4. Zhang Junjie

Chapter 4

Zhang Junjie

T he sun had risen by the time they reached the Zhang home again. However, Kai and Xiang jumped into action the moment they parked the car, bringing out a blanket and an enormous umbrella to protect Junjie from the sun’s harmful rays. The boy hadn’t spoken during the entire car ride. He’d seemed content to sit in Junjie’s lap, his head resting on the vampire’s shoulder as he’d watched the world pass them by outside the window.

“I think it would be best if we told the rest of the clan after sunset,” Junjie whispered as Xiang shut the door behind them. “After everything the clan has been through, I’m sure they would appreciate a good day’s sleep.”

“Is this about being thoughtful, or are you just afraid of Da-ge?”

Junjie’s arms tightened on the boy as he glared at Xiang over his shoulder. Not that he could argue with him. His suggestion was about forty percent thoughtfulness and sixty percent fear of Xiao Dan’s reaction. Of course, Shixiong wasn’t a heartless person. He would want to do what was best for the child. Yet, it was also his responsibility to consider what was best for the entire clan. Taking care of a child—a cat shifter child—was a massive undertaking, and the timing of his appearance wasn’t the greatest.

“Why would Junjie be afraid of me?” Xiao Dan’s amused voice drifted down the hall. Without thinking, Junjie swung toward him and found himself face-to-face with their clan leader. Xiao Dan’s eyes dropped to the adorable bundle in his arms and widened to the size of steamed dumplings. “Oh! Hello there, little one. What’s your name?”

“No clue. The cat either didn’t know or just fucking disappeared before bothering to tell us,” Xiang interjected.

“Language,” Junjie hissed at Xiang. It wasn’t right to swear in front of such young ears. He didn’t want the child’s first word to be “fuck.”

“Cat?” Xiao Dan asked, heading off a new argument between Junjie and Xiang.

“Leo—” Junjie began, but Xiang took great pleasure in interjecting himself.

“ Yiguo. That stray that’s been hanging about since we arrived.”

“The cat led you to the child?” Xiao Dan’s words were growing shakier and more disbelieving by the second.

Kai sighed loudly and placed a hand over his mate’s mouth. “The cat that has attached himself to Junjie is a shifter by the name of Leo St. George. He took us to the child, who was orphaned following the murder of his parents by the fae.”

That was painfully succinct, but at least he’d gotten Xiao Dan up to speed faster than if Junjie had been left to hem and haw his way through a gentler version of the story. There would be questions later about how they’d allowed a cat shifter into their home with none of the vampires realizing it.

“Ah. I see.” Xiao Dan cocked his head to the side and smiled warmly at the boy, who was still clinging to his blanket with one tight fist while the other was wrapped in Junjie’s T-shirt. “Are you hungry, little man? Would you like some breakfast?”

The child didn’t budge. He stared at Xiao Dan as if he were the most interesting person in all the world, but he also didn’t loosen his hold on Junjie.

“Are you planning to wake Ming Yu?” Xiang inquired, sounding as if he thought Xiao Dan had lost his mind.

“Of course not. It’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure I can remember how to make something as simple as congee. Or even some scrambled eggs. If I recall correctly, humans are quite fond of their scrambled eggs for breakfast.” Xiao Dan reached out and lightly brushed some hair away from the child’s forehead and ever so gently tapped the tip of his nose. “Let’s get something to fill your belly.”

“Shixiong?” Junjie whispered. His heart raced and his breath became trapped behind a lump in his throat. Was he going to allow the child to stay with them? Just like that?

The broad grin on Xiao Dan’s face dimmed slightly and there was a hint of sadness that entered his warm chestnut-brown eyes. “We’ll figure everything out later. Right now, the important thing is that this little guy has a full belly and a sense of security.”

“Yes, Shixiong.”

They formed a line and followed Xiao Dan through the house, past where other clan members were supposed to be sleeping, to the kitchen. Once there, Xiao Dan directed Junjie to sit on a stool at the center island counter with the child. He issued a series of impressive orders to Xiang and Kai to help him find the ingredients and cooking instruments he would need.

It also didn’t hurt that Kai located some soft pastries that had been tucked in the pantry, along with some fruit that could be cut up for their guest. One corner of Junjie’s lips quirked higher as he twisted to look at the child’s face. The boy watched all the movement in the kitchen with such rapt attention.

“I know you’re not making a mess in my—” Ming Yu’s comment stopped as she walked into the kitchen, and her eyes fell on the newcomer. “Oh, my. He’s absolutely adorable.”

“Shixiong was trying to make him something for breakfast,” Junjie supplied.

“Just a bit of congee,” Xiao Dan added.

Ming Yu’s sharp gaze swept over the strange assortment of things that were spread out on the island and counters. She clucked her tongue at them. “Congee is good. The apples are fine. Put the rest away for now. What were you thinking with the peppers?” She glared at Xiang, knowing it was his nonsense without being told. Her expression softened when she turned to the child and touched his cheek. “What’s your name, little one?”

“We don’t know. He’s an orphan because of the fae,” Junjie replied.

“That’s okay,” she cooed. “We’ll get you fixed up with some breakfast. Then you can take a nap with your new gege.”

To Junjie’s surprise, the child relaxed against him, the tension that had hummed through his small body flowing out through his toes.

“Gege,” he mumbled.

Everyone in the room froze, their eyes locked on the boy. He’d spoken. Not only that, he’d called Junjie “gege.”

“That’s right! You have many new gege now!” Ming Yu cried, clapping her hands together.

“Ming-jie,”? 1 Xiao Dan broke in, his tone low and warning. Junjie understood it with nothing else being said. They needed to keep in mind that it was no guarantee that the child would stay with them. It needed to be thoroughly discussed.

“ Pah .” Ming Yu waved a dismissive hand at him, not at all caring about his warnings. She acted as if she were sure they were keeping the boy, and there was no point in discussing it further. Junjie bit his bottom lip and lowered his head to hide his grin behind the child’s head as Shijie? 2 stole control of the kitchen from Xiao Dan.

Wisely, their shixiong got the hell out of her way as she worked.

But even as she set about getting food prepared for the kid, no one was willing to leave the kitchen. They lingered about, trying to make the child smile or laugh.

Naturally, that created a great deal of noise and drew the rest of the clan into the kitchen. Mei Lian was the first to appear and the only one who didn’t look as if she’d been sleeping, but the woman stayed up gaming and watching her shows well into the morning.

“Oh. My. Gods. Could he be any cuter?” she demanded, slapping her own cheeks with both hands. “Are you keeping him? I didn’t know we could adopt humans. Do they have to be kids? Like real little kids? There are some boy group members I would totally adopt right this second if?—”

“Meimei,” Xiao Dan cut in before her ramble could spiral further down the rabbit hole.

Xiang sighed. “What you’re talking about is kidnapping, not adopting.”

“And I think this clan has dealt with enough kidnapping. At least enough to last us a few centuries,” Xiao Dan said.

“Is he talking about me?” Kai whispered loudly to Xiang.

“No, baby.” Xiang turned and pressed a kiss to Kai’s jaw. “He’s talking about Rei and Chen. They’re the troublemakers.”

Junjie rolled his eyes and ignored their nonsense. He turned to Meimei, who was busy making faces at the child and earning giggles for her efforts.

“Meimei, do you have any old T-shirts you don’t mind parting with? I was hoping to give him a bath after breakfast, and I’m sure he’d like something clean to wear.”

She straightened and shifted her stance, one hip pushed out as she tapped her lips with one long finger. She was the smallest of all of them. Her clothes wouldn’t fit the child, but they would also swallow him up the least.

“Yeah, I think I got a couple of things that would work.”

“Just until we can order some clothes for him,” Junjie reassured her. “Also…” He paused, wincing, but Ming Yu stepped up before he continued.

The older woman gently placed her hand on Mei Lian’s arm, causing Mei Lian’s head to snap up. A pretty flush dusted her cheeks, and Ming Yu quickly removed her hand and bit her lip for a second. “Do you think that you might have a plush toy he could borrow? He has nothing at the moment.”

Mei Lian was extremely protective of her collection, and Junjie was skeptical she’d be willing to part with?—

“The poor baby!” she cried. “I know I’ve got something. I’ll go pull things together right now!”

Before Junjie could argue that he needed only one plushie to get the child through the day, Mei Lian was racing out of the kitchen and through the halls while Ming Yu returned to the stove. A bark of outrage jumped from Chen as Mei Lian passed him.

“What the hell is going on? Why is everyone awake at this hour and messing about in the kitchen?” Chen demanded. His eyes fell on the child and widened while his mouth dropped open. Moon poked his head past his mate and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

“Oh.” The blood witch-turned-vampire extended a finger, pressed it to the bottom of Chen’s jaw, and pushed upward, closing his mate’s mouth. “It’s a baby, darling. Nothing to lose your shit over.”

“Language,” Junjie automatically replied.

“Whoops! Sorry. Out of practice.” Moon grinned at the little boy and waggled his fingers at him. “It’s been a while since I was around a kid.”

“Is it talking already?”

“He, not it,” Junjie growled at his clan mate. “And yes, he talks. He called me gege.”

“He’s Chinese?” Chen gasped.

Yichen shuffled into the room with his elf half draped across his back. He took one look at the situation and groaned. “He’s obviously not Chinese. They taught him that word. Wow, you are slow when you’ve not had enough sleep.”

Ming Yu swung around and shook a wooden spoon at the gathering of vampires and mates. “Why is my kitchen so crowded? The sun is up. You should be in bed.”

“They were noisy,” Rei cried out.

“And we heard cooking,” Moon chimed in.

“And there’s a strange baby,” Chen stated, pointing at the child.

Xiang snorted from where he was leaning on Kai, his arms folded on his chest. “You’re a strange baby.”

This was getting out of hand. Xiao Dan stepped into the center of the room and lifted his arms above his head. “It is late, and everyone needs rest after the fight with the fae. All you need to know right now is that we have a guest staying with us. This evening, we will have a meeting to discuss what will be done and how Xiao Ping Guo? 3 came to be here.”

There was some grumbling, but the rest of the clan filed out of the room. Xiao Dan lingered, but Ming Yu poked him with her spoon and pointed at the door. Junjie swallowed a giggle, but she had a point. The only ones who needed to be up were the two of them. Meimei popped in to say that she’d left some T-shirts and a couple of toys on his bed before exiting on a yawn.

Ming Yu leaned down to the child’s eye level and beamed. “Now, that’s much better, isn’t it?”

The boy giggled, clapped, and reached for her wooden spoon.

“I bet you’re hungry. Gods only know what they were feeding you.” Ming Yu put her spoon aside and picked up a plate of peeled apple slices.

“I don’t know. The cat shifters found him and took care of him until they could find him a more permanent arrangement. Oh, that’s right. The stray cat I’ve been feeding is a cat shifter named Leo. The child is also a cat shifter.”

“Leo didn’t tell you his name?”

Junjie shook his head as he handed the child an apple, which he stuffed greedily into his mouth. “I don’t think he knows. The cat shifters are solitary creatures. They aren’t close and don’t have packs like the wolves. It was luck that they stumbled across him.”

“Poor baobei,”? 4 Ming Yu crooned. “We’ll get you all fixed up and comfortable. Nothing for you to worry about.” She cocked her head and lifted her eyes to Junjie. “Though I think we need to decide on a name for him. I keep thinking of him as the little boy or child. A good American name. I think I saw Liam is popular now. Or Noah. Maybe Elijah or Asher.”

Junjie chuckled and rested his cheek against the top of the boy’s head as he handed him another apple slice. Ming Yu was having too much fun with this. “We should discuss that with the rest of the clan. Also, I should try to talk to Leo about the boy’s name.”

Ming Yu made a dismissive noise as she turned to the rice porridge. “If the cat knew his name or had an opinion about it, he should have said something.” She tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the bowl and set it aside. “Besides, it looks to me that he’s attached himself to you. If he could say it with words, I think he’d tell us that the only person he wants naming him is you.”

“Really?” He shifted the kid so that he was sitting on the edge of the counter rather than Junjie’s thigh. The biggest grin spread across his red lips and he held out half of an apple slice to Junjie, wanting to share with him. How could he be so sweet and adorable? After everything he’d been through, shuffled from his own kind to a clan of vampires, who didn’t know what they were doing.

All except for Ming Yu. He had no doubt that she’d had some interaction with the younger children of the Zhang clan and the sect prior to the arrival of Jiang Chong.

“Eat that,” Ming Yu admonished in a whisper. “I’ll cut up another to go with the congee.”

Junjie leaned close and took a small bite of the offered apple, smiling at the child. He chewed but struggled to swallow the piece of fruit past the sudden lump that had grown in his throat.

“Why do you think he’s so attached to me already?”

“No idea, but children are often excellent judges of character. He can look at you and sense that you’re going to take good care of him.”

He would. That soft smile and sparkling blue eyes shining so brightly at him sealed it completely. The feel of him cuddled against his chest, the chubby fist clenching his shirt, begging to be kept safe. All of it worked deep into Junjie’s heart and there was no letting him go now. Even if he didn’t know the boy’s name.

Yet, one problem remained.

Jiang Chong and the fae.

That monstrous group was trying to destroy all of humanity, but their first target continued to be the Zhang clan. How could Junjie think to keep a small child at the manor when they weren’t sure they could protect themselves?

“Jiejie?” Junjie choked out.

“Hm?”

“What about Jiang Chong?”

“What about him?”

His head popped up, and he stared at her back, his forehead furrowed as his eyebrows snapped together over his nose. “What do you mean?” She made it sound as if that bastard wasn’t even a threat to them at all.

“Just that. What about him? What does he have to do with this precious Xiao Ping Guo?”

Yep, that settled it. He needed to decide on a name for the child. He couldn’t let him go through life as fruit.

“But…but…Jiang Chong is trying to destroy us.”

“And we’re going to stop him. We defeated him once before, and we’re going to do it again.” She turned to face him and clucked her tongue as if she were disappointed in him. “We fought too hard to escape Jiang Chong and a string of useless emperors. To have a life that we weren’t ashamed of. We can’t put that life on hold because we’re threatened.” Her gaze softened as she stared at the boy who was chowing down on the fresh plate of apple slices she’d placed next to him only minutes ago. “This darling young man needs you, and he needs a family who will care for him. If we allow Jiang Chong to force us to be less than ourselves, to turn aside those who need us the most, what is the point of fighting him? He’s already won.”

That was a very good point.

He smirked at Ming Yu. “Practicing for when you have to make the same argument to Shixiong?”

She stiffened for a heartbeat, only to scamper close. “Some. Was I convincing?”

“I thought you were very convincing, but you know that Xiao Dan’s first concern will be for the child and whether we can properly care for him. Not just about the danger, but what does a group of vampires know about caring for a human…or rather, a mostly human child?”

Ming Yu straightened and waved a hand at him. “ Pfft . We’ll figure that out. Moon will know some modern parenting things, and I recall plenty from my years of serving the Zhang family. What we don’t know, we search for on the Internet.” She gave a giggle. “Raising children must be so much easier now that you can buy premade food in stores and disposable diapers. We can order all the clothes and toys online.”

From there, Shijie was off and running, talking about all the things they would need to buy for the boy so that he could be comfortable. Clothes, diapers, toys, a proper bed, books, and so much more. He let her talk while she made a small bowl of congee for the child. She had no problem with the idea of the baby staying with the clan.

A soft noise rose from the child in front of him and he looked down to see that adorable, chubby-cheeked smile directed at him. The little guy was holding his blanket up to Junjie as if offering it to him. He accepted it and the boy clapped. His laughter rang out, and it was the best sound in the world. It went straight to his soul and soothed old aches, reviving him when his energy flagged.

He and Ming Yu took turns feeding him and making funny faces as he devoured the porridge she’d made. By the time she was scraping up the last bits in the bowl’s bottom, the kid’s eyes were growing heavy and struggling to stay open.

Ming Yu advised that maybe they could get by just wiping off the dirt with a soapy cloth rather than a full bath. Thankfully, she also showed him how to change his diaper.

By the time they had the child settled, he was asleep in Junjie’s bed, his blanket gripped in one hand.

Ming Yu patted Junjie on the shoulder with one hand while covering her mouth with the other as she yawned. “Get some sleep.”

“What if he needs me and I’m asleep?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll wake up.”

She was right. He was a notoriously light sleeper. He’d also never attempted to sleep with someone in bed with him.

Leo didn’t count. He’d been in cat form and slept at the foot of the bed, which he now regretted allowing with a new passion.

After Ming Yu shuffled down the hall to her room, Junjie closed his door. He turned on the light to his en suite bathroom so the bedroom wouldn’t be completely dark in case the little one woke up before he did. The main light to the room clicked off, and cool quiet settled over the room. He slipped into the bed, careful not to shift the mattress and wake the child.

For a moment, he lay there wondering how the hell he was going to fall asleep, but it swept him away as he finished the thought. When the night had begun, they’d been fighting the fae. They’d watched the death of Queen Belladonna, the rise of the tyrant King Trin, and the return of Jiang Chong. Kai had gotten his stolen sword back, and now Junjie had a child.

No wonder he was so exhausted.

1 ? Jie/jiejie – older sister (opposite of meimei.)

2 ? Shijie – older clan sister

3 ? Xiao Ping Guo – little apple

4 ? Baobei – baby