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This was it.
Today was the day.
Today was the day he was going to come out to his foster parents.
He was ready! He could do this! It would be perfectly fine. Mr. Lan and Mrs. Wei were the coolest adults Mo Xuanyu knew. They would be totally cool with it. They would probably even buy him a rainbow cake and say some sappy shit like “thank you for telling me.” Mr. Lan would definitely say some sappy shit like that.
So why were his hands so shaky? Was it always this hot in his room? He really had no reason to be nervous. It was just… he’d never come out to an adult before, much less straight adults. The only people he had ever told were a few of the students in the GSA at his cool new school. He’d wanted to tell his mother, but that wasn’t really an option without telling Mr. Lan and Mrs. Wei first, because they were caring and responsible and would never let him go to a distant cemetery alone.
His friends—he had friends now, who would have thought?—in the GSA had given him tips on coming out. The first one was naturally, do not come out if you’re not sure you’re safe. Which Mo Xuanyu was sure of. He hadn’t been with his foster parents for that long, but he knew enough about them to know they would never throw him out for his sexuality. They had even talked about going to pride events around town as allies, that’s how cool about it they were.
The second tip was to make it a statement. Don’t sound like you’re unsure or open to being persuaded away from your identity. This is who you are; it is a fact about yourself.
Mo Xuanyu could do that. He had practiced what he was going to say multiple times in his head, and he was practicing it again, standing in front of his bedroom mirror trying not to sweat all the way through his hoodie.
He took a few more deep breaths to calm his racing heart and went to the living room. When he made it down the stairs, he could see Mrs. Wei on the sofa, lounging back and watching TV. Mr. Lan was nowhere to be seen or heard. Normally, the two couldn’t be found very far from each other; they were practically inseparable. It was almost gross how loving they were, always talking or holding hands or cuddling or kissing. But at least it was reliable. He wasn’t expecting to not see Mr. Lan.
“Where’s Mr. Lan?” Mo Xuanyu asked. This wasn’t accounted for in his plan.
Mrs. Wei turned to him. “Oh, Lan Zhan went to get some groceries. Do you need anything?”
Yes, I need to tell you something really important. “No, I’ll just wait ‘till he gets back.”
“Is there something you wanted to ask him about?” Mrs. Wei asked.
“Uh, n-no…” he muttered, not sure what to say anymore.
”Is it boy stuff?” Mrs. Wei’s eyes squinted in a giggling smile. “You know, I can help with that. I probably know more than Lan Zhan, that poor fuddy-duddy.”
”No! No, It’s okay!”
Mrs. Wei hummed, narrowing her eyes at him. “What about girl stuff? Non-binary stuff?”
Mo Xuanyu choked, trying to control his facial reaction but failing by the knowing look on Mrs. Wei’s face. Damn it! This wasn’t what he planned. Now what was he supposed to say? He wasn’t expecting her to expect anything queer!
She just sighed with a laugh. “I’m just teasing you, kid. You can keep your secrets with Lan Zhan!”
He just nodded, and not knowing what else to do, out of the room as quickly as possible.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Wei Ying couldn’t help laughing to herself as the child ran into the kitchen to get away from her. Poor kid. She remembered when she was an awkward teen. She remembered more fondly how Lan Zhan was an even more awkward teen. They’d all been there, and while it was fun to tease and poke, she wouldn’t let the kid suffer. She pulled out her phone and called Lan Zhan.
”Hello?” He answered on the first ring.
”Hello, my dear, sweet husband.” She replied, batting her eyelashes even though she knew he couldn’t see her.
”What do you want?”
She gasped in fake offense. “Rude! I don’t always have to want something, you know? Is it so hard to believe I would call just to have a nice conversation with my amazing and generous husband?”
“Is it so hard to believe Wei Ying is a needy wife?”
She scoffed. “This is slander! Propoganda—!”
”Wei Ying.”
Right. “Can you pick up a rainbow cake?” She asked, not needing an answer to know he was already on his way to get one. Her husband truly was the best.
”What for?”
”What do you mean ‘why?’” She demanded.
”Is someone coming out?” Her Lan Zhan, he always read right through her. That didn’t mean she couldn’t still pull his chain a bit.
”Can’t I just have a day to celebrate queerness?” She often took many days to celebrate queerness, particularly the entire month of June. “I love being queer and I think we should celebrate it more often!”
”Every moment we are together is a celebration of our queerness.”
Wei Ying could hear the soft smile in his voice. Ah, her precious husband. She loved him so much.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Mo Xuanyu waited until Mr. Lan finished unloading all the groceries and sat down next to his wife in the living room before he approached them.
”Mr. Lan, Mrs. Wei, can I tell you something?” He asked. He sounded a lot sadder and more vulnerable than he meant to. But it wasn’t his fault that his anxiety had built up while Mr. Lan was taking his time to get home!
They both focused their attention on him, Mr. Lan shutting off the TV as they fully faced him, a slightly concerned look on the straight face he was just beginning to learn to read.
”Go ahead, Xuanyu,” he said in his steady voice that was so subconsciously reassuring Mo Xuanyu didn’t understand how it was possible. “You can tell us anything.”
Mo Xuanyu thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He nodded. He could do this. He took a deep breath.
“I’m gay.”
Mr. Lan and Mrs. Wei stared, their faces betraying nothing.
A beat passed. Then another.
Mrs. Wei took in a deep breath. “Hi, gay! I’m—”
Mr. Lan covered her mouth. “—Very grateful you shared this with us.”
He could see Mrs. Wei’s soft smile behind Mr. Lan’s hand. His heart skipped a beat.
“Please know that we love and accept you no matter your gender or sexual orientation, and that this changes nothing between us.”
Mo Xuanyu felt like he was going to float up to the ceiling. He felt so light, like the heaviest burden had been taken off of his shoulders. They accepted him. They loved him. No matter what.
He felt tears pooling in his eyes at the thought. Was this what it was like to have a family? People who would care for you without conditions or expectations, and wouldn’t turn their backs on you for the littlest things. Could he really have that with them?
He let out a sob, and they both spring off the couch to gather him in their arms. Both of them were about the same height—freakishly tall—and his head was kind of being squished into both their chests on either side, but he had never felt so held and loved since his a-niang passed on. He felt safe in a way he never had before.
He wanted to keep this so bad it hurt.
Mrs. Wei pulled back slightly and began to wipe away his tears. “Oh, baobei, I’m so sorry we didn’t say anything sooner.”
”What do you mean?” He sniffled.
Mrs. Wei shot a glance to Mr. Lan, who nodded, before turning back down to him. She stroked his hair. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you that you would be accepted here no matter what. Especially since we’re queer, too, and we always want you to feel like you belong.”
His brain felt like it stopped working. “W-wha? You guys are queer, too?”
Mr. Lan nodded, squeezing him tighter. Mrs. Wei smiled. “We’re both trans, and Lan Zhan is bi.”
Mo Xuanyu blinked. A beat passed, then another.
”So, you’re not straight?”
Mrs. Wei couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. “I’m straight, Lan Zhan is not, and we’re both queer.”
Mo Xuanyu hung his head. “I feel so stupid!” He couldn’t believe he had just panicked about this for no reason, when it wasn’t even that big of a deal.
”Hey, hey! None of that!” Mrs. Wei admonished softly, lifting his head back up. “It’s not your fault we forgot to tell you. We’re really sorry, baobei.”
”The significance of your coming out is unique to you,” Mr. Lan continued. “Our own identities do not minimize the struggle it took you to get to this point, or how proud we are of you for being able to accept this part of yourself and for trusting us to accept you.”
And Mo Xuanyu was crying all over again.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
When Mo Xuanyu finally stopped crying, Mrs. Wei led them all into the kitchen. She had let a few tears slip before, and even Mr. Lan’s eyes were suspiciously shiny. Mo Xuanyu probably looked like a wreck.
”So how do we feel about dessert for dinner?” Mrs. Wei asked, not even waiting for an answer before pulling a bakery box out of the fridge.
Mr. Lan gave her a look, but said nothing, which meant that while he didn’t necessarily approve he wouldn’t stop them, which was basically as good as an approval.
Mrs. Wei opened the box with a dramatic flair, before gaping at the contents inside. “Lan Zhan! Why’d you buy such an emo cake?”
The cake was all black, with black icing designs and fondant roses. Mo Xuanyu kind of liked it.
Mr. Lan didn’t respond as he lifted the cake out of the box and onto a plate. He cut it open to reveal a five-color rainbow on the inside, completely contrasting the black exterior.
”It reminded me of Wei Ying,” he said, giving her a light look. He turned to Mo Xuanyu and flickered his eyes up and down, from his black cargo pants to his black hoodie and black bracelets. “And Xuanyu.”
Mrs. Wei barked a laugh, then pouted and poked her husband’s side. “We should get a fruit cake for you next!”
As they sat down to eat their cake, Mo Xuanyu found that he couldn’t wait any longer.
”Mr. Lan, Mrs. Wei, can I ask you something?”
”Anything.”
He let out a breath. “Can I call you something other than Mr. Lan and Mrs. Wei?”
They were both smiling. ”Whatever you’d like.”
”…What about Mama and Baba?”
A beat passed, then another. Then he was engulfed in another hug.
“Lan Zhan! We have a lot of paperwork to get started on!”
Mo Xuanyu cried again. He was so loved.