Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hooters, 10:30pm, Friday night. 

Wei Ying wasn’t too sure how he managed to get himself into this situation. 

Currently, he was standing in his work uniform, booty shorts and all, with approximately eight crying girls surrounding him. An experience that was quite out of place for a gay male like himself, but endearing nonetheless. 

Truthfully, he did know how he got himself into this situation. Tonight was his last time working at Hooters, after nearly four years. It was a bittersweet moment for all of them. For Wei Ying it meant that even though he was leaving a good job with good people, he was finally moving on to those bigger and better things as the following Monday was his first day as a student teacher at a local preschool. 

It seemed that his co-workers were taking it harder than he was. Liz, Stacey, Amber, Jen, Abby, Kaitlynn, Kelly, and the new girl Ashley, were all bawling and taking turn after turn hugging Wei Ying and telling him how much they were going to miss him. 

“You have to come back, okay?” Stacey sobbed, mascara dramatically running down her cheeks. It was lucky that Hooters had just closed and they were off the clock. 

“Yeah, I don’t know if I can handle being a manager as well as you.” Liz joined, hanging off of Wei Ying’s arm. 

“It’s not like I’m dying! I can come and visit anytime!” Wei Ying laughed and gently consoled each of them, patting them on the head and hugging each of them over and over again. 

“You will?” Amber asked desperately. 

“Of course! Where else am I supposed to get chicken wings? I certainly will not cook them and Lan Zhan doesn’t eat meat!” Wei Ying laughed, trying to get the others to stop crying. 

They all nodded in agreement, but refused to let go of Wei Ying. They remained that way for another half an hour before one of the chefs brought a decorated cake into the break room. 

Everyone celebrated Wei Ying’s resignation whilst sobbing into their cake and ice cream. 

When it finally came time to leave though, Wei Ying was the one sobbing, which in turn made everyone else cry again. He said goodbye over and over again before Lan Zhan showed up and was eventually able to pull Wei Ying into the car. 

It was a sight to say the least. 

But it was also the start of another chapter. 

Monday, 5am. 

“Wei Ying.” 

“Hm?” 

“Wei Ying, wake up.” 

“No.” 

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan called, this time more exasperated. 

“It’s too early.” Wei Ying groaned, flopping onto his stomach and shoving his face into his pillow, a constant routine that he partook in. 

“It is not. It is your first day of Student teaching today. You should be early.” Lan Zhan, who Wei Ying could tell was still in bed next to him, sat up and pat Wei Ying’s plump booty a few times. 

That, luckily, was able to get Wei Ying to sit up and freak out a little bit, not because Lan Zhan was playfully grabbing his butt, but because it was his first day at the local pre-school. He quickly put himself into action scrambling around their shared apartment grabbing everything he thought he might need. Tissues, water bottles, goldfish snacks, notebooks, extra pens and pencils, a sweater, crayons, pain killers, band aids, and anything else he could possibly shove into his backpack. 

Half way into Wei Ying shoving a second sweatshirt into his bag, Lan Zhan stopped him, twisting his own hand into Wei Ying’s and pressing a reassuring kiss to it. He gently untucked the extra sweatshirt from where it was stuck in the zipper, took out a bunch of unnecessary pens and pencils and instead put a freshly packed lunch into the bag, zipping it with ease. 

By the time the clock hit 6:30am, Lan Zhan had managed to get Wei Ying into the car and to the school just in time. They shared a chaste kiss before Wei Ying smiled brightly and disappeared into the front entrance of the school. 

Upon entering the school, Wei Ying quickly made friends with the teachers, as making friends was fortunately something that he had always excelled at. They gave him the run down of the things he would be doing as a student teacher and how they would be critiquing him and grading his performance. 

Once the boring part was over he was soon assigned his first task, which was greeting the children as they came in. He was warned that this part could be quite difficult as many of the children disliked leaving their parents and were often scared to leave them, especially on the first day.  

However, so far, Wei Ying hadn’t had a problem. He expertly greeted the parents of the children and then greeted the children, making them laugh and then leading them further into the classroom so that they could place their things into a small cubby and then find their desk and decorate their name tags with the stickers the main teachers left for them. 

Over the next few minutes there were a few mishaps, one being with a small boy. The boy, probably just having turned 4, had walked in alone, eyes wide with fear and hesitation. Wei Ying had found it strange that the boy had come in alone without any parents, but had ultimately chalked it up to his parents probably having to run to their job quickly. Regardless, the situation was none of Wei Ying’s business and he set to work making the boy feel comfortable. 

“Hello, what’s your name? I’m Wei Ying. I’m one of the student teachers.” Wei Ying kneeled down so that he was the boy’s height, he was one of the last children to arrive and therefore Wei Ying thought it might be okay to do so. 

The boy looked like he was mere seconds away from bursting into tears, but he introduced himself anyway. 

“I’m Yuan.” He said shyly, his small hands fiddling with his plain backpack. 

Wei Ying smiled brightly, “It’s nice to meet you, A-Yuan! Would you like me to show you where to put your things?” 

The boy hesitated once again, but nodded. And if Wei Ying decided to pay a little more extra attention to the boy throughout the day then so be it. 

The day itself was quite exhausting and Wei Ying was glad that he had packed extra snacks and bandages as they came in handy from time to time. The other two teachers were also relieved as they had run out of snacks before they went around the whole room. If he had learned anything from working at a Hooters for four years it was that you should be prepared for anything. 

By the time Wei Ying pushed the front door of his and Lan Zhan’s apartment open he was ready to fall asleep and sleep until the next day. Luckily though, Lan Zhan made sure that Wei Ying ate dinner and showered before flopping into bed. 

It took a few weeks to get used to the chaos of it all and it was rough. But soon enough, Wei Ying got used to waking up early, taming a bunch of screaming children, watching how the other teachers corralled the children into story time or snack time and eventually managed to get the hang of it all. 

But there were always surprises and mishaps too. 

This particular day, Yuan, who was normally a shy, quiet, but easily excitable boy, was screaming and crying when he came into the building. It was rare that he did cry, but when he did he went straight toward Wei Ying to comfort him, as he was the only teacher that spoke both English and Chinese. The first time this happened, it had been because he hadn’t slept enough the night before and was clearly miserable. The second time it happened, it had been because his guardian had forgotten to pack him an extra pair of clothes, so when he was brought in in the morning he was soaked by the rain and uncomfortable. That time Wei Ying had to run to a department store and buy the boy new clothes, whilst one of the teachers kept him calm and the other continued teaching the class. It was clear that Yuan didn’t cry over minor things like the other children did like stolen toys or snacks, and deep down Wei Ying was very hurt about it. Lan Zhan had tried to assure him many times that maybe the boy’s parents were just busy, but Wei Ying just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up. 

Which leads to the current day, and the third time that Wei Ying had witnessed Yuan cry. This time, however, it was a little more than crying. He screamed and kicked and choked as he was dragged into the building by one arm by whom Wei Ying assumed was his father. 

Wei Ying, who had been talking with another boy who was friends with Yuan, called Jingyi, had immediately stood when he heard the poor boy. Jingyi, despite being only 4, was also horribly alarmed. Wei Ying rushed to the entrance door to see what the matter was as the other two teachers were caught up at the moment and probably just assumed that it was just another toddler having a meltdown. Wei Ying knew better though. 

“Here, take him!” The man, whom he’d heard the teachers refer to as Wen Chao from time to time, had Yuan by the wrist. He shoved the boy at Wei Ying, who caught him gently, bending down to pick up the sobbing boy, who tucked his face into Wei Ying’s neck. 

Wei Ying gave Wen Chao a look, only to recognize him a few moments later as the guy who had tried to get handsy with one of the employees, Kaitlynn to be exact, at Hooters a few months back. The man seemed to recognise him as well. 

“You! What’s a slut like you doing here?” He roared, eyes filling with hatred even more so than before. 

Wei Ying was taken aback for a moment as to how someone like this could have a sweet boy like Yuan. Despite his bewilderment he swiftly went into action. 

“I’m sorry, but that is no way to speak in a pre-school, sir .” He put on his best customer service attitude, trying his best to also block Yuan’s ears as the boy continued to cry on his shoulder. 

“Are you trying to tell me how to raise my kid now too?” He sneered as he pointed a finger straight at Wei Ying’s face. 

“Sir, I am simply saying that children pick up language easily at this age–-” 

“SO you are trying to tell me how to raise my kid? I’ll tell you what, I’ll raise him however the fuck I want!” Wen Chao then tried to grab Yuan out of Wei Ying’s arms but the boy held on tightly, crying louder and finally getting the attention of the two teachers inside the room. 

“Please don’t leave me with him! He’s so mean!” Yuan wailed, making Wen Chao even more livid. 

“You ungrateful brat! See if I feed you tonight!” He roared, startling Yuan, Wei Ying, and both of the teachers. 

“Mr. Wen, sir.” The first teacher, Miss Lily, tried, only to have Wen Chao interrupt her with more vile words. 

“Fuck all of you, you want to keep the fucking kid? Great, less bullshit I have to deal with anyway! He’s a fucking nightmare and I wish he didn’t exist!” Wen Chao continued, making Wei Ying want to cry along with Yuan. He then proceeded to slam a chair against the wall. 

“Sir, we will have to call the cops if you–--” The second teacher, Miss Sandi, started, phone already in hand. 

“Fine, call the fucking cops, see what they can do!” Wen Chao yelled, turning around and slamming the door to the building and then speeding out of the parking lot in a sports car. 

By the time it was all said and done, you could hear a pin drop in the school, and Wei Ying felt sick to his stomach. He refused to let Yuan go, and Yuan felt just the same. Miss Lily and Miss Sandi both proceeded to calm the rest of the children who were scared to death of the man and left Wei Ying to console Yuan, as the boy was most comfortable with him. 

It took hours with Wei Ying speaking Chinese the entire time, before Yuan felt comfortable telling him what happened. 

“He is always really mean.” The boy started quietly, “He yells a lot, and it’s scary. Sometimes he tries to hit me too. I don’t like him very much.” 

Wei Ying nodded, his heart breaking with every word.

The little boy continued, “Today my tummy was hurting so I tried to tell him, but he said I was being stupid and brought me anyway. But it hurt a lot so I was sad and then he got more angry.” 

“A-Yuan, did he give you dinner last night?” Wei Ying questioned, a hand coming up to brush the strands of hair out of Yuan’s face. 

The 4 year old thought for a moment, then shook his head. 

Wei Ying, unsure of what to say, nodded. He then dug into his bag and pulled out a package of goldfish crackers. He proceeded to open the bag and give them to Yuan, who took them gratefully, as Wei Ying made sure that he didn’t choke, as he was still sniffling here and there. 

The two sat together in one of the teacher’s offices until all of the other students' parents came to pick them up for the day. This was something that Wei Ying had been dreading all day since the incident with Wen Chao that morning. 

About half an hour after two, the rest of the children had already left and Wei Ying finally brought Yuan out of the office and to the entryway of the school. He held his hand tightly, prepared for whatever would come their way. 

As the clock neared four both Miss Lily and Miss Sandi began to get very nervous. 

“Wei Ying, are you sure that you are okay here with him? I still need to get my own children from school.” Miss Lily’s face looked torn. 

“Me too, but I don’t just want to leave you here. I just got a call from my daughter’s teacher asking where I was.” Miss Sandi added. 

“I can stay with him until someone comes to get him.” Wei Ying assured, putting on a careful smile as to help his case a little more. Though he feared that it was obvious on his face how nervous he was. Both for if Wen Chao did show up and if he didn’t. 

“Okay, only if you are sure.” Miss Lily finished, her bag already on her shoulder. 

Both preschool teachers made sure that they recited their phone numbers to Wei Ying multiple times as well as gave him Wen Chao’s number, or the one that they thought was his when they looked up Yuan’s school file. 

Together, the two of them waited another hour. 

Then another. 

And another. 

As the evening neared, Wei Ying grew increasingly nervous, he had already called the number from the file a dozen times without any pick up. It seemed as if the number was a fake one or that the school’s number was blocked on the phone. 

“You won’t make me go to the bad man again, will you?” Yuan questioned, eyes wide with fear from where he sat amongst his things on one of the plastic children’s seats in the entryway. Wei Ying’s felt conflicted, the boy clearly felt unhappy and unsafe with Wen Chao, but he was still considered Yuan’s legal guardian. 

Eventually, he made a few more calls. First to the two main teachers, who rushed over immediately, then to Child Protective Services, whom Wei Ying was reluctant to call, but knew that it was the right thing to do. 

It had been a long and exhausting process. There was questioning on all sides and more attempts to reach Wen Chao. The local police were called in attempts to find the man to no avail. 

By the time it reached 8 pm, they were still no closer to finding him and Yuan was exhausted, crying again after he had been questioned about Wen Chao. At this point the mere mention of him is enough to make Yuan cry. Even Lan Zhan had called, concerned, many times, asking if Wei Ying was alright and what was going on. 

It was also clear that Yuan absolutely refused to be near anyone but Wei Ying, and he would become distressed and upset if someone tried to take him elsewhere. 

They sat back in the school, Wei Ying in one of the waiting chairs with Yuan curled up in his lap asleep, and Miss Sandi next to him. Miss Lily was talking with the CPS workers as well as the police trying to figure out what to do. They had attempted to contact the emergency contacts on Yuan’s file as well as trying to figure out any next of kin to take Yuan, but there didn’t seem to be any. From what they had been told since the CPS had arrived was that shortly after Wen Chao left that morning he booked himself a flight and had been incognito ever since. He had also forged a majority of Yuan’s documents and given fake numbers and records to the school. It also appeared that Yuan wasn’t his child to begin with, the man was simply put in charge of him when Yuan’s real parents passed away in an accident. 

It was then that Wei Ying overheard the conversation. 

“It is extremely rare that we have a case like this Miss Lily. I am afraid that there isn’t a whole lot we can do besides put the boy into foster care.” One of the workers said. 

“Isn’t there something besides that, anything at all?” 

“I’m afraid not. Until we can find a relative or until someone steps up for him there isn’t anything we can do.” 

“What about if one of us takes him?” Wei Ying spoke up, not standing from the seat of out fear that he would wake Yuan up. 

Both teachers and social workers looked at Wei Ying in confusion and shock. 

“Please, I don’t want to see him go to an orphanage or on the streets. I've been there myself and it was probably one of the hardest times in my life. I would be happy to take him, at least until we can find good relatives or something.” Wei Ying offered, completely serious. 

Again, more silence fell between them all. 

“Can he?” Miss Lily asked desperately. 

“I am afraid not, that would be against protocol.” The worker said, faltering. 

“Please, even just for the night? He has had a horrible day and he doesn’t need anymore stress or it will kill him.” Wei Ying pleaded, Yuan moved around in his lap before settling again in the crook of Wei Ying’s neck and heading off to sleep again. It was far past any child’s bedtime now and it showed. 

The CPS worker seemed conflicted, he turned to Miss Lily, “You trust him with this boy?” 

“I do, one hundred percent. He is the only one that is able to calm Yuan down and make him feel safe whenever he is sad. He is responsible and has never once given us a reason to doubt him.” Miss Lily vouched, her voice steady and serious, a drastic comparison to her usual bubbly self. 

After another hour of phone calls and hoops to jump through, Lan Zhan arrived at the school. 

“Wei Ying?” He called, waking Wei Ying and Yuan up from their slumber. 

It had finally been decided that Yuan would be heading home with him that day. And as soon as Wei Ying heard the news he called Lan Zhan and then drifted off to sleep with Yuan still in his lap. Since then, both Miss Sandi and Miss Lily had to go back home to their families, leaving Wei Ying with the CPS worker and a policeman. 

“Hm?” His sleepy brain almost didn’t register that his boyfriend was there. 

“Is everything alright? You called and asked me to come get you.” Lan Zhan questioned, he looked between his sleepy boyfriend and the little boy on his lap. 

“Oh, right.” Wei Ying sat up straight again having slumped to the side, “Well, guess what?” 

Lan Zhan, already aware of how this guessing game worked, just allowed Wei Ying to continue. 

“Turns out, we get to take this little guy home tonight.” Wei Ying tried to add humor into his voice, but his exhaustion and sadness outweighed his attempt at being funny. 

“Mn. Okay.” Lan Zhan agreed. He was unsure of what happened, but if it had something to do with Wei Ying being hours upon hours late coming home from work it had to be something involving the little boy. 

“What? Just okay, not what the hell is going on, Wei Ying?” Wei Ying tried. 

“Mn. I will allow you to explain later. He looks sleepy.” Lan Zhan motioned to the boy in Wei Ying’s arms, then stood. 

The CPS worker and the policeman eventually noticed Lan Zhan’s presence and came over to greet him. They shook hands and explained some of the situation and asked Lan Zhan about Wei Ying’s decision to care for the boy, to which he agreed to without hesitation. With a few more formalites and signing a few random papers they were finally on their way. 

As expected, Yuan still refused to leave Wei Ying’s hold and therefore Wei Ying sat in the back seat of the car instead of his usual place in the passenger seat next to his boyfriend. 

“Where are we?” Yuan mumbled, his arms around Wei Ying’s neck as they entered the apartment. 

“This is my home. Would you like to stay with us for the night?” Wei Ying questioned, and Yuan eyed Lan Zhan, trying to decide if he was a good guy or not. 

“Who is that?” The little boy inquired next. 

“That’s my boyfriend, Lan Zhan. He’s going to help take care of you.” 

“So he’s a good guy?” 

“He sure is.” Wei Ying smiled, “Look, he even made us dinner!” 

“Mn. It is late, but you should both eat.” Lan Zhan reheated two plates of chicken nuggets, something that Wei Ying thought he hid in the back of the freezer, but it turns out he must not have hidden it as well as he thought. 

“Nuggies!” Yuan cried with joy, his face lighting up at the cute dinosaur shapes. Wei Ying almost sobbed when he heard Yuan’s excited exclamation, but he held himself together and watched the boy eat as if he hadn’t had a meal for days. Which, in his case, he might not have. 

The pair eventually ushered the boy into the bathtub, but not before a few more helpings of chicken nuggets. They then scavenged through both of their wardrobes before finding something that Yuan could sleep in until they could get to the store to buy him something more suitable. They eventually settled on one of Wei Ying’s cropped Hooters sweatshirts (a clothing item that he pushed for when he became manager) as it was one of the only things short enough so that Yuan wouldn’t trip and fall. Lan Zhan rolled up the sleeves of the sweatshirt and then they brought Yuan into the guest room right across the hall from their own bedroom. When they were looking for apartments about a year or two after they started dating, they wanted to make sure that there was another room just in case Lan Zhan’s brother came to stay or one of their friends. It hadn’t ever really been used, but today it was certainly helpful. 

Together they tucked the boy into bed, Lan Zhan even going so far as to recall a story that his uncle would tell him when he was little, which Wei Ying admitted probably made him fall even more in love with his boyfriend. 

Even after Yuan fell asleep, Wei Ying was reluctant to leave him alone, but Lan Zhan convinced him otherwise. 

Luckily, the next day was a Saturday, meaning that neither Wei Ying nor Lan Zhan had to go to work. It also meant that Wei Ying could figure out what the hell was going on. Which of course meant that he needed to talk to the girls. 

H(.)(.)ters GC

YingYing: Hey gals, what does one do when they accidentally have a baby? 

LizLiz: What? 

Amber: What? 

Stacey: ...You’ve only been gone for four weeks?

AbbyBabby: You’re going to have to explain a little more YingYing....

Wei Ying from where he sat on the living room couch, quickly took a cute picture of Yuan who had just eaten breakfast as was evidenced on his face from the cream that Lan Zhan had put on his strawberries. Now the little boy was colouring dinosaurs, not caring one bit that his face and hands were sticky. 

H(.)(.)ters GC

YingYing: This is what I mean! Isn’t he adorable? IMAGE ATTACHED

LizLiz: Holy shit! How did you?  Make? Have? Get? This kid? 

Stacey: OMG! Pls explain!

AbbyBabby: DO I NEEd to CaLL tHE PoLiCe? Did U STeAL hiM? 

YingYing: What? No! Of course, I didn’t steal him. I acquired him! 

Amber: THat’s noT a helpful explanation WEi Ying! 

AbbyBabby: He’s not a pokemon….

YingYing: Okay fine! It was actually a really fucked up situation and let me tell you this is some T, girls. 

LizLiz: Who even uses the word T anymore? 

Stacey: Tell us the T!

Kait-LynnLynn: Okay, I’m here for this. 

AbbyBabby: Just tell us already! 

YingYing: Ok so you remember that guy that was being a dick to Kaitlynn a few months back when he dropped that glass? 

LizLiz: Yeah? 

Kait-LynnLynn: OMG, yeah! What a douche! 

Stacey: YeYe

Amber: Yes? 

YingYing: Anyway, little Yuan here (that’s his name by the way), he like? Never cries? SO yesterday he came in bawling more than Stacey at my going away party, which is saying something. 

Stacey: Rude. 

YingYing: So I knew something was up when he came in crying. Turns out his so-called ‘guardian’ was that asshole that tried to get handsy with Kaitlynn, but they are not really even related? Yuan was sort of just dumped on him when his parents died and this bitch has been tormenting him for ages. 

LizLiz: So how did you end up taking him? 

YingYing: this dude, Wen Chao is his name, started to get violent and then left the preschool after some nasty words, then booked a flight to the other side of the world. When we couldn’t get a hold of anyone else to take him home and he didn’t have any living relatives that CPS could find I offered to take him until someone came along. 

AbbyBabby: So you didn’t steal him? 

YingYing: Did you read any of what I just wrote? 

LizLiz: I’m in shock. YOu are tOtally a PareNt now! 

Stacey: omg

Kait-LynnLynn: Too bad that Wen Chao dude didn’t get arrested or something *eye roll 

Amber: I’m v proud of u YingYing. 

LizLiz: Does this mean we have to have a ‘welcome to parenthood’ party for Wei Ying now? 

YingYing: guys I can’t keep him :(

Stacey: Kinda sounds like you can to me? 

AbbyBabby: Yeah, I hate to say it but his situation doesn’t sound so hot…

YingYing: I know…. 

Amber: We’ll totally babysit for you! 

Kait-LynnLynn: I second this! 

YingYing: Thanks guys :) Now I have to figure out what the hell to do. Wish me luck. 

LizLiz: Good luck, YingYing! 

Stacey: ^

After that he and Lan Zhan both got dressed and then dressed Yuan in the pair of clothes that he luckily had in his bag. They then piled into the car and to the nearest store to find things that they knew Yuan would need. 

They started out with basic things, like extra clothing, at least a week's worth, and then a few pairs of shoes and undergarments. Then they bought lots of child friendly food and let Yuan pick out a bunch of toys. Wei Ying usually didn’t care about such material things, but for once he was glad that he had a rich boyfriend. 

They were in the middle of debating whether or not to get a car seat when Wei Ying got a call. At first, when he didn’t recognize the number, he considered ignoring it, however, something told him that he should answer it. 

Lan Zhan watched curiously as Wei Ying stepped away, putting his phone up to his ear and listening as the other person talked, only saying a few words here and there. Yuan, who was sitting in the cart, even stopped playing with one of the stuffed rabbit toys and watched Wei Ying, whose eyes just went wide. 

“Oh…” He said, emotion unreadable on his face, “I will get back to you on this. Thank you very much for calling.” 

With that Wei Ying hung up the phone and his mouth broke into the widest, brightest smile. Lan Zhan, clearly intrigued, waited for Wei Ying to speak. 

“He’s up for adoption. Wen Chao, even before yesterday, was trying to put him up for adoption. Apparently, he doesn’t have any living relatives and they asked us if we wanted to adopt him or if they should arrange a foster home for him.” Wei Ying recited, hopefully. He had told Lan Zhan everything, in complete detail what had happened and the other had listened intently. The couple had yet to fully discuss the details of fully adopting Yuan, but it was clear in both of their minds that it was a definite possibility. 

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying shared a long look then, even glancing at Yuan once. 

After a moment, Lan Zhan nodded. 

“Oh my god, are we really going to do this?” Wei Ying breathed, earning another reassuring nod from Lan Zhan. 

“I think we should.” Lan Zhan continued, immediately accepting Wei Ying into his arms as the other jumped into a hug. 

“I will call him back now.” Wei Ying then separated himself from Lan Zhan, who pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “I guess we should get that car seat then.” 

And just like that Wei Ying called the social worker in charge of Yuan’s case and told him that they were fully prepared to adopt Yuan. Of course, they knew that it would involve a lot more than just saying ‘yes’ into a phone, but they were fully prepared to do whatever it took if it meant that Yuan would have a happy life. 

What was supposed to be an hour-long shopping trip turned into four hours of buying doubles, maybe even triples of everything. They googled and went through various lists of things one might need to raise a toddler and then bought that too. Wei Ying even went so far as to ask some random mother in the baby food aisle what she recommended toddlers should have. They even went so far as to call a local pediatrician and get Yuan an appointment to make sure everything was okay. Needless to say, they were more than prepared for whatever might come their way with raising Yuan. 

It took a while but they eventually were able to unpack everything once they got home. They also set about making up the guest bedroom so that it would feel more like Yuan’s. 

“Why is there a lot?” Yuan asked cutely, pointing to everything that they had lugged up four flights of stairs and into the apartment. It seemed that the little boy was completely confused, but also intrigued with all of the things they had bought. 

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying looked at each other and then realized that the 4 year old still had no idea what was going on, which immediately made the two adults pause in their tracks. 

Wei Ying lifted Yuan onto his hip and smiled, “Do you remember the scary man?” 

Yuan nodded lip starting to wobble before Wei Ying pressed a kiss to his head. 

“Would you like to live with us instead?” 

Yuan’s eyes widened, almost as if they were going to fall out of his head, “Can I? He was so scary.” 

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan both nodded, “We want you to so that the scary man can’t hurt you anymore.” 

Yuan smiled brightly and nodded frantically, “I wanna stay here, not there!” 

Wei Ying laughed and a fond smile washed over Lan Zhan’s features as he eyed his boyfriend and Yuan. 

“Then we should continue setting up your room, huh?” Wei Ying said as he set Yuan back on the ground and Yuan quickly took off down the hallway to the guest room. 

“Can I have a sleepover with Jingyi soon?” Yuan asked as he saw Wei Ying and Lan Zhan enter the room. 

“I’m sure we can arrange something.” Lan Zhan agreed, Wei Ying nodded and smiled. 

“I like it here.” Yuan said after a while, looking more relaxed just as a 4 year old is meant to be. 

They spent the next few hours putting new rabbit clad sheets onto the bed and setting up plastic rails on the side of it so that Yuan couldn’t roll out and hurt himself. They hung some new clothes in the closet and Lan Zhan organised some of the shoes they bought for him as well as socks and undergarments. In the bathroom, Wei Ying placed Yuan’s new dinosaur toothbrush in a glass with his and Lan Zhan’s and then set to work putting the children’s shampoo bottles next to theirs as well. Even the kitchen was now fully stocked with colourful plastic bowls, plates, and utensils and different arrays of food that Yuan had picked out for himself. They even bought the boy a new backpack, as his previous one was one its last leg, and new rain boots just in case it rained. All in all, they were as prepared as they could be seeing as they hadn’t ever raised a child before. 

H(.)(.)ters GC

YingYing: You are now looking at the fathers of the year lol 

After sending the text Wei Ying quickly set to work getting a good angle of himself, Lan Zhan, and Yuan all cuddled up on the couch after dinner and pressed send. 

YingYing: IMAGE ATTACHED. 

Stacey: OMG So CUTE! 

Amber: *Chef’s kiss* 

LizLiz: This is beautiful *crying emoji 

AbbyBabby: I take it something happened if the kid is there a second night?

Kait-LynnLynn: What’s the T, Ying Ying? 

YingYing: SO turns out, douchebag Wen Chao wanted nothing to do with the kid and has been trying to put him up for adoption for months. Got a call asking if we wanted to get started with the adoption work or if Cps should set up a foster home for him. Needless to say, you are looking at two new parents. 

AbbyBabby: OmG ThIs is WonDerful News! 

LizLiz: What kinda fanfiction are you living rn? \

Stacey: ur gonna be great parents omg! 

Kait-LynnLynn: omg so jelly I wanna be ur kid too, pls adopt me! 

Amber: Just so you know we will break down your door if you don’t let us meet him! 

LizLiz: True shit 

Stacey: ALso we’re totally gonna be there when you sign the adoption papers. 

Kait-LynnLynn: Then we’re gonna throw another party! 

YingYing: WHy do I feel like you guys have already planned my next four weekends? 

LizLiz: bc we totally do lol

“Are you conversing with your friends from the...restaurant?” Lan Zhan asked, breaking Wei Ying away from his phone.

“Come on Lan Zhan, it’s been years! When are you going to finally call it Hooters?” Wei Ying teased, laughing brightly. 

Lan Zhan went bright red. They had been two years into their relationship before Lan Zhan finally understood, thanks to a lovely explanation from Wei Ying, what Hooters actually implied. Needless to say, the poor guy couldn’t set foot in front of the establishment for at least two weeks without his eyes darting to the floor and his ears going red with embarrassment. 

Wei Ying laughed and pressed a kiss to Lan Zhan’s cheek, “It’s okay, you don’t have to call it Hooters if you don’t want to.” 

“Mn.” 

“What’s a Hooters?” Yuan asked, looking up at them from where he was sat in between them. 

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan stared at the boy in slight shock. 

“On second thought, maybe just calling it ‘the restaurant’ is fine. I’m sure your uncle will appreciate it.” Wei Ying laughed and then continued to tell Yuan that it was simply a restaurant with an interesting name that probably shouldn’t be repeated. 

“Mn. I should inform him and brother of Yuan.” Lan Zhan said after a second. 

“Oh, right.” Wei Ying nodded in agreement, watching as his boyfriend stood, pressed a kiss to his head and took off toward their bedroom with his phone. 

When he came back, he took a seat quietly, as to not interrupt Yuan’s movie, then caught Wei Ying’s attention. 

“So how’d he take it?” 

“He does not know yet. We will go over there tomorrow for dinner.” Lan Zhan informed. Wei Ying nodded and then snuggled closer to Yuan to watch the movie with him, the Hooters group chat completely forgotten about for the time being. 

The next day, just after noon, the three set off toward Lan Qiren’s house. 

Upon arriving at the house, Lan Qiren was already standing outside the front door wanting for them just as he always did. Unlike how they usually just got out of the car and headed into the house, they had to make a pit stop to the back of the car, which made Lan Qiren’s head tilt in question. Wei Ying giggled slyly and then reached over Yuan in the car seat to unbuckle the boy before setting him on his hip. When Wei Ying saw Lan Qiren’s face again after he had taken Yuan out of the car it looked as if the man was able to faint from shock. 

Despite that reaction they simply headed to the front door where the older man continued to stare. 

“Wangji, what is this?” He asked, his gaze going between his nephew and the child in Wei Ying’s arms. 

“Uncle, this is A-Yuan.” Lan Zhan answered, unphased. 

“I birthed him myself!” Wei Ying smiled brightly, earning a look from Lan Zhan. 

Lan Qiren seemed confused for a moment, looking to his nephew for an explanation. 

“Wei Ying did not birth him.” Lan Zhan clarified as if that was what Lan Qiren was worried about. He then swiftly took Yuan from Wei Ying’s arms and held the boy in his own arms as his boyfriend took off his shoes. They then continued into the kitchen where Lan Xichen was standing at the stove preparing something for lunch. 

“Wangji, Wei Ying, welcome.” He said without looking up from the pot he was stirring. 

“Whoa, he looks like gege!” Yuan said as soon as he saw Lan Xichen, he pointed at the older of the two brothers which promptly caught Lan Xichen’s attention. 

“Do not point at people.” Lan Zhan reprimanded. Yuan nodded and then grabbed Lan Zhan’s much larger finger’s instead. 

“Wangji, who is this?” Lan Xichen said with a smile. He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and then moved the finished pot off of the stove. He then walked over to where Wei Ying and his brother were standing with Yuan. 

“I’m Yuan!” The little boy smiled. 

“I’m Xichen-ge!” He attempted to match Yuan’s enthusiasm but just looked silly doing it which made Yuan laugh. 

“Are you babysitting?” Lan Qiren asked, the attention in the room switched back to him for a moment before they all settled on Yuan again, mostly Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren who were quite confused. 

“It’s a long story.” Wei Ying started, a sheepish smile on his face, “But to make that long story short, we plan on adopting him.” 

A stunned silence filled the room. 

“Wangji, Wei Ying, this is a big decision.” Lan Xichen started. 

“You are not leaving until you explain yourselves.” Lan Qiren huffed and then took a seat at the head of the table with his arms crossed. 

About two hours later, Wei Ying, with Lan Zhan’s help, managed to tell Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen everything that had happened within the past few months that lead up to Yuan’s potential adoption, even down to the smallest detail. 

“I just don’t want to see him go into the foster system.” Wei Ying finished, conviction in his voice, that made Lan Zhan reach for his hand under the table, “I know it seems pretty abrupt, but now is what is best for him.” 

After a while Lan Qiren nodded in understanding. Lan Xichen followed in suit with a smile on his face, his gaze lingering on his brother extra long as if he were trying to say something. At this, Wei Ying noticed, Lan Zhan’s ears started to redden with embarrassment. Momentarily, he wondered what Lan Xichen had just implied that made Lan Zhan go so red, but forgot as soon as Yuan slid out of his seat and toddled over to the side of Lan Qiren’s chair with soup all over his face. Wei Ying stared at the boy in hope that he wouldn’t do anything too mortifying, but as someone who worked with kids all day he knew that this probably wouldn’t end well as they were all so unpredictable. 

Wei Ying watched with paused breath as Lan Qiren and Yuan stared each other down. The older man then took his napkin, that was neatly folded on his lap, and cleaned the boy’s face off, something that Wei Ying probably already would’ve done if Yuan hadn’t been sitting across from him and Lan Zhan. Yuan smiled and then proceeded to try and climb onto Lan Qiren’s lap, which caught the attention of the two Lan brother’s as well. 

Yuan proceeded to stare at Lan Qiren and then reached his small baby hand to the elderly man’s goatee and pulled. 

Wei Ying felt his heart drop out of his ass as the room went quiet enough to hear a pin drop. 

Just as Wei Ying thought that they were going to be kicked out for sure, the man started to grumble, which eventually turned into a gumbly chuckle. A sound that Wei Ying, out of the four years he and Lan Zhan had been dating, had never heard from the man. He wasn’t even sure that he had seen the man smile, let alone laugh, and yet here he was with Yuan in his lap, still pulling his goatee. 

“He is just like Wangji when he was young.” Lan Qiren said after he had pulled Yuan away from his facial hair. Lan Xichen smiled and nodded. 

Wei Ying felt himself relax completely after hearing that, then he started laughing, “Did you really used to do that?” 

Lan Zhan nodded deadpan, making Wei Ying laugh loudly again, almost falling off of his chair. Lan Zhan smiled at him fondly, making sure that he did, in fact, not fall out of his chair. Yuan then decided that Wei Ying was much more fun than Lan Qiren’s goatee and climbed off his lap and into Wei Ying’s. As soon as he was in Wei Ying’s lap he pressed his chubby hands to Wei Ying’s face and squished, making the rest of the table laugh joyfully. 

Needless to say, by the time they were leaving Lan Xichen, as well as Lan Qiren, had fallen in love with Yuan and his cuteness. 

The next few weeks are a mess. 

For the first two weeks, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan spent a majority of their time trying to get Yuan on a proper routine. In the mornings, Yuan would head to preschool with Wei Ying and they would wait for Lan Zhan to finish work and pick them up. After that they would work on homework, which was mostly coloring pages for Yuan and work stuff for both adults. Then Lan Zhan would start on dinner. After dinner was Yuan’s bath time and then bedtime. It seemed that before, Yuan had not been on a proper sleep schedule and often went to bed hours after they settled him in bed, which explained why he was always exhausted and cranky during the day. So as quickly as they could, they got Yuan onto a proper sleeping and eating schedule. 

On top of all of that they were making frequent phone calls with the officers on Yuan’s case as well as making dates to have everything finalized as well as the proper inspections needed to ensure that Yuan could stay with them. 

It took months before everything was finally settled, and the day they signed the papers to keep Yuan they were, of course, joined by all of Wei Ying’s former co-workers. All of which were crying as he and Lan Zhan emerged from the courthouse with Yuan in their arms, his face bright and happy that he had received a lollipop from one of the case workers inside of the building. 

Even though everything was new and hectic, it was one of the most rewarding few months of both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan’s lives. 

-a few months later–- 

Hooters, 5:00pm, Friday.

“I’ll be right back!” Wei Ying whisper-yelled, handing Yuan to Lan Zhan as soon as they entered the door. Lan Zhan, fully aware of what Wei Ying was doing, nodded and allowed himself and Yuan to be led to a table by a hostess he didn’t recognize. 

Meanwhile, Wei Ying, casually slipped into the back of the establishment and into the breakroom. Once making sure no-one was around he placed 8 envelopes onto the table in the middle of the room. When he was satisfied with his work, he expertly navigated his way back out to the dining room and placed himself next to Lan Zhan and Yuan. 

“Did they get them?” Lan Zhan questioned as Wei Ying sat down. 

Wei Ying smiled, “They should soon.” 

Sure enough, after they were served their appetizer and the wait staff was switched out for the night, their table was immediately bombarded by Liz and Stacey.

“Are you kidding me with this, Wei Ying!” Liz asked too loudly. 

“Yeah, when were you going to tell us!!” 

Wei Ying smiled brightly, “You know now!”

“Because you gave us a wedding invitation!” 

Wei Ying’s face nearly split in half because of how much he was smiling, beside him Yuan was giggling. Lan Zhan’s face, although it was invisible to anyone else, was full of happiness. 

“Surprise!” Wei Ying continued, “Also, keep reading, it’s not just a wedding invitation.” 

Liz urgently looked down at the paper in her hands and scanned it, “You want all of us to be bridesmaids?”

Wei Ying nodded, “Only if you want to…”

“What kind of question is that? Of course, we will!” Stacey screeched. 

Not even a few moments later they were joined by Kaitlynn, Abby, and Amber, who were just as equally excited and took turns hugging Wei Ying tightly. 

“You have to tell us the story!” Kaitlynn gushed. 

“Shouldn’t you guys be working?” Wei Ying crossed his arms, making sure that the pretty engagement ring on his left hand showed proudly. 

“Ugh, yeah.” Stacey wilted.

“Make it quick then!” Amber urged.

And so, just as prompted, Wei Ying went into a quick version of his and Lan Zhan’s engagement. 

“And as soon as I came back from putting A-Yuan to bed I walked back to our living room and there he was on one knee with the candles on and the song he made for us on in the background! It was nowhere close to perfect because there was still Hooters take out all over the couch and we definitely sat on it when we started making out, but it was still amazing!” 

“So romantic!” 

“So sappy!”

“Wow, you really spoil Wei Ying, huh?” Kaitlynn asked Lan Zhan, who nodded simply, yet fondly as he continued to stare at his fiance. 

“Do I even want to know what you did afterwards?” Liz teased. 

“Not in front of the child, guys!” Wei Ying laughed, jokingly covering Yuan’s ears as the 5 year old looked up from his coloring page. 

“I want chicken nuggies!” Yuan exclaimed, having pulled Wei Ying’s hands off of his ears.

Almost instantaneously all of the girls pulled out their writing tablets and wrote down Yuan’s order, racing to get to the kitchen. It was all extremely chaotic, and the other restaurant patrons looked at their table as if they were crazy, but Wei Ying couldn’t really get himself to care. Hooters, by no means, was the best place to work, but it paid the bills for Wei Ying’s time working there and without it he wouldn’t never have met his most beloved friends or soon to be husband for that matter. 

-one year later–-

One beautiful summer day, on a remote green mountain side surrounded by clouds and waterfalls, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying got married. 

Yuan, who was now 6, enthusiastically and seriously, threw flowers on the aisle and then proudly stood by Lan Zhan’s side in front of the rest of their friends and family. Also by his side was his brother, happily supporting him as a best man. In the front row, sat Lan Qiren blinking erratically as if refraining and trying not to let anyone notice that he was crying. Lan Zhan, had followed in his uncle's footsteps of crying not to ugly cry as Wei Ying made his appearance. 

In true Wei Ying fashion, he wanted to do everything right the first time. So, of course, with the assistance of Liz, Stacey, Jen, Amber, Abby, Kaitlynn, Kelly, and Ashley, he was decked out in deep red robes and holding a bouquet of flowers. It was truly an interesting fusion of cultures and traditions. In the front of the venue, just across from Lan Zhan, the Hooters girls stood proudly, occasionally teasing Lan Zhan by waggling their eyebrows and looking between the ‘bride’ and Lan Zhan. Walking Wei Ying down the aisle was none other than Wei Ying’s beloved sister, Yanli, who was also close to sobbing. 

After the ceremony, just as was everything they did, chaos soon ensued. The Hooters girls dragged the party guests into a dance circle after the wedding. Soon after, Lan Qiren was pushed into one of the surrounding ponds by Yuan. Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan then both mistaked the wine for water and showed Wei Ying and the other party guests just how bad Lan’s were at holding liquor. As they had both passed out for a few short minutes before gracefully trashing the place. Shortly after that, Wei Ying roped Yanli and his brother, Jiang Cheng, into watching Yuan, and then escaped the chaos to make out and possibly do other things with Lan Zhan behind a bush. 

All in all, it was a pretty successful wedding. Except for the fact that the damage and clean up costs were another 3,000 dollars, but perfect nevertheless.