Work Text:
Zhou Zishu had been living with them for over a year now, and it didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Nobody wanted him to leave, anyway.
He had been dating Wen Kexing for two years now; there would soon be their second anniversary, for which he had already prepared a surprise, which not even A-Xiang could know about. She was a lovely child, but she never knew anything about secrets and would tell her dad immediately.
Or, she’d tell Kexing, because Zishu had never, not even once, heard her call Kexing any variation of the word dad. For him, it didn’t make much sense, but he never asked.
Now, though, he was a part of their family, not quite A-Xiang’s other father yet, but definitely someone close to both Kexing and his daughter—therefore, he needed to talk to A-Xiang about her using proper ways of addressing her father.
“A-Xiang!” He called the girl who had been in her room until that time, but immediately left it upon hearing Zishu’s voice. She always listened to him, as if she had more respect for him than for her father. It wasn’t bad. Zishu was even kind of flattered that it turned out that way.
He liked to joke about it with Kexing and watch the latter blush furiously and start yelling at him to stop with his bullshit. A-Xiang doesn’t like you more than me!, he’d say, gesturing wildly with his arms. Zishu didn’t tell him that (he planned, though), but he always thought that Kexing was the prettiest when he did that. When he was sincere, not trying to keep himself composed and unnecessarily perfect.
He was absent now, though. He had gone shopping an hour ago and should be coming back any minute now. Zishu hoped to finish the talk with A-Xiang before his boyfriend came home.
The eight-year-old appeared next to him in a couple seconds, her head tilted to the side, wondering. She was clearly curious about what Zishu wanted to tell her.
“Hm?” She questioned, sitting next to him on the couch, leaning into his side. She shared this gesture with her dad, like many other features—she had his snarky temperament, his dark, round eyes and the same pout whenever she was unhappy with something. “What’s up?”
She always talked to him in the most leisure of ways. Zishu couldn’t say it bothered him. He didn’t like when kids felt intimidated by him, and much more when it was his boyfriend’s child. I’m not a child anymore!, she’d probably yell if she heard his thoughts just now. Thankfully, she had yet to obtain the ability to read minds.
“We need to talk.” Zishu immediately shook his head, reconsidering. It sounded wrong, so wrong. “You didn’t do anything,” he clarified, giving A-Xiang a smile to mark his words with.
A-Xiang smiled back, showing her teeth. “I know!” Of course, that little thing. She knew her value and wasn’t afraid to present it to the world. Kexing really did raise her well. “What is it, then? Are we going somewhere?”
She liked going on trips of every kind. They did it almost every weekend as long as both Zishu and Kexing were free. This time, though, it was not about it. Not entirely, at least.
“Do you want to?” He couldn’t stop smiling anymore. The girl was just too sweet—he treated her like his own daughter and hoped he would actually become her father once.
“We can?”
“Why not?” Zishu ruffled her hair and hugged her tight, promising to look for a hotel for the next weekend. Seeing A-Xiang smile made him realize he’d truly do anything for this girl. “There’s one more thing I want to talk to you about.”
A-Xiang looked at him, her eyes wide, desperate for knowledge. She squeezed Zishu’s arm, a smile permanent on her face at this point.
“As you know, Kexing and I—” He didn’t know how he was supposed to address his boyfriend now to make it clear about what the conversation would be. “We’re dating, right?”
“Yes, Kexing’s been talking about you for so long!” She was so cute like this, so childish, so carefree. He really loved her and wanted her to be his daughter, for real. “Especially before you moved in!”
The way she addressed Kexing by his name was cute, but something was off about it at the same time. Zishu wanted—no, needed—to change that. He felt like an old-fashioned guy when he thought about it, but fuck it. He’d try convincing A-Xiang, at least. It might not work, and then they’d both just go back to how it had been before.
“A-Xiang. You’re a big girl now, and I think you should listen to this,” he took a deep breath, running through the speech he had in his head once more, “I think you should start to address Kexing as your Baba now.”
“Why not Kexing?” She sounded so adorably confused. One thing she had from her father, it seemed. “It’s his name, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes. But he gave birth to you, didn’t he?” Zishu didn’t know how to tackle the problem, but he was really trying his best.
“What should I call him then, my birthgiver?”
Zishu would have choked if he had something in his mouth, he was sure.
“No. I meant—” The girl was so ridiculous he could barely hold himself together at this point. “You should refer to him as your father. Did he never tell you this?”
“Was he supposed to?”
Zishu felt like there should be a big red question mark above his head right now. It was so weird to him, that Kexing never told A-Xiang how she should refer to him. It was even weirder than she, even after going to school, didn’t even think about calling Kexing her father like the rest of the children did with their parents. Maybe she treated him more like her brother, because of how young he was.
“Usually people do that.” Zishu was doing his best not to lose his composure. Even though he didn’t understand, he didn’t want to judge either Kexing or the little girl. “But I understand why he didn’t. Anyway, do you think you could try that?”
“Do you want me to?” She was too considerate sometimes, it was scary. Zishu loved her like this, even though she was loud and obnoxious, much like her father, she could also be so sweet it was sickening.
“It doesn’t matter what I want you to do,” Zishu said, trying to sound diplomatic. And, because A-Xiang gave him a clearly sceptical look, he added, “Okay, you’re right, it does. But I can’t force you to do it, can I?”
A-Xiang considered. A pout appeared on her lips and lingered there for a couple seconds, before she finally said, “Probably. You’re old, so you could order me around.”
It broke Zishu’s heart a little, but knowing the little girl, he turned it into a joke, “I’m old? Excuse me, my dear A-Xiang, but I’m far away from being old. Is Kexing old?”
“Of course not!”
“Then, how am I?”
“You’re older than him! Why do you call him Lao Wen if he’s younger?”
“Aren’t you a little too interested, A-Xiang?”
The girl pouted, but didn’t move an inch. She was literally a carbon copy of Wen Kexing. No wonder people always said she looked exactly like him.
“Anyway,” Zishu chose to continue, still finding it impossibly difficult to tackle the problem with the little girl. “Will you try and do that for me?”
He didn’t want to do anything to even imply that he was pressuring her, because he was not. She was her own person and she was also old enough to decide whether she wanted to do what he asked her to or not. He would be glad if she did, but if not, he would never hate her for it. Some kids did call their parents by their names, he knew a few of them and, while still thinking it was odd, he didn’t feel it would change much in A-Xiang’s case.
“I can!” A-Xiang smiled brightly at him, losing her snarky composure for a while. Zishu wanted to hug her and keep her close forever. Even though he had only known her for two years, she was as important to him as Kexing.
“Good girl.” He ruffled her hair again and hugged her like he promised himself earlier, her smaller body against his own. He didn’t hesitate to call A-Xiang his daughter in his head—she was one, even if he never actually adopted her. He wanted to, though, but that needed to be discussed more thoroughly.
A-Xiang hugged him back, her hands around his waist as she stared at him with those round eyes and lips slightly parted.
“Hey!” She called, and Zishu just looked at her, waiting for the little girl to continue. “Does that mean you’re Diedie now?”
Does that mean what now?, Zishu thought, averting his eyes. It was definitely the last thing he would have ever expected from his boyfriend’s daughter. She kept staring at him, though, and he couldn’t even say a word. She seemed to realize it, and decided to keep the conversation going herself.
“If he’s my Baba, you’re Diedie, right? You’ll stay with us? And be my other father?” She kept asking questions, holding Zishu’s hand. Her lips trembled, as well as her hands, but she still kept her composure.
“I—” He was not ready for it. Or for anything of this kind. He didn’t think any child would ever make him speechless like that. But, A-Xiang was basically indirectly proposing for his boyfriend just now. Perhaps she didn’t know it could come out that way, but it did.
“Please!” She used the same puppy eyes her father had, as if she knew Zishu couldn’t resist them, no matter how hard he tried. “I like you, and Baba likes you! You can’t leave us!” She almost cried out, trembling. It seemed like the lack of the other parent was really bothering him. Little did she know he never planned on leaving them.
He hugged her again, pulling her close so that she was clinging to him with her whole body. He liked feeling her close—he never said that to anyone, but he always wanted to have kids. Two, three, maybe. But one would be perfectly fine, too. His point was, A-Xiang had already started being his daughter the first time he’d met her and he never planned on leaving her and her father’s life, ever.
Wen Kexing entered the house and the first thing he saw almost made him drop his grocery bags. His boyfriend was on the couch with his daughter, and they were chatting quietly over some dumb movie one of them had put on TV.
He couldn’t stop a few tears from escaping his eyes—he’d always considered Zishu his family, from the first time they’d met, and now he was only more sure that it was actually true.
He left the bags on the kitchen counter, not wasting any more time when he entered the living room.
“Cuddling without me?” He asked, throwing himself onto the couch and trapping both of his favorite people in a tight, bone-crushing hug. Even leaving them for an hour or so was too much for him.
“Hey.” Zishu gave him a kiss and then another one to the top of A-Xiang’s head, right after she looked at him quite desperately.
“Baba,” A-Xiang said, hugging her father and giving him the most obnoxious kiss to his cheek, “do you know that Diedie will stay with us forever?”
Zishu didn’t know where he should look. His boyfriend was definitely not expecting that, given his surprised expression and confused glance he gave Zishu, but the latter simply could not answer his silent questions.
“Diedie?” Kexing stared at his daughter, confusion almost making him shake. “What… No. What?”
“She wants me to be her Diedie.” Zishu finally composed himself enough to explain the situation, even though it could barely be called an explanation. “And I must say,” he pulled something out of his pocket, “I am quite into that idea myself.”
“Excuse me?” Kexing still had one hand wrapped around his daughter’s waist, but let go when he saw what Zishu was holding. “No. You’re joking, A-Xu! You’re joking, right? This—wow.” It was the first time in two years when Kexing couldn’t find the proper words to say.
“Will you do me the honor of becoming my Laogong, Xing’er?” He didn’t care that A-Xiang was there. She looked interested and not disgusted, at least, so that was good. It was her idea, after all, even if she wasn’t quite aware of that.
Wen Kexing almost passed out when his boyfriend—fiancé, apparently—put a ring on his finger. He was crying and couldn’t even see it properly, but he knew it was pretty. Even if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t care. What mattered was the sentiment alone. He did say yes, obviously, he couldn’t imagine himself rejecting Zishu, neither now nor ever.
“A-Xiang,” Zishu said while trying to comfort his boyfriend—fiancé, Lord, he would have to get used to that, “I will be your Diedie forever now.”