It is only four hours away to Yixing’s flight to Changsha where he’ll be playing for his cousin’s wedding. But instead of finishing packing his luggage, he’s here making a list of things Shixun likes to eat and what he likes to do to leave to his husband.

“Xing, you don’t have to write everything down.” Yifan reminds him from the other side of the table. “He’s my son too, you know.” There is a slight hint of hurt in Yifan’s tone that makes Yixing stop writing down the word broccoli.

“I know.” Yixing looks up with a guilty smile before continuing, “I’m just making sure you won’t forget.”

“Am I the forgetful one in this family?” Yifan playfully knocks Yixing’s forehead before leaning forward to give it a light kiss.

Yixing would have taken Shixun with him but the kid still has school and he’s already been out way too many times to have another absence. It doesn’t help that him playing at the wedding is a late request from his cousin.

They hear light footsteps coming down from the stairs and they prepare themselves for their energy-filled son but what enters in their dining area is anything but.

Yixing immediately crouches down to his son’s level and pats down his head and face to check his temperature.

“Baby, are you okay?” Shixun just nods as a response. He’s clearly not.

The kid is usually bursting with energy even in the morning and to see him this quiet makes them worry.

“Baba, do you really have to go?” Shixun asks with a quiet voice, with him now seated on the dining table beside his Dad and in front of his Baba.

Of course that is what’s bothering him.

Ever since Shixun was born, Yixing has always been there beside him. If Yixing had to go somewhere, he would take his son with him because Yifan is too busy at work to be able to take care of him properly. Yixing has always been the mother figure in their home and to not have that for even just a day must be worrisome for the little kid.

“I really have to. Daddy’s going to take care of you well, won’t you daddy?” Yixing looks at his husband who almost chokes on his coffee when he hears himself being called Daddy by Yixing. Not exactly the right thoughts to have at the moment but he manages to nod and pat his son’s head.

They successfully drop Shixun to school without tears, a miracle really, considering how the kid is very clingy to Yixing. Yifan drives Yixing to the airport afterwards with a promise to take care of their son well in his absence.

“I know you will.” Yixing tiptoes to give his husband a kiss after hearing his promise. Yifan waits for Yixing to check-in, walks him before immigration and kisses him long and deep before letting him go with a flushed face and swollen lips. He smiles with satisfaction for the look he’s left on his husband. He only leaves when Yixing waves him goodbye and sends him a flying kiss before disappearing deeper into the airport.

***

Yifan picks up Shixun at school this time and he’s thankful he did not come too late and have his kid wait for him for so long.

He was surprised to see Shixun playing with another kid on the see-saw when he arrived. He would have thought that his son would be the last one.

The kid beams when he sees his father and instantly bolts to him once his side of the see-saw touches the ground.

“Daddy!” Yifan pulls Shixun up and gives him a hug. He feels all of the exhaustion from the day quickly dissipating when he feels the tiny arms wrap around his neck.

“Are you ready to go?” The boy shakes his head and points at the see-saw where his former playmate is still sitting on his end.

“I need to say bye bye to TaoTao.” The kid utters the words so adorably, he gives Yifan no option but to put him down and watch him run to his friend to give him a hug.

When Shixun runs back to him, he asks the boy: “Will your friend be okay? Where are his parents?”

“His parents own this place.” Shixun answers matter-of-factly as he picks up his neglected backpack and lunchbox. Yifan gets his little ones belongings and slings them to his shoulders before walking hand-in-hand with his child. Although he has to bend down a little bit to do so, it is rare that he gets to do this for his son so a little pain wouldn’t hurt.

Dinner started out with a little chaos since Yifan wanted to cook for his son. It was one of Yixing’s request, for him not to buy their child fast food for any meal. However, they still ended up ordering pizza when Yifan accidentally burned the meat he was cooking for his son.

He knows Yixing will not like it when he hears about it but he doesn’t want to lie to his husband either so when he does call before Shixun’s bedtime, Yifan spills it all.

“How is it going over there?” Yifan asks while he watches his son brush his teeth all by himself. Yixing has reminded him to allow their kid to do most of the stuff by himself and only help when he sees that their child is stuck.

“I should be the one asking that.” Yixing answers playfully before repeating Yifan’s question back.

“Shixun’s brushing his teeth right now and we’ll probably head to bed after this.”

“Good. What did you have for dinner?” Yifan stays silent as he watches Shixun gargle and spit the water out of his mouth. The kid turns to him and smiles, big and bright to show off his clean teeth. He gives the kid a thumbs up before hauling him up and out of his footstool.

“Babe, what did you have for dinner?” Yixing repeats his question when he didn’t get a reply.

“Pizza.” There’s a gasp from the other line which Yifan already prepared himself for. He was waiting for Yixing to get mad and tell him off but Shixun asked for his cellphone so he can talk to his father.

“Baba~” The kid’s cheerful tone eases Yixing out and he can’t help but return the chipper greeting.

“How is my baby?” He asks with a smile when he hears Shixun huffing to get to his bed.

“I’m fine, baba. I’m going with daddy to work tomorrow so I have to sleep early.” The kid yawns and rubs his eyes while answering. Yifan watches with a fond smile on his face and tucks his son in. He rarely gets to do this since he’s been very busy at work that he always has to stay back late, robbing him of the opportunity to at least tuck his son to bed.

“Okay, baby. Make sure you behave at daddy’s work, okay?” Yixing reminds his son even if he knows Shixun is a good boy, he can never be sure with kids especially when they’re in a new place with no one to play with.

“Yes, baba.” Shixun yawns again and Yixing bids him a good night before asking his son to give the phone back to his husband.

“Baba, can you sing me to sleep?” Yifan figures it will take some time so he sits beside his son’s small bed and waits for sleep to take over the kid. He can hear Yixing singing a popular lullaby to their kid and even he can feel his eyes closing because of the sound of his husband’s voice. To avoid himself from falling asleep, he moves his hand to lightly pat their son on the legs to bring him to sleep.

Their tandem easily works on their son, remembering how he and Yixing would always do this when Shixun started sleeping in his own room. He would always ask his parents to do those things for him so he can sleep easily. It surprises Yifan that it still works until now, even when they haven’t been able to do this for their son in a while.

He plucks the cellphone out of Shixun’s tiny hands then he pulls the blanket up to the kid’s chin before turning off the small lamp beside his son’s bed. He can still hear Yixing singing the lullaby on the other line, completely unaware that their son is already fast asleep. Yifan leaves their child’s room with the cellphone stuck to his ear, just listening to his husband’s voice. Yixing picks up on the sound of the door being closed and stops singing.

“Is he asleep now?” The younger asks, abruptly stopping his singing much to Yifan’s dismay; the older replies with a hum as he gets to their bedroom, immediately ing his dress shirt to give his body a room to breathe.

“Honey,” Yixing starts and Yifan already knows where this is going, “I told you not to give the kid fast food. Now he’ll ask me to buy him pizza for dinner.”

“I’m sure he won’t. Look Xing, I tried cooking for him but would you rather I give our son burnt meat or pizza?” Yixing pauses and lets that simmer in.

“Okay, fine.” Yixing huffs out, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“That’s alright. I should head to bed soon too.” Yixing is suddenly reminded that his husband still has work the next day.

“Oh, right. Honey, I’m sorry you have to bring Shixun to work tomorrow.” Yifan wonders why Yixing always has to ask forgiveness for this when Shixun is also his responsibility.

“It’s okay. I also want him to see where his dad works.”

“But you also have to take care of him on top of working.”

“Hey, I said it’s okay. Besides, I hardly ever get to do this for our son.” Yifan is about ready to wash up and get some sleep now, his eyes are already closing too. “Go to sleep, baby. You still have to play at the wedding tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Yixing reluctantly lets go of Yifan because they both have things to do the next day. “Good night, Fanfan.”

“Night night, baby.”

***

Getting Shixun out of bed early the next morning was easier than Yifan expected. It was a good thing the kid went to sleep early the previous night. The boy must have been exhausted from all that playing he did the whole day.

They’re out of the house early before traffic can even start clogging up the roads. Shixun just had cereals while Yifan only had his usual coffee. He promised to buy the kid food once they get to the office because he knows that a cereal isn’t exactly filling.

They get to Yifan’s company at just the usual time the CEO clocks in. He’s glad he didn’t have to wrestle his kid out of bed and into the shower just to get to work early.

The six-year old dutifully carried his backpack with him while he held his father’s hand so as not to get lost in the huge building.

“Good morning, Mr. Wu.” The receptionist greets him before seeing the small child beside him, “Oh good morning, Mr. Little Wu.” She adds when she sees the kid, hand tightly gripping his father’s.

“Good morning.” Shixun bows after Yifan has said his greeting as well. They take the elevator silently but Yifan can feel his son’s palm sweating against his.

“Are you okay, son?” Yifan inquires, lightly yanking Shixun’s hand to get his attention. The kid just nods and follows his father out of the elevator silently. He thinks his son just wants to be brave and not show that he’s nervous to be around these people who he’s meeting for the first time. The kid is also probably worried about making a good impression or else he will embarrass his father.

“Okay. Are you ready to see daddy’s office?” The kid instantly lights up at the question and nods excitedly. They reach the end of the hallway where a man greets them, Yifan’s secretary and Shixun’s godfather.

“Hi Shixun!” Lu Han greets when he sees the kid, foregoing a morning exchange with his boss in favor of giving the kid a hug.

“Do you think you can help me with your daddy’s work today?” Lu Han asks the child and Yifan is thankful their son gets along well with him. Whenever he and Yixing would go out for a night, they would always leave Shixun to Lu Han, so he’s not surprised at all at their interaction.

When Shixun nods and lets go of his hand, Yifan opens the door to his office and allows for the kid to step in first.

The room is wide and every corner is covered in glass from top to bottom, giving them a good view of the Shanghai skyline. Shixun immediately runs to one side of the room and sticks his palms and face to the glass as he looks at the city before him. Yifan lets him be as he listens to Lu Han giving him a rundown of his work for the day.

“Can you buy Shixun something to eat downstairs? He’s only had cereals for breakfast I’m afraid he’ll get hungry fast.” He watches as Lu Han shakes his head at the information he supplied and he ponders whether he should have said that or kept it to himself. But he’s already said it and Lu Han has already promised to bring Shixun to the café downstairs when he has idle time.

Yifan starts with the papers on his desk that need to be read for final approval and signed while his son wanders around his vast office. He sneaks a glance at his son from time to time just to make sure he’s not touching anything that can break. But he’s surprised to see the kid only looking at them. Although the boy has that look that says he itching to touch them, he keeps his hands behind his back to restrain himself.

So like Yixing. Yifan thinks as Shixun moves on to another space on his cabinet.

When he’s done with all of the papers, he focuses on his desktop to check all of the emails he has to go through as well.

Shixun is being quiet, unusually so, seeing that their kid is always chattering away. It is quite unnerving that he can’t focus on reading the email. He gives in and looks at what his son is doing.

He finds the kid sitting on one of the couches with a book in his hand, reading quietly. Yifan approaches him and sits beside him, taking note that the kid is reading his favorite book. He has read it so many times, Yifan is sure Shixun has memorized every line in it.

“You’ve been quiet.” Yifan comments when his son flips to the next page.

“I don’t want to bother yo