Chapter Text
“Lan Huan, I’m home!” he heard Jiang Cheng from where he stood in their kitchen.
“W-Welcome home, A-Cheng—Ouch!”
He pulled his hand away from the pan and quickly ran to the sink to ease the pain under the cool temperature before panicking about leaving the food unattended. He vaguely registered as Jiang Cheng entered the kitchen and took in the scene in front of him.
“Lan Huan, what the fuck?” Jiang Cheng asked.
Lan Huan looked up. “Umm, surprise?”
He smiled sheepishly as Jiang Cheng continued to glare. They broke contact just in time to witness the pan burning.
“Lan Huan, what the actual fuck?!” Jiang Cheng pushed him out of the way to do damage control.
Lan Huan shifted from foot to foot as he awkwardly watched Jiang Cheng moving around the kitchen with practised ease unlike him.
“Well, this will be the first time you’ll be meeting Wangji formally. Not to mention his husband! This’ll be the first time I’m meeting him too, A-Cheng!” Lan Huan excitedly gushed out. “And I was getting bored at home…”
Jiang Cheng sighed. “Just… sit down or something. Don’t touch the kitchen.”
Lan Huan dejectedly exited the kitchen and sat on the couch, dazedly thinking what else he could do since he had a rare free day at home. He sighed as he looked around. What else did A-Cheng usually do at home…
“Ah!” Lan Huan gasped quietly in realisation.
There was one more thing…
By the time Jiang Cheng came out of the kitchen, Lan Huan was in the middle of his task.
“Lan Huan?” he heard Jiang Cheng call out from the living room.
“Here!” Lan Huan shouted back where he was in his small office.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Cheng asked once he arrived. He hovered in the doorway, both agreeing when they moved in together that their offices would be their one sanctuary and should be respected.
Lan Huan waved at him to come in, almost unable to control his excitement.
“So, since Wangji and his husband are going to come, I was thinking of a new painting to… spice up the house just a little bit?”
He brought Jiang Cheng to the easel that he’d been busy painting on for the past two hours. He urged him to pull the sheet off when he saw Jiang Cheng hesitate.
He watched Jiang Cheng’s face morph into one of surprise as he took in the painting in front of him.
“It’s not finished yet but…” Lan Huan trailed off as he saw tears falling from Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “A-Cheng? What’s wrong? Is it that bad?”
Jiang Cheng shook his head and laughed wetly. “No, no, Lan Huan. It’s… It’s beautiful… just…”
“Just what?”
Jiang Cheng shook his head again. “I don’t know… it feels so nostalgic. Like it’s somewhere I keep close to my heart.”
Lan Huan looked at the painting again but no matter how hard he tried, he didn’t feel the same nostalgia. “I’m sorry, A-Cheng. I don’t think I feel the same… Although…”
Jiang Cheng wiped off the remaining tears. “Although…?”
Lan Huan walked closer to the painting, hugging Jiang Cheng by his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder. “I get a feeling that I’ve visited there from time to time to visit someone important to me.”
Jiang Cheng snorted. “I hope none is more important than your family.”
“Of course not, A-Cheng!” Lan Huan vehemently shook his head, feeling slightly offended. “ You are the most important person in my life right now. And I wouldn’t think otherwise.”
“Oh…” Jiang Cheng said. “Then… what if I said there was… one more?”
“One more?”
Jiang Cheng nodded and worried his lip, a bad habit that Lan Huan had been trying to stop him from doing. “One more person that I want you to treasure as much as me…”
“What do you mean, A-Cheng? I hope you don’t mean another lover?” Lan Huan joked weakly.
Jiang Cheng smiled despite his weak attempt and Lan Huan’s anxiety shot up exponentially.
“No, of course not, Lan Huan! I meant…” Jiang Cheng brought one of Lan Huan’s hands to his stomach. “A small fellow, right from here.”
Lan Huan’s breath caught in his throat “A-Cheng… you mean…”
Jiang Cheng turned to face him and nodded. Lan Huan felt the world stop and all he can think of is A-Cheng is pregnant.
Pregnant.
“Holy shit…” Lan Huan swore out in disbelief. “Oh, A-Cheng!”
He broke out into a huge smile and picked up Jiang Cheng who startled out of his worry. “A-Cheng, you’re pregnant! Thank you, love! This is amazing!”
Lan Huan laughed giddily as he let Jiang Cheng down before peppering him with kisses all over his face. “Oh, love, when did you find out?”
Jiang Cheng smiled in relief and finally relaxed his body. “Just this morning actually. Jie forced me to go to the doctor because my scent had changed. I didn’t even realise.”
“I didn’t either,” Lan Huan confessed. He leaned in to take a brief whiff and sure enough, his scent had changed mildly. “Thank you, A-Cheng. Of course, I’ll gladly treasure this little one as much as I do you.”
Jiang Cheng smiled wider. “Good, if not I was going to leave your ass and sic jie on you.”
Lan Huan laughed and peppered Jiang Cheng with more kisses.
And yet even after a surprising “introduce Wangji to my wife and us to his husband” dinner which turned out to be “reuniting Wangji’s husband with my wife who is also my wife’s adopted brother who disappeared for months”. Even then, he remembers the day as a celebration of family. And thus, all of them—Wangji with his family, Jiang Yanli with hers and Lan Huan with Jiang Cheng and Jingyi—agreed to make today a yearly family reunion. With everyone being spread out across the country, it isn’t so easy to come together and meet up anymore. So, they had all agreed to meet yearly on this particular day, no distractions and no interruptions. Just a day of family.
And yet somehow Lan Huan finds himself being distracted and interrupted during his day off by being in the kitchen. Somewhere in his mind, he remembers Jiang Cheng forbidding him from being in the kitchen. And yet that is where he is right now.
Lan Huan is busy trying to salvage the kitchen—he gave up salvaging the food—when he hears Jiang Cheng behind him stifling a shout.
“What… the fuck?!” Jiang Cheng shrieks in the end.
Lan Huan sighs and looks over his shoulder, smiling shamelessly despite the mess in the kitchen.
“Welcome back, A-Cheng. How was your day?” Lan Huan asks, believing that smiling will make the situation somehow better.
Jiang Cheng pinches his eyes close before he openly glares at Lan Huan.
“Lan Huan. What did I say about you and the kitchen?” Jiang Cheng says quietly.
Lan Huan feels the chill run up his spine as he quickly backs away from the pot. “Now, now, A-Cheng. The fire’s not on at least?”
Jiang Cheng meets his eyes and immediately he shuts his mouth, muttering an excuse and leaving the kitchen immediately. He hears Jiang Cheng sigh before working on whatever mess Lan Huan had left the kitchen in.
He feels bad, really he does. But Jiang Cheng has been so stressed out lately and he just wants to ease some of his burdens. He slumps onto the couch, just as he did that year (at this point, he can safely say that the couch is his third favourite spot in the house, the first two being beside Jiang Cheng and Jingyi). He snaps to reality when he hears Jiang Cheng shout for Jingyi.
“ Jingyi!!! What are you doing ?!” Jiang Cheng screams.
“Mum! Welcome home!” Jingyi says chirpily despite Jiang Cheng’s mood.
“Lan Huan!!!” Jiang Cheng calls instead.
Lan Huan springs up from his seat and rushes to his loves. “Yes, A-Cheng?”
He finds Jiang Cheng standing over a kneeling Jingyi away from the floor which was covered with soap and lots of dust particles.
“First Lan Huan and cooking and now Jingyi with cleaning!” Jiang Cheng throws his hands up in exasperation. “What did I do to have such himbos?!”
“Himbos?” Jingyi asks curiously.
“It means we’re good-looking, sweetheart,” Lan Huan beams stupidly.
“You listen to me, boys!” Jiang Cheng angrily glares at the both of them, successfully bringing them to attention. “You will not! NOT! Do any household chores, alright?!”
Jiang Cheng sighs as Jingyi and Lan Huan mutter apologies.
“Seriously! Don’t give me so much stress! It’s not good for the baby!”
“Baby?” Lan Huan and Jingyi echo.
Jiang Cheng presses his lips, determined not to say anything. But being faced with Lan Huan’s and Jingyi’s twin faces of curiosity, he unwillingly spills out the secret he was holding off on as punishment for the two kneeling in front of him.
He sighs, “Yes, baby. I’m pregnant with another child.”
As expected, Lan Huan and Jingyi fall into silence and their faces turn blank.
“Are you two okay?” Jiang Cheng asks while waving his hands in front of their faces.
“A child…” Lan Huan says at the same time as Jingyi says, “A sibling…”
Immediately, the two Lans jump up from their position and excitedly talk over one another.
“I’m going to be an older brother?” “Do we know what gender it is?” “Can I name them?” “Does anyone else know?” “Where will their room be?” “When should we organise the party?”
“Argh! One at a time you two!” Jiang Cheng shouts.
Lan Huan and Jingyi finally calm down but their excitement is in plain view. If Jiang Yanli or Wei Ying noticed Jiang Cheng’s nervously during the dinner, they didn’t ask. And if Lan Zhan noticed how Lan Huan was close to tears when Jiang Cheng finally announced the news late into the night, he doesn’t say anything and merely offers a hug and congratulations.
“Congratulations, brother. Mother would be proud,” Lan Zhan says quietly, a shadow of a smile present.
“Thank you, Wangji. I hope she is,” Lan Huan replies with a blinding smile of his own.
This is the future Lan Huan had given up his family and past for.
And he’s damn grateful for it. Because this was more of a future than he imagined he’d have as a child and even more when he was a teenager. And he loves himself for making that decision as much as he loves Jiang Cheng and Jingyi. And damn did he wait for a long time to happen.
*** Bonus ***
Jin Zixuan: Why wasn’t I mentioned?
Jiang Cheng: You didn’t do shit.
Lan Huan: Come now, A-Cheng, there are children present.
Jingyi: Uncle Jin didn’t do shit!
Lan Huan: Gasps Zixuan! You have caused my Jingyi to swear!
Jin Zixuan: But that wasn’t even—
Jiang Yanli: A-Xuan, apologise. Or you’ll be sleeping on the streets for a month.
Jin Zixuan: … I’m sorry.
Jiang Cheng: At least now you’re mentioned. Aren’t you glad.
Jin Zixuan: ;n;
Wei Ying, somewhere: I’m also finally mentioned.
Lan Zhan: … Mn.
Jin Ling and Lan Yuan, somewhere too: At least we were mentioned more than Dad / Uncle Jin.
Jin Zixuan: ( ಡ ﹏ ಡ )