As she climbed the stairs absentmindedly, Qiu Yeh cleared his throat.

"Sorry, you don't have to send it to the twins as they barely slept last night." Xue Ting apologised as Qiu Yeh smiled.

"Then let's switch. Let me send that to my brother. You go ahead and attend to your kids." He offered as she nodded and swapped trays with her before entering Matthew's room first while he headed into the master room trying not to feel envious of the room where the couple lived in.

Qiu Wen was stirring in bed noticing someone approaching as he held on to the hand thinking it was Xue Ting. "Ting Ting…" He mumbled as Qiu Yeh chuckled.

"Yes, honey? Here's your medication and meal. Come sit up and I will feed you." Qiu Yeh teased him using a high-pitched tone which made Qiu Wen grimace in agitation, struggling to open his eyes to see who it was.

He laughed shortly when he identified it was Qiu Yeh but it only brought more pain to his headache as he groaned. "Sit up bro. Grandma made all these for you." Qiu Yeh chuckled as he helped Qiu Wen to sit up and fed him with the medication before the porridge.

"Where is my wife?" He questioned groggily as he took another bite and held on to his pounding head.

"Sending this witch-brew ginger concoction to your babies cause grandma insisted." He fed Qiu Wen with another mouthful of porridge before Qiu Wen shook his head.

"Hmm, the ginger it's horrible. Ugh, grandma's cooking… I miss my wife now." Qiu Wen whined as Qiu Yeh laughed.

"You really can't live without your wife a single second now, can you? Don't let Grandma hear you or she will force this down on you." Qiu Yeh teased as Qiu Wen shook his head in pretense agony while Qiu Yeh chuckled and helped him out of bed to head downstairs to greet Grandma.

Xue Ting went to check on Matthew first only to find an empty bed. She went to his study but it was empty too. Instead, she found him obediently accompanying Joy in bed as they both slept side by side.

She sat by Matthew's side of the bed, watching him actively sleep with occasional eye movements although they were closed. She held his hand to calm him only to have him stirred awake.

"Mummy…" He sat up with a stunned face as Xue Ting hugged him.

"Yes, baby? Having a bad nightmare?" She asked gently as she slowly patted his back to calm him down while glancing at Joy who was still asleep.

He was caught off guard and a little groggy not knowing how to react. He did not want to show that he was sad over his Great-Grandpa's passing so as not to worry the adults but he could not control his erratic teenage emotions as he forced himself to bottle up his growing agony.

"Baby, do you remember how your first puppy grew up by your side?" Xue Ting asked noticing his struggles as Matthew nodded while facing her. She caressed his cheeks while gazing at his reddened eyes.

Joy who heard Xue Ting's gentle voice opened her eyes a little seeing his brother was trying hard to suppress his feelings. She felt bad and guilty for always being the one who needed attention. Sometimes, she wondered if Matthew hated her because of that.

"Little Mushi was cute wasn't he?" Xue Ting asked trying to cheer him up as he nodded, could not suppress his smile remembering how Mushi loved to trail him to the school bus till Xue Ting had to carry him home one day while worrying Mushi might have gone missing.

One day, he really went missing and when they found him, he was knocked down by passing cars; passing on all by himself not too far away from the bus stop.

"He often followed you both to the school bus and sometimes waited up for you at the bus stop didn't he? He loves to snuggle with you too, doesn't he?" She did not get a response as he kept quiet trying hard not to tear up. Xue Ting knew she had to push him to let go.

"Then, do you remember what I told you when Mushi left?" Xue Ting asked as she caressed his cheeks which were overflowing with his tears.

"Mushi went to dogs' heavens and would wait for me when I too make it there." He said with his choking voice and could not help but tear up as Xue Ting pulled him into her embrace.

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Her eyes reddened as she recalled how sad the twins were back then as she nodded and noticed Joy was also sobbing while covering her eyes with her arm. She held onto Joy's hand with her free right hand while patting Matthew with her left hand.

"Yes. Over the years, Mushi didn't wait alone, did he? He had many others who were once your puppies in the shelter?" She comforted as Matthew and Joy continued to sob. They both instantly understood Xue Ting's point as Joy got up to hug Xue Ting while the twins cried in her arms.

As Qiu Yeh and Qiu Wen were about to head downstairs, they heard sobs from Joy's room which made Qiu Wen worried she must be crying again. He quickly walked over with Qiu Yeh but noticed from the small opening of the door, that Xue Ting was comforting them.

"Now, you have another person to take care of them with your late grandpa, don't you? You shouldn't be so sad. Great Grandpa will be very happy to see how many puppies you both had back then. Then someday far far long way later, they will all greet you both happily there when you all reunite." She comforted the twins who seemed to feel better as she sniffed to wipe her tears away and face them both.

She helped them each to wipe their face dry while they were still sniffing.

"In life, death is part and parcel of it. As you grow, you learn to continue to live. Make their passing worth every moment you live, alright?" Xue Ting asked as they both nodded before clinging to her. Qiu Wen walked to a corner trying to suppress his tears as Qiu Yeh was moved by Xue Ting's words.

"Babies, promise me you will be stronger after this. We will need to take care of some puppies with Great-grandma. Didn't you promise her?" Xue Ting pinched both their noses tip gently as they giggled.

"You really allow us to have puppies now?" Matthew asked skeptically.

"Except you must learn to accept when they leave." Xue Ting said as Joy clung to her. "I promise!" Matthew nodded at the same time as Xue Ting smiled and nodded.

"Now, go clean up yourself and greet Great Grandma." She urged as they both quickly obliged happily.

Stay strong Ting Ting… They all need you. She told herself as she too went to wash up her teary face and prepared all of them to take Grandma to the animal shelter that afternoon for her to pick three little puppies.

The next few days as everyone began to get back to their daily routines, Qiu Wen was still trying to cope with the fact that Grandpa had passed on. It was the second death in his life and he tried to remember Xue Ting's closure to the twins but it did not work for him.

When James passed on, his will to move on was to look for Xue Ting. Now that he had, he realised he had slowly let go of his grief for James but with Grandpa, he was still a little lost.

With his absentminded mind, he drove himself that evening to pick up Xue Ting from the restaurant knowing she had later shifts lately to have more time to prepare the twins who were clingy to her for school.

"Hey…" She greeted him before hugging him.

"So nice of you to come pick me up? You should rest more. Look at the eyebags." She gently caressed them before drizzles started pouring.

They were not in time to run to the car as they stood by a shaded corner. He held her close to him as their gaze met while she smiled sadly knowing he had been accompanying Joy asleep for the past few nights. "You know past few days I have been so worried about Joy. She had always been protected so much that I am to be blamed."

Qiu Wen hugged her and rested his chin on her head. "No, you're not. She will always be our baby princess. I will dote on her like you and Matthew always do. I will dote on Matthew too." He comforted as she shook her head.

"Don't spoil her too much. She is already so fragile. She needs to learn to be stronger. It will only burden Matthew more if you continue to spoil her" Xue Ting argued as he smiled kissing her forehead. "Give her some time. She will come to it." He urged as she sighed.

"How was it when your dad passed on?" He asked abruptly wanting to change the topic but wanting to find ways to cope with his grief too.

Xue Ting looked into his gaze as she recalled that nostalgic feeling. "It was empty. Lost, unknown… Just, empty."

"You were too young back then too. Like four or five?" He asked as she nodded.

"I vaguely had a vivid memory of him yet but he had passed on from pneumonia. Wen Kang barely could walk back then yet. It's different from Grandpa. There had been a lot of memories I want to preserve with Grandpa 'cause he was the one who always comforted me after an argument with you or James…" Her eyes reddened recalling James' passing as Qiu Wen gently caressed her hair.

"How did you move on from James' passing?" She asked gently listening to the slowing heavy pour.

"You… I promise him I will find you. You were the will that made me keep myself alive till today but with Grandpa…" Qiu Wen let out a heavy sigh as his eyes reddened looking into Xue Ting's gaze.

"I don't know what to do to fill in this emptiness. When I saw his favorite dessert, I wanted to buy it for him but then I realised he wasn't there to enjoy it anymore." Xue Ting wiped away the first trickle of tears from his cheeks as her eyes reddened.

"When I listened to a familiar old song, it reminded me of how he used to enjoy listening to them while he was around…" He sniffed as he smiled sadly with his vision of Xue Ting blurring.

"He was different from Grandma who was bubbly. When the family argues especially lately even more fiercely over his will which Grandma has yet to reveal, I yearn to sit by him quietly and observe like he does. Ting Ting, he had always been my protection from my mother's threats but now, it scares me when I couldn't find that refuge anymore." More tears were welling as they flowed down his cheeks. Xue Ting nodded as she wiped his cheeks.

"It fears me more if I don't have any more protection from him cause it means I could lose you and the twins like a ticking bomb…" Xue Ting hugged him as he teared up at his emotional confession.

He let himself sob in her arms while Xue Ting gently rubbed his back to comfort him.