Episode 105 - Soon

Yangyang's mother sighed, her stubbornness gone, and Amari smiled. He wasn't surprised, having spent plenty of moments arguing over this with her. She had been looking for a reason. For a sign that told her Yangyang was ready for this.

"Your argument is valid. I don't want anything to happen to Xiao Li either." She stood and stepped up next to her son. "I was never against you getting married. I love Xiao Li, and you're my son. Of course I want you to be happy. But you clearly didn't understand the situation and weren't ready to take care of a family. I was scared for you." Yangyang stayed stiff in surprise as she gently hugged him. "I'm sorry. Xiao Li argued against it many times, but I am stubborn, so I pushed you. But I'm not worried about you anymore. You go ahead and get married whenever you want."

His mother pulled his head down and kissed him on the cheek, then went to take her cup to the sink. She let another, sadder sigh escape.

"Yinyi and I will be there, but I'm not sure anyone else in the family will come. Your yéyé wouldn't even let me mention it. He acts as if I never said anything and won't talk about you."

"I wasn't expecting any of them to accept me." Yangyang wrapped his arms tightly around Amari's waist and leaned down to rest his chin. "Ba's family was always so uptight. Not sure how he turned out so differently." He kissed Amari's cheek. "Their loss."

"Well, your ba would be proud of you," his mother assured him, and Amari felt Yangyang flinch behind him. He took the warm hands at his waist and intertwined his fingers, pulling Yangyang's arms in tighter.

"So, I wasn't expecting to get married today..." Amari smirked, trying to lighten the emotional atmosphere. "But I think maybe you're right, and I really do like surprises." Yangyang chuckled and kissed his cheek again. "As long as they come from you, anyway. The rest of them suck."

"You're getting married today?" Taitai tugged on the end of Amari's sweater, confused but excited.

Reaching down to find Taitai's head, he gave his hair a light ruffle. "No, not today. Li gēge was just kidding. But we'll get married soon."

"Soon?" He still wasn't old enough to fully understand ambiguous time, so Yangyang released his hold and leaned over to pick up his son.

"How about next weekend?" Yangyang asked, his question directed at Amari. "Do you think Ziggy would close the club down early? We could get married there. We don't have a lot of people to invite, and they're all local."

Amari nodded and smiled, taking Taitai's hand. "What do you think, Taitai? Next weekend your ba and I'll get married."

"Then you'll be my ba too?" The question was quiet, but his tone was eager, and Amari felt Taitai's hand tighten around his fingers. He nodded and Yangyang leaned over, handing him over to Amari, his little arms wrapping around his neck.

"Do I call you ba?"

Amari bounced Taitai a couple times, shifting him until he rested comfortably on his hip. "Do you wanna call me ba? You can call me whatever you want." There was a pause, filled with that signature humming as he thought, and Amari's smile widened.

"I wanna call you ba," he replied firmly. "But, I already call ba, ba."

Amari scratched at his head, pretending to think over the problem. "How about instead of Li gēge, you just call me Li ba? Then I'll know you're talking to me."

"Yeah!" Taitai giggled. "Li ba."

"Hmm?" he asked, but Taitai just giggled some more and repeated the name over and over, until Amari tickled him so all he could do was giggle, Amari giggling with him.

Yangyang leaned in close to his ear. "See? I told you he already knows you."

The whisper stopped his laughing and made him blush. Yangyang chuckled and gave him a soft kiss, lingering until Taitai giggled again.

"What are you laughing at?" Yangyang asked.

"You're kissing." Taitai giggled again. "On the lips."

Yangyang kissed his son on the cheek.

"Families kiss like this," he explained sweetly. "But when you get older and fall in love with someone, you kiss on the lips. So of course I'm going to kiss your Li ba on the lips." Yangyang kissed Amari again. "I'm going to do it a lot, because I really, really love him."

Taitai giggled again and Amari felt his cheeks grow warmer. "Seriously... How do you say those things so easily?" Yangyang chuckled and rubbed his hand over Amari's mohawk. "Uh, so cringy."

After setting Taitai down, he wrapped his arms around Yangyang's waist, burying his face in his chest. "You're so cringy and I hope you never change." His voice was shy, his words muffled in the shirt fabric, and Yangyang pulled him up enough to kiss him on the forehead.

"Never," he promised.

After a few moments, Amari released his hold, letting out a long breath. He grabbed Taitai's hand and brought him over to the couch, sitting him on his lap.

"So, Taitai. I said we're gonna talk about me being sick, yeah?" Taitai made a little noise to confirm and Amari nodded, gently rubbing the child's back. "Do you remember I told you I was blind because I had an accident?"

Taitai made another little noise and Amari leaned his head down, pointing out the large scar at the base of his skull. He let Taitai touch it, then lifted his head again.

"I hit my head really hard, and because of that, I injured my brain. When that happens, sometimes other things happen too. Like losing my sight."

Taitai seemed to understand so far and Yangyang joined the two on the couch. "Do you know what a seizure is?" Of course he didn't, so Amari tried to think of a way to explain without scaring him. "Because of this injury, I can have seizures. It's when my whole body freezes, or sometimes I'll shake. When that happens, I might not know what's going on around me. I can't hear well, or speak well."

Rubbing Taitai's back again, more to calm himself than the child, he added, "If you see it, it might look scary, but it's not. It doesn't hurt, and it'll stop. It just makes me tired, okay?"

"Okay..." Taitai hesitantly agreed.

Amari smiled to encourage him. "If it happens, you don't need to be afraid or worried. You've just gotta tell an adult." He pulled him a little closer and ran a hand over his hair, then pushed a few locks behind an ear. "Right now, I take medication that makes me feel better, so I might not have a seizure for a long time. You've taken medication when you were sick, right? And it made you feel better?" He felt Taitai's head nod under his hand. "My medication does the same thing."

"So, if you eat the med-cation, you're okay?"

Amari smiled warmly again to reassure him. "I can still have a seizure, but yeah, the medication helps a lot."

It was the best he could do. He would rather tell Taitai that he was all better and not to worry, but then if he had a seizure and Taitai saw, he would only be frightened.

"Whatever happens, if I'm tired or I get sick, you don't need to worry, okay? You can just help take care of me, and I'll get better. And if your ba gets worried, you've gotta comfort him. Your ba gets scared a lot, you know?"

"Yeah, he does." Amari giggled, making Taitai giggle with him.

"Hey, wait. How did we end up talking about me?" Yangyang pretended to be upset, but Amari could hear the lightness in his tone.

He felt Taitai reach toward his father. "It's okay, ba," he said in a soothing voice. "I'll take care of you."

Amari snorted and turned his head away, trying hard not to laugh.

"Thanks, Taitai." Yangyang's tone was filled with a sarcasm his son wouldn't understand. "I feel better already."

Amari picked Taitai up and handed him to his father. "Speaking of medication, I've gotta go home and take some. I can't miss the timing." He stood and headed to the door. "I'll call you tonight?"

He started pulling his boots on, but Yangyang joined him at the door. "Nope. I'll come with you." After setting Taitai down, he reached for his own shoes. "I have class later, and I haven't seen you in weeks. Not really, anyway."

"So clingy," Amari said with a small smile, grabbing his coat. As Yangyang got ready, he turned to Taitai, crouching down to give him a hug. "Sorry I didn't get to visit very long. I'll make sure to carry meds with me so I can stay longer."

"'Kay!" Amari hugged him again, taking in his warmth and smell - a child's shampoo and his crayons and markers, with the same detergent and fabric softener as his father, and the same hint of lingering sandalwood.

Amari stood and Yangyang led him out the door to the street. Like the ending of every difficulty they had experienced together, it became just another day, and the events of the past two weeks were already far behind them.