Chapter Text
“Wei Ying, if we make this work, it is gonna be harder to have time for ourselves, and surely we would need to reduce the night huntings we go to and… tone down the intimacy. Are you sure you want things to change? And also we aren't sure about what can happen to your body. I don't want you getting hurt, or to have any type of suffering”
Wei Ying hugs his husband tightly, pressing his head in the crock of his neck like a cat. Lan Zhan stroked his hair.
“Oi, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, you're always so careful with everything. Yes, I'm sure I want to go with it, you are the one I need to make sure will be okay.”
“I already raised Sizui for years, so this should be a little bit easier. And I'm happy with this idea. Remember, I wouldn't do anything I don't want, and I'd do everything to make you happy.
“But Lan Zhan, that sounds contradictory, what if something makes me happy but you don't want to do it?”
“There is probably something that might be harmful, we would need to analyze, and if its harmful, I'll be sad, so I doubt it would make any of us happy”.
“Sounds a little confusing, but I agree”
“Mh.”
At night, they have closed all windows and doors, have talismans everywhere, and an array rests on the table in the middle of the room.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan went to sleep with red robes, an incense smell filling the place.
Wei Ying has a dream.
He is sitting in the middle of a forest, sunlight touching his head, a flowery scent filling his nose.
Suddenly, he hears a baby cry. He goes to look for it, up and down, the cries calming, suddenly mumbling, and then after, crying again it is until he steps out and sees in the middle of a mushroom ring, something yellow, beaming with light, could be a candy? He takes it in his hand, softly, afraid it would fall, or break. Somehow, he knows this should be inside his body. He puts it in his tongue, already vibrating, hot, and a little spicy, and swallows.
He continues walking the forest, when suddenly something inside him changes, he can feel it, like he just ate four bowls or rice at one sitting, he walks, hoping to find Lan Wangji close, and starts singing, calmly, the song his husband composed for him back in the cave of the ancient turtle.
He can hear the baby noises again, but, muzzled, and doesn't seem to find where, until he pays more attention: the sound is coming from inside him!
He touches his belly, speaking slowly, trying to calm the… child? Inside him.
This is a little scary, unsettling, and is starting to question his decision, especially because Lan Wangji isn't here, when he hears that familiar voice.
“Wei Ying! Wake up!”
He wakes up in his bed, next to his lover, who holds him carefully.
“I heard baby noises coming from somewhere”
Says the other man.
Days pass, and Wei Ying begins dreaming about the same odd things. A baby crying, his stomach moving on his own, and feelings of vertigo and dizziness he hadn’t felt before.
Sometimes he feels a fussy and warm feeling inside, sometimes it is terrifying.
One night he dreams about hugging a tiny baby tightly, but he couldn’t see it. He lays on a pillow nest in an emerald room, with red floritures painted in the ceiling borders, and a lot of white jade sculptures of animals and flowers. His black robes touching the ground, and the sound of running water coming from somewhere.
The baby cries, and then is tamed by the sound of the guqin playing near him. In his heart he knew it was Lan Wangji but couldn’t get up to go to him.
He wakes up feeling happy and anxious. Runs to Lan Zhan who is reading on a table in the Jinshi, and tells him about the dream, hopeful.
Another night, he dreams that, a something, inside him is pressing against his ribcage, making it difficult to breath, he moves and talks, and tries to accommodate the baby with his own hands, but the response is a sharp scream, that sounds like pain, and Wei Ying panics, he pats and grabs his own body trying to mend… something. he tries to get out of the room he is in, but the door is closed. He knocks, and then hits. and then uses his spiritual power to try and break the door, but nothing happens, the screams are filling his ears, non stopping, each second that passes, the screams sound more painful, raspy, desperate. Wei Ying starts screaming too, looks in the room for something, but nothing is useful. Tries to relax, so talk softly to the creature screaming inside, caressing his belly, starts singing, but nothing works. Eventually, starts crying, too.
Climbs the window, and is able to jump out, using his spiritual power to land swiftly on his feet. The sound still seems to be left behind, so he looks back to the window, and sees a little kid, obscure face hiding in shadows, jumps out and runs. Wei Ying goes behind him, running as fast as he can, but isn’t able to find him. Until another scream alerts him; he walks to where the sound is coming and sees blood. His soul almost left his body, until he realizes that the blood is coming from a cut on the kid’s leg, and is enough to leave a trail but not enough to worry him. He tries to help him, but the kid growls and runs away. Wei Ying is more than confused, can’t fathom what this dream could mean, and eventually, wakes up.
He just stares at the ceiling for a while, and then he hears his husband calling, he is still in bed, so it should be around 6 am still.
“Oh Lan Zhan, good morning, hehe” He tries to sound playful, but his voice is shaky.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing”
He smiles, and when the day passes, Lan Zhan just observes him practicing with his sword. It’s been more than a year since he got a body with a golden core, so he has a lot to cultivate in this body, too.
Thought is not that common to see him practicing that intensely lately. Lan Zhan tries to talk to him about it, but Wei Ying just blurts out a “Lets go night hunting tonight!”
That night, he didn’t want to go back. It took Lan Zhan to tie him up to rile him up and be able to convince him to go back to the room.
Usually, after intense intimacy sessions, both of them would fall asleep quickly after, but this time, he didn’t want to close his eyes.
“Wei Ying, I can sense something is wrong. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“I know, just, leave it for now, please?”
Lan Zhan exhales and hugs him tight.
That night was a calm one, but the next one, really terrorized him hard.
He is still in the emerald room. But it was messy.
His stomach was bigger, he found it difficult to get up from the bed. A jarring pain runs through his spine, feeling the pinch of a lot of needles in his lower back, and even though he can endure a lot of pain, considering his cultivation training, this is something he hadn't felt before.
He walks with difficulty, feeling with intensity that something might go wrong. He has cravings and is thirsty but there’s no water anywhere in the house. Starts contemplating going to drink in the river, when an intense wave of cramps makes him fall to the ground.
he tries to choke a weep, and stand up, when an eerie feeling gets to him. It is the same he felt when he was in a place filled with demonic energy, he knew it really well, and then, the crying from a child started again. He tries to run, when he finds the origin of the crying, a tiny baby, barely newborn, wrapped in a blanket, and a demonic entity surrounding them. Wei Wuxian tries to quickly reach for his sword, then his flute, but is not able to find anything, no talismans either, so he goes and with a formation made with his hands he dissipates the black energy.
What does this mean?
he feels more and more bloated, his interiors moving on their own, almost tearing him apart from the inside.
He has to force himself to wake up. He screams and repeats. “this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream, wake up, wake up wake up!”
He screams and jumps in his real bed. He is in the Jinsi, his heart rushing, sweat sticking his hair to his head. Lan Zhan no longer is in bed with him, so he stands, puts over himself an outer robe and just heads out.
Tries to compose himself. For a moment hopes his uncle-in-law wouldn’t have taken out the rule of “No talking to Wei Wuxian” out of the clan rules, just so no one could try and talk to him at that uncomfortable moment.
Finally, finds Lan Zhan with his brother. He gives the hint of a smile, and Wei Ying salutes, and after a short conversation, Lan Xichen leaves, so Wei Ying basically throws himself into Lan Wangji.
“Lan er-gege!”
Lan Wangji’s eyes open wide.
He tells everything to Lan Zhan, who gets worried extremely fast.
They spend the day trying to see if there is any way of getting Lan Zhan into Wei Ying’s dream so he can be with him, and try to decipher the situation.
By night they have found a way to mend their dreams so they are together there.
In the dream, Wei Ying is in the same room, the white jade decorations still shining in the light.
Wei Ying feels his stomach, big, like the first trimester of a pregnancy, he thinks. tries to stand, when he feels another hand that is not his.
He turns, and Lan Zhan is laying beside him in the bed, looking at him, longingly, as always, with that soft smile that is almost undetectable.
“Lan Zhan! You are here!” the man in black tries to throw himself into the others arms but his belly stands in the way
“Wei Ying! Wait!” Lan Zhan raises his voice, and catches him, grabbing him by the armpits, worrying that he is going to handle him in a way that is inadequate and could hurt him or the… baby? he guesses that it is their baby, in his belly.
Wei Ying laughs, caresses his womb and kisses Lan Zhan softly. Lan Zhan caresses his womb too, looking at it with strangeness, lets out a breathed laugh and hugs Wei Ying from behind.
The next time Wei Wuxian feels something weird in his body, Lan Wangji holds him, sings him songs and tries to distract him. Kisses his head, and when the baby cries, they try to figure out what it is.
“Maybe is hungry”
Says Lan Zhan, who goes through the house, looking for food. Finds some fruits and gives them to Wei Ying, maybe if he eats, the baby will obtain the nutrients, too.
Maybe it is something spiritual, so they try to cultivate.
It is difficult for Wei Ying, with his big belly, but eventually they realize it works.
When something is scary, Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian to ground himself.
Around the sixth month, all things started to get, for one side, more tranquil, they learned how to handle the dream world they were living in for now, knew how to take care of the cravings and nausea that Wei Ying felt in real life, and was moment to start preparing everything for the arrival of the baby.
“Why is Hanguan Jun buying children’s clothing? Do you think a child is on the way?”
“How can that be? You now he is… with a man, the Yiling Laozu”
“Are you sure they are in a cut-sleeve situation?”
“Of course! That Laozu is always screaming that out loud, for everyone to hear!”
“Ok, maybe it is for his brother? Maybe ZeWu-Jun finally will be getting married and having an heir…?”
Those are the conversations the couple hears happening around as they walk the streets of Gusu.
“Lan Zhan! Lets buy this toy!”
“You want that for you, don’t even know if the baby would like”
“You caught me… Let’s buy it, still!”
Lan Zhan & Wei Ying were in their own world, happily chatting.
This is, actually, a weird moment for them. Thinking about all the things they could give to a child.
Lan Zhan, even though he was born in a golden cradle, was very limited because of the monk-like laws of his sect, alongside of the fact that he could not spend time with his parents, living like an adult since very tiny.
When he adopted A-Yuan, it was completely unplanned, and the first two years of him living there, the ones who took care of him were other people, so he had to improvise a lot, and had him living with what others gave him, and what he had.
For Wei Ying, his childhood was in poverty, and could only dream of having so much. That’s also why he liked to have children toys for him even now, in his adulthood.
When he was adopted, he had several things, but the majority of stuff was what Jiang Cheng and Yanli gave him or lent him, and sometimes he was scared of taking a toy out of fear of Madam Yu’s punishment.
So, the thought of planning to have a child and being able to give them stuff? clothes, toys, instruments to start cultivating soon, and being present for them? so surreal. They both want to pick everything they find cute.
A part of the Jinshi has been adapted to have a cradle, and have the baby sleeping there, but after a time, the baby needed their own room, so they also requested the construction of the room nearby.
Finally, around 9 months after asking for their little offspring, during Wei Wuxian’s dream, everything starts to shake, something wants to come out of Wei Ying's body. In the dream, the spirit lady in Blue and Yellow shows up, and her light invades the room.
He starts pushing, his guts ripping apart, he screams, and Lan Zhan screams the other’s name and holds him, everything shakes and trembles, and after what looks like an eternal night, they wake up with the sound of a crying child. This time is not in the dream.
Both of them get wide awake. Looking to their side, where, in the cradle, a tiny baby, a real, newborn baby, is crying, their little lungs suffering from feeling the air for the first time. They rush to hold it, so tiny and fragile.
The skin is red, the head full of hair, bottom nose crunching, hands looking to reach for somebody.
“There, there, baby, dad is here, dad is also here!” Wei Ying says.
The couple hold them, and check.
“¡Is a girl!” Screams Wei Ying. Lan Zhan almost wants to say something about the noise, but remembers that, for the sake of everyone, the room is soundproof.
The eyes of the baby are the same shade of Lan Zhan’s, and the nose is clearly the same as Wei Ying’s.
The baby… really looks like both of them!
They have a girl, and she is really the daughter of both!
They hugged her, lull her, and even gave her the special milk that the lady gave them.
This baby, her name
“A-Lian”
“A-Lian, indeed”
*-*-*
A month later, they celebrate a party.
Wei Ying is not used to having this type of big events in his name, the last one had been in the lotus pier when he was a teenager, almost 2 decades ago. Even his wedding had been small and intimate, they didn’t throw a party, just organized the ceremony in front of their ancestors, on their own, with their red wedding robes in a sacred hall in Cloud Recess, after Wei Ying had left a gift and a letter for both Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen asking (or more like demanding) his brother and nephew’s hand in marriage.
They spent their wedding night like a party, a celebration, and a full union, as any other couple, absolutely in love with one another. But no one else knew what happened there that day.
This time is different, with the flowers blooming, and the winds racing, the couple has been receiving guests to the main hall. Child in Wangi’s arms, next to his husband, but leaving him the job of welcoming everyone.
Red and jade decorations all over the place, a variety of dishes waiting to be served, the best wine ready.
The juniors arrived earlier, joyful to know the little one and try to get her attention, poking her cheeks and making fun faces trying to make her laugh.
Wei Ying’s circle of friends also arrives –against the older, conservative members of the sect, who didn’t want commoners there–, who are thrilled to see & participate in such an event. Nie Huisang gets there, even if he can’t stay due to his sect’s demands, to say hi and give gifts to the baby, and to congratulate the happy couple.
They invited their brothers, but knew the high possibility they wouldn’t be there, until they see the golden robes of a familiar youngster, who is not so young anymore, and a purple robe behind.
“Come on, this is the perfect opportunity to try to mend that relationship, I know you missed him sometimes, even tho we dislike him” had said once Wen Ning, even knowing that Lan Zhan wasn’t the biggest supporter of the idea, considering he wants nothing but to protect Wei Ying. “I don’t think he will come,” responded the other. “But at least you will know, this wasn’t on you”.
But here he is. Standing in front of them, some other Jiang disciples were standing in line behind him.
“Here, congratulations. & thank you for the invite”. He almost slurs the words, face tainting red, same annoyed face as always. And one of the people behind offers a big box, a really big box, is it a meter tall? and Wei Ying rushes to take it and put it in place near the rest of the gifts, with a big bow in gladness. They come in, and as he looks at the baby, Jiang Cheng really tries his best not to smile at her, biting his lips.
“You can smile and greet her, is allowed Jiang Cheng”. Says Wei Wuxian.
Jiang Cheng turns to his nephew. “Aren’t you glad to have a cousin? you can teach her things when she grows up”.
Jin Ling is just about to respond when Lan Jingyi rushes to him, quick to guide them so they can chat.
Wei Ying turns to Lan Zhan with a grin on his face, the same serene face as always, but he knows he was thinking a lot of things. He just moves to him, pressing his face against his shoulder, and caressing her baby’s cheek.
“You know I love you both and everything will work out in the end, right?”
“Mh.”
And a soft laugh comes out of him.
“Your uncle and brother will not be coming?”
“Brother might, but uncle, maybe is better this way”
“Ay Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, five thousand rules and at the end of the day we did what we wanted, we really are special.”
They look around, everyone chatting happily, calmer than most reunions, maybe because this time, only the people who were supportive, or at least not against their marriage and childbringing, are there.
“You know we have to do this, right?” Continues Wei Ying, Lan Zhan looks back at him, “What we told the Goddess”
Lan Zhan takes a deep breath. “the third question. We need to heal the painful memories of our upbringing, so we could promise her, to not repeat the suffering of the past generations to her”.
“I told her that I would mend the relationships with the family members I still have, and make the most peace with yours. This counts also as having a safe space where we are alive and can take care of our daughter, so she doesn’t go through what we went through”.
From the other side of the hall comes Wen Ning, carrying empty plates and trays.
“Wei Gonzi, Lan Er Gongzi, It’s time to start!”
*-*-*
A-Lian has turned 1 year and 2 months old today, and Wei Ying, and Sizhui have been playing with her and two bunnies, while Lan Zhan is cleaning his musical instruments, in the same room, wanting to play nursing rhymes for her. The baby has been crawling for 4 months already and is going after a toy in Wei ying’s hand, while Sizhui crawls near her, they both try to emulate the movement of the bunnies, when suddenly Sizhui moves funny and she laughs, so he does it again, and she laughs again. Suddenly the four are smiling fondly, when a rag falls from the table of Lan Wangji near Sizhui, he stands to pass it to him, when the kid stands too, leaning onto Wei Ying’s back.
“Oh, A-Lian, you cutie, come here!” says Sizhui, and then, she does.
One step, everyone’s eyes open wide, two steps, everyone tenses, three steps, and she plops to the floor laughing, all three adults run to her, to hug her and congratulate her, saying encouraging words for her first steps. Wei Ying kisses her head and Lan Zhan lips, Lan Zhan smiles widely, as common as a solar eclipse.
None of them can be happier.
FIN.