The Child Raised by a Golden Retriever Boy-Mom - Chapter 18

Feng You fell into a brief state of confusion. He really wanted to ask Lu Yubai why he was playing two roles at the same time, but asking such a question of a child who did not speak was far too difficult. He simply rubbed the child’s head and spoke helplessly.

“How can you play two roles? At least Brother Chang’an is willing to play along with your games.”

Lu Yubai did not speak; he only puffed out his chest with pride. A child was born to be a father!

It was a good thing that Lu Yubai’s memories of his own father had not been triggered. Perhaps that man was gradually fading from his memory, and soon, the boy would be able to speak properly.

As the weather grew colder, the nursing home took the extravagant step of installing heaters in areas that were not centrally heated at their own expense. The rooms became warm and comfortable, so much so that one would not feel cold even in light clothing.

“Baby, winter is here, and your birthday is coming up. Do you want to choose your own birthday gift?”

Lu Yubai nodded; he already had a gift in mind.

“Alright, what does baby want?”

Lu Yubai pointed at Feng You’s dog ears. Those thick golden retriever ears drooped on both sides of Feng You’s head, bouncing and swaying whenever he ran. However, golden retriever floppy ears were difficult to maintain; being pressed tightly against the head made them prone to ear mites, so Feng You always set aside a specific time to groom them.

“Baby wants my ears?”

Lu Yubai nodded, reaching out to squeeze the fluffy, warm ears. Mommy’s ears were different from the little golden retriever plush toy in his arms; they were alive and always felt warm to the touch.

Feng You scratched his cheek in confusion.

“I cannot exactly take my ears off and give them to you.”

Lu Yubai insisted on this gift. He was so determined that he had to touch Feng You’s ears every day, as if they were already his property to be played with anytime, anywhere. He could not speak or express his thoughts clearly. The child simply felt that the child of a puppy mommy should, of course, also be a puppy. He was daily distressed by the fact that he had not grown a pair of puppy ears himself.

“Baby, come here.”

Feng You pulled Lu Yubai to the full-length mirror and stood him straight. He hid behind Lu Yubai, using the perspective to make the two puppy ears appear on either side of the child’s head.

“Now baby is a puppy too.”

Lu Yubai looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes widening in surprise. He jumped happily and reached back to touch the dog ears behind his head. Now he was a puppy too! The child of a puppy mommy was naturally a puppy! The golden floppy ears appeared halfway in the mirror, looking particularly striking against his black hair. He pulled the two ears forward to make the flash of gold even more prominent.

Feng You squatted behind the child, his broad shoulders almost encircling Lu Yubai. Feeling that the drooping ears were not obvious enough, he used his hands to hold them upright. The two thick ears stood atop Lu Yubai’s head, the fur at the base fluffing out into small round balls, while the light pink inner color was clearly visible.

A prick-eared golden retriever was incredibly cute. It was the first time Lu Yubai had seen his puppy mommy look like this, and he bounced around in excitement. He held up his little golden retriever plush toy and mimicked Mommy by lifting its floppy ears as well. Two pairs of upright golden retriever ears appeared in the mirror.

Feng You took a photo of the child and printed it out to stick on their photo wall. The wall was already filled with many of their pictures, recording Lu Yubai’s growth from a tiny tot to a tall young boy.

“Are you satisfied now? Mommy’s puppy ears already belong to baby.”

Feng You nailed the photo in place and lifted Lu Yubai onto a stool to look at it. Lu Yubai stared at the photo for a long time before seriously shaking his head. No, it was not enough.

He jumped down from the stool and ran to rummage through the cabinet for an ink pad. The child did not know how to write yet, but he had seen Mommy sign a thick stack of papers and press his thumbprint down after writing his name. Mommy had explained that everyone’s fingerprint is unique and symbolizes their name, which is why a fingerprint is added after a signature.

Lu Yubai thought that although he had not learned to write his name, he could use a fingerprint instead. Thus, he colored his thumb bright red, ran over, and signaled for Feng You to lower his head before pressing it onto a dog ear. A red fingerprint stood out clearly on the golden fur like a brand or a wax seal.

“Mommy’s ear, mine.”

Lu Yubai was very satisfied. He reapplied the ink and pressed it onto Feng You’s other dog ear. He rubbed the ears of his plush toy with his clean fingers; the embroidered name on it had already become frayed from his constant touching. The child felt that owning Mommy’s ears was just like owning this little golden retriever toy.

His gaze moved to the wagging tail behind Feng You, then to Mommy’s palms, arms, chest, and thighs. He began to count his birthdays on his fingers: at six years old he could have the dog tail, at seven the arms, then eight, nine, ten. Having just learned numbers up to ten from Grandpa Qin Youjiang, Lu Yubai found that his ten fingers were not enough once he finished counting them.

Feng You observed the child’s silent movements from the side, understanding with perfect unspoken chemistry what the boy was trying to write.

He laughed. “Are ten fingers not enough? Do you want to try adding your toes too?”

“Oh, right!”

Lu Yubai obediently took off his cotton slippers and began moving his toes to count the years. He had not learned how to count past ten, so in his mind, he recited ten and one year, ten and two years, ten and three years. The child seriously finished counting to ten and ten years only to find that even his toes were not enough.

Feng You squatted in front of Lu Yubai. He did not know exactly what the child was counting, but he held up his own hands in front of the boy anyway.

“Finished counting? If you do not have enough, you can borrow mine.”

Lu Yubai nodded and began counting ten and ten and one year while pulling on Feng You’s fingers. He looked his puppy mommy up and down. By the time he reached ten and ten and two, he did not know what else was left that did not already belong to him.

The child nodded, repeating his grand discovery in his heart. By the time he was ten and ten and two years old, everything of Mommy’s would belong to him.

“You little rascal,” Feng You said with a laugh as he rubbed the boy’s head.

Children of this age have many wild imaginations, and their innocent logic is so unique that Feng You could never fully anticipate it. Since Lu Yubai did not speak, Feng You could not always guess what the child was thinking. He wanted to know the child’s mind, but even when he could not understand, he would seriously support him in his own way. Childhood innocence is such a precious thing; Feng You wanted to protect it.

Just then, the child pulled out a red gift ribbon from somewhere. He remembered that when Mommy gave him gifts, a beautiful red ribbon would be tied into a large bow on the gift box. Since the dog ears were also a gift, how could a ribbon bow be missing?

Lu Yubai held up the red ribbon with both hands, looking at Feng You expectantly.

“What does baby want to do?”

Feng You squatted down to eye level with the child. “Is there something you want to decorate?”

Lu Yubai pointed at Feng You’s ears and raised his hands to wrap the ribbon around them. He wanted to wrap the gift; Mommy had promised to give them to him, and no step could be skipped.

“You little fellow,” Feng You sighed helplessly, yet he did not stop the child from clumsily tying the ribbon around his ears.

Previously, when giving gifts, Feng You would let the child unwrap the box himself, pulling the bow loose to reveal the surprise. The child must have remembered this sense of ritual and was now applying it to him.

Lu Yubai had not learned how to tie a bow yet. Relying on his memory, he tied Feng You’s ears together, wrapping the red ribbon around the base and pulling it tight into a messy knot. Feng You felt his ears pulling back against his scalp, but the pain was not intense, so he did not stop the child’s mischief. Since it was a birthday gift, he wanted the child to be happy.

The ribbon was tied into a chaotic dead knot at the base of his ears, forcing his golden retriever ears to stand upright with the backs of the ears touching. The bright red color contrasted with his light golden hair; for a moment, he really did look like a wrapped gift, though the wrapper was a complete novice.

Feng You sighed softly. He felt very much like a beagle with its ears tied back before a meal; to prevent large ears from dipping into food, he used to help small Beagle Omegas tie their ears back. He looked exactly like that now.

The Golden Retriever Mommy, who was skilled at housework and needlework, could not bear to look at the messy knot. He sighed gently and asked, “Shall I tie the bow again for baby?”

Lu Yubai was naturally willing and nodded repeatedly. He had been troubled by his inability to tie the bow properly, and hearing that Feng You would tie it himself on his own ears made him hop around in joy.

Feng You laughed helplessly, his gentle gaze full of the soft indulgence of an elder spoiling a child. He raised his hands and tied his own ears; the large red bow was clean and sharp, with two ribbons resting perfectly on either side of his head.

“Is baby satisfied now?”

Lu Yubai clapped happily and nodded seriously, his eyes shining. He stared intently at the bow, his clear eyes reflecting Mommy’s image. It looked good; red suited Mommy perfectly.

Lu Yubai made up his mind to learn the skill of tying bows. In the future, when he owned Mommy’s tail, arms, palms, and thighs, he would tie bows on all of them as well.

Feng You pulled him into an embrace, rubbing his chin against the child’s cheek. He had a bit of stubble on his chin that he had not had time to shave, and it felt prickly against the boy’s face.

“Where do you get all these strange ideas, hmm?”

Lu Yubai laughed uncontrollably from the rubbing, and since his face felt prickly, he used both hands to push Feng You’s face away. He squirmed in Feng You’s arms, but the strength of a five-year-old was no match for Feng You.

Unable to push him away, he eventually laughed until he was weak, his face feeling both prickly and itchy.