Mark was in the break room, serving himself a mug of his office's subpar coffee blend when the company's receptionist's voice came through the speakers. “Mark Tuan, call on line 1. Mark Tuan, call on line 1.”

Mark groaned. He was on break, for the love of god. All of his sales calls were supposed to be informed to call him back in an hour if they called during his lunch time—only calls from Allison, Jinyoung, or his parents were supposed to be patched through.

Which, he realized with a sinking feeling, probably meant it was one of them. And they generally only called in case of emergencies, usually involving picking up Lou from school if he got sick and Allison was unavailable.

Mark grabbed the break room phone and punched line 1. “Hello,” he said. “Mark Tuan speaking.”

“No need to be formal, Mark, it's just me,” Allison's voice came from the other line. “Do you have a sec, or are you expecting a sales call right now?”

“I'm actually on break.”

“Oh, good timing. Not that I want to cut into your lunch, I'm just glad you're not busy.” She cleared . “I was wondering if you and Jinyoung were free to come over to dinner tonight. I'm making chicken and dumplings, one of your favorites.”

“Oh? I'm sure that would be fine. I'll text Jinyoung and get back to you later.” He paused. “So are you just inviting us because chicken and dumplings, or is something else up?”

“Maybe,” she said mysteriously. “You'll just have to come see for yourselves. Unfortunately, Lou is sleeping over at Kit's tonight so he won't be around, but you will get to see Regina. How can you say no?”

“You drive a hard bargain. I'm sure we'll be there. I'm glad it's something fun instead of an emergency. You usually don't call my office line.”

“That's because Regina threw my phone into the bath when I wasn't looking yesterday. I forgot my parenting precautions since it's been so long since Lou was a toddler. I called this line because it was faster to Google your company's phone number than to try and remember your cell.”

“Two year olds. Gotta love them.”

“I certainly do. Anyways, if Jinyoung can come, dinner's planned for six. Let me know.”

“I will, Allie. Bye.”

After he hung up, Mark grabbed his cell phone and texted Jinyoung to extend the invitation. Jinyoung had lunch in the teacher's lounge around the same time Mark took his lunch break (arranged so they could text each other during the day, since Jinyoung couldn't use his phone when he was teaching), so it was only a minute before he texted back to accept. Are they just being nice, or is something else up? he added to the end of the text. Mark texted back that he suspected more was up, but Allison wouldn't say for sure.

The rest of the day went by quickly enough, and Mark made it back to the apartment by five-twenty, giving him enough time to throw on something fresh before he and Jinyoung drove over the Wang house for dinner.

Jackson threw open the door for them. “Mark, my man! Jinyoung, my man! Welcome, welcome! Step inside.”

Regina made her wobbly way to them, trailing her worn-out looking Fu after her. “Mak Mak!” she said. “Jin Jin!”

Mark swooped her up into his arms. “How is our favorite niece doing?”

She stuck out her tongue at him, her new favorite habit, and giggled sweetly.

“You little stinker,” Jinyoung said, giving her pigtail a gentle tug. “Is that how you say hi to your uncles?”

“Yes!” she said, giggling even harder.

“That's my girl!” Jackson said proudly. “Anyways, dinner's ready, so come on in.” He gestured them towards the kitchen. Allison was inside, setting the table with a heaping bowl of some droolworthy chicken and dumplings. Mark and Jackson helped Regina into her high chair, her more manageable portions already arranged on her plate.

“Served,” Allison said, exhaling in satisfaction when everything was laid out on the table. “Always a relief. How are you two doing? Did you have a nice day at work?”

“As always,” Jinyoung said.

“Other than having my lunch break interrupted,” Mark teased.

“You'll survive,” she said dismissively. “We just wanted to get in touch with you as soon as we could. With Lou having an 'emergency' cell phone I've noticed he's been using to send you two and Kit silly pictures, I was worried he might blab before we got to tell you in person.”

“Blab what?” Mark asked.

Jackson and Allison looked at each other and exchanged one of their serene married couple smiles. “I'm turning thirty-five in a few months, so Jackson and I have been reflecting recently whether we should extend our family while we still have the energy for it or whether we should stop with two. And, well...we decided to go for one more. We're expecting.”

“No kidding!” Mark said, smiling at them. “Congrats you guys.”

“I hope Lou finally gets his little brother,” Jinyoung said. “I bet he's thrilled.”

“He is. It'll be a pretty big ...he'll be ten by time the baby's born. But he's been so good with Regina that I think he'll be able to play with the new baby just as gently, even if it's another boy. And since Lou will going to college when Regina's only eleven, I think it'll be good for her to have another sibling around the house when she's growing up.”

“God, I don't know how you can even think of Lou going to college,” Mark said with a shudder. “Sometimes I'm glad I don't have your level of forward thinking.”

“Agreed,” Jackson said. “I don't know how she can look at a nine year old with scabby knees and see a college student. Cuz I sure can't.”

Allison smiled, but it was a little more serious this time. “There was another reason why I wanted to tell you guys this as soon as possible. There was a...related situation that came up recently. This is going to be a blast in the past for you, Mark, but do you remember Mei Hui Huang?”

Mark racked his brain for a minute. “She was your old friend from your freelance writers association, right? I remember her a little from Lou's baby shower.”

“Right, that's her. I haven't gotten to see in her awhile since she signed on with a human rights company several years ago to work on reporting major ethical issues around the world—child trafficking and kidnapping underage girls for brides, mainly. She was featured in this heartbreaking documentary just last year...but anyways, she's not in America often anymore. I had lunch with her last week, and it was the first time I'd gotten to see her in awhile.”

“How is she doing?”

“Not so well, unfortunately. She got married when she was in Mumbai a few years ago—she's Mei Hui Chanda now—but her husband passed away two months ago from an aneurysm. She's heart broken, and...she's also four months pregnant.”

“Oh,” Mark said softly.

“And the thing is, she's not in a good place right now. Her husband was going to be the stay at home parent because he managed a web site and could work from home. Mei Hui's job is often dangerous, the schedule is unstable, she's constantly traveling to underdeveloped countries, and she can't raise a kid on her own. Her husband doesn't have a family to help her raise the child, and Mei Hui's family still lives in China. The only thing she could do is go back to more commonplace journalism or move bases to China, but she's doing valuable work, and she doesn't want to stop. Her organization has protected so many girls from trafficking, and she doesn't think she can turn her back on that, on both a personal and ethical level. So she turned to me for advice.”

“And what did you say?” Jinyoung asked gently, seeing that Allison had gotten a little upset talking about Mei Hui's husband. Jackson reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

“Abortion is not an option for her. Her husband doesn't have any other family left living, and she wants him to live on in whatever way possible. She wants to put her child up for adoption, but she's anxious about the environment it will grow up in—she's seen some pretty terrible things, mind you, so she has every right to be concerned. She wants to be assured of who she leaves her child with and trust that they're the right people. She thought of me first, but I'd just taken a positive pregnancy test at that point, so the timing wasn't ideal. But when she asked me if there was anyone else I knew and trusted who was open to the idea of growing their family a little, well...I thought of you two.”

“Us?” Mark repeated in surprise. He felt like he still needed to finishing processing everything she'd said. He couldn't even begin to wrap his head around such an important decision so quickly.

“You,” Allison repeated. “I apologize if I've been misinterpreting, but you've been visiting us regularly since Regina was born, and you absolutely adore being around her. And whenever Lou brought up his thing about you two having a kid, you'd get this wistful look in your eye. You're also going to be thirty-five soon enough, Mark. Maybe now's the time to make that dream happen. I think this could be a great opportunity for you to add to your family like you want and to give a happy home to the child of someone in serious need.”

“But would she even be okay with us?” Jinyoung asked. “I mean, we're not really the traditional couple if she's looking for a perfect environment.”

“She knows that. But she's always had a nice impression of Mark, and she knows how much I love and respect both of you. She's willing to meet both of you to talk about it, if that's something you also want. And besides, you don't have to worry about someone who lives and breathes human rights judging you on that. She wouldn't think of it as a negative environment for a child, but a positive one.”

“And no one is going to doubt your parenting record,” Jackson added. “Just look at Lou. And Jinyoung's numerous successful kindergarten classes, for that matter.”

Mark glanced at Jinyoung, who looked deep in thought. Mark himself was still have difficulties processing, but it was slowly coming to him. They'd thought of adoption before, but it had never really seemed in the cards. Their state wasn't the most progressive, and they'd worried about being blocked if they tried, or putting a child through the struggles Lou hadn't necessarily had to go through by visibly having a mother instead of just two dads. It was a disappointment they'd put out of their minds, but now it was rushing back. With an arrangement like this, they could somehow make it work. It was hard to raise those hopes so quickly, but Mark was still feeling faint sparks of optimism.

“You don't need to decide now, of course,” Allison said quickly. “But I really think you should consider it. Here's Mei Hui's card...call her when you're ready. I don't see why this can't be a happy time for both of us.” She rested her hand on her still flat stomach. “This family is good at getting bigger.”

Jinyoung and Mark were fairly quiet on the ride home, lost in their own thoughts. Mark was turning over everything Allison had said in his head, trying to determine all of how he felt. Was Mei Hui really going to be able to give up the child who carried the memory of her beloved husband? What if she backed out? But no, Mark had met Mei Hui—she, like Allison, was an incredibly decisive person who wouldn't start something she didn't intend to see through. And from what Allison had said, it really didn't sound like she led the kind of life she could easily fit a child into. She desperately needed a solution, and weren't they a good option?

Mark dwelled on it until they pulled up to their apartment. As soon as they stepped into the house, Jinyoung pulled him to the couch, sat him down, and looked at him seriously. “Tell me one thing, first,” he said. “Is adoption something you still want?”

Mark nodded. “If possible...if it's a situation where we can arrange it without having to worry about being shot down because we're a gay couple...yeah, I'd like to adopt.”

Jinyoung nodded. “Me too. I couldn't stop thinking of it. I'm going to be twenty-eight at the end of the year...the age you were when we first met...and I just feel ready to raise a baby. Like now's the time. But I wasn't sure if you'd feel the same, or if that time had passed for you.”

“I'm only 34.”

“Well, if you were 100 at 28, you're heading towards 200 now.” Jinyoung smiled. “Plus, your stamina is a little...”

“Are you insinuating something about my bedroom performance?” Mark asked, affronted.

“Never! Just that you lose energy quickly when you have a busy day. I mean, you've been like that for as long as I've known you. It's not a bad thing, you're just very introverted. You need to recharge with relaxing time a lot, more so now than before. But you're so good with Lou and Regina anyways that I didn't really think it would be a problem. I just wanted to make sure it was something you wanted.”

“I may be introverted, but I don't let my energy issues get in the way of parenting when I can help it.”

“I think so, too.” Jinyoung rested his hand on Mark's knee. “Other than that, there's the other issue we were hesitating on before. Raising a child in a fairly conservative place.”

“I think our generations and the younger generations have shown enough flexibility on the issue to be cautiously optimistic that things will continue to improve with every year. The environment is already different from how it was when I was growing up.”

“Right. There will be difficulties, but there have been difficulties handling it with Lou, too, so we wouldn't be going into it completely blind.” Jinyoung looked Mark in the eye. “After thinking about it, I think we should call her.”

“Mei Hui?”

“Yes. I'm not saying we should commit to a yes tonight, but I think we should at least discuss it further. See what she thinks. Consider our options. And then make a decision. What about you?”

“Honestly,” Mark said, “I'm thinking the same thing.”

“Good,” Jinyoung said, exhaling in relief. “Thinking about it even more practically, our savings are in a good place. Our schedules are workable—you take a lot of half days to work from home, and since my school does AM and PM kindergarten, I can switch over to just doing AM for a few years. I'll take a pay cut, but frankly, with the kind of bonuses you've been earning lately, I don't think it will make much difference.” He paused. “And speaking emotionally instead of practically...I love Lou. I think of him as my own son. But...he doesn't get to stay with us every day. And I've always wanted to raise a kid who would always be able to stay with us. Who is just yours and mine alone. And if you feel the same, I just can't think of a good reason why we shouldn't.”

“I agree,” Mark said, squeezing Jinyoung's shoulder. “To be honest, after Allison and I split, I didn't think I'd ever get to become a father again. I thought that was it for me. But thinking of this right now...I feel just as excited and happy as when Allison told me she was pregnant with Lou. And if I got to be wrong about falling love again, I'd be happy to be wrong about this, too.”

“You honestly make an art out of being wrong.”

“Thank you. If I wasn't so good at admitting how wrong I am, we probably wouldn't be here.”

“Unthinkable.” Jinyoung leaned into Mark's shoulder. “Let's call tomorrow. I just have a really good feeling about this. I want to see it through.”

“We will, then.” Mark kissed his cheek. “Although the four months pregnant part...if this goes through, I hope you're ready to figure out what we're going to do for a nursery and how we're going to get together all the baby supplies in five months.”

Jinyoung cracked his knuckles. “Don't forget you married a master planner who got engaged in May and planned a wedding for the first week on September. I can do this.” He paused for a second. “The real challenge will be preparing myself for raising an actual baby. Helping out with Lou was different since he was three...this will be a challenge. We still have Amazon Prime, right? I should order some guidebooks to brush up.”

“At least wait until we talk to Mei Hui, all right?” Mark said wryly. “But I'm sure you'll be fine. If I could raise a little boy with minimum experience and studying and he turned out fine, I think you're good to go.”

“Has anyone ever told you you're far too lackadaisical about serious things?”

“No. Because the choices I make about things I'm serious about usually turn out well.” He tousled Jinyoung's hair. “Case in point.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled to himself. “I'm so happy right now. And I hope tomorrow will only be happier.”

A/N: Welcome to part 4, everyone!
Just wanted to update everyone quickly that the poll I mentioned last week wrapped up and Fic 1 is our winner. I've already started continuing to work on it, and I think you guys will enjoy it :D But for now, let's focus on the latest step of C&G Markjin's journey!