A/N – Hooray, another short fic from cherylwoo!
Yao parked his car in the parking lot of the supermarket. Hong Kong was happily bouncing along to the radio, which was playing "Sunny Day".
When Yao switched off the engine of the car, the song stopped playing. Hong Kong whined in displeasure.
Yao unbuckled his son's seatbelt and lifted him up from the passenger seat and out of the car. He placed Hong Kong's little feet on the ground.
Hong Kong blinked and looked around the practically empty parking lot as Yao locked the car.
Yao then took Hong Kong's hand and led him into the supermarket. "Come on, Hong Kong," Yao said. "We need to get stuff to cook for dinner tonight, aru."
Hong Kong nodded and wordlessly followed his father into the supermarket.
When they stepped into the supermarket, Hong Kong spoke. "Daddy?"
"Hm?"
"Where's Aar-ter?"
Yao stopped walking and stared down at his son. He blinked. Did Hong Kong just refer to his other father as 'Aar-ter'? Yao didn't quite know how to react to that. "Uh… DADDY is at a meeting," he told Hong Kong, placing emphasis on the word 'daddy'.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Hong Kong nodded and didn't speak anymore.
Yao placed the plate of lemon chicken in the middle of the dining table, along with the stir-fried water spinach he had cooked earlier. He beamed at his work. Yao always knew he was a good cook, and it helped boost his confidence that he got to look at his finished work and admired how good it appeared.
Yao swivelled his head towards the direction of his and Arthur's bedroom upstairs, where Arthur was working. "Honey, dinner's ready! You can come down now!" Yao called.
From his high-chair, where Hong Kong was stuffing his face with his own dinner, Hong Kong made a sound. "Honey, where are you?"
Yao immediately turned to stare at Hong Kong.
Hong Kong looked back at his father innocently as he munched on a cracker.
Shortly after, Arthur appeared. "Mm… dinner smells good!"
Yao was scooping some rice onto two plates for Arthur and himself.
"You know, I think I should start calling you 'Daddy' in front of Hong Kong," Yao said as he gave a plate of rice to Arthur, who was already seated at the dining table.
"Hm?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Why? Then won't you be like, calling ME your father or something?"
"No…" said Yao, taking his seat at the dining table. "It's just that Hong Kong has taken to calling you whatever it is that I call you, aru."
Arthur looked quizzically at Yao.
Yao sighed and began to elaborate. "This morning, when he wanted to ask me where you were, he asked, 'Where's Aar-ter?'"
Arthur laughed.
"And just now, when I asked you to come down for dinner, he said, 'Honey, where are you?'"
Arthur was still laughing as he looked at his son, who was scooping a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. "I think he's confused," Arthur said.
Yao frowned. "What do you mean, aru?"
"Well," Arthur began. "Most kids have a mother and a father, right? That's 'Mummy' and 'Daddy'," he explained. "But Hong Kong has two fathers. He already calls you 'Daddy', so he doesn't know what to call me."
"So what should we do?"
Arthur chuckled. "Personally, I don't care what Hong Kong calls me, as long as he knows that I'm his father and to treat me with some level of respect," he told Yao. "But if you want him to adhere to proper etiquette, I guess I don't mind you calling me 'daddy' in front of him."
"But won't this complicate things even more? I mean, I'm daddy and you're daddy as well… so Hong Kong won't know who 'daddy' really refers to," Yao reasoned.
Arthur looked thoughtful. "How about this – you're 'Daddy' and I'm 'Papa'? We'll call ourselves that in front of him, at least until he gets used to it."
"Daddy and Papa…" Yao mumbled to himself. His expression brightened. "I like it, aru!" he exclaimed. "Let's do that!"
"So shall we eat then, Daddy?" asked Arthur with a charming smile.
Yao laughed heartily. "Let's, Papa."