not have known."

"But I..."

This time, Lan Wangji's hand travelled to his husband's lips to silence him. "If anyone is at fault, it is those horrible people A-Yu had been living with until now. All we can do is to slowly help him heal."

They stayed like that for a minute or so. Lan Wangji did not move his finger and only concentrated on passing the message to his husband with his eyes. He needed Wei Ying to understand his point. He only let go when he got a small nod in response. His husband still looked a little guilty, but he was not arguing and taking the blame onto himself anymore. Lan Wangji counted that as a success and rewarded Wei Ying with a tender kiss.

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind: "What about A-Yuan and A-Yi?"

His other sons had visibly been fine, but such a stressful moment must have shaken them greatly. They had not seemed hurt at least.

"They are fine," Wei Ying reassured with a little smile, "they only cried a little when they discovered A-Yu got hurt. They cried themselves to sleep while hugging him. And A-Yu had been so tired that he had fallen asleep as well not long after." It looked like Wei Ying was finally starting to come back to his usual self and his expression cleared: "On the bright side, the cookies are prepared so we can go directly to the decorating part once those three sleepyheads wake up!"

Lan Wangji nodded in agreement. While he was concerned about Mo Xuanyu, he knew that it would do the boy a lot of good to still have his fun even when he was injured. They could somehow manage.

Wei Ying's face fell a little as if he just remembered something: "I just wonder what should we do for Christmas? I could be mistaken, but I have a feeling... I do not think that he had ever gotten a present of his own. I cannot say it would not distress him if we shower him with everything I have in mind... He had been so shocked and reluctant to accept anything when we have been out to buy him more clothes."

This had been weighing on Lan Wangji's mind as well. He wanted to give Mo Xuanyu the best Christmas possible, but he too had been hesitating. Luckily, he had already considered several options and had been ready to discuss them with his husband.

"I may have a plan."