The next morning, I got the twins ready while Yushen texted to confirm the timing. They were practically bouncing with excitement, carrying their little bag of toys.
"Mom, I can't wait to see gege Xavier!" Xia said, practically tugging at my sleeve.
"Yes! And we need to play with our toys!" Xayden added, proudly holding his small LEGO set.
I smiled at them. Their excitement was infectious, and I felt a quiet warmth thinking about Yushen and Xavier waiting for us.
By mid-morning, Yushen arrived at our place, calm as ever. The twins practically dragged me to the car, their little bags of toys bouncing along. Xavier peeked from the backseat, shy but curious, and the moment he saw Xia and Xayden, his face lit up.
"Hi… Xia, Xayden," he said softly.
"Hi gege Xavier!" Xia shouted, running straight to him. Xayden followed, grinning but trying to keep his cool.
Once we arrived at Yushen's apartment, the twins immediately started unpacking their toys, spreading them out on the floor with excitement.
"Look, gege Xavier! This is our LEGO!" Xayden announced proudly.
"And our headband set!" Xia added, holding hers up.
Xavier observed quietly at first, fascinated by the twins' energy.
Then, their eyes caught sight of something on the shelf.
"Wow… what's that, mom?" Xia whispered, pointing to Yushen's LEGO collection.
"Whoa… so many sets!" Xayden said, eyes wide, carefully walking over to inspect.
"Is this… yours, Uncle Yushen?" Xayden asked.
"Yes," Yushen said with a soft smile. "Some of these are old… some are my favorites."
The twins were mesmerized. They carefully picked up pieces, examined the models, and compared them with their own LEGO sets.
"Mom, can we build something like this?" Xia asked, eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, look at all the cool stuff!" Xayden added, already matching pieces with his own set.
Even Xavier got drawn in, slowly joining their little construction project, laughing softly as the twins excitedly showed him how to combine pieces from different sets.
I stayed back on the sofa, noticing the little things—the way Xavier's careful attention mirrored Yushen's own habits, and how Xayden's subtle expressions reminded me so much of Yushen. Xia's curiosity and liveliness… definitely from me.
"They… get along really well," Yushen said softly, leaning against the wall.
I nodded, smiling slightly.
"Yeah… they really do," I replied.
He paused, watching the twins carefully, then added quietly:
"And… they look a lot like someone I know."
I glanced at him, feeling a little flutter in my chest.
"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
"Just… in the way they move, the way they look at things… reminds me of someone," he said carefully, almost brushing the words aside, but I could see the thought in his eyes.
The afternoon passed with laughter, playful arguments over toys, and tiny victories—Xia showing Xavier how to carefully thread a bead for her craft set, Xayden teaching him a little LEGO trick. The twins also spent a long time fascinated with Yushen's LEGO collection, adding pieces from their own sets to build together.
By the time I looked up, I saw Yushen leaning back, calm but thoughtful, quietly taking it all in.
"They're… good kids," he said softly, almost to himself.
"Yeah," I whispered, feeling a mixture of warmth and nostalgia. "They really are."
💛