The twins may be around May a lot but they had yet to sense Qiu Yeh appearing more often was a suspicion. Qiu Yeh had covered his indirect motive well as the twins knew that May was recently investing in the cruise business together with Qiu Yeh. Hence, they assumed there had been lots of discussions lately but in actual fact, Qiu Yeh was seeking refuge in an unfamiliar place from his family chaos.
One evening, Qiu Yeh heard soft low acoustic guitar strumming from Matthew's room and that was when he found out the boy had potential in sound mixing. "You have been doing this for a long time?" Qiu Yeh asked as Matthew nodded while Joy came to interrupt them. "He always curates for me a great list of songs he had written." Joy praised as Qiu Yeh was surprised.
"Really?" An idea sparked in Qiu Yeh's head instantly.
"Then why don't you try curating a calming playlist for our cruise? Several dead areas could use some soft noise." Qiu Yeh asked as Matthew agreed.
"Good… and you Miss Messy… What's with all this paint on your hand?" Qiu Yeh questioned just noticing Joy was a mess.
"Oh, help me bring down the finished painted piece. I need to paint a new one," Joy said to Matthew, who was annoyed by the request as he was in the middle of sound mixing.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Matt. I will help her. Continue with your stuff." Qiu Yeh offered as Joy excitedly jumped by his side and led him out of Matthew's room.
"Thanks, Uncle Xavier!" Matthew said before indulging himself back into his mixing.
"You paint a lot too?" Qiu Yeh asked while helping to move the completed art of feeding squirrels in spring by the cherry blossom tree down and replacing it with a blank canvas.
"Not really… I prefer more crafts and you should see my collection on the website. Matt did a great job creating a system to maintain my sales and marketing well!"
"You're selling this?" He asked as he pointed to the art he had just put down.
"No! That's for someone!" Joy said hurriedly while blushing as Qiu Yeh smirked. "Having someone special I see…" Qiu Yeh could not help but tease her.
"Not really. Mum said to paint always when I miss someone. Now even Daddy rarely is seen. Only hoping for weekend to hurry up…" She pouted.
"Well, let's make that someone special regret it. I will buy this painting from you at three times the usual price your Auntie May sells and display it on the cruise where everyone can see your undeniable love." Qiu Yeh struck a deal knowing it was going to be very hard for the little girl to resist.
"Alright! Deal! Do not tell my mother!" She jumped excitedly around him as he chuckled.
"Aren't you being influenced by your Auntie May too much now? Betraying love for money?" He raised an eyebrow to tease her as she laughed.
"I can always draw something new Uncle Xavier!" She said while focusing on her new art.
"I'm buying a few now. And maybe some crafts. Let me know what you can spice up on the cruise after you check it out next weekend during the party…" Qiu Yeh offered as Joy's eyes glowed with glee.
"Anything just don't tell my mother how much you offered me!" She excitedly clapped her hand before Matthew walked in and cleared his throat.
"Qiu Qiu, don't you think you're taking too much advantage!" He scolded with a frown as Joy rolled her eyes at her spoilt excitement.
"And for you gentleman, I have additional work for you. Could you also fix our website but this can wait till you're both done with school exams which I assume is next week before the cruise?" Qiu Yeh suggested as Matthew's eyes glowed with excitement too but forcing himself to not give into temptation.
"I pay very well. And yes, I will be ethical with you as you wish." Qiu Yeh concluded as May walked up to all of them and laughed.
"Just say yes. No one can ever resist his charm when negotiating business or making an offer!" May concluded as they all laughed leaving Matthew finally nodded in agreement.
As the adults left the twins for their errands, Qiu Yeh noticed a dimmed living room. "Some trouble with the light?" He asked as May tried hiding her smile for having him fallen into her trap.
"Hmm… Yes… But that's alright, I will fix it later." She lied trying to shrug off his anticipated help.
"Really? You? Or Matthew?" Qiu Yeh teased as May was a little agitated about being seen through that she went to take the ladder immediately and fixed the light in front of him furiously. Qiu Yeh was a little stunned by the sudden change of events as he did want to help but just wanted to tease her a little. He never expected her to be that furious instead.
As he watched her nonchalantly change the light bulb and was impressed, he clapped while she threw him a proud look. However, while she was about to come down the ladder, she became overly nervous coupled with an incoming call from Xue Ting ended with her slipping and falling while answering the call.
She was preparing herself for the harsh fall impact only to feel a gentler harder ground as she landed. "Hello? You're alright May? Did you just fall? What were you doing?" Xue Ting asked without stopping while being accidentally put on loudspeaker.
May tried to take a deep breath and controlled herself from screaming to not alert Xue Ting. She slowly opened her eyes with soft squeals to find herself staring right into Qiu Yeh who was resting on the ground with both his arms supporting his head, enjoying the sight of her terrified self laying on top of him on the floor.
"May? Hey?!" Xue Ting called out which startled her from her mesmerised sight of Qiu Yeh.
"Hey… hey… Yes, I am here. I'm fine…" May stuttered as Xue Ting definitely did not buy it.
"What were you doing? Changing the light bulbs? Haven't you learned your lessons? You are always afraid of heights. Coming down the ladder is never your thing! Where are the kids? Get Matthew!" Xue Ting nagged as May rolled her eyes having to land herself in a trap where Qiu Yeh was listening in while helping her to stand.
The twins peeped outside from their respective rooms after listening to their mother's voice scolding May and saw the commotion as they rushed over to the both of them. "Auntie May! Uncle Xavier are you alright?!" Joy rushed over to help them up only to be stopped by Matthew who felt a strange situation between the both of them as Qiu Yeh nonchalantly checked if May had any injuries.
"Qiu Yeh? What's he doing in your house? You two have been hanging out lately a lot aren't you?" Xue Ting continued nagging at her.
"Hey, sister-in-law… Hope all is well! She's fine, don't worry. Will ensure she has an easier time getting down the ladders or stairs next time." Qiu Yeh greeted as Xue Ting could not help but chuckle leaving May biting her lips in embarrassment.
"Alright, I shall be at ease to hear that… Now, you should leave that Singletini house as the twins need their sleep. It's a school day tomorrow…" Xue Ting nagged at him as he smiled meeting May's irritated gaze.
"Goodnight Ting Ting! Take care!" Qiu Yeh helped May to hang up the call.
"Alright, it's all good here. I will make a move first. Have a good rest all of you." Qiu Yeh said while making a move as Matthew helped to send him off before the twins gave May a teasing look thereafter.
"Is there something going on between the both of you?" Joy asked playfully as May could not help but smile before rushing off to her room.
She was extremely humiliated by Xue Ting giving away all her weaknesses and the twins witnessing her embarrassing moments. She sighed at her tough luck but could not help but feel something different about Qiu Yeh since she had been spending a lot of time with him. She tried to shrug off the feeling only to blush at the event earlier to sleep.
Xue Ting after being chased by Keith to visit the doctor for the past weeks, finally did that day. She found that she was pregnant again. The nostalgia feeling of 17 years ago flew back all over again. She decided to give herself a break that day and strolled the city to clear her mind, thinking of ways to break the news to the family as it was not the right time and she certainly was in a delicate period now. She was told to not move too much around as her womb was not as strong as always. She too wanted to break the news face to face to everyone but was not sure if it was a good idea.
Her plan to seek advice from May turned out to be a failure but spotting a new progress in her love life with Qiu Yeh, made Xue Ting wonder if May was up for it. Knowing her dating history, she had a rotten luck in love and Qiu Yeh was not a simple man. He was too good for many women even herself though Qiu Yeh would definitely think otherwise.
However, Xue Ting still wanted the best for them both who loved her so dearly. The more she thought of it the more she thought it was meant to be; all of it from the very beginning of their collaboration to have May look after her many years back during her first pregnancy and now a potential couple on her second pregnancy.
Perhaps it's a blessing from the kids… Xue Ting smiled to herself as Keith urged her to bed. She repeatedly reminded him to not break the news of her pregnancy to Joy just yet as he nodded obediently.