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Soft, golden-brown locks with a slight roll in them entangled Lu Bixing's hands. He had a rubberband tightly clenched between his lips as he tried to grasp all of his daughter's hair in a bunch.
"Old Lu~ why do you have to make my hair like this?" A small pout adorned the pretty little face, "Zhanlu does it better!"
Lu Guo's hair was just like his own, but silky in texture—courtesy to Zhanlu who always took care of this demon princess.
The AI butler was already used to taking care of pets in the zoo of Commander Lin and Engineer 001. Adding another monkey or two wasn't a big deal for him. The Prime Minister of the eighth galaxy who could build mechs, open a school, reform a whole galaxy and its military after retirement failed terribly in making the hair of his young, teen daughter.
"Pa is trying his best~ give him some face, Guo-Guo!"
"Pa is trying his best. Pa did this! Pa that! But my classmates still think Zhanlu is my dad as he always picks me up!" The little monkey giggled, unable to sit still, making the whole business harder for her father.
The 'fake dad' Zhanlu was currently fixing the small red bow-tie and navy blue suit jacket for the twin brother of the notorious young maiden.
Contrary to the infamous little monkey, her brother was much docile, well mannered and carried a breeze of elegance, much like their other father.
Though Lu Bixing had wished upon seeing the pair of grey eyes for his tiny bean to have qualities of the Lin family however she was just another descendant of Lu, just like her other father Lu Bixing and grandfather Lu Xin, she even showed the traits of Monoeyed Hawk at times, a real gremlin and an untamed beast.
"Is your present ready for your dad?" The exhausted father asked as he circled the final nought of the red silk band, lightly pulling at it to check the tightness and brushing down the end of the wavy brown locks for the final touch.
He was quite satisfied with his hard work of half an hour as making mechs was a lot easier than catering two kids.
"Of course, Aunt Turan helped me out!"
Lu Guo was just waiting for her dad to get done, she spared no time in jumping up from the high chair, thumping the heels of her black shoes twice before she made a run to bully her twin brother.
Lu Bixing wasn't really sure how Turan had helped her out, she had refused to take help from any of the family members. When he suggested her to ask for help from his favourite students, she still refused cause she didn't trust them in keeping her secret.
The 'aunt' Turan hated being called an aunt. She had refused brazenly, "Aunt? Who is your aunt? Call me your sister. I'm still young."
"But I call everyone uncle and aunt! Uncle Thomas, uncle Poisson, uncle Anakin, uncle Bayer..." the little child even raised her fingers to count all of them, pissing the self-proclaimed 'young' Turan even more.
No matter how much she coaxed or scolded the child, she never listened, earning a nickname in return.
'Little brat,' that's what Turan called Lu Guo, but on the other hand, her eyes were filled with warmth when she saw Lin Ran.
The boy was gracious to the core, always calling her 'young ma'am' with a slight bow every time he saw her, making her always buy the VIP tickets of his concerts whenever possible in the eighth galaxy.
"Young master Lin, your father will be here in about 5 minutes, I think you should stop practising now," warned Zhanlu.
Lin Ran was still pressing keys, making sure the new self-composed song that he wrote for his father was perfect, though the boy wasn't nervous of playing in concert venues anymore but the mere idea of gifting a song to this dad scared him.
"Hey, pretty boy!" Lu Guo chirped, skipping steps to match the piano tune despite her lack of knowledge in appreciating the art of music. She was in a quite pleasant mood, thus refraining from calling her brother ugly names.
"...leave me alone, I need to practice," Lin Ran ignored his sister, who in turn ignored the fact that her brother was ignoring her to push him aside a little, making a seat on the long table comfortably.
"How do I leave you alone, don't you miss your precious, darling sister?" She used the flower on the piano top to tickle his ear, earning a cold glare from the twin.
The retired man noticed the on-going chaos in his home, to prevent the kids from starting a war on this auspicious day, he decided to teach them both a strict lesson, remembering his early days from Starry Sea Academy.
"Guo-Guo, Little Ran, behave!" He said firmly, seizing the attention of both his saplings.
Lin Ran stopped playing the piano and turned around, Lu Guo followed shortly and stood next to him.
The father of the two kids noticed the nervousness his boy felt and decided it was the time to feed some chicken soup for the soul to him.
He bent down in front of the young boy in a suit and raised his palm in the air, looking at his notorious baby girl, "the flower, young miss."
She obediently placed the blue rose in her father's grip.
The blue rose, Azure seas, Lu Bixing had personally bloomed them in his garden, hiding from his husband all this time, the rose was the unspoken symbolism of Lin Jingshu, the person who should have been celebrating the birthday with them today too.
Lu Bixing took the flower and tucked it into the breast-pocket of the young pianist's suit before holding both his hands in his own, "why my child is so nervous? Don't you know, whatever you play, your pa and dad love it, hmm?"
Lin Ran nodded, then looked at his sister as if asking for her opinion too. He got a nod of approval from his sister promptly as he looked at her, surprising their father in front of them, his twins truly had a secret way of communication that nobody else could understand. It was faster and more efficient than any other modes of communication Lu Bixing had ever seen.
Feeling like an emotional old man, he raised a hand to pat his daughter's head but she jerked away, taking two steps behind, "Pa, you just made my hair after hundreds of failed attempts, and you are already too eager to ruin them!"
Lu Bixing furrowed his eyebrow, unavailable to believe his daughter was better than even him at talking but before he could pat her head just to mess around, Zhanlu interrupted the little family moment.
"Headmaster Lu, Sir is back already, 30 seconds before he enters—"
Nobody stood there to let Zhanlu finish his words, a birthday party hat was thrust on his head too before he knew anything. The kids were ready to welcome their dad at their position—Lin Ran at the piano table and Lu Guo holding the table edge that had the cake she made with her aunt… and some other people after a few failed attempts.
And Lu Bixing, he removed the dirty apron, fixed his hair, and made his way to the front door hastily.
The moment Lin Jingheng opened the gate, he was welcomed with an armful of his fierce yet cute husband.
"Welcome home, handsome!"
Lu Bixing was generally very showy with his affection for his handsome husband, flashing his ring wherever they went together and being overly touchy when they were alone.
But nothing could explain his current level of enthusiasm in welcoming Lin. Generally, it was Zhanlu welcoming him or Lu Guo jumping at his legs as soon as he entered.
However rare it may be, Lin Jingheng wouldn’t call it unwanted, he wrapped his arms around his husband, decades of being together hadn't killed the sparks of their relationship. Lu Bixing always had something surprising waiting at home, specifically in their bedroom for him. Lin Jingheng wondered if this was about one of those nights.
“What’s with the sudden enthusiasm?” The Grand Marshal teased, he had been away for two weeks this time, and he had missed his husband and his kids despite the everyday conversation shortly on his mech.
He finally felt home, a person’s warmth could be only felt through the real touch no matter how much the universe advances.
He playfully pinched his husband’s waist and leaned down to reward his husband with a sweet kiss but got stopped immediately.
Lu Bixing backing away from the kiss? Impossible!
“Not now… come inside,” Lu Bixing freed himself from his husband’s hold and started pushing him into the living room, sparing no time for Lin Jingheng to think anything.
“What.. slow down a bit—” He said awkwardly but all his words died down at the sight that welcomed him.
Brilliant coloured balloons flying in the air, soft piano music in the background, a small fruit cake on the table—and a room full of people he loved.
He was still in a daze when he could hear a voice full of warmth singing along the lines of some birthday song, hands placed on his lower back, it was his husband, the voice was joined by two more childish ones, and then a robotic voice—even Zhanlu was singing!
“Dad, happy birthday!” Lu Guo was first to run at him once they all finished singing the song and hugged him tightly, “I baked you a cake… no, ten cakes! I had a hard time learning it as Aunt Turan is just too bad! She always said she knows everything but in reality, she couldn’t even bake a cake! Then uncle Thomas and uncle Poisson—”
Lin Jingheng broke away from his trance and wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulder, looking at his son standing at a distance.
Lu Bixing noted the two cold souls, Lin Ran wasn’t good at showing physical affection, Lin Jingheng wasn’t the best at initiating hugs either, he was about to call over his son when he saw his husband raising an arm towards his son—calling him over.
If this wasn’t shocking enough, he saw his shy son walking towards them in hurried steps and hugging the other side of his father’s waist. Lin Jingheng wasted no time in wrapping his other arm around him, afraid he would pull back, he gently patted them both on the head, a small smile placed on his lips.
Lu Bixing wasted no chance in jumping in the group hug, squeezing their kids in between as he hugged the three of them together messily.
Lu Guo growled, “Pa, let us hug dad, you can kiss him all you want later on!”
Lin Ran wasn’t brazen like his sister, he ignored commenting on the disgusting PDA his parents always showed everywhere.
Lu Bixing messed the top of Lu Guo’s hair finally, and as she turned her head around to rebel—he kissed the crown of her head, making her forget her complaints, Lin Ran didn’t even get a chance to turn around when a kiss was placed on the back of his head too, and as he moved in to kiss his darling husband—the star of the night, a pair of lips brushed his own momentarily, he couldn’t even savour it as his husband pulled back already, Lin Jingheng finally letting out a soft chuckle at his chaotic yet adorable family, he wasn’t expecting this surprise waiting for him at all today.
“Sir, if you don’t cut the cake miss Lin baked then the cream will start to meltdown and the original shape will get ruined,” Zhanlu’s voice stopped the ongoing banter that started between Lin Ran and Lu Guo, the group hug had messed up Lu Guo’s hair completely, starting with her Dad petting her, then her Pa messing the top and then Lin Ran… even the boy had caused her a nuisance, the rose in his breast-pocket was out for his dad, but before he could make it, he elbowed his sis on her head and that was surely the last straw for the chaos to begin once again.
Lu Bixing laughed, there was no way his kids would behave normally for a day, the well-mannered attitude they both had on upfront was ruined already. As for his husband, he had other surprises for him waiting in the bedroom.
Lin Jingheng laughed too- the mighty man who was called the commander of silver ten, then Grand Marshal of 8th galaxy, he had always been the guardian of this universe, protecting them all with his blood and bones, today, that Lin Jingheng stood powerless, in front of his family, these people were his guardian.
They protected his soul and cherished his heart, giving him the infinite warmth and happiness that he had never imagined receiving