It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins

Some Children Lose, Some Children Learn (2)

"Where is your father, Lilliana?" she asked.

"Daddy's in hiding," Lilly answered on cue.

"He did something bad to Matt," Eli added.

Now Matthew wanted to hide.

The front door opened, and Mr. Yang trotted out, fixing his suit into near perfection despite the decorated slippers on his feet; his hair stayed a positive mess. "Mother, Father. You did not tell me you were arriving." His sunken brown eyes glanced to Matt for a moment, but the situation was apparently foreign to both of them. "What do we owe the occasion?"

"Can't parents visit?" asked Yang Sr. The tone in his voice was shifted downwards, tangible in its gently annoyed confusion. "Honestly, 我的孩子, 這是你對來訪的父母的回應嗎?*"

The muscles on Mr. Yang's neck shifted under his father's stare.

"Don't talk like that," Eli said. "I can't understand Chinese."

"You should learn, my sweet," Mrs. Yang said.

"I'd rather learn Latin. Latin is everywhere, and it's used in curses. Or Korean."

"I'd make up my own language," Lilly announced. "Full of dots, and long, really pretty words. Words that mean things like 'wobbly light in the water' and 'shoes that squish your toes'."

"Well, if you're going to start, Lilliana, can we help?" asked Yang Sr.

"No. You didn't come when you said you would," Eli said. His tone was nonchalant, like it was the state of the universe that their failings were normal.

"I'm sorry, my love. Things happened that stopped us."

"What?" he asked.

"Adult things."

Elliot harrumphed, a disappointed annoyed expression crossing his face. He glanced to Matthew. "What kind of 'adult things'?"

Mrs. Yang placed a hand on Eli's shoulder, and the boy's eyes were back to his grandmother. "Don't worry about it, Elliot. They're not things to concern yourself with."

"What kind of 'adult things'?" he asked again, pressing a little more. "Is it inappropriate?"

"No, Elliot, but – "

"Matt tries to tell us things like that," Lilly said.

"He does?" she asked. Her stare moved back to him, watching him like a bug under a microscope.

"All the time."

Mrs. Yang's stare intensified in a way Matthew could not and would not try to guess.

"Not everything," he said a little too harshly for his liking.

Eli wrinkled his nose and looked at Matthew again for some kind of guidance, only for the nanny to offer a worn look and shake his head. Grumbling, he cradled Waka in his arms and moved inside, pushing past Audrey at the front door.

"What brings you this way?" Mr. Yang asked.

"Do parents need notice to see their child? Their grandchildren?"

Jun's expression faltered, the look in his eyes distant and growing desolate. "It's just – if the children were in school, and you arrived – "

"You didn't come when you said you would," Lilly repeated.

Mr. Yang Sr. met his son's eyes. "We're here now," he said. "Are you glad to see us?"

Lilly considered the question for a long second before turning on her heels and trotting back to Lloyd. "Matt, what's the next step for fixing Lloyd?" She touched his hand but made no effort in pulling him back to the carport. She squatted beside the black battery packs – a fortune to order and wait for – prodding it with her finger.

Behind, Matthew tried to ignore the quiet Chinese uttered in such an obviously, disapproving way that it made his stomach curdle. The conversation continued – parents' clear disregard, scolding a child – for longer than it absolutely should have, before one exasperated sigh brought Mr. Yang Sr. to the carport to inspect the work Lilly and Matthew were doing.

"We're transmogrifying him," she said.

Mr. Yang Sr. kneeled down. "I remember driving a car like this in..." He let out a puff. "...1957. Gosh, that was a long while ago."

"1963. The model," Matthew said.

"You drive it?" When Matthew nodded, Mr. Yang Sr. made a closer inspection of the blue bug. "Do the children go with you in it?"

"His name is Lloyd," Lilly said.

"Objects don't get names, Lilliana."

"He does," she countered, frowning. Lilly looked at Matthew. "When did he become the expert on things with names?" she muttered under her breath.

"It's a project," Matthew interjected, wiping his hands down his pants in an attempt to calm himself. "1963 was a long while ago and, rather than throwing it away and getting something more up-to-code, I wanted to see if I could restore it and convert it to electric."

"An electric car?"

He nodded. "Your son's onboard with it."

Mr. Yang Sr. hummed a response, low and long and too unnerving for Matthew to disregard. It dripped with skepticism, uncertainty, and no doubt the man doubted his son's decision. His eyes scanned him for too long before the nanny turned away.

"It's an interesting idea, in terms of sustainability. Adapting something from the past century instead of throwing it away." He didn't know why he was still taking. Matthew could clearly see the look on Yang Sr.'s face, growing more and more disapproving at the concept as a whole. Matthew was certain he could start speaking Spanish and get the same reaction. "Regardless, this is on my own time. It doesn't interfere with my work."

The glean in Mr. Yang Sr.'s eyes told Matthew everything. The older man turned to his grandchild and asked her about school, how everything was. Matthew fumbled on, inspecting the car and flipping through old Volkswagen pamphlets for interior colors and chrome fittings for the dashboard. Before he realized it, Lilly pulled Mr. Yang Sr. inside, his hand in hers.

Matthew leaned back in the empty space, his head resting on the transmission tunnel and staring up at Lloyd's bare roof. He closed his eyes and inhaled, hands resting on his stomach, wondering how long it might be until the children needed him again.

And he listened. He listened to wind screaming in the distance in a high-pitched wail. The treetops rustling so slightly, snow collapsing through the branches before disappearing into the ambient noises. There were few birds. A truck groaning as it rolled backward down the street, beeping incessantly.

Someone knocked against one of the windows.

~ ~ ~

A/N~
*"my boy, is this the kind of response you give to your parents visiting?"

also please let me know if the Chinese is incorrect i do not speak it therefore i used a translator so lmk if its wrong thanks :)