Work Text:
Lan Xichen gets home after a tiring saturday of work and notices the lights inside his apartment are out. That's strange, since Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue are supposed to be home, but he doesn't think much of it before turning his key in the lock and oppening the door.
He turns on the front hall lights and almost drops everything when the yells hit him.
"SURPRISE!!" a crowd of voices screams and he barely has time to process it before he feels a weight attached to his leg.
"ER-BO!" shrieks A-Yuan, with his face squished to Xichen's leg.
Xichen lets out a surprised laugh, finally taking in the scene in his living room. Everyone is here, children included, and his throat feels tight with emotion. He swallows and decides to first deal with the child keeping him from moving further into the house, then everything else.
"Hello, A-Yuan!" he says as he crouches and reaches to take off his shoes, then picks up the boy. "What's all this?" he asks looking in the general direction of his family and friends, a smile creeping into the words.
"Happy birthday, Er-Bo!" replies A-Yuan, throwing his arms around Xichen's neck. Xichen's smile grows as he walks into the living room and everyone surrounds him, chattering excitedly.
"Thank you, baby."
"I'm not a baby!" A-Yuan exclaims and kicks his tiny feet right into Xichen's side, and he lets out a pained huff before Wangji approaches them.
"Lan Yuan, don't kick," he scolds lightly, taking the boy from Xichen's arms to greet him properly.
"Wangji, it's fine!" he laughs it off but waits until Wangji sets A-Yuan on the ground before embracing his brother. "Hi! You're here!" Xichen exclaims with his arms around Wangji. He hasn't seen his brother in months , how did things get to this point? Gosh he missed him. And his nephew. And everyone else.
"I am. Happy birthday, xiongzhang," Wangji says, face as serious as ever to anyone who doesn't know him enough, but Xichen hears and sees the affection there. He thanks his brother, hugging him again for good measure, and goes to greet the rest of the guests.
Wei Ying is first in the line, as he seems to be glued to Wangji's side at all times, and he gives Xichen a bright grin and a loud happy birthday wish. Along with little A-Yuan, he puts a medium-sized box in his hands.
"You don't have to open it now, but it's a set of paint brushes," Wei Ying tells him and looks down, a little embarrassed at Xichen's grateful look. "Huaisang helped me pick it out," he lets out and bolts before Xichen can thank him again.
Huaisang takes his place swiftly, hugging Xichen as he mumbles his wishes and scoffs at Wei Ying's impoliteness at the same time. Xichen rolls his eyes fondly at his antics.
"I was going to buy you the brush set and a new canvas, but Wei Ying begged me for help and I let him keep one of my ideas. You canvas is..." Huaisang pauses and looks around the room for a few moments. Not finding his package, he shrugs. "somewhere, hopefully not in reach of the kids," he finishes, eyes following the pair of toddlers running around.
"Hopefully," Xichen agrees with a laugh. "Thank you, Huaisang, I'll try to make good use of it"
It's Huaisang's turn to roll his eyes. "As if anything you paint could ever be bad."
Xichen feels his ears heat up at the compliment but decides to leave it as that, thanking Huaisang again and moving to the couch, where Yanli is sitting with little Jin Ling at her lap. Her husband stands beside her, talking to Jiang Cheng amicably. He bypasses the men to talk to Yanli first, greeting her and her baby with warmth. He chats with her for a little and tickles Jin Ling, his loud giggles filling the room, and is about to do it again when suddenly in front of him appears Jingyi, hands on his hips and an accusing look on his face.
"A-Yuan says I have to wish you happy birthday, but I know today is not really your birthday. My mom told me," the little boy says in his most assertive tone, both eyebrows raised. Lan Yuan stands behind him looking worried and a little confused, an expression that only intensifies at Xichen's reply.
"She's right, today is not really my birthday. It was two days ago, but we're celebrating today-"
"Why?" Jingyi blurts out. Jin Ling, apparently paying rapid attention to the exchange despite being only one year old, makes a wordless inquiry in the other boy's exact tone, throwing his mother into giggles. Xichen struggles to not laugh too much along with her and continues talking, but he's unable to school his expression back to a more serious one like Jingyi's.
"Because it was thursday. You had to go to school on friday morning, so the party would have to end early, and you wouldn't have enough time to play with A-Yuan. So it was decided to have it on saturday, and now you can play until late," Xichen answers as best as he can and waits for the boy's reaction with a patient smile.
Jingyi takes a few moments to process all this, hands still on his hips and brows furrowed in concentration. Xichen can't help letting out an amused snort, looking up and finding Lan Guo watching her son with the same amused eyes.
"Okay," Jingyi finally accepts his explanation and is already turning on his heels to drag Lan Yuan away when his mother stops him.
"A-Yi, you didn't wish Uncle Xichen a happy birthday. And you should thank him for taking your playing time into consideration when planning his party," Lan Guo says with a glint in her eyes directed at Xichen and he smiles right back.
Jingyi does as he is told and Xichen thanks him, and soon the boys are back to running around the place. Xichen almost stopped him when he thanked for the planning, as he is't responsible for it at all, but Jingyi was already twitching from being still so long, so Xichen took pity at him and let him go with a grateful smile.
Speaking of the responsible people for the celebration, Xichen makes his way to the kitchen, where he guesses his boyfriends are, greeting Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan as he stands up. His guess is proven right when he finds Meng Yao and Mingjue with their heads bowed over something on the counter. He approaches them in silence, making them jump a little when he sneaks his hands around their waists.
"Is this for me?" Xichen asks as if he isn't seeing his name written on the cake's frosting, a few candles already positioned around it.
"No, it's for the Lan Xichen living across the street, have you met him?" Meng Yao's voice drips with sarcasm and he looks straight into Xichen's eyes, maintaining a serious face for a few seconds before the three of them burst out laughing. They lean on each other, dissolving into giggles until they are breathless. It wasn't even that funny, but Xichen feels like he is on cloud nine, with the loves of his life laughing with him and the rest of his family just a few paces away, gathered together because of him. When he manages to catch his breath, he leans his head on Mingjue's shoulder, sighing contently.
"When did you two plan this whole thing?"
"Xichen, my love," Mingjue starts and Xichen tilts his head to look at his face. "You go to bed awfully early," the man finishes, smiling fondly at him.
Xichen throws him a fake affronted look, but he doesn't really have an argument for that. He does fall asleep earlier than the average adult, but it's not his fault, his family is just... like that!
"You didn't have to do this for me; thursday was celebration enough," he says with a sheepish grin, trying to not let the memories of their night together take up too much of his mind.
Meng Yao sees right through him, as usual. "We know you enjoyed it, but it wasn't enough. Do you think I didn't see your face when your brother called? You were missing him so much it was painful to watch," he tells him and strokes his cheek lightly.
"That obvious?" Xichen looks down, embarrassed at wearing his emotions on his face. At this, Mingjue tries to comfort him by hugging him from behind and placing a quick kiss on the side of his neck. It works.
"Just a little bit" Meng Yao answers but takes Xichen's hand from where it was tracing patterns on the counter, interlocking their fingers. "But it's okay, it gave us an excuse to get everyone together again. It's been a while."
Huffing, Xichen asks, "Is that all I am? An excuse?" He exaggerates his words by putting a hand on his chest, pretending to be upset.
Meng Yao and Mingjue laugh at his theatrics. Meng Yao gets on his tiptoes to peck his lips and Xichen can feel his smile through it, reflecting it unconsciously.
"I'll put these on the table," Meng Yao leans back and gestures to the snacks on the other side of the counter. "Da-ge, I think it's time for the other surprise."
Xichen raises his eyebrows curiously. "What is it?"
Mingjue just grins at him and takes his hand, pulling him to a less crowded space and taking out his phone.
"We talked to your uncle's caretakers earlier," Mingjue starts and Xichen feels his heart sink. "They say he's doing well, and we scheduled a video call for you!"
A smile takes over Xichen's face, almost splitting it in half. Shufu's absence is something Xichen was trying to not think too much about; he knew why he couldn't come and there was not much that could be done about it. Lan Qiren's health doesn't allow him to go out much, but he's been doing much better since Xichen and Wangji let him go to the nursing home he chose. It had been a hard decision to make, but none of them regret it, least of all Shufu. Xichen calls him at least once a week, but hearing his voice is not enough to make him stop missing him.
Mingjue opens Wechat and makes the video call, and it doesn't take a full minute until it's answered, the image blurry until it sets on Shufu's face.
"Xichen?"
"Hi Shufu!" he exclaims, waving at the screen. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. The nurse said you're celebrating your birthday today. I wanted to come, but they didn't let me," Lan Qiren says, words tinted with grumpiness.
"I wish you were here too, but we know why you can't, Shufu," Xichen smiles sadly and Lan Qiren shakes his head dismissively, changing the subject.
"And you? How's work? Are Wangji and A-Yuan there too?"
XIchen chats with his uncle for a while, updating him on things despite having talked to him on the day of his actual birthday. Growing up, it was hard to have a good conversation in their house, everything was too tainted with the grief and pain of what happened to Xichen's parents. But time, therapy and a lot of work can do incredible things to a family. Xichen once again marvels at how things changed, taking time to be actively grateful that their efforts were worth it.
The call is still on when he feels little hands tug on his pants.
"Er-Bo, did you see the cake I made?" Lan Yuan asks looking up at Xichen.
"You made it?! All by yourself?!" he asks teasingly, picking the boy up so Shufu can say hi to him.
"Uh..."
"Lying is forbidden, Lan Yuan," Shufu says gently, with a small smile. A-Yuan looks from the screen to Xichen, considering his options, but then relents.
"Not by myself," comes the quiet reply, but then he continues with pride, "I helped A-Die mix it, and I put the sprinkles on top!"
"Good job!" both adults tell him at the same time and the boy grins brightly at them.
"Did you come here to tell me it's time to eat it?" Xichen asks and A-Yuan nods. "Let's go then!"
He takes the kid and the phone back to the table, where the cake is already set. Wangji takes Mingjue's phone from his hand, greeting his uncle briefly while Meng Yao finishes lighting the candles.
They sing him Happy Birthday and he claps along, but when it's time to make a wish, nothing comes to mind. He looks around, at his family surrounding the table, at his partners by his side. It's far from perfect, but he wouldn't change it for the world.
May things only get better, he thinks, and blows the candles.