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A loud wail pierced through the comfortable silence of the dark room. A young dark-haired male, who had been curled up in a shape similar to that of a shrimp, was rudely pulled out of his deep sleep. He shot up into a sitting position, wavy dark hair whipping frantically in all directions. He sat there dazed for a few more seconds, two seconds away from laying back down before the second wail rang out and he was springing up out of bed clumsily. “I-I’m up! I’m coming!”
The young man stumbled out of bed on his knees, gently picking up an object from the bed he was just laying on. He cradled the object securely to his chest with one hand as the other one grasped aimlessly around the surface of his nightstand, seemingly seeking an object. Once his hand closed around a familiar shape, he grabbed it and maneuvered his way in the dark so he could sit with his back pressed against the wall.
The older dark-haired man sitting on the bed watched all of this with an impassive face. It was very early in the morning but he had been awake for a while now so his eyes had grown accustomed to the dim lighting in the room. From his place on the bed, he had watched the strange actions of the younger man and he could see that the younger man had yet to open his eyes, most likely keeping them closed in hopes of regaining sleep once he settled back into bed.
When he saw the younger man raise the water bottle he had snatched off the nightstand and press it in a familiar action against the object in his hands, he spoke up quietly. “Wei Ying.”
The younger man hummed, tenderly patting the object in his arms. He rested his head against the wall. “Shh, shh.”
He waited for a few seconds, however, when he realized the younger man wouldn’t open his eyes nor speak any more words, he spoke up again. “Wei Ying.”
“Ah, Lan Zhan, stop talking!” Wei WuXian whined, eyebrows furrowing in displeasure. “If you talk, I have to answer and if I answer, I won’t be able to go back to sleep!”
Ignoring him all together, Lan WangJi continued, “Wei Ying, look down.”
Wei WuXian huffed but begrudgingly opened his eyes, tilting his head down to look at his son cradled in his arms. Or well, he had expected to see his son. Cradled against his chest was a stuffed animal with a water bottle pressed against the face-- this was a mimicry of the feedings that had become a big part of Wei WuXian’s routine for the past six months ago.
“I--what?” He blinked at the stuffed animal bemusedly, thin eyebrows furrowing as he tried to make sense of the situation. He started to glance around slowly, clutching the stuffed animal and water bottle to his chest, his confusion growing with every second. “Wh...where…?”
Lan WangJi, “He’s over here.”
Wei WuXian turned his head in the direction of the voice. He squinted in the dark and waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the room before he was able to make out his husband’s silhouette on the bed. Lan WangJi was sitting up on the bed, back pressed firmly against the headboard. In his lap was their six-month-old child, contently feeding from his bottle as his father gently cradled the back of his head, Lan WangJi’s pillow supporting his rear. From the floor, Wei WuXian could see his son’s small feet kicking absentmindedly at the pillow below him, the bottle of milk held in Lan WangJi’s hand jerking with every suckle.
Wei WuXian groaned and dropped the items in his arms onto the floor, crawling over them in favor of making his way towards the bed. He climbed on and sat on his knees beside his husband, pressing a soft kisses against his husband’s bare shoulder. He dragged a hand down the side of his face as the events of the last five minutes caught up to him.
He sighed and mumbled quietly, “What would I do without you, Lan Zhan?” At the sound of his voice, the baby started kicking harder, his breathing becoming heavier in excitement.
Lan WangJi glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall in front of them. 4:37am. “Not your fault. He hasn’t woken up this early in months.”
“Mmm, yeah, he slept right through dinner last night. He must’ve woken up super hungry,” Wei WuXian reached out to brush away a few strands of soft hair from his son’s forehead, leaning down to press kisses against a soft and chunky thigh. He took a deep breath and rubbed his fist against his eye, shaking his head a bit to clear his mind before nudging Lan WangJi’s shoulder. “Here, I’ll take over. You took over yesterday night, it’s my turn, go back to sleep.”
“It’s fine.” Lan Zhan shifted over slightly to give his husband more room to lie down. He tilted his head towards the clock. “It’s almost five. Go back to sleep.”
“I--”
“Wei Ying.” Wei WuXian stopped short of what he was going to say, listening to his husband. “If he falls asleep again, I will leave him here with you. If he stays up, I will take him with me. Sleep.”
“Ugh, I love you so so so so much!” Wei WuXian crooned, giving his husband a well-deserved kiss against his cheek before pulling the covers up over his head. He snuggled deeper into his warm cocoon, a loud yawn coming from under the covers before Wei WuXian’s face popped back out. He gave his husband a sleepy smile. “I’ll do the next feeding, I promise!”
“Mm.” Never mind that it was almost five in the morning and after this feeding, if their son was gracious enough to give them a break and go back to sleep, then he wouldn’t wake up again until nine. Either way, Lan WangJi affectionately patted the lump of covers next to him, where he assumed Wei WuXian’s head was. “Sweet dreams.”
Wei WuXian didn’t answer him back and Lan WangJi took it as a sign that his husband had once again drifted off to sleep. He glanced down at his son, who was looking back at him, small hands curled on his chest. Dark, round eyes held his own light hazel-colored eyes for a few seconds before they seemed to lose interest and started to dart around the room in curiosity. Once in a while, something would catch the baby’s attention and he’d glance back at Lan WangJi, chubby legs kicking out in excitement.
It didn’t take long for the baby to milk the bottle dry and once the last few drops of milk were sucked out, Lan WangJi sat up straighter.
“No more.” Lan WangJi gently twisted the bottle side to side until it dislodged from his son’s mouth, setting it on the nightstand. His son, as expected, began to fuss as soon as the bottle was taken away; he started kicking harder, his whines increasing in volume, crocodile tears already pooling up in the corners of his eyes.
Lan WangJi knew what he was trying to do; the baby was trying to cause enough of a ruckus so that Wei WuXian would wake up and coddle him, i.e. give him more food (Wei WuXian was guilty of doing this to Lan WangJi too when he didn’t get his way).
“He won’t wake up.” Lan WangJi informed his son quietly, glancing at the bundle of blankets beside them before reaching over towards his nightstand for the burp cloth.
Wei WuXian had gone back to sleep with the comfort of knowing that Lan WangJi would be taking care of their son, so really, he had no reason to hold back. The sky could come crashing down at that exact moment and all Wei WuXian would do would be to tell Lan WangJi to go get the door before turning over and going back to sleep.
Lan WangJi placed the burp cloth on his right shoulder, raising his son gently before settling him against his shoulder. He waited for the baby to settle comfortably, whines quieting down to soft coos (he realized he couldn’t manipulate Lan WangJi like how he could Wei WuXian), before Lan WangJi began to gently pat on his back, turning his head to the side to inhale the scent of sweet milk and cleanliness that was distinctly his son’s.
They sat together for a few minutes, the only sounds in the room being the soft coos from the baby as he told Lan WangJi about his day, to which Lan WangJi replied back with ‘mm’ at the appropriate times. A loud burp suddenly cut throughout the conversation between father and son and Lan WangJi huffed in amusement as the bundle of blankets beside them twitched at the sound before lying still again. He felt his son’s weight press heavier against his shoulder and the babbles that were non-stop started to die down slowly until all Lan WangJi could hear were the slow, soft puffs of breathe right next to his ear. He turned to look and sure enough, his son was blinking drowsily back at him, traces of milk staining the area around his mouth.
The corner of Lan WangJi’s mouth quirked up before he took his thumb and gently cleaned around his son’s mouth. He then reached over and started to pry off the blankets from Wei WuXian’s sleeping form, afraid that his husband would start to overheat under the multiple layers of thick fabric. His husband’s handsome face immediately came into view--dark and long eyelashes casting shadows against his flushed cheeks, bangs messily framing his charming face--and Lan WangJi took a few seconds to greedily admire his husband’s beauty without having said husband flushing and squawking in embarrassment.
They’d been together for years, had seen each other at their best and worst, had done everything together, had been each other’s firsts in every sense of the word, the word ‘shame’ wasn’t even in Wei WuXian’s vocabulary and yet all it took was for Lan WangJi to stare adoringly at Wei WuXian for more than five seconds and his husband would melt into an embarrassed puddle.
Lan WangJi scooted over and placed his son in the warm spot next to Wei WuXian, momentarily stepping away from the bed to bring over his son’s blanket. Using what little energy he possessed, the baby immediately rolled over and wiggled his way into Wei WuXian’s arms, whining pitifully when he didn’t immediately envelope him in his arms like usual. Switching tactics, the baby tilted his head up and started to sleepily mouth along Wei WuXian’s chin-- he was obviously very sleepy and could fall at any second but he was so very adamant on being coddled that he was willing to fight back sleep until he got what he wanted. Soon enough, Wei WuXian began to stir, eyes scrunching tightly before he slowly blinked them open and looked down in confusion. He lazily touched the bottom of his chin, felt the cooling saliva there and began to smile.
He hummed as he wrapped his arm around his baby and pulled him close to his warm chest, feeling the little thing wiggle around until he settled comfortably, dozing off in less that five seconds. Wei WuXian had started to close his eyes when he felt something soft brush against his chin; he opened his eyes to see Lan WangJi diligently tucking the soft baby blanket around the two of them.
Wei WuXian smiled and reached his hand out towards his husband. “Come lay down with us.”
Lan WangJi, “It is already five.”
Wei WuXian huffed, “So what? It’s still too early!”
“Uncle--”
“Ah!” Wei WuXian scrunched his face up as if he had just been blinded by light. “If your uncle has a problem, he can take it up with your son, yeah? This baby needs close and personal attention from you, you know he’ll start crying if he wakes up and you’re not here.”
Lan WangJi raised an eyebrow, “Which baby?”
Wei WuXian cracked an eye open and gave his husband the stink eye. “You know, you’ve gotten so mouthy these past few years, I don’t know what to do with you anymore! Gone is my sweet, sweet husband who would do anything and everything for me and in his place is this one who teases poor little me to no end!”
Lan WangJi ignored his husband’s dramatics in favor of getting back on the bed, pulling the blankets over him and rearranging them until all three of them were snug. He moved closer until his cold feet tangled with Wei Wuxian’s warm ones and his hands wrapped around his husband’s waist. He carefully maneuvered them until their son was cradled comfortably between their bodies.
Lan WangJi glanced down at said son, whose cheek was pressed firmly against Wei WuXian’s chest, tiny mouth pouting out cutely as a result. He gave his husband a small smile and leaned down to press a warm kiss against his lips.
Wei WuXian smiled into the kiss before pulling away and tucking his nose against Lan WangJi’s neck. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep once more.
Lan WangJi stayed awake for a few more minutes, hazel eyes jumping back and forth from his husband’s face to his son’s face, sharp eyes taking in every single detail he already had memorized. He waited until the deep breaths of his husband joined his son’s and he leaned down to brush his lips against Wei WuXian’s forehead, lips parting to murmur soft words against the warm skin.
“I would still do anything and everything for you.”
He leaned down to press a kiss against his son’s head.
“For both of you.”