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

Chapter 10

"A-Yu! Big brother! Come, it is morning! We can open our gifts now!" woke Mo Xuanyu a loud excited chanting which was approaching from the hallway. He opened his eyes, still sleepy and a little confused by all the fuss.

Someone sat up abruptly and when Mo Xuanyu looked at them with startled eyes, he realized that it was in fact his classmate, A-Yuan. He was immediately overcome by relief. His sleepy mind finally retrieved all his memories. It had been him who had agreed only days prior to try sleeping in a bed, under unsaid condition that his teddy bear and A-Yuan would be there to keep him safe.

"A-Yu, come, I am sure there will be presents for you as well." Now even A-Yuan was clearly excited. He jumped up from the bed with Mo Xuanyu's hand still in his and gently tugged at it to get his friend to stand up.

Mo Xuanyu himself was not so sure about the end of that statement, but if there were presents, A-Yuan and A-Yi did not deserve him slowing them down. And since neither of them seemed ready to run to the living room without him – although A-Yi was jumping up and down in place and looking out of the door – he let himself be roused out of bed. A-Yuan was looking very pleased and squeezed his hand while giving him a small smile. The one that Mo Xuanyu had come to associate with feelings of safety and warmth.

He was still not convinced that there were indeed any presents for him. Despite having his teacher reassure him over and over the day before, doubts remained. How could they go away when he knew he had not been a good boy to deserve receiving anything?

Sure, he had been allowed to keep the teddy bear he had gotten at school. Just as his teacher and the whole family had said, no one took it away from him. It was not the same as with his cousin back home. His teacher's husband even praised the teddy bear and the good care that Mo Xuanyu took of it. How could he not be extremely careful about the first gift he had ever gotten?

A-Yi's loud inarticulate squeal made Mo Xuanyu snap out of his musing. He had not even realized that they have arrived to the living room. He stopped in his tracks once his hesitant eyes erred towards the far corner of the room.

He had already seen the Christmas tree yesterday, but it did not stop him from marvelling at the view again. His own family never had such a nicely decorated tree, nor did they use little sparkling lights to make it look like it was magical. Right out from some fairy tale. Or like those big trees in the city, all decorated and sparkling for everyone to see and admire. The only difference was that this one was inside, for a single family to enjoy.

And enjoy it Mo Xuanyu did. How could he not when he had been called over by his teacher to help with putting on the decorations? Not ordered, called over and given a choice if he wanted to join in on what had looked like so much fun. What had been so much fun.

A stark difference between this morning and last evening was that the tree was no longer the only item in that corner of the living room. Today, under the high cut branches, there was a true mountain of presents. All wrapped in colourful wrapping papers and with big fancy ribbons. It all looked like something out of a dream. For a reason that Mo Xuanyu could not pinpoint, he had suddenly tears in his eyes.

"A-Yu! This one is for you!" A-Yi was standing right in front of him and holding a small yellow present.

Mo Xuanyu was staring at him and his mind was completely blank. He had not expected to actually get a present himself, perhaps at most being able to share the happiness of A-Yuan and A-Yi when they would go around unwrapping their gifts. It simply was too good to be true.

He blinked, hoping that the world would go back to how it should be. He opened them, and the world stayed just as bizarre and escaping his understanding as before. Though more people now stood in between the door.

"A-Yu, it is for you, you can take it," he was prompted kindly and patiently.

It was his teacher's order, a permission really, and Mo Xuanyu followed it mostly unconsciously. Before he could start double guessing himself or remember that he was in fact a bad boy, he was already holding the yellow box in his hands and A-Yi was running back to pick up another gift. Mo Xuanyu was left feeling completely overwhelmed and unsure of what he should do. He had never experienced this, opening presents on Christmas morning was not something he had taken part in before. Or, at least not as far as he remembered.

He stared at the bright colours in his hands and could not make sense of anything. Until there was a gentle hand put on his shoulder and his teacher was squatting next to him and wiping away his tears.

"A-Yu, everything is fine, I promise. The present is really for you, and no one is going to take it away. What about we go sit on the sofa and you can open it?" When Mo Xuanyu did not react, his teacher smiled even more brightly at him and pointed towards A-Yuan and A-Yi. "Look, they are already at it. Why do you not join them? I promise t is safe to do here."

Mo Xuanyu's stiff knees gave out only when his teacher stood back up and nudged him towards the other two. A-Yuan looked up at that moment and invited him over: "A-Yu, come here. There are more presents for you!"

That was the last straw. Mo Xuanyu could not hold himself back anymore. He was too excited to join his friends and to check if that small mountain of presents his classmate was pointing to really did have his name on it.

They did, every one last of them. Mo Xuanyu had never been happier in his life. He did not need any other prompting and his fingers started to slowly untying the ribbons and unwrapping the papers. He was taking his time, savouring every second of this new, thrilling and joyful feeling.

***

"Lan Zhan, you had a good idea, really," Wei Wuxian praised his husband later in the evening when all three of their children had worn themselves out by playing with their new toys. "It did help to have A-Yu receive the same presents as A-Yuan and A-Yi. I think he was not feeling so self-conscious about it."

"Mnn," Lan Zhan hummed non-committedly and continued playing with Wei Wuxian's hair, peppering small kisses to the crown of his husband's hair every so often. "He would have been happy even without such measures. You have helped ease his mind and encouraged him not to fear having the presents taken away."

"No, Lan Zhan, I am positive it was your idea that helped the most."

There was silence after this comment and the gentle ministrations of hair brushing stopped. Wei Wuxian wriggled around and looked at his husband questioningly.

Lan Zhan kissed him on the forehead and opposed his previous statement: "No, Wei Ying helped the most."

Wei Wuxian was stunned for a second but quickly picked himself up. He laughed: "Let us leave at a truce. Or we will never finish this. I think that perhaps it was everyone's effort, also A-Yuan's and A-Yi's, whether they know it or not, that helped A-Yu enjoy the Christmas. The most important is that he had a good time."

After several seconds, he added sorrowfully: "The only problem is that I will have to keep all the other presents that I had in mind for him until next year..."

"There is also birthday," reminded Lan Zhan after starting another kissing spree.

Yes, there was also birthday, Wei Wuxian thought. And many other occasions when he would be able to shower the boy with love and show him that his new family would only ever be good to him.

And they lived happily ever after...

This was really a short story about celebrating holiday season. Thanks for reading and I hope you were able to enjoy it. If you feel like it, I would be happy to know what you thought about it. :)