This short fic is part of my Thanksgiving trio—I wrote these stories as a small 'thank you' to the readers who've been reviewing Blonde because I wanted you all to know that I'm so grateful for the support you've shown me. Since Thanksgiving is about spreading some joy and love to everyone, I hope you enjoy this fic, even if you've never read or commented my stuff before. Regardless of if you celebrate this holiday or not, I want everyone to have a wonderful Thursday, filled with good food and lots of laughter. :)
— · MADE IN CHINA · —
They'd argued about children. Many times. Derek wanted a family and all of his sisters already had several kids. Well, apart from Amy, but that was beside the point. The point being that Addison just wasn't ready. She had career goals and fears of motherhood. Timeout for pregnancy, being mommy tracked, getting postpartum... How about adoption? he'd said. Not an infant, he'd added. She'd grown still, thinking hard. Yes, she'd finally said.
Now, here they were. Two years and thousands of dollars later, in China. Parents. He'd say they were finally a happy family, but their child was staring at him with dark, serious eyes, probably thinking they were baby snatchers. Or at least he was. Addison's red hair had been an instant hit—not only with the child. Most people they'd met had stared and quite a few had taken pictures without any kind of consent. Their daughter had found a grip on a handful of hair and refused to let go as she regarded him suspiciously from the comfort of Addison's lap.
"I know you might not be so sure about me right now, and that's okay, but I'm going to be a great dad," he promised the little girl—their little girl. It was surreal to think that all the work and hurdles of the last two years had led up to the moment when they, having signed paperwork and taken what basically amounted to a family mugshot, had been allowed to walk out with their child in tow, and that he and Addison were now officially parents.
"Tell me about it," Addison agreed, brushing their daughter's hair with her fingertips as she smiled down at her. She looked beautiful, glowing, even, and just how he'd always imagined his wife would look like as a mother. "You're going to have Daddy wrapped around your little finger while Mommy has to be the disciplinarian."
The little girl frowned and looked from one to the other, her little lip beginning to wobble. She was four, so old enough to be verbal, but not verbal in the same language as her own personal baby snatchers. That was going to be a problem, especially if she started wailing and couldn't understand any of what they were saying, but Addison just got up, child on her hip, murmuring nonsense sounds in a soothing voice as she walked around the room.
"It's been a long day," Derek moved the teddy bear he'd brought slightly to the side and was rewarded with a high-pitched shriek. "I also think Daddy might have overestimated his own prowess at fatherhood." He felt like he was out of his depth. Yes, Addison worked with babies and children and fetuses, but he was no slouch himself. Their nieces and nephews liked him, but there was a massive difference in being the fun uncle and being the dad.
"She's just tired," Addison brushed her bangs to the side, gazing lovingly at their little girl. "Aren't you, sweetheart? It's been a long and scary day, and the two of us look and sound foreign. Probably smell funny too," she smiled and tickled the girl's tummy.
"Yeah, you're really selling her on us, there." Derek reclined on the bed, savoring the sight of them together. The little girl giggled, enjoying the attention and the smile Addison was giving their daughter was nothing short of luminous. "What kid doesn't want a couple of funny-smelling foreigners as parents?"
"Hey, we have a completely different diet, so we do smell different. That's just body chemistry, but she could do much worse," Addison grinned at him and Derek couldn't help but smile back. This was a fantastic day, one they would remember for the rest of their lives. They'd walked into that Civil Affairs office building as a couple and walked out as a family of three, even if the youngest member was finding him highly questionable at the moment.
"Do you think she's hungry?" he asked, feeling his own stomach rumble in response. It had been a hectic day, up early and off to the municipal building to fill out yet more paperwork before finally being able to receive their child. They were still some time away from being able to bring her home to the States yet, with more trips to the Chinese authorities for formalities and passport application, and at least one to the US Consulate in their future to apply for a visa, but they had to eat in the meantime.
Addison nodded, "Room service. Let's order everything they have on the kiddie menu, so we can figure out what she likes." She set their daughter down on the bed, next to the teddy and went over to check the menu. "She'll need comfort food. This is such a traumatic day for her."
Derek nodded. The day you got your child was called 'the harmonious day' and was supposedly the 24 hours you had to decide on each other, before Adoption Day, but he couldn't imagine that the child actually had much say and regardless of how much they wanted her and would love her, she was being ripped away from everything she knew and might love. Her life was changing forever and not all of it, in a good way.
They had already decided that she would keep her Chinese name—it was all she had of her old life and her identity, and they were not taking that from her, especially since Chinese naming culture was careful and deliberate. When she was old enough, she could choose an English name on her own, like other Chinese children. She was the descendant of an ancient civilization and as her parents, they had to make sure that she felt grounded and knew where she came from.
In the meantime, his daughter had grabbed a hold of her teddy, clearly wanting to cling onto something more tangible. She had moved a little closer and was studying him intently from the shelter of her huge toy. "Zetian," Derek pointed to her, trying his hardest to get the tonal pronunciation right, but suspecting that his untrained tongue was just mangling it, even though he'd accosted every Mandarin speaker at the hospital back home to get their input on how he could do better. He put his hand on his chest, "Daddy."
She tilted her head and stared at him, hard. "Da-Di." Then she laughed, like he had the silliest name ever. With that, the ice seemed to be broken and she moved closer to get a good look at him.
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It had been an eventful morning. They'd been to the Civil Affairs Office, signed the final paperwork and had the medical examination that was required to apply for the immigrant visa to the US. The latter had included an IGRA to test for tuberculosis and several vaccinations, but the littlest Shepherd had wailed like a banshee as soon as any of the medical staff approached with a needle. Derek had ended up using all of his charms on the nurses to let him draw the blood under their 'supervision' and some extra on his daughter as he kept making faces at her while he worked.
Addison was a little charmed herself. He was going to be a good dad, she'd known that years ago, when they were just dating and having kids was some kind of adventure off in the distant future. That was before she'd gotten scared of how bad a mom she would be with Bizzy as a role model, or how much harder it was to get training opportunities as a female surgeon, if you had children.
"Bà!" Zetian was riding on Derek's shoulders, her hands deeply buried in tufts of his hair, but looking delighted at being carried high above everything else. They were on their way to have ice cream, to celebrate all their chores being done today. Addison smiled at her enthusiasm—so far, so good—and she didn't even know there would be ice cream at the end of the ride. They had no idea if their daughter had ever had the treat before.
"It probably means 'giddyup,'" Derek supplied with a wink in her direction, "or 'onward.' Our kid is teaching me Chinese." Addison snapped another photo of them. Derek's hair was mad scientist wild and she knew his mom would love this picture. Her mother-in-law was disappointed about this first grandchild by her son not being his biological offspring, so Addison wanted to make sure there would be plenty of photographic evidence of how delighted he was.
"It wouldn't hurt for us to learn some of the language," Addison commented, putting her camera safely away before settling in at her husband's side. They'd hired a Chinese-speaking nanny to watch their daughter during times when they were both at work, in the hope that their little girl would remain fluent in her native language even as she learned English. "After all, it's not really fair that we ask her to do all the work."
"We can try," Derek agreed amenably, wincing ever so slightly as their little empress tugged enthusiastically on a handful of his hair. He looked happier than she could remember seeing him in ages, though, which made Addison happy too. "My pronunciation will be terrible, but you're right, we're her parents. We should make an effort too."
He was already such a good father, Addison thought, even though they'd only been parents for two days. It was so easy for him, love and sunshine. Hopefully, she could be a good mother—she hadn't had a great example in Bizzy or much of an example at all, and the thought of being responsible for a child full-time was terrifying, even now. So far things seemed to be going okay, though these were definitely still early days and Addison had no doubt that parenthood, wonderful though it might be, wouldn't be easy.
Derek stopped, looking confused as his gaze shifted from her to the restaurant in front of them, back to her again. "We're going to KFC?"
Addison had been in charge of where they were going and there were a couple of reasons why she had chosen the fast food restaurant. One, "It seems everybody else in China loves KFC." She could feel herself blush, maybe this was a stupid idea, but "I wanted some place that I can visit on this day in years to come, to remember this moment."
Derek tilted his head and smiled, "You want a tradition." He reached out to caress her cheek and Addison felt a little embarrassed at how stupidly eager she was to have all of these rituals. "I like that, a small ice cream cone to commemorate the occasion." She felt relieved that he understood. A lot of adoptees were very ambivalent of celebrations of 'Gotcha Day' and the like, and Addison didn't want to put her child through that. She just wanted a little tribute, where she could remember the day when she became a mother.
"It's also easier for lao wai to point to a picture than to read the menu," she shrugged and pushed the door open. She definitely had a point there—there had already been too many instances of young Chinese servers staring blankly at him while he'd mangled their language in an attempt to place an order. "Come on, Buttercup, let's get some ice cream."
Derek grinned as he stepped inside, "If you're not careful, Zetian is going to think that's her foreign name." He took their daughter's hand and blew a raspberry on her palm, making her giggle. "Isn't that, right?"
Addison quirked an eyebrow, "How do you know I wasn't addressing you?" She winked at him and made her way over to the counter where a teenager produced a picture menu for her.
"Well, if our daughter thinks that my name is Daddy Buttercup, then I suppose we'll know who's responsible," Derek agreed, shifting Zetian from his shoulders to his hip, so that she could look at the menu too. "Who are we kidding, our little empress can call me whatever she wants."
"I can see that she's going to be a daddy's girl," Addison agreed, smiling at the sight of their little one leaning comfortably against her father's chest. It was surprising, how normal this felt even though they'd only been a family of three for a whole two days. Granted, things would be different once they got back to the States, and friends and family started dropping by and to be honest, Addison wasn't in any hurry. Right now it felt like they were in a bubble of delight, just the three of them, and it was nice.
"For the record, though, it was Mommy's idea that we have ice cream for dinner today," her husband told Zetian solemnly as the little girl looked back and forth between the two of them. "Just remember that in ten years when you're a teenager and find both of us to be too embarrassing for words."
Addison smiled at their daughter, "Don't worry about me, I'll still be fabulous in ten years time and he's already embarrassing, so by then, you'll be used to it." She held up the menu, so Mini Shepherd could have a look and watched the child's eyes grew large when she caught sight of the pictures. "Bīngqílín!" She pointed a tiny finger at the ice cream.
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When they made their way back to the hotel, they were tired and both adults had ice cream in their hair as it turned out their 4-year old had a serious case of sticky hands. Their tiny empress was in pristine condition herself, but all tuckered out, so it required some Shepherd teamwork to get clothes off and PJs on, but amazingly, she didn't wake up.
"I can't believe we have a kid," Derek whispered as Addison dimmed the lights in their suite. She grinned back at him and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her stiff and stringy hair. His impeccably elegant wife looked worse for wear, but just as lovely. "We need to shower, or they are not going to let us into the restaurant for dinner."
"I think we can let those two hundred-dollar a month gym memberships expire when we get home," Addison commented as she pulled off her blouse, which was also covered in chocolate stains. "Having a four-year old seems like a workout in itself, plus she's much cuter than those overpriced trainers. Do you think we can make it downstairs in time for our dinner reservations?"
"If we shower together, we can save some time," Derek offered, enjoying the sight of his very attractive wife half-dressed. They'd been together for close to a decade now, but there were times like this when he was amazed that this intelligent, accomplished woman had chosen him to spend her life with. "We're parents now, after all. We have to be economical with our time."
His wife raised an eyebrow, her eyes laughing at him. Derek didn't mind—anything that made his wife smile was a win in his book. "If we wake her up, then we definitely won't make it down for dinner."
"You'll just have to be very quiet," he smirked. She wasn't very good at that, which Derek liked, but he would like for them to have their own little celebration too. "We got that baby monitor, so we can close the door properly." He shrugged and divested his clothes into the laundry bag the hotel had provided.
Addison tilted her head, looking him over appraisingly as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I guess I could go for some of that."
She shimmied out of her skirt and gave a surprised shriek when Derek picked her up and they both held their breaths for a couple of seconds, but Zetian didn't even stir. He moved quickly towards the bathroom before his wife had a chance to complain that she was hanging off his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"You are so in for it, mister," Addison scolded him, the sternness in her voice offset by the fact that she was taking the opportunity to feel up his ass. He set her down on the bathroom floor and closed the door just as she burst into giggles.
"Oh yeah?" He gripped her hips and drew her toward him, feeling her skin smooth and silky beneath his touch. His wife was a beautiful woman and Derek figured he was a very, very lucky guy. "How about you tell me how you're going to punish me. You can put me in time-out, but then we really won't be able to have some grown-up time before dinner."
"And that would be a shame," Addison agreed as she smiled wickedly at him, running her fingertips up and down his arms, her touch sending slight tremors through his body. This day was turning out to be memorable in more than one way, and it was worth getting covered in ice cream and chocolate if it meant that he got to be here, with his naked wife in his arms.
Derek kissed the line of her neck as he unhooked her bra and and slid the straps off her shoulders. "You are gorgeous," he said as he discarded the garment and took a step back so he could just look at her. Addison blushed slightly at the compliment, which was adorable and he reached into the shower stall to turn the water on. "Come on," Derek took her hand as he backed in under the water spray.
"Hold on, I need to get my panties off," Addison laughed, "You weren't very thorough with the undressing." No, he hadn't been, but there was a reason for that—watching her push the silky scrap of fabric down her very long legs was just about the sexiest thing he knew and the way her breasts moved as she bent over to grab the underwear... She straightened up to catch him watching her intently and Derek could feel himself harden underneath her gaze.
"I love you," he simply said as his wife stepped into the steam and his embrace. Her arms locked around his waist and Addison leaned her head into the crook of his neck. There was a contented sigh as they just stood there, snuggled together, in the wet warmth of the shower. "You want me to shampoo...?" Most of the time when they showered together, Derek would lather up her hair. It was one of those small things—a ritual—to make them feel connected.
Addison nodded against his skin, and Derek retrieved the bottle from the shelf, kissing her brow, before he stepped away, so he could get to work. She found her way back, though, leaning into him as he massaged her scalp. The sound she was making was somewhere between a hum and a purr and Derek smiled to himself. Life was pretty good. He loved his wife, they now had a child and it was Thanksgiving.
Granted, it was a Thanksgiving spent away from the rest of their family and Derek had no clue what the dinner situation would entail. It might be chicken instead of turkey because they were in China, but he didn't really care. Well, as long as he didn't have to eat chicken feet. He wasn't squeamish, but the way the nails were still attached to the toe was a bit freaky, in his opinion. Addison had just chomped down on it with a shrug and a wink.
Oh, hello. He felt his wife's hand encircle him. "If we don't do this now, we're going to end up being celibate in China," Addison murmured against his skin as she stroked him slowly. Their daughter couldn't really sleep on her own yet. She needed to bond with them and the unfamiliar surroundings weren't making her feel safe, so this moment here, in the shower before dinner, was their best and only opportunity for the privacy they needed.
··
The restaurant was in the early stages of closing for the night by the time they finally made it downstairs, but the hostess gave them a brilliant smile and assured them that no, of course it wasn't too late and the kitchen would be more than happy to cook for them. Addison felt bad at making everyone stay late, but she was also starving. It had been a long day with little sustenance, considering that most of her ice cream had ended up on her clothes and in Derek's hair.
Still, though, it was worth it a thousand times over to see how happy their daughter was, and Addison still couldn't get over the thought that she was actually a mother. Even more amazing was the prospect that her child might actually like her, that she could potentially be a good parent. Granted, it was still early and there were bound to be rougher days ahead once they returned to the States. A new country, a new language, and new people were going to be stressful for her little girl and Addison wasn't naive enough to think that this would be as simple as happily ever after.
She looked over at Derek, to find him watching as she tried to get Zetian to sit in the high chair. If Addison were to venture a guess, she had never sat in one before and she was none too pleased at having to give up sitting in a lap. "We should get that rubber thing that they put on chop sticks for children to learn how to use them," Addison said distractedly as she tried to free her hair from a tiny fist.
"I could use that myself," Derek grinned and tickled the little girl, which distracted her long enough for Addison to pull back. Zetian started to whimper, but was quickly distracted when Derek produced a small toy he'd brought with him just for this purpose. "Most of my food always end up somewhere other than my mouth."
"Well, fortunately for you, this is a Western restaurant," Addison smiled and kissed her husband's cheek, "so I believe they will give you a fork for whatever fowl they're serving."
"Is that my niece?!" Addison blinked, not believing what she was seeing. Was that...
"Archer!" she exclaimed, leaping up to embrace her brother. He looked like he hadn't slept in two days, a very likely possibility given the grueling journey she and Derek had taken to get here. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be the first to welcome this little lady to the family." Her brother shot a dazzling smile at Zetian, who giggled and waved her arms in response. Beside her, Derek was trying to look happy to see him although Addison knew that her brother was far from her husband's favorite person.
"I can't believe you came..." she said, touched by his arrival, even though they'd told everyone back home that when they made it back, they would have to bubble. Keeping their child's world small as she adjusted to a new home and unfamiliar surroundings. No guests allowed, but Archer was never very good at taking direction.
He crouched down to boop his niece's nose as she stared at him with large velvet eyes. "I know you said you didn't want visitors when you got back to New York, but you didn't say anything about China and– Ow!" He rubbed his nose and glared at Derek who laughed at Zetian tweaking her uncle's nose none too gently. "I wanted to be the first."
"I can't believe you came all the way to China just to see her." Addison picked up her daughter, holding Zetian close as the child examined the new stranger intently. She wanted her daughter to feel comfortable, and meeting strangers was bound to be intimidating but so far things were going very smoothly. "This is your Uncle Archer, sweetheart."
"I know you just met me, and it'll take some time to get to know me, but I can promise I'll be your favorite relative." Archer nodded solemnly, staring back at his niece. "I'm going to buy you lots of toys, and ruin your appetite by feeding you candy, and all kinds of fun things." Addison suspected that Amelia would take issue and give him a run for his money, but there was no point in mentioning that—in between the two of them, she would have to work hard to keep them from spoiling her child rotten.
"How was your flight, Archer?" Derek asked, as Addison smiled at her husband. The two men had never gotten along, and even gotten into one or two brawls in the past, so this display of forced civility was quite impressive. Then again, both of them were clearly besotted by the little girl in her arms, so maybe there could be some type of détente?
"More comfortable than flying commercial." He sat down and picked up the menu. "What are we eating? Duck?" Addison could do with some duck. Chinese people weren't very keen on white meat, unlike Americans, so ordering something they excelled at cooking seemed like a good idea. "The little lady looks like egg fried rice is just the ticket to happiness."
That her brother was accepting and seemed so enthusiastic pleased Addison to no end. Her parents had seemed indifferent to the news that they were adopting and Derek's mom... Well, the less said about that, the better. Lizzie and Nancy had offered congratulations when they were matched with Zetian, and Amy had squealed loudly over the phone when Addison had told her they had booked their tickets for this trip.
"I suppose duck is the Chinese equivalent of Thanksgiving turkey," Addison agreed, feeling warm and contented at having the people she cared most about sitting at this table. Derek, to his credit, was being an incredibly good sport about having her brother descend on them out of the blue, she thought as she smiled at her husband. "What do you think, honey?"
"Count me in," Derek agreed, laughing as their daughter reached out and grabbed onto his finger. "Chinese food for Thanksgiving is a tradition for us anyhow." Her little face scrunched together as Zetian listened to him speak, as if she was making an effort to understand the gibberish coming out of his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, you two go mushy over the holidays," Archer chimed in, rolling his eyes, but his tone was teasing and he didn't seem like he was actually trying to get a rise out of her husband. Derek looked at him suspiciously, but so far the truce seemed to be holding. "I'm sure my niece will find it completely mortifying in about a decade, but I think you're good for now."
Addison shook her head, "I'm going to teach her to love the season. We'll bake gingerbread this year and she'll learn how to skate... Well, maybe not this year, but Zetian can help choose and decorate the tree! Derek, we need a Chinese ornament, something from this trip." She watched her husband nod.
The Chinese might not celebrate Christmas, but most of the paraphernalia was produced in China, so she felt relatively certain they could find something for their tree. Something red and gold, for luck and happiness. They were also going to have to start celebrating Lunar New Year, and Addison wanted to buy a couple of lanterns to hang when the time came to decorate for that event.
"You're going to bake?" Archer looked uncertain and turned to Derek. "You need to check to make sure your fire extinguisher works." To his credit, her husband was too involved playing some kind of game with Zetian to do more than roll his eyes in response.
"Hey, baking is science and I'm very, very good at science," Addison protested as she handed their daughter back to Derek. "Just because I couldn't make a full-fledged Thanksgiving dinner all by myself, with no prep time, doesn't mean that I won't be able to follow a recipe when I make cookies with my child."
She was going to be a good mom, or die trying—Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd didn't give up once she'd committed to something and in this particular case, she was in it with everything she had. There was going to be baking, and she would learn how to cook because a responsible, involved parent prepared nutritious meals for their child. She'd read bedtime stories and go to the playground in the park. All the things her own mother never did with her.
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This fic was based on a request by VFBFan, who said, 'a family piece about Addek would be lovely.' I know she didn't want the child to be a daughter and I have promised to make that up to her at some point in the future. The reason why this had to be a girl is because of China's One Child Policy. Today, you might adopt a special needs boy from China, but in the 1990s, it was all girls.
VFBFan, thanks for both your reviews and good conversation! Happy Thursday. :)