This Alpha Is So Devoted to His Wife - Chapter 12

He was grounded at home for falling behind the group.

“Waaah…”

In front of the living room’s large white wall, a little boy was facing the wall for a timeout, but he couldn’t stop his tears from falling.

“How many times have your dads and I reminded you about this? When your fathers aren’t around, how are you supposed to protect yourself outside? If your brother is with you, are you supposed to leave him? But this time, you didn’t even hold your good friend’s hand, and you threw a tantrum when you were criticized. Duan Yu Luo, are you looking for a spanking?”

“Waaah, waaah, waaah…” Duan Yu Luo listened to his dad’s criticism, tilted his head up, and cried even more sadly. He tried to turn his head to look at his other dad for comfort, even opening his arms for a hug.

But…

“If you dare to look at your other dad and ask him to hug you, I’ll send you to Grandpa’s house to sleep.”

Duan Yu Luo cried even harder when he heard “Grandpa.” He put his hands over his face with a ‘pat’ and cried as if the sky was falling. “Waaah, I… I want Xing Xing.”

“Xing Xing doesn’t like children who don’t learn from their mistakes,” his dad, Luo Songran, said sternly.

Duan Yu Luo’s tears were so profuse that his hands couldn’t even cover his face anymore, and they dripped down his chin, wetting his shirt. He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t stop crying. He could only sob while turning to his older brother, Luo Yu Duan, sadly waving to him.

His older brother Luo Yu Duan couldn’t stand seeing his little brother cry like this. He walked to his side, took his hand, and looked at his dad. “Dad, he knows he was wrong. The teacher and Lu Xing He both criticized him. He definitely knows now.”

Duan Yu Luo hugged his brother’s arm, nodding vigorously through his tears. He wanted to say something, but he was still crying.

“Take a deep breath. Pull yourself together,” his brother said.

Duan Yu Luo took a deep breath, wanting to say he really knew he was wrong. But as soon as he looked up, he pouted and let out another “waah,” crying again. He held his brother’s arm with one hand and covered his face with the other, crying with great sorrow.

Perhaps it was uncomfortable to cry like that, so he simply hugged his brother and cried, getting tears and snot all over his brother’s clothes.

His older brother, Luo Yu Duan, “…”

His other dad didn’t want his partner to worry about this all night and not be able to sleep well. He walked over to his partner and patted his shoulder. “You go practice the piano. I’ll talk to the child.”

His dad, Luo Songran, looked at him with a mix of belief and doubt. “Don’t spoil him again. You have to be serious with him about this.”

His other dad, Duan Yizhou, smiled helplessly. “I only spoil you the most. Go practice your piano.”

Duan Yu Luo, who had been crying on his brother’s shoulder, started to peek to see if his dad had gone upstairs.

“Dad has gone upstairs.”

Duan Yu Luo saw his other dad sitting on the sofa in front of him with a blank expression. He was so scared that he pouted again, his eyes filled with tears. Even though his dad was usually the one who was strict, and his other dad always played with them, seeing his other dad not smiling still made him nervous.

“Can you go get Dad a glass of milk, Brother?” his other dad asked Luo Yu Duan with a smile.

“Yep, okay!” His older brother, Luo Yu Duan, ran to the kitchen, skillfully pulled up a chair, opened the fridge, and got a carton of milk.

Duan Yu Luo saw that his brother had also left, leaving him all alone with no one to help him. He was scared, but also pouted defiantly, holding the corner of his shirt.

Duan Yizhou looked at his little son and couldn’t help but think he was exactly like his own partner when he was little. It was no wonder they were related. Now, after dealing with this little rascal, he would have to go upstairs and coax the big one.

“Come here, little one.”

Duan Yu Luo was so angry he folded his arms and turned his back on his dad. He pointed his small finger in the air and said, “Dad criticized me just now and didn’t help me. Now you have to call me ‘baby’ for me to come over.”

His other dad chuckled. He knew that when his dad wasn’t around, this was how he would act. “‘Baby’ is for your dad. You’re my little one.”

“Humph, then we’ll just talk like this,” Duan Yu Luo said, with his back to his dad.

His defiant little back was strangely funny. He had a lot of attitude.

His other dad chuckled and asked, “Does your good friend, Xing Xing, know you’re so fierce?”

When Duan Yu Luo heard “Xing Xing,” his angry demeanor softened a bit. He turned his head nervously to his dad. “What do you mean fierce? I’m not fierce at all.”

His other dad immediately took out his phone and pretended to take a picture of him. “I’m going to take a picture of you right now and show it to Xing Xing.”

“Ahhh!” Duan Yu Luo ran to his other dad in a panic, his short arms pulling at his dad’s arm, trying to grab his phone. But he was no match for his dad. He jumped but couldn’t even touch the phone. He was anxious. “You can’t take a picture! Don’t take a picture!”

“Then stand still right now,” his other dad said, holding the phone up high.

Duan Yu Luo immediately stood at attention between his dad’s legs, his small hands at the seams of his pants. He sniffled, and with a ‘pop,’ he accidentally blew a snot bubble. He felt it and was immediately embarrassed, but he didn’t want to be laughed at. He quickly held out his hand like a chicken’s beak and pointed at his dad, saying in a cute, fierce voice, “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

His other dad suppressed his laughter and nodded, pretending to be serious. “Then tell me now, how do you protect yourself when you’re outside?”

“Don’t eat things from strangers, don’t take things from strangers, and hold an adult’s or my brother’s hand. Xing Xing’s hand is okay, too.”

His other dad heard the last part. “I didn’t teach you to hold Xing Xing’s hand.”

“Xing Xing will protect me! He’s super cool and so tall!” Duan Yu Luo stood on his tiptoes and gestured to show Lu Xing He’s height, waving his arm. “He’s taller than you, Dad!”

His other dad sighed. “Don’t let your dad hear that, or he’ll scold you again. So why did the teacher say you ran off today? What did you go do? The teacher asked me to ask you. Didn’t you say that if you don’t hold your brother’s hand, you’ll hold Xing Xing’s hand? Why didn’t you hold his hand this time?”

Duan Yu Luo lowered his head gloomily. “Because… Xing Xing criticized me.”

“Criticized you for what?”

“He said I jumped down the stairs when we got off the bus, and he said he didn’t like me anymore.”

“Well, he was right to criticize you. I don’t like you doing that either.”

“Humph!” Duan Yu Luo angrily hummed at his other dad, putting his hands on his hips. “Xing Xing likes me.”

His other dad saw the little rascal throwing a tantrum again and immediately raised his phone. “I should let your good friend see how Duan Yu Luo acts when he’s angry.”

“No, you can’t!” Duan Yu Luo quickly waved his hands, afraid his dad would record it and send it to Lu Xing He. His face immediately showed a professionally sweet smile. “I’m not angry! Dad, look, I’m smiling!”

His other dad looked at the forced smile and lowered his hand. He “hmm-ed.” “So you were angry with Xing Xing because he criticized you? So you ran off by yourself?”

“I ran off for a reason,” Duan Yu Luo said, gesturing with his hands. “I went to find autumn. I was thinking of giving autumn to Xing Xing so he wouldn’t be mad at me.”

“Find autumn?”

“Mhmm! I put autumn in my backpack! So many leaves.”

His other dad finally understood his son’s meaning. He was a bit surprised. This little boy’s emotional intelligence was indeed better than his brother’s. He looked at his son’s clear, bright eyes and used his finger to gently rub his nose. “So you used autumn to win over your good friend?”

Duan Yu Luo lowered his head shyly. “Yeah.”

His other dad laughed. “You’re getting shy now?”

“I’m happy.”

“Now, go and talk to Dad yourself and tell him if you’ll do this again. Your dad’s legs went soft when he heard you were almost lost.”

“I won’t get lost! I have a robot inside me!” Duan Yu Luo patted his small chest, looking a little smug. “I definitely won’t get lost.”

His other dad saw that the boy still didn’t understand the severity of the situation. He thought that having a memory chip would completely protect him. His safety awareness was still lacking. It seemed he really needed to do something concrete to make him realize how serious this was.

For now, he could only sigh and pat his little head. “Now, go upstairs and find Dad.”

“Other dad,” Duan Yu Luo leaned in, hugged his neck, and whispered in his ear, “You’re so handsome when you’re not fierce.”

His other dad laughed and hugged his little son, giving him a kiss. “Save that line to coax Dad.”

“Can I video call my good friend after I’m done coaxing Dad?”

“Why?”

“I want to say goodnight to him!” Duan Yu Luo said in a sweet voice, his eyes full of sincerity.

His other dad felt a headache coming on whenever he heard Lu Xing He’s name. The frequency of his name being mentioned was far more than his brother’s. “First, you need to coax your dad. Then we’ll see.”

“I’m going now.” Duan Yu Luo let go of his dad and ran upstairs with a quick patter of his little feet. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turned to his dad, and pointed with a little chicken claw gesture. “You promised! Once I coax Dad, you’ll let me video call Xing Xing! We agreed we’d transform before bed.”

His other dad was helpless; there was no way he could refuse.

Just as expected, Duan Yu Luo used his cuteness and charm to successfully coax his dad and promised he would never do that again. In the end, he was given ten minutes for a video call.

In the bedroom, Duan Yu Luo was nestled obediently against the headboard, holding a phone bigger than his face. He waited lazily for the call to connect. The moment it did, he sat up, his eyes bright with excitement, and waved to Lu Xing He on the other side.

“Xing Xing!”

He sounded like they hadn’t seen each other in ages.

Lu Xing He on the video call was about to transform into Ultraman with his good friend, but he saw his friend’s face close to the screen with eyes as red as a little rabbit’s. He frowned and pointed to his own eyes. “Did you cry?”

“Yeah!” Duan Yu Luo nodded forcefully. “I cried really loudly just now.”

“Was it because your dad scolded you?”

“Yeah, he scolded me because it’s not safe to run off by myself.”

“Then let’s not run off by ourselves next time. You have to hold my hand.”

“I’ll definitely hold your hand and not run off by myself from now on.”

“Good boy.”

Duan Yu Luo saw his good friend give him a thumbs-up and felt a little shy. Then, as if he remembered something, he moved his face close to the screen and said to Lu Xing He in a mysterious way, “Come here for a second.”

Lu Xing He saw the chubby face suddenly get closer and put his ear near the screen.

Through the phone, he heard Duan Yu Luo’s sweet and serious voice.

“I don’t think the coolest Ultraman in the world is Noah.”

“Then who is it?”

“It’s Lu Xing He.”

Lu Xing He’s small face was blank for a second, looking a little surprised. He stared at Duan Yu Luo on the video call.

Duan Yu Luo smiled brightly. “Mwah.” After saying that, he waved to Lu Xing He. “Bye-bye~”

The video call ended.

Lu Xing He was still holding the tablet, looking dazed. “…” He pursed his lips, and his ears were bright red.

A moment later.

His dad, Clemens, saw Lu Xing He still holding the tablet motionless and couldn’t help but say, “Son, don’t hold it in. If you’re happy, just laugh.”

Lu Xing He felt a little proud. He looked up at his dad. “The little one said I’m the best in the whole world!”

Clemens raised an eyebrow. “I’ve told you that, and you’ve never been this happy.”

His mom, Lu Qing, walked in from the garden, holding two wilted roses. She smiled at Lu Xing He. “Since you like the little one so much, why don’t you get engaged to him?”

Lu Xing He looked confused. “What’s an engagement?”

Clemens leaned in and whispered in his son’s ear, “It means the little one will be your wife when you grow up.”

“Like you and Mom?”

Clemens nodded. “Yes, when you grow up, it’ll be like how Mom and I are together. Do you want that?”

Lu Xing He got excited and held up the tablet. “Can we tell him now?”

“It’s too late, son. We’ll do it another day.”

“Dad~ Let’s do it now.”

“Nobody gets engaged at night. It has to be on a sunny day. Now, go to bed. If you sleep well, I’ll go and talk to them about it.”

Lu Xing He didn’t say another word. He put down the tablet and ran back to his room.

Tomorrow will definitely be a sunny day.