Thread by @trippednfell

Baby's 1st threadfic for #dadxianweek day 5 - teacher/mentor (yeah, I'm late).

Lan Wangji is surprised when he reads the email from a kindergarten teacher asking for help. He has no kids on his caseload in that class.

But she insists it's "one of his," so he goes.

As the English Learner (EL) teacher, he has some say where his students, who speak a heritage language other than English, are placed. And they would never be placed in her class.

When he arrives, she is teaching a lesson on color words. One small boy is sitting silently.

She sees LWJ at the door. "Look at this," she says. "He won't answer. He knows nothing."

LWJ seethes. No child comes to school knowing "nothing." They all have something to offer, though it may not be in the language or manner the teacher understands.

He goes to the child, and leans down near him. The boy looks up at him with wide, large, brown eyes.

"Hello," LWJ says in English.

Then, on a hunch, he repeats his greeting. "Hello, how are you?" he says in Mandarin.

The boy bursts into tears and throws himself at LWJ.

LWJ feels a wave of anger even as he hugs the child to him. Why wasn't he notified there was a child in a class who spoke Mandarin? And why was he in this teacher's class?

He tells the teacher he is going to take the child with him, and lifts him to carry him back to his room.

The boy clings to him.

Once they're in his classroom, he gets his name out of him. He calls himself Wen Yuan. But when he searches the name (he has to search Yuan Wen because the system is set up to Western naming standards) he finds nothing.

He calls the office for help.

They tell him the child is registered as Wei Yuan. And the home language survey indicated English only, which is why he never crossed LWJ's path.

Clearly that is a mistake, the boy understands Mandarin.

LWJ takes some little plastic bears and spreads them out on a table

He asks Wei Yuan, in Mandarin, if he knows how many bears there are.

He counts them and gives him the correct answer. LWJ then asks if he knows how many blue bears there are, and again - he gets the right answer. He wishes he could make the kindergarten teacher see this -

the kid she claimed "knew nothing" can count and distinguish colors.

But no matter. He needed to talk to the boy's parents.

He pulls up the contact information and only one name is listed. A Wei Wuxian - guardian. He calls and gets voice mail, so he leaves a message.

Then he turns his attention back to Wen Yuan. "A-Yuan," he says.

"Who do you live with?"

The boy plays with the plastic bears and talks about his Xian-gege, the guardian LWJ saw listed. As he talks LWJ pieces together the story.

Wen Yuan is an orphan. Wei Wuxian, Xian-gege, is his guardian. Probably foster parent, possibly foster-to-adoption.

LWJ reallly needs to talk to him, he needs to tell him that he needs to indicate the boy has another heritage language. Without that, LWJ can't help him.

He asks the school secretary to call and leave a message and sets out to get to know Wen Yuan and make sure the boy is comfortable with him.

It's easy, actually. Once the boy understands no one will punish him for speaking Mandarin, he becomes positively chatty. LWJ is besotted

The child is clever and quick witted. Everything LWJ throws at him the boy handles, just fine.

It is a real shame he was placed with that kinder teacher. LWJ has thoughts about what will need to happen next. It depends on the boy's guardian, however.

Lunchtime comes. Wen Yuan says his lunchbox is in the classroom. They go to retrieve it. The teacher seems surprised to see them, as if, once the child was out of her sight, she forgot he existed. LWJ vows the boy will never return to her class.

They go back to LWJ's classroom. Wen Yuan has a lunch packed. It isn't what LWJ would have packed, but he cannot gainsay it. There is a sandwich, some baby carrots, juice, and a cookie. It could be worse. There is an attempt to have A-Yuan eat vegetables.

His guardian is trying to pack nutritious meals.

They finish eating, clean up, and return to academic activities. A-Yuan enjoys math. He can count, and loves showing it off to LWJ. He knows the words used to count to 10 in both English and Mandarin.

It is about 1 PM, and A-Yuan has been with LWJ for several hours, before a man bursts through the door, looking frazzled and haggard.

"Hi, Xian-gege!" A-Yuan calls out.

LWJ looks at the man. He is handsome, unreasonably so. But he looks tired, and scared. Overwhelmed.

"Hello," LWJ says in English. "You must be A-Yuan's guardian."

"His father," the man says. "I mean, soon. The adoption is ongoing. Is he okay?"

LWJ nods. "He is fine."

Then he hesitates. The man looks lost. Maybe even upset.

"Are you okay?"

[Sorry to leave you here, but will continue tomorrow! This topic is near and dear to my heart, because IRL I am an EL teacher. I thought I'd write a fic with this premise one day, but threadficcing seemed right. Link to top:

https://twitter.com/trippednfell/status/1497786765062676481?s=20&t=K3eytaerkF8pTpaII8oIVg

The man takes a deep breath but doesn't answer.

He's barely holding himself together. LWJ moves to his desk and scribbles a quick note. He puts it into a purple folder and calls for A-Yuan. "My friend Mrs. Luo needs help. Can you go to her room and help her?"

A-Yuan frowns.

"I don't know where," he says in Mandarin. LWJ nods and says, also in Mandarin: "Next to your teacher. The star door."

Luo Qingyang has her door covered in stars, with the names of a student in each star. She is by far LWJ's favorite kinder teacher.

A-Yuan nods and takes the folder. LWJ steps out and watches to make sure the boy turns down the correct hallway.

Then he shuts the door and looks back at the boy's father.

"Would you like some tea?"

[POV shift next tweet]

WWX is a wreck. First he gets a voice mail asking him to call about A-Yuan. Then a call from the school secretary letting them know there's an issue with the boy's paperwork.

He knew he shouldn't have registered him under Wei. But in his defense, it seemed easier.

And it's not like anyone in that office could read the boy's original birth certificate and know that his family name was Wen, not Wei.

Well, he thought no one at the school could read Chinese but here stands a beautiful man who obviously can, asking him if he wants tea.

"Yeah," he says. "Ok."

The man has an electric kettle. He starts the water and takes out a couple of mugs and some tea bags.

WWX is fidgeting. He needs to know what the problem is. He hopes he hasn't fucked up so much that they're going to say something to his social worker.

The lovely man hands him the mug and he wraps his hands around it and breathes in the fragrant steam.

He shakes a bit. He's tired, he's stressed, and he's scared.

When he decided to take this step he knew it would be hard. Especially doing it alone.

He knows the main reason he was able to foster A-Yuan and be considered for adoption is because he said he spoke Mandarin.

It wasn't a complete lie?

He still remembered some. And he recognized bits of what A-Yuan said.

But he was far from fluent.

A-Yuan is frustrated often. WWX is frustrated too. He feels like a failure.

And so, when the beautiful man looks over at him and says, in a soft voice: "He's a happy, wonderful child. You're doing very well." It is too much.

WWX bursts into tears.

It takes him a few minutes to calm down. The other man patiently waits beside him, and hands him a tissue.

"I'm Lan Wangji," he says, when WWX can breathe evenly again. "The EL teacher."

WWX is confused, so the man explains what it is he does.

WWX is relieved.

There's someone in the school, who speaks Mandarin, who will be able to help A-Yuan.

LWJ explains that they need him to fill out a different language survey so that he can officially step in. He agrees, of course, and they go to the office to accomplish this.

The front office folks assist with the paperwork and then LWJ says to the counselor that he would like to switch A-Yuan to a different class.

"I want Mr. Wei to meet Mrs. Luo first to see if he agrees."

WWX says "It's fine, you're the expert." He'll do whatever LWJ suggests.

LWJ responds: "But you are his father."

His eyes burn with more threatening tears.

He often doesn't feel adequate enough to be called that. Somehow, for this lovely, competent, caring educator to call him that means everything to him.

LWJ takes him to meet Mrs. Luo.

[LWJ POV]

LWJ pushes open the door. It is a stark contrast to A-Yuan's class. Kids are engaged in learning and cooperating. There is laughter, and warmth in the room.

A-Yuan is sitting next to Luo Qingyang coloring something with a black crayon.

"Wangji! Thank you for sending me this helper. He has been doing a lot for me," she says in Mandarin.

A-Yuan looks up and sees LWJ and his father. His eyes light up and he holds up his picture, which is of a bat with comically large eyes and the letters B-A-T above it.

"Xian-gege! Look! I made a bat"

'Bat' is the only word he says in English.

LQY gets his attention. "A-Yuan, what sound does bat start with?" She speaks slow, clear English and taps her ear at the word 'sound' and her lips at the word 'bat.'

A-Yuan puts his lips together and makes a "buh" sound. LQY smiles and says "Yes, good!"

LQY is LWJ's favorite teacher for a reason. He looks at WWX, who meets his eyes and nods. "Please," the man says.

LWJ turns to LQY. "Would you like a new friend for your class?"

She beams. "I'd love it."

They explain it to A-Yuan and he is delighted at the idea. LQY then lets him pick out a star so she can put his name on her door.

LWJ and WWX head back to his room, so that LWJ can have him sign some paperwork while he's here.

The paperwork gives him permission to assess A-Yuan's English and write a plan to help him acquire English along with learning the content in the classroom.

WWX signs without reading, telling LWJ he trusts him. He explains everything to him so he knows what he's agreeing to.

Once all is handled LWJ pushes the papers aside and folds his hands. This will be more difficult, but he feels he must speak on it.

"If I may," he starts. "I'd like to talk about A-Yuan's language development."

WWX nods.

LWJ hesitates. What he says next will hurt.

"You don't speak Mandarin, do you?"

WWX's face falls. It's clear the question struck a nerve.

"I used to. I was born in Suzhou. But when my parents died, I was adopted by a family that lived here. They're 2nd gen, English was the main language in the home."

LWJ nods.

"How old were you when you moved?"

"Six."

"That's good. You learned all the phonemes in the language, your brain can distinguish the sounds. You would be able to pick it up more easily than you probably think you would."

"Should I?"

"If you do not, A-Yuan will lose his heritage language. As you did."

LWJ sees WWX flinch at the thought.

"I don't want that," WWX says.

That was the response LWJ hoped he would give.

"Let me help you," he says.

He explains his idea. Twice a week he volunteers at the community center teaching adult ESL classes. If WWX attends, he can help the students with their English and re-learn his Mandarin from them.

With native speakers to converse with, both sides will benefit.

Plus, he knows the grannies will dote on both WWX and A-Yuan, and the man looks like he could use someone doting on him.

(LWJ would like to do his own share of that, but as he is A-Yuan's teacher, that is not an appropriate thought. And the man might be involved. Or straight.)

[WWX POV to the end!]

"A-Yuan, let's go! It's Tuesday!"

His son (officially! As of last Friday!) jumps up and cheers and runs to get his shoes on. Tuesdays and Thursdays are their favorites.

Those are the nights they have language class at the community center.

It's so much more than class. The grannies & aunts load him down with food, despite his protests. They pinch his cheeks and ask when he's going to put on weight. They shower A-Yuan with love and talk to him in Mandarin and let A-Yuan correct their pronunciation of English words.

And they help him with his own Mandarin, which is coming along nicely. LWJ gave him some books, which he uses on the nights that aren't Tues or Thurs, and he's using some apps and listening to podcasts and watching tv produced in Mandarin.

He's getting better, bit by bit.

A-Yuan is thriving, his proficiency in English is progressing right on schedule, according to LWJ.

LWJ. He's another reason WWX looks forward to those nights.

He wants to ask him out. Sometimes he thinks LWJ wants that too.

But he's hard to read. So it's scary.

So WWX has been waiting until the school year ends. That way, LWJ is not A-Yuan's teacher anymore and that should make it okay, right?

School ended Friday, so WWX and A-Yuan had celebrated his successful first year of school and his new birth certificate.

JieJie hosted, and baked a cake. Jiang Cheng had clapped WWX on the back and said, gruffly: "You've done good."

It was a pleasant night, and he enjoyed spending it with his family. But somehow, it felt incomplete.

There were people missing.

When they walk into the community center, they are welcomed with a huge shout of "Surprise!"

There are banners, and balloons, and a table laden with food. Everyone swarms them, congratulating them, letting A-Yuan introduce himself as Wei Yuan.

WWX cries. This is what he wanted

To celebrate his son's adoption with the people who had been at his side these months, supporting him, loving him.

His community.

LWJ is standing aside. He makes his way to him.

"Thank you," he says. It's not enough, but he has to say it anyway.

"No need for thanks between us," LWJ says.

WWX can't hold back anymore.

"Go out with me," he says. "I've been wanting to ask, but I had to wait until you weren't his teacher anymore. But school's out, so...I'm asking."

LWJ blinks at him, surprised.

"Wei Ying," he says. "I'm the only EL teacher at the school."

WWX is confused. What is he saying?

"I will still be A-Yuan's EL teacher next year. And every year, until he tests as English proficient."

WWX's face burns. He's so stupid! How did he screw this up so badly!

He can't face LWJ, who will probably just look at him with pity, so he turns to walk away.

LWJ grabs his hand and stops him.

WWX looks at him, too scared to ask, to dare to hope.

"There are no rules," LWJ says, "against dating the parents of students."

LWJ still has his hand. His thumb is stroking WWX's hand.

That's a good sign, right?

WWX's head is reeling. Too many emotions, too fast.

"So..." he says.

"So," LWJ responds. "Are you and A-Yuan busy Friday night?"

They are not.

Wait. Him AND A-Yuan?

"I'd like to cook for you both," LWJ says.

WWX is going to cry, again. He can't speak without sobbing so he just nods.

The head toward the table, where everyone is preparing to eat. They are still holding hands.

Uncle Four calls out "Finally!" in English and everyone laughs

Popo is piling food in his bowl. A-Yuan is sitting beside him, face beaming with joy. LWJ is a solid presence on his other side.

All around him are conversations and laughter. The conversations shift between Mandarin and English.

The laughter is universal.

A-Yuan lifts a piece of meat from his own bowl and puts in his. "Here you go, Baba," he says.

WWX blinks back tears. It's the first time he's used that name.

He turns to LWJ, and finds the man already looking at him.

There is something welling up in him. Some emotion he can't name.

And it's reflected in the eyes of the man looking back at him.

WWX cannot imagine life will ever be better than it is in this moment.

Six months later, as they celebrate their wedding reception at the community center, he finds he's wrong.

Life can get better. And it does, everyday.

Fin.

Thanks for indulging me in this thought that wouldn't leave me!

Hope everyone enjoyed it.

Link to top.

https://twitter.com/trippednfell/status/1497786765062676481?s=20&t=BkSfUanXyt38sD834iNuXA