Chapter 74 - 74 - School Trip

By the time the date for the school trip arrived, everyone involved was impatiently waiting for it to start. Steward Paul and Jules had flown in earlier that morning, and Fang was supposed to arrive with his schoolmates.

Ren went to the airport to pick up Fang. The three furballs, who had stayed with Ren this week, clung to him as soon as they learnt that he was going to pick up their Papa. Helpless against the triple attack of round, adorable eyes, Ren caved in and took them along. He made quite a sight - a handsome young man in a tailored business suit and three cute little furballs in his arms.

This was the sight that greeted Fang when he landed in Sand Country. Ren was completely oblivious to the covetous glances aimed at himself, but Fang wasn't. Seeing his boyfriend being eyed by countless strangers, Fang's possessiveness hit the roof. He immediately rushed to Ren and hugged him, and then proceeded to kiss him thoroughly, uncaring of the schoolmates and teachers behind him.

There was a lot of squealing and whistling and clapping amidst the crowd.

Fang had gotten taller and was the same height as Ren now. The couple looked very harmonious and those who had been looking at Ren and wondering if they should approach him, immediately realised that Ren only had eyes for Fang and no one else. For a few stubborn ones who were still interested, Fang's murderous glare effectively stopped their approach, if not their desire.

Fang was satisfied. He let Ren go and rubbed the little heads of Snow, Smoke and Shadow.

"Did you three get bigger?" he asked.

Daddy had another magic surge. Snow informed her Papa.

Fang was immediately concerned. He touched Ren's forehead to check for fever and let out a sigh of relief when he found that his temperature was normal.

"Are you all right? When did you have the surge? Why didn't you tell me?" Fang spoke in a rush.

Ren chuckled. "Just this morning," he said. "The babies took care of it before I even felt it properly."

Snow, Smoke and Shadow looked immensely proud of themselves.

"Well done, little ones," Fang said, patting their heads fondly. "I'll give you a special reward for taking such good care of your Daddy," he promised.

The three furballs snuggled happily against their human parents.

Someone called out to Fang to get his luggage.

"Hold on for a bit," Fang told Ren. "I'll just get my bag and tell the teacher that I'm going with you."

Fang went off. Ren stared after him with a smile, feeling quite satisfied. For the next three weeks, he wouldn't have to bid farewell to his Fang, he thought happily.

"Big Brother...?" A surprised voice called out behind Ren.

Ren turned around and saw Wade walking towards him. He'd completely forgotten that the school trip meant that Wade, too, would be here. However, he had no particular desire to engage with this little brother of his...but he had nothing against it, either.

"Hello, Wade," Ren greeted. "Have you been well?"

Wade nodded shyly. "I've been ok," he replied. "How are you, Big Brother?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Ren said politely.

Wade eyed the three furballs in his arms. "I didn't know you'd adopted some pets," he said. "They're really cute. What are they called?"

Snow hissed angrily at Wade. She was quite offended. No one dared to call the three furballs pets, given how much Ren and Fang doted on them.

Seeing their sister's anger, the two puppies got angry, too. Smoke and Shadow flattened their ears and growled menacingly.

Fang, whose ears were unusually sensitive to anything related to Ren and their fur babies, appeared immediately by Ren's side.

"What happened? Why are the babies angry?" he asked solicitously. Then he noticed Wade. "Oh, hello," he greeted absently.

This guy called us pets. Snow complained. Snow had become an eloquent speaker by now, with the speech and wits of a human child of about ten.

Fang looked at Ren and found nothing except mild annoyance on his face.

"Let me introduce you properly since this is the first time you're meeting our children," Fang told Wade. "This is Snow, our daughter, and the twins are Smoke and Shadow, our sons."

The three furballs were adequately pacified. Ren smiled slightly and rubbed their heads.

Wade stared at them in shock. "Children?" he repeated weakly.

"Mine and Fang's," Ren said firmly. He turned to Fang. "Which reminds me, we haven't thrown a banquet to celebrate the new additions to our family, have we?"

Fang nodded. "We'll do it once you're back home. Our little ones will like it," he said.

Do we get treats? Shadow asked immediately.

"You'll get lots of treats and gifts," Ren told them.

Wade, who naturally couldn't hear the babies speaking, was flabbergasted, and wondered if his Big Brother had lost his mind. He was also a bit embarrassed at Fang's introduction.

Ren looked at the bag in Fang's hand. "Is that all? Shall we go now?" he asked.

"Give me a moment, I still need to speak to the teacher," Fang said, and ran off.

Wade glanced at Ren awkwardly. "Big Brother...can we catch up sometime soon?" he asked softly. "I've missed you."

Ren sighed in his mind. A part of him told him that he needed to provide at least some basic care to this little brother of the original owner, even though he wanted absolutely minimal contact with the boy himself.

"All right," Ren said lightly. "Let Fang know whenever you'd want to visit. He'll bring you along."

Wade bit his lip, but then nodded. No one knew better than him how indulgent Ren was towards someone he cared for. And Ren's most important person now was Fang...

Fang appeared, a big grin on his face. "All done," he said cheerfully. "I can't wait to go home!"

Wade finally realised something. "Fang, you're not staying with your class...?" he asked.

Fang shook his head.. "I'm going home with my Ren," he replied with a grin.