Chapter 1421 Childish Fathers
Finally, the children and animals got tired of playing. Little Jun went to his Uncle Yehan and knew how to ask for water.
Lin Yehan was beaming. He felt like a father, especially at times like this. He gladly poured Little Jun a cup of water and called over Popcorn and the puppies to drink as well. His usual soft and gentle smile had now transformed into a delighted (and slightly foolish) smile. The Jin twins crawled to their father and hugged each of Jin Liwei's legs. They looked at him and blinked their adorable eyes. It was clear that they were also asking for something to drink, but Jin Liwei pretended not to understand at first. Little Mochi grew impatient and started whining. His younger twin brother, Little Matcha, tugged on their father's trousers.
"Tell dad what the two of you want," Jin Liwei said calmly. "Ah! Bah!" Little Mochi waved his little arms and expressed his complaints with exaggerated babbles.
Little Matcha continued tugging their father's trousers.
"Dada! Dada!!!" Little Mochi was close to throwing a tantrum.
Jin Liwei's eyes lit up. "Yes, I'm Dada. Say it again."
"Dada!!! Dada!!!"
Jin Liwei looked at his other twin son with expectant eyes. Little Matcha pouted but still said, "Dada."
"Well done, boys." Jin Liwei laughed and lifted his two sons into his arms before kissing them.
Lu Zihao snorted while watching the scene. He ridiculed his brother-in-law, "Childish."
"I think it's adorable," Lin Yehan commented. "I bet you'll also feel happy when your own sons start calling you Dada."
Lu Zihao didn't reply but looked at his own twins. Both were still too small and young to join playing with their cousins on the floor. Little Misha threw a brief tantrum earlier because he wanted to join in the fun. If only he was a little bigger and stronger, there was no doubt that he would have jumped out of the crib to play with the others. Unfortunately, he still had some growing to do. Only when his scary daddy gave him a hard stare did he grudgingly stop making trouble. Boohoo, his daddy was no fun at all!
The Lu twins were inside the crib. But, unlike Little Misha, who wanted to join the others, Little Dima was pretty content staying in the crib's safety with a rattle. Lu Zihao didn't notice that the corner of his lips curved up, and his eyes softened while looking at his brats. Little Misha and Little Dima might be troublesome most of the time, but they would always be his own kids. It wasn't like he, the former Nikolai Vetrov, couldn't handle two stinky little brats. The twins needed at least one hundred years—no, one thousand years—to catch up to their old man's level. Hah!
Lin Yehan chuckled at him while shaking his head. As for Jin Liwei, he gave his own set of twins a few sips of water while warming up two servings of breastmilk. The twins had already been completely weaned from feeding directly from their mother's breast. However, they continued to drink breastmilk from a bottle or a sippy cup. Iris continued to pump milk, but her production was already declining. Although there was still a lot of frozen milk in their storage, four babies consumed the supplies. The Jin twins were alright, but the Lu twins might run out of breastmilk soon. Therefore, Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing had decided to integrate baby formula in addition to Iris' breastmilk for their own twins. Both Little Misha and Little Dima didn't like formula at first and preferred their aunt's breastmilk instead. However, they had no choice about the matter. Their parents insisted on feeding them small amounts of baby formula every day. They eventually tolerated it until they got used to it. As a result, they had quickly grown into two little fatties compared to their elder Jin twin cousins. Back to Jin Liwei, the grin on his face was so big and bright that Lu Zihao kept rolling his eyes at him. Lin Yehan chuckled and felt happy for his third brother. [Read official chapters on W e b n o v e l (dot) com. Please stop supporting piracy. Also follow the author on Instagram: @arriacross]
"This is the first time that they called you Dada?" Lin Yehan asked. "No, but it's the first time they said it in front of me," Jin Liwei replied while putting his twins in the crib with their Lu cousins. Little Mochi and Little Matcha had a sippy cup filled with their mom's delicious warm milk.
"Oh?" Lin Yehan raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Don't tell me they're teasing their own daddy?"
"En. I often hear them saying Dada when I'm a few feet away. But when I confront them and ask them to repeat it, they refuse to do so."
Lu Zihao stood up, stroked the Jin twins' heads, and praised them. "Well done, Viktor and Yuri. As expected of my nephews. You should continue trolling your father. I, your uncle, will reward you."
Jin Liwei scowled. "Stop trying to corrupt my children. Xiulan will be upset if she learns about this."
"She'll only be upset if you tell her about it. Are you going to be a tattletale? Huh?"
"Alright, that's enough." Lin Yehan stepped forward and mediated between them. "You two were never like this before. You were the ones who got along the best among us brothers since the beginning. So why is it only now, when both of you have your own wives and families, that you're suddenly arguing like little boys? You're already fathers. Don't act so childish in front of your children. It's setting a bad example to them!"
Jin Liwei became silent. "Tsk." Lu Zihao looked like he wanted to argue what Lin Yehan but ended up keeping quiet as well.
A few minutes later, there was finally some peace and quiet in the nursery. The four babies were fast asleep in their crib. Little Jun was also taking a nap with Popcorn on a couch in a corner. The five puppies, strewn all over the floor, were sleeping as well. Ice Cream finally moved from her perch on top of a cabinet and joined the babies in the crib.
The three adult men were back to chatting with each other. With Lin Yehan's mediation, Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao finally stopped snapping at each other like immature little boys.
"Are you really moving out after the New Year?" Lin Yehan asked. Lu Zihao nodded. "We've already stayed here long enough. We should've moved out a few months ago, but Jinjing and my sister decided to delay the move until after New Year instead. My sons should be big enough to start eating solid foods by that time. They wouldn't need to consume their aunt's breastmilk as much as before."
"Grandpa Lu also plans to move out with them," Jin Liwei said.
Lin Yehan's brows rose. "Grandpa Lu will be moving with Fifth Brother to their new house?"
"No, the old man bought a property near our new house," Lu Zihao replied. "He says our house is too small for his liking, so he bought a bigger one that he's currently rebuilding into a small mansion. After it's done, the old man's place will be the biggest house in the neighbourhood."
Lin Yehan laughed. "As expected of Grandpa Lu!"
"You can take the majority of my wife's breastmilk supply for Little Misha and Little Dima when you move out," Jin Liwei told his brother-in-law. "My sons don't consume much of their mom's milk anymore."
"I won't stand on ceremony, then." Lu Zihao accepted the offer. He knew that his sons preferred their aunt's milk the most. Before this, he would have declined the offer because he didn't want to obligate his sister into providing milk for his own sons. But he had gotten used to the arrangement now. They all treated the four babies not as mere cousins but more like actual siblings. The Jin and Lu twins shared almost everything, from breastmilk to everything in the nursery and so much more. In a way, they were more like quadruplets than separate sets of twins.
Iris and Jin Liwei treated Little Misha and Little Dima like their own children. In the same way, Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing also treated Little Mochi and Little Matcha like their own children. If not for the routine where the babies were taken to sleep in their parents' own bedrooms every night, they might grow confused about which couple was their actual biological parents. Or they might simply think that they had two mommies and two daddies for a total of four parents. Lin Yehan smiled at his third and fifth brothers. "I think I've already mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. I'm still amazed that the two of you are the first to marry and have kids among us brothers. Third Brother had never shown any interest in women before, while Fifth Brother loves adventuring too much to settle down so early. But look at the two of you now. Devoted husbands and caring fathers. It's simply amazing. I'm so proud of the two of you."
"You'll be next, Eldest Brother." Jin Liwei smiled. "That's my plan." Lin Yehan chuckled.
"There's still the cockroach named Long Hui that you should be wary of," Lu Zihao reminded him. "He's still the father of Little Jun."
"I know." Lin Yehan turned serious.
So did Jin Liwei. "Want me to beat him up?" Lu Zihao offered. Lin Yehan shook his head. "Stop kidding around, Fifth Brother."
"You think I'm kidding?"
"Don't listen to this brute, Eldest Brother. He's just bored and wants to look for trouble."
Lu Zihao glared at Jin Liwei.
"I swear that the two of you have grown more childish after becoming fathers," Lin Yehan said, shaking his head.