Chapter 74
Stickman
Not qualified to be a parent .
Hearing the answer Zarad had pried out of the other, Xie Luan’s left eyelid immediately lightly twitched .
Xie Luan could more or less understand Morrison’s way of thinking . It wasn’t that the other didn’t love the cub dearly, and neither was he actually reluctant to adopt him . He was merely dissatisfied with himself and believed that he was unfit to be the cub’s parent .
But looking at it from Xie Luan’s perspective, there was no doubt that Morrison met the standard of a parent .
Morrison had decided to save the cub from such a dangerous battlefield, and had then proceeded to care for him . He had nursed the cub well, the other was already qualified .
If they could convince Morrison to adopt the laili cub, Xie Luan believed it would help the cub overcome the mental scars left by the war .
“Who is the baby writing about?” Xie Luan squatted down and picked up the white paper the laili cub had scribbled a few letters on with the coloring pen . Holding up the paper, he warmly asked this .
Intentionally asking like this, the moment his voice fell, Xie Luan saw the fluffy laili cub waddle closer .
“Gu~ Gu-Ji!” The little cub’s eyes were bright as he waved his flippers up and down while issuing a clear, crisp voice . Seeing how bright the cub’s eyes were, the one he was thinking of was clearly a very important person .
After hearing the cub’s still young voice, Xie Luan watched the laili cub once more pick up a coloring pen with his sharp beak and scribble on the white paper he had put down .
Xie Luan had, today, on a whim gotten out the coloring pens and papers as toys for the cubs to play with . In this world, if they really wanted to write or draw, they had to instead use something called an interactive board .
Ordinarily, the caretakers at Yunbao branch would hand out the interactive boards to the cubs when they were taught the universal interstellar language . It made the cubs better remember what they were taught .
What was the cub drawing? Xie Luan looked at it . The drawing was almost like those of the little kindergarteners of his world, a baby who was just a few years old . However, the lines were a little more crooked, after all, it was no interactive board .
On the white paper, in addition to the word “papa”, there was now a tall stickman in the blank space next to it .
This stickman had no lower left arm, the two dots for eyes were brown, and his hair was brown as well .
He couldn’t make out its specific appearance but by the stickman’s leg there was also a small round circle with two black dots for eyes . The small round circle stood near the stickman, they seemed very close .
Although it was a very rough drawing, Xie Luan once more picked up the white paper . Looking down at the drawing, he couldn’t help but reach out and touch the head of the laili cub in front of him .
The drawing was not difficult to understand . Several characteristics of the stickman matched Morrison’s . Xie Luan right away knew whom the cub had drawn .
“This is papa, this is baby, right?”
Xie Luan pointed to the stickman and the round circle on the white paper, and in an encouraging tone said this to the laili cub who was looking up at him .
“Gu~” Replying, the small tail behind the laili cub immediately shook left and right .
He seemed to be standing a bit taller, and the cub’s already soft and fluffy belly became more prominent as a result . It really made people want to stretch out their hand and touch it .
The stickman on the white paper was drawn very tall in contrast to the small round one .
Xie Luan felt it had to be how Morrison looked like to the cub .
Getting up to first put the drawing away, Xie Luan had a vague plan in mind . He had thought of what he could use to make a breakthrough and change Morrison’s mind .
Summer was the season when flame flowers were in full bloom . This kind of flower could only be found on a few planets; Gaia being one of them . [1]
There was a flower bed full of flame flowers in the courtyard at Yunbao branch . That weekend, in the morning, Xie Luan took a cutting from this small flower bed and brought it to the nursery’s living room .
The flame flower in this world was not the same as the one in Xie Luan’s world . The flower in Xie Luan’s hand truly lived up to its vivid name, it was like a warm flame .
However, it wasn’t painful, it was the kind of flame that made people feel warm . Coupled with a gentle glow visible in the dark, it was no surprise that in some festivals flame flowers were often used as gifts between people who were close .
Xie Luan placed the flower and the laili cub´s drawing in front of the cub who was glancing at the door from time to time . He then squatted down and gently tap-tapped the cub’s forehead with a finger . “When he comes, Laili will give him the flower first, and then show papa the drawing . ”
“Gu-Ji . ”
Turning his head to the right, the laili cub answered obediently . He lowered his head to pick up the flower, and his black eyes then moved to the door once again .
It was probably a habit from his time in the military . Morrison would come punctually to the Yunbao branch every week at a fixed time . Xie Luan looked at the clock, the other would be here in a few minutes .
Xie Luan’s prediction was not wrong, the other arrived on time today as well . When Morrison showed up at the house, Xie Luan watched as the laili cub lifted his flippers and waddled over with the flower in his beak .
In his excitement and rush, Laili crashed into Morrison’s leg . However, the cub didn’t hug the leg in front of him, instead he stepped back a little bit and raised his head .
Afraid of dropping the flower, the laili cub did not call out to him at this time . He simply looked at the adult in front of him with his black eyes and waved his flippers on both sides of his body .
Morrison immediately noticed the flower in the cub’s beak . For a man rarely surprised, he was completely stunned . Seeing the cub wave his small flippers at him, he bent down to receive the flower .
“Gu-Ji~” After taking the flower, he heard the laili cub make a sound . At first, Morrison was going to pick up the cub, but unexpectedly, after issuing the clear cry, the cub turned around and waddled away . Moments later, he returned to him with a piece of paper in his beak .
The white paper had been folded twice . Morrison took the paper like he had the flower a moment ago; and under the watchful, shining eyes of the cub, Morrison unfolded the paper .
The first thing Morrison saw were four letters that took up almost half of the paper .
Papa .
His eyes trembled, fixed on the page, unable to move away . It took Morrison several seconds to be able to take his eyes off of the word .
Then his eyes shifted to the right and he saw the stickman drawn next to it . Morrison’s hand unconsciously clenched the paper, causing it to crease .
A stickman with only a right arm, brown eyes and hair, and a very small round circle near his leg…
“Gu-Ji,Gu-Ji Gu-Ji—“ As Morrison looked at the drawing, the laili cub in front of him came over and embraced his leg with his flippers, this scene was exactly the same as the drawing .
Moving his eyes from the drawing to the cub next to his leg, Morrison suddenly felt that his throat was dry .
“Now that you have seen the drawing, you should know that you are just like a hero to this little cub . ”
Xie Luan uttered this sentence in a calm voice and gazed at the laili cub who had been picked up and was held in the other’s embrace, then continued, “Laili’s fear of thunder is a stress response from the war . This mental obstacle can be overcome . If his hero becomes his parent, I believe it will help him to overcome it . ”
Unable to understand the adults’ complex conversation, the laili cub held in Morrison’s arms only made a small sound and snuggled his fluffy body deeper into the adult’s arms .
Feeling the cub move in his arms as he snuggled against his chest, Morrison took a final glance at the rough drawing in his hand . Once the lump in his throat had been pushed down, he looked up and met the eyes of the youth in front of him, then finally nodded his head .
After completing the necessary procedures, Xie Luan submitted two forms to Gaia’s adoption registration agency, one for Morrison’s adoption of the laili baby, and the other for Xie Luan’s adoption of Nick .
Xie Luan was originally going to find time to register, it just so happened that they conveniently ended up submitting them together .
Recently, some families interested in adopting had also reached out to their club via the starnet and consulted them regarding the adoption process . They had also said that they would try to find time to come to Gaia in person .
After the registration was completed, Morrison officially became the laili cub’s parent .
Considering how the cub needed Morrison to overcome his stress response, and the other had retired from the Star Alliance military department, Xie Luan thought it over and simply put forth the idea that Morrion come work as a combat instructor at Yunbao branch .
The other quickly accepted the proposal . That same day, Morrison immediately moved into the staff dormitory, and the next he began his work as a combat instructor .
“In terms of rank, Morrison seems to be second only to general…?” Xia Qi said cautiously . This was what Zarad had said during gossip, he had also said the other was among the special forces’ elite .
Xie Luan nodded . Even when Morrison gave the most basic combat instruction, he could already feel the other’s rich combat experience, not to mention his ability to control gravity, a very rare variant ability .
Having Morrison serve as a combat instructor at their branch was simply a joy for all .
Seeing Xie Luan nod, the expression on Xia Qi’s face changed slightly once again . She still had a feeling of it being unreal .
Powerful high ranking people, their branch now all of a sudden had two . Xia Qi felt they would not need to worry about any security issues in the future .