Page 33 of Love and Chaos

“I burped her. She just needs her Baba cuddles,” Jin cooed. He pressed a kiss to his daughter’s round cheek, then kissed West again.

“And how about a diaper change? Is that why you’re so willing to hand her off?”

Jin gave the phoniest gasp. “Would I do that to you?”

“Yes. Always. Every chance you get. And twice on Sunday.” But even as he said it, West couldn’t wipe the biggest grin off his face.

Jin rolled his eyes. “I changed her before I fed her. She should be fine for a while.” Turning his attention to their only son, Jin extended his hand to the boy and smiled softly. “Let’s go help jiejie find her shoe.”

Qiao grabbed his father’s hand and skipped down the hall to their eldest daughter’s room.

West grinned and turned his attention to the chubby girl in his arms. She smacked her tiny bow lips and yawned so big that it squeezed West’s heart. Never in a million years had he thought he could have this. A family. Put aside the royal part and the palace that he now called home. He never thought he’d find a man to share his life with. A perfect man who would give him three perfect children who filled his every day with love, wonder, chaos, and laughter.

Never had he thought he could be this happy.

He’d just turned to the most comfortable chair in the entire apartment when there was a knock at the door. A shout from the rear rooms of “Yeye!” echoed through the apartment, but there was no corresponding thunder of footsteps. Jin must have corralled them before they could break loose, forcing them to first find the missing shoe.

West opened the door to find the emperor smiling on the other side, dressed in a more casual set of slacks and a short-sleeved button-down shirt rather than his usual dark suit. His long salt-and-pepper black hair was even down, with only the sides and top pulled back in a subdued xiaoguan⁠8 similar to what his eldest son was wearing. Royalty in vacation mode.

“Welcome to pre-vacation insanity,” West greeted as he shifted to allow the emperor to step inside.

The older man chuckled and patted West on his empty shoulder as he walked in. “Packing issues?”

“No, just everyday clothing issues.” West sighed as he closed the door.

“All right, give me the tiny princess,” the emperor demanded, already reaching for the baby.

West scoffed and backpedaled. “Nope. I just got her. You need to wait your turn.”

“It’s always my turn. Emperor’s prerogative.”

West barked out a laugh and pointed at the door the emperor had just walked through. “I believe you’re only Yeye now.”

That little beauty of an idea had been his amazing husband’s. He’d come up with it when their surrogate had presented them with the first ultrasound of Ming Xia. The moment the emperor stepped into their apartment, he agreed to give up all his emperor’s prerogative and royal decrees. He was simply Grandfather.

In the end, it gave all of them some breathing room. The emperor could be Yeye to his grandchildren and Baba to his son and son-in-law without all the worries of protocol.

“How about we swap?” The emperor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pink sneaker. The very sneaker West had been searching for.

West closed his eyes and sighed. “Where?”

“Potted plant down the hall.”

He knew better than to ask how his daughter’s shoe had ended up in the planter. There was no point in asking. He just accepted the item and shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans before he handed over his daughter to his grinning father-in-law. After taking a second to get the blanket draped over the older man’s shoulder, West watched the regal emperor coo at his youngest grandchild and get comfortable in the chair.

“Are you ready?” West inquired, knowing he didn’t need to elaborate. The moment he handed over that shoe, those other two little beasts would be set free and come racing toward their beloved Yeye for hugs and kisses.

The emperor tipped his head up and smirked. “I’ve been ready for this since you and Xiao Wei made your bows to the ancestors.”

With a chuckle, West strolled to the children’s bedroom. There wasn’t a day that went by that he wasn’t grateful that the emperor had gotten his new heart. The recovery had been slow, but the man had fought for the right to see his grandchildren grow up. He’d not been worried so much about Gaoxing. The kingdom had always been in safe hands with Jin Long Wei. But the joy that spread across his face when he was with XiaXia, Qiao-er, and now tiny Meimei was something forever branded on West’s heart.

Not to mention, the man was an endless fountain of good advice for raising children. He’d not expected the emperor to be so hands on when he had an entire country to run, but somehow he managed it.

Standing in the open doorway, West grinned at the sight of his husband searching the bedroom filled with toys for a single lost shoe. It seemed as if the two kids were making more of a mess than searching.

He grabbed the shoe from his pocket and held it aloft on one finger. “Guess what Yeye found?” XiaXia shouted and jumped for the shoe while Qiao squeezed through the doorway to run to his grandfather.

“Where?” Jin asked from his spot on the floor in the middle of the room.