Chapter Text
“You’re going to try and adopt her?” Xiao blurted out.
It had been a few days since Qiqi woke up, and currently she was in her hospital bed with Diluc and Diona. Baizhu had been discussing some things with Father and Dad. He had went home for the time being so he could rest, the memory of Qiqi’s body fresh and taking a toll on him. Apparently, during the few days that he was gone they were discussing about custody.
“Your parents want to, but keep in mind it will be complicated,” Baizhu had replied, rubbing his temples.
“They’ve already went through adopting Xiao, wouldn’t that be the same thing?” Ganyu had tilted her head slightly, curious.
“She’s a different case from Xiao. If memory serves me well - you were from an orphanage and had spent some time with Zhongli and Ajax before they adopted you,” Baizhu directed his sentence to Xiao, who nodded his head.
“Qiqi’s parents were dear friends of mine, but I did not have the time to take her in after they died since I would be quite the neglectful father to her. She was sent to foster care and I couldn’t keep in contact with her since her foster family was quite… strict, for lack of a better word. Clearly, she’s been abused. But her foster family wouldn’t just give her custody up that easily. Besides, you just met Qiqi. You won’t be able to adopt her straight away.”
Dad groaned at the whole speech while Ganyu winced.
“I do have another question, why are Diluc and Diona in there?”
“He’s here as emotional support,” Dad snorted out while Father sighed out in exasperated fondness.
“He’s well-educated in this department, Diona is an example,” Father chimed in. “He’s helping us figure out what had happened, him being good with children and all. He had also worked in foster care before. Diona is here to help Qiqi feel more comfortable in her current situation.”
Ganyu “ah-ed”. She and Xiao had babysat for Diona a few times. The young girl was prone to panic attacks if it got too cold, and if it did reach to the extent where they couldn’t get to her the next best person was Bennett, if Diluc wasn’t available.
All of them jumped as they heard a loud crash in the room. Baizhu was about to rush into the room when they heard Diluc’s muffled voice saying, “Diona, no. You can’t kidnap Qiqi to bring home, she has her own people trying to fight for her.”
Father and Dad raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other.
“I guess you do have the support now,” Baizhu laughed out.
Father smiled at him before gesturing towards the room, an invitation for the rest to meet Qiqi. Dad knocked on the door and they heard a small “Come in” from Diluc.
“I’ll leave now. Best of luck for custody, Qiqi is a sweet child,” the red-haired smiled at Qiqi before lifting Diona in his arms and leaving before any of them got to say anything.
“Hello there, Qiqi,” Ganyu said softly, holding a small box as a gift. The lavender-haired child looked up at her hesitantly and whispered a greeting.
“I am Ganyu, and I have a gift for you, if you’d like it?”
Qiqi blinked owlishly and glanced at Baizhu, who grinned at her in return. Qiqi nodded and took the box gingerly, opening it. After she did, her eyes widened at the sight of a flower crown. She looked up at Ganyu who smiled at her, and her ears flushed red.
“Qiqi… Qiqi thanks you, Miss Ganyu,” the girl said. If Xiao were to use something to describe her voice, it would be a sponge cake. Her voice was soft, fluffy and warm in a way as well.
Ganyu sat down on the side of Qiqi’s bed and helped her put on the flower crown. The younger sat silent, looking vulnerable.
“Shall we discuss it with her then? She is the reason we’re all here after all."