A/N: I decided to continue this story after several months of it being dormant. Thanks for the reviews, GLB, Meel Jacques, doremishine itsuko, Guest, Star Traveler, The Cat Charmer, 1bluesapphire, Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416 and Clueless Angel. This is a pretty short chapter. Pf75
Mulan and Shang named their daughter Ling. The baby slept in a cradle next to their bed, so that Mulan could reach her easily at night for feedings.
Mulan was gradually able to increase her activity, but for weeks she tired very easily. Six weeks after Ling was born, she walked out to the stone bench with Shang for the first time. The warm sun felt wonderful on her skin, and the Mudan tree was in full bloom. She leaned against Shang as she closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh air and listening to birds chirping.
When it was time to go back in for supper, Mulan found she was too weak to stand. Fa Li had come outside with them and she took baby Ling so Shang could carry Mulan back in.
She was very grateful for her family's help, especially after Shang had to go to Wu Zhong to train new recruits. He would be gone for 6 months, and Ling was 4 months old when he left.
He wrote frequently to Mulan and she wrote back, updating him on Ling's growth. When she was 7 months old, Mulan drew a picture of her sitting up and sent it with her letter. Shang tacked it to the tent fabric above his cot with pine sap.
On the way home from Wu Zhong, Shang encountered a family being attacked by bandits. He was able to fight and kill all three, but not before both parents had been murdered.
Inside the family's carriage, two tiny girls clung to each other crying and a baby boy screamed. He didn't look much more than a couple months old. The girls were twins who looked about three years old.
Shang tried to ask them where they were from, but they just continued to cry. Luckily, he was only six hours from home. He hooked his horse up to the carriage next to the family's two horses and took the three newly orphaned children home with him.
He didn't have to wonder if Mulan and her parents and grandma would mind. He knew they would welcome the orphans with open arms.
On the way, he stopped at a village and got food for the girls, but was unable to provide anything for the baby. Mulan was still breastfeeding Ling, so she would be able to feed him. His sisters tried to comfort him, but he cried all the way home.
It was late at night when Shang arrived home with the three children.
The sound of a small baby crying as Shang carried him into the house with his sisters next to him, got the attention of everyone in the house right away. They all jumped into action to care for the three children.
Fa Li and Grandma Fa saw to it that the two older girls had a warm place to sleep while Mulan fed the baby. Shang laid blankets in an emptied dresser drawer for him to sleep in and tended all the horses while Fa Zhou built the fire up.
After the girls had fallen asleep clinging to each other and the baby boy laid down with a full tummy, the adults talked about what to do.
There was no way to know what village they were from, unless the three year old girls were able to give them some clues. It was decided the three tiny orphans would stay with them until they were able to locate where extended family might be living.
The next morning, the two little girls started to talk a little bit. Their names were Liu and Mei, and the boy's name was Kang. They talked about living near mountains, but other than that didn't give any clues as to where their village was.
Liu and Mei both cried a lot, particularly at night when nightmares of their parents' death would jolt them from sleep. They slept by Fa Li and Fa Zhou, since Ling and Kang both slept by Shang and Mulan. Fa Li and Grandma Fa took turns getting up with them and comforting them at night.
Kang seemed to settle in, and Mulan kept busy breastfeeding both him and Ling. Her body started increasing her milk supply immediately in response to the increased demand.
When Kang would cry, Ling would often run up to Mulan or Shang saying "Baby cry! Baby cry!". She loved to watch Kang sleep, and loved following Mei and Liu around.
They allowed the girls to just call them Mulan and Shang, not insisting on being called Mama and Baba. Not while the memories of their actual parents were so fresh in their minds.
For the time being at least, their little family had doubled in size. Her and Shang may not have been able to have more children of their own, but for now they had four children to care for. They were parents to three year old Mei and Liu, one year old Ling and four month old Kang.