After he calmed down, Will felt shy again. He cried again. It must be this body, otherwise why else would he cry so much? He wasn't a crybaby he was sure of it. Will ducked his head into the crook of his father's neck in shame.
Xia MingWen was afraid that he would fall asleep without eating, so he shifted his little son around so that he was seated sideways on his lap. He then picked up his own set of chopsticks and brought a piece of chicken to Will's lips.
Will hesitated, trying to decide if his hunger was stronger than his embarrassment. It was. He hadn't had a true meal since before he died, that was technically almost a week ago now. He opened his mouth and desperately tried to prevent himself from spilling or gobbling his food too fast.
His earlier attempt at eating had been shameful enough, not to mention how he had burst into tears afterwards.
He felt that if he disgraced her any further, Ning Huan would reach over and strangle him consequences be damned.
Unbeknownst to Will, both his father and brother were smiling while watching him eat. They felt that he was just like a baby turtle, carefully reaching out his neck to get some food only to retract back into his shell at the slightest fright.
Will quickly felt full, his stomach had been neglected for so long it really couldn't accept so much food. In fact he probably over ate, his tummy aching already.
Xia MingWen frowned when he saw how little Ning An ate, and was about to persuade him to eat more then noticed that his small face was wrinkled and rapidly paling. Those delicate hands clutching at his belly.
"An An, what is it? Does your tummy ache?" As he asked, he was already rubbing Ning An's belly as well.
He was considering whether to call the family doctor, when a soft voice distracted him.
"Oh dear, An An probably ate too much. He isn't used to having so much to eat." Ning Huan's tone gentle as she sighed towards Xia MingWen.
"He needs to rest, why don't I take him back to his room and take care of him for a while?"
Xia MingWen seemed to think that was a good idea, but decided to carry Ning An himself since she was pregnant after all.
Xia JianYu on the other hand frowned when he heard Ning Huan, he could take care of An An just fine. He didn't need some random woman to play at caring for his little brother. He seemed to have completely forgotten that she was Ning An's mother in the first place.
When Will finally managed to feel a bit better, he found that he had shifted locations. He had been left alone with his mother, inside his bedroom it looked like.
He struggled to send a pale smile her way, about to tell her that she really didn't have to stay with him, when she spoke up first.
"An An, are you feeling any better?" He swallowed back what he had been going to say and nodded.
"That's good," she smiled her voice becoming even sweeter. "In the future you should try not trouble your stepfather so much. He is a very busy man, and he couldn't possibly want to waste his time on an unrelated son."
Will paled slightly at her words, but continued to remind himself that she was evil and trying to manipulate him driving a wedge between him and everyone else. Mom is evil, Dad is good. Dad likes me, he doesn't think I am wasting his time.
"I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I need to tell you now, so that you understand our mother and son's position. In fact although we seem loving, Xia MingWen and I are not so close. He only married me out of responsibility." As she said the last line she buried her face in her hands, seeming to cry.
"You might not understand now, but you will see soon. He doesn't really pay any attention to us. In this house we only have each other!"
She grabbed onto his hand, eyes watering. She fully embodied the image of a lonely struggling mother who wanted to protect her children.
If it wasn't for his knowledge of the plot and the glimpse of disgust he had caught earlier, he may have been fooled. He nodded humbly, since Ning Huan looked as if she was eagerly awaiting his response. Having satisfied her, she stood up patted his head and gently told him to get some rest.
He stared after her back in a daze, he was still not certain that he could pass this mission. It was much harder than it sounded, though he had expected that. He hadn't completely understood that not all worlds had magic. Being without it greatly limited his ability. As he thought this, he called out to Jenny.
"Jenny, are you there?"
Not two seconds later, her extremely enthusiastic voice bounced back, "Always! What do you need Will? Information on your enemies? Directions? Idle chatter? These are what I excel at!"
He laughed when he heard her, talking to Jenny always relaxed him. "No Jenny, I was just wondering what you thought I should do here. There is no magic in this world, and that's all I'm good at. I'm afraid that I might fail the mission."
He tried not to let his negativity take hold, when he thought of his dismal situation.
"Oh Will, don't worry! One of the major advantages of dimensional travel, is all the extra time you have. You get to live whole lifetimes in the same period that is roughly a month here on Etheria. If you don't have the appropriate skill set for a given world, then learn. The worlds will only get harder and stranger, all the best veterans grasp every opportunity to learn new skills in every world they go to, even the easiest ones. Although you are just a newbie, you should get into the habit early."
Will felt as if clouds had suddenly disappeared and the sun came out. Of course! He needed to stop focusing on having magic for now and truly adapt to this world. Although it seemed obvious in hindsight, sometimes you need someone else to point you in the right direction because you are too deep into the situation to see clearly.
After thanking Jenny, he tried to figure out what he would try to learn. There was still a lot of time left in this mission, but it couldn't hurt to get a head start.
The sound of the door opening pulled him out of his thoughts, it was his big brother again. He seemed to be holding a pillow?
When Xia JianYu entered the room he saw the thin figure of his little brother staring forlornly into the distance.
He sighed, his heart feeling slightly pinched. The poor boy must've wanted his mother to stay longer, but didn't dare to bother her in fear of rejection. His decision to come keep him company had been right, maybe An An would forget about the lunchtime fiasco.
"An An, I came to take a nap with you," he kept his voice light, so as not to startle the timid boy. He then carefully moved to the bed, tucking An An in right next to him.
He handed An An his beloved bear, he probably couldn't sleep without it, then turned off the lamp. Xia JianYu gently hugged Ning An, and then closed his eyes ready to take a nap.
Will was bewildered by the series of events and wanted to reject him. He found himself hugging his little teddy bear wrapped in the thin arms of his big brother. The warmth, coupled with the stress of lunch and his mom, caused sleep to overtake him.
In the bed two small figures lay huddled together, sleeping serenely. This is the scene that Xia MingWen came upon a few hours later when he wanted to call them for dinner.
Filled with joy at catching his sons in such a cute position, he pulled out his phone to snap a few photos. An An and Xiao Yu are so adorable! Look at them hugging each other so tightly, he thought smiling.
He walked over, intending to wake them up when he encountered his older son's sober gaze. Clearly he had already woken up, but didn't want to disturb Ning An.
"Xiao Yu, it's time for dinner. Can you wake An An up?" After receiving Xia JianYu's agreement, he departed as quietly as he came in.
Xia JianYu gazed down at Ning An's face, loath to disturb him. An An finally seemed relaxed, no longer flinching and trembling at every sound, how could he ruin that?
But, he also couldn't let the poor thing miss dinner, he had already had too few meals in his life, he wouldn't let him continue to suffer here at Xia Jia.
He gently shook the sleeping child, while firmly keeping him in his embrace. So that the first thing Will saw when he woke up was the clear eyes of his elder brother, shining out from his handsome little face.
He barely registered that his brother seemed to be calling him to go eat, before he tried to bury himself back into the warmth for more sleep. A smile flickered across Xia JianYu's face as he saw how cute An An was being, snuggled into his arms like that.
He frowned slightly when he realized that he wasn't big enough to just carry An An out, then the little guy could continue to sleep in his arms but also go to the dinner table.
He wished that he could grow up faster, then he could better take care of his cute little brother. He ran his hand through An An's hair, softly calling for him to wake back up.
Eventually, Will forced himself up and stumbled out of the room, his big brother leading him carefully downstairs to the dining room.
As soon as they reached the table, Will felt himself being lifted up and then sat across his father's lap. He looked up and met his father's beaming gaze, he was clearly happy to see him.
Slightly blushing he hugged his father tightly, while thinking that he knew that evil witch was wrong, Dad does like me! Xia MingWen enjoyed the hug of his little son before picking up the chopsticks and feeding the both of them.
As Xia JianYu looked on, he felt slightly jealous. If he was older, An An could sit on his lap, and he could be the one to take care of his cute little baby brother.