"Pa I will go visit mom and dad tomorrow. And after that, we can have a family dinner for my birthday."
"Sure, son, let's do that."
"Is Mama already asleep?"
"Yeah, now you go rest and sleep too. It's already midnight, and you're traveling to Chongqing tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Baba, Riley, Marius, Luke, and Dylan will go with me."
"Mn, that's good," replied Jackie, patting his shoulder.
"Yes, Pa, you too should go back to Mama. She will be worried if she wakes up and can't find you by her side." Ryder said jokingly to ease his father's worries a little bit after the bad news he received a moment ago. He doesn't want to put so much pressure on them. And if things didn't go as his father wanted, he has another way of getting his revenge.
"Ah, my son knows how to joke now, huh? Don't worry, she won't bite me; she is a well-behaved tigress." Jackie said while mimicking a roaring tiger.
"And when will you introduce us to your girlfriend, Hu?" He added, which made Ryder raise an eyebrow a little. He suddenly remembered his dad. His Baba and his dad sometimes have similarities in various ways. They were both serious and could be funny at some point, and they were both devoted to their wives.
"Baba, I don't have a girlfriend, and neither do I like girls. I want a boyfriend, not a girlfriend." Ryder blurted out, not realizing his father's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. He turned into a complete statue.
Ryder laughs so hard when he sees his father's reaction.
"Puhahahahahahhaha...hahaha…
"Baba, I'm just kidding, alright? don't take it seriously, hahaha... hahaha…" Ryder is having a good laugh in his life after a long, long time. His baba has the funniest reaction ever.
"What the hell?" Jackie smacked his back lightly. "Ah, you silly kid, dare to joke with me like that, huh? Is it that funny?" He hit Ryder one more time, but not enough to cause harm.
"Why baba? Would you not accept me if I liked a boy and not a girl?" Ryder narrowed his eyes, hoping his baba is not a homophobe. Because he has this secret that he has been keeping from his parents until this moment.
"Of course not, son, come here." Jackie Xiao gestured his hand to Ryder, and Ryder sat close to his father while Jackie messed with his hair. "I'm just shocked, and you left me off guard. That was it. I am a person who respects everyone's preferences; I'm not some sort of homophobe. I also knew some gays and lesbians, and I also have friends among those members of the LGBTQ community."
"Then, why did you react like that?" Ryder believed him, but he just wanted to tease his baba. Jackie sighed
"Because I didn't expect you to blurt like that. However, even though what you said earlier is not a joke, rest assured that I will never get mad. I and your mom will never get mad at you, okay? We will accept whomever you like. Either it's a girl or a boy; remember that, alright? As long as you are happy, that is more important to us. So if you ever have someone you like, girl or boy, please introduce them to us. We will always support your happiness. We will always have your back." He said with sincerity.
Ryder flopped his head on his baba's lap like a little boy pouting while Jackie kept brushing his son's hair that he ruffled a moment ago. Ryder misses this kind of bonding. It may seem like a childish act to others, but he was merely filling in all those years he had not had a chance to be like a little boy when his mom and dad had gone.
The father-son bonding moments were disrupted when the door swung open and the tiger walked in.
"So, you two are having a nice father-son bonding here while you left me alone in our bedroom, huh?" Zoe raised her brow and then sat beside Ryder with crossed arms.
"Just having a midnight snack, mom." Ryder got up and pointed at the plate of biscuits on the coffee table.
"Oh my, don't be jealous, my tigress." Jackie was then about to reach his wife, but he was slapped with a cushion pillow instead.
"How dare you call me a tiger when you haven't experienced my claws yet?" Zoe mimicked a tiger clawing her prey.
The husband and wife continued their playful bickerings like children while Ryder just skimmed at them, averting his gaze from his father and to his mother back and forth with a disbelief frown plastered on his face.
His heart is full of happiness; he remembers the old times with his mom and dad. Set aside the unfortunate event that happened.
"Hey mama, baba, I'm still here; please let me go out first so you two can continue what you were doing. hahaha." Ryder then laughed before sprinting out of the study room. But he halted his steps when Zoe called him by his nickname.
"Riri, baby! Happy birthday, my son."
Ryder stopped and strode back to hug his mother. "Thanks, mama. I love you, but stop calling me Riri; it sounds like a baby." He complained as he kissed them on the cheeks.
"But you are always our baby," Zoe pinched his cheeks.
"Fine, but only when we're alone together."
"Okay, now go to your room and rest." It's almost 1:00 a.m. now." Jackie shoos him out.
The next day, before the sun rose up in the sky,
Ryder and his buddies fly to Chongqing to visit his mom and dad and to commemorate their deaths. Ryder again left two stems of black roses on his mom and dad's graves. He promised his foster parents he would continue to offer them black roses until those responsible for their deaths served their punishments.
Ryder told his mom and dad how happy he is now and that his biological parents are treating him so well and how much they love him, just like they love Shin so much.
"I will forever be your little Shin, until then; goodbye for now, mom, dad." Ryder caressed the tombstones of Katelyn and Warren before bidding goodbye one more time and joining his friends who were waiting for him at the entrance of the cemetery.
After visiting the graveyard, they went to the burned house again. The garden is still there, but to Ryder's surprise, the other flowers that bloomed the last time he visited with his parents are now gone. Only black roses remain in the garden. He tried flipping some black roses, but he did not find a single colored flower except those already withered and dried.
Ryder suddenly felt something awful at the pit of his stomach. He has this ominous and unexplainable weariness. Having an uncomfortable feeling about it, he called his mother immediately.
"It's alright, son. Don't worry about it. They will grow again, trust me. You guys take care out there, okay?" said Zoe on the phone. "And remember, we have a family dinner at 7 o'clock at the W-Royal Hotel and Restaurant; come back before 7."
"Yes, mama, I miss you and baba. see you later. I love you much, mama."
"I love you too, honey, bye-bye." The call ended. Ryder breathed out in relief. "I must be overthinking about it. It's normal for flowers to wither." He thought and sorted out his mind.
While in there, Ryder couldn't help but recall some old happy memories with his mom and dad. Ryder touched the old burned and ruined house, where vines and grass were growing and already occupying the walls that were still hanging in there. When his dad was still alive, he and his dad painted the walls together once every year, and it was one of his favorite bonding times with his dad while his mom was preparing some snacks for them, and then they ate together in the middle of his mom's beautiful garden.
It was 3 p.m. Ryder and his friends decided to fly back to Beijing and landed at 6:30 p.m. One of the Xiao family drivers is already waiting for them at the airport. After the five settle into the car, Ryder's phone buzzes. It was Butler. Ryder answered the phone, and after a moment, a loud thud halted everyone. All attention was on him, and everyone looked at Ryder's trembling hand with a horror expression.
Ryder's phone fell, and he became stiff while his hands were shaking terribly, unable to move or utter a single sound.
Marius shook him while calling his name. "Hey, Ryder! Ryder!... "
Dylan picked up the phone on the floor and answered the ongoing call.
Ryder was still in a state of shock while Dylan talked to Butler, and like Ryder, Dylan almost dropped the phone again. Dylan gave Ryder a sympathetic look that was still frozen on his spot before averting his attention to everyone in the car and to the driver.
"Mr. Driver, to the hospital, please hurry up!" Dylan ordered the driver with an almost trembling voice.