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You had thought maternity leave would be a somewhat calming experience, especially after the rather awkward laying process. There was only so much reading one could do on the subject, especially when you inwardly and instinctively knew that it was, in fact, an egg you had been carrying within you.
How long did gestation for a phoenix-dragon hybrid egg last? What could you do to prepare? Were there pre-natal classes available for egg-bound parents?
The answers were; no idea, not much and no.
But no, as it turns out, Phoenix nesting behaviour only worsened after the fact. Every little noise, every shuffle of a curtain had you on edge. Zhongli had everything within the nursery enchanted and elementally charged to make sure the egg was always at the optimal temperature and would immediately resonate with either of their wedding rings if something was even slightly off and needed attending, which it hadn't.
But that didn't stop you from worrying any less, to the point you’d all but stopped worrying about yourself, when was the last time you’d preened? Left the house? Drawn or sang? No idea. Diluc was aware that you wouldn’t be visiting Mondstat for some time due to the egg and you’d received one of the biggest congratulatory bouquets known to man the next day, the card emblazoned with the dawn winery logo.
Zhongli was starting to worry however. You’d insisted you’d be fine and that at least one of you should be working.
“Darling?”
“hm? Oh, welcome home Zhongli, I didn't hear you come in.” You smile at him from your spot by your precious egg, a secondary nest if you will. Zhongli’s brow is furrowed with concern.
“Darling, I’d been calling to you for some time, are you alright?”
“Oh… I’m sorry honey, just a little tired is all.” You try to wave it off, but he’s not convinced, coming to kneel before you, searching your gaze before shaking his head, easily pulling you up, out of your chair and into his arms, uncaring of your squawk’s of protest as you’re carried from the room and deposited upon the bed proper, Zhongli standing over you, arms crossed and face stern.
“You’re not taking care of yourself, dear.” He states “What use will that be when the child hatches?”
You gulp, hands fisting into the silk sheets, you knew he had a point, but how could you relax? What if something went wrong? You’d never forgive yourself.
“I’m going to run us a bath, unless our rings resonate, you’re forbidden from the nursery for the rest of the night unless I’m with you.” He sighs, you burr instantly, wings and talons bursting forth in a total fit of rage.
“You can’t do that!” You screech at him, his face does not change, but he’s quick to shift forward, easily flipping you onto your stomach and you realise he’d done that on purpose as he lifts a very specific patch of feathers on your back, revealing the bald spot, he clicks his tongue with worry, rough movements immediately making way for smooth, gentle ones as he runs his fingers along your cool feathers.
“You’re plucking again dear…” It’s not accusatory or angry, just full of worry as all your anger and fight leaves you instantly, face and eyes burning with shame. It wasn't the first time you’d plucked at that spot; you’d done it during your short time living in Mondstat, and again when you had begun worrying about laying the egg, while it didn't take long for fresh feathers to quickly fill out the patch again, it was still a horrible habit to have when you’re stressed.
You feel him lean over you, pressing a kiss to the nape of your neck. “I’ll be back in a moment, please, try and relax darling.”
And then his presence is gone and you’re left lying there wallowing in your own shame like a petulant child, listening as the tub is drawn.
You really hadn’t realised how bad your feathers had gotten until now as Zhongli dutifully attends to them in the tub, the water quickly developing a sheen of oil and bird-dust along the surface, only fuelling your shame. Though Zhongli does not scold you for it, simply working away at his ministrations before pulling you into his chest and pressing kisses along your cheek and jawline.
“I know it’s hard my love, but I can assure you the egg is fine, it’s you I’m worried about. You’ve barely been eating, your sleep is unrestful and you’ve become rather lost in your own thoughts.”
“I just...I don’t mean to be...I-I just need to be close to her…”
“Her? You can tell?” He asks curiously, resting his chin upon your shoulder as you nod. “Hmm, a daughter, I would have been happy either way but… I’m glad our first child is a daughter.” He sighs happily, holding you tighter “You truly are amazing, my perfect angel.”
“I’m not perfect and you know it.” You snicker quietly at him.
“Ah, but now you’re smiling again, and that’s more than perfect to me.”
----
As you curl up in bed for the evening, fidgeting with the sheets, your mind is telling you again to check the egg, even though that’s exactly what Zhongli was doing right now.
To your surprise, he returns to the bedroom with the egg in tow., placing it upon your lap before he pulls his next surprising act, taking on his entire dragon form; having the ability to alter his size was handy when it came to fitting into smaller rooms like this as he curls and weaves around both you and the egg, keeping you both safe and warm.
“Is this to your liking, dear?” you hear his smooth voice rumble through your mind, you can only nod, the added pressure of his long body already beginning to put you to sleep as you gently clutch your precious egg in your arms.
Sometime in the night, you feel Zhongli’s stupidly long tongue on you, was this silly dragon drooling in his sleep? Why did your chest feel so wet? Startling awake you realise why he’d been licking at you, it wasn’t drool all over your chest, the egg had cracked. At first, you panic, thinking you may have gripped it too tightly, but you feel it shake as another crack begins to form.
“Z-zhongli is it…?”
“Hatching, yes.” He confirms as he quickly reverts to his human form as you place the crackling egg upon the sheets proper, watching intently for any sign of distress, feathers puffed out.
You hadn't expected the child to be human at birth, yet as the egg continues to crackle and shake, you start to wonder exactly what said child would be; your mind lights with horrible thoughts, what if they were deformed? What if dragons and Phoenix just weren’t meant to breed? What if-
She was the most beautiful creature in all existence.
All at once in a flurry of frost and shell, the egg shatters, leaving in it’s wake, a tiny dragon. In the dim light her scales looked to be white and blue as she wiggles and squirmed across the sheets, squeaking for comfort.
After your brief moment of pause, you’re quick to scoop the little thing into your arms, vision blurry with tears as she squeaks and cries. You look to Zhongli, who’s equally as mesmerised by her. Neither of you had expected her to hatch today, there’d been no signs, nothing to indicate, and yet here she was.
“I-is she ok, Zhongli? I...was she meant to..?” You manage to choke out.
“She looks healthy...if a little lacking in the spines department for a dragon...and beautiful just like her mother.”
Caihong was the name the pair had settled on, after cleaning up egg-mess and a change of sheets, they had awoken in the morning to discover that her scales were iridescent white, reflecting small colourful rainbow’s when the chubby little serpent shifted in the light.
It was a week later that they discovered why she was so lacking in spines, asides from a small pair of horns, everywhere spines and ruff’s of fur should have been, had slowly been replaced with adorable downy feathers, it was simply too much, too cute, too soft and the adorable happy squeaks she made when fingers ran across the down was simply too much.
As promised, their first outing with her is to Mondstat. Diluc is out speaking with one of his workers in the field when he notices your approach, eyes widening with shock before darting to the small bundle of blankets in your arms.
“Hey Diluc! Wanna meet your niece?” You ask, grinning at the slack-jawed look on his face, as if you’d somehow been joking about being pregnant in the first place. Quickly the redhead ushers the trio inside.
“I...I wasn’t expecting you to just show up.” He chuckles, taking a seat on the couch “I was honestly expecting a letter first.”
“No time for letters. Here, hold this.” You don't give Diluc a chance to think before plopping your scaly daughter into his arms, now free of her blanket cocoon, she wiggles and stretches, looking up at her new uncle with wide, amber eyes as he stares back.
“S-she’s a dragon.”
Neither you, nor Zhongli can help the snort of laughter at the statement.
“I hadn’t noticed.” You chuckle, watching fondly as the redhead slowly picks Caihong up and rests her against his chest, she squeaks happily, burrowing into his warm jacket. “She’ll eventually be able to take a human form, so don't throw out any ideas for clothes yet.”
Diluc chuckles, smiling warmly at you and Zhongli. “Congratulations, I’d say this calls for a drink but I know one of you doesn’t drink and I somehow doubt you’ll be wanting to drink alone, Zhongli.”
“you would guess correctly.” the ex-archon chuckles “though I am surprised we’ve yet to have an appearance from-”
Zhongli does not get to finish his sentence as the door’s burst open, Diluc’s arms are suddenly freed of the baby in a flash of green as Venti swipes the little dragon away with a joyous shout, which quickly dies away when Caihong screams, having been half-way asleep on Dilucs chest before hand, Zhongli reacts faster, a whole dragon taking up most of the room as he stares down Venti with a low growl, gently plucking his crying baby from the bards arms and depositing her with you to soothe.
“oops… I overdid it...didn’t I?” Venti squeaks, not even looking at the other archon, his eyes trained and wide on the squirming chubby noodle as she tries to bury into the soft feathers lining your arms. All you can do is roll your eyes at him.
“You...haven’t held many babies before have you?” you ask the archon, who only grins.
Diluc sighs in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shakes his head. “And this is why I held you most of the time when you reincarnated.” He grumbles.
It takes a while for Zhongli to finally calm after venti’s arrival, Caihong had never shrieked quite like that before, to be fair, you hadn't fared much better, had it not been for your husband taking the lead, you likely would have clawed the Anemo archon without a second thought.
But for now, Caihong had decided her Uncle Diluc was prime nap real-estate, and you took great joy in how silently doting your friend was with your less than conventional child. Venti still wanted to hold her, but had reigned himself in, especially with Zhongli’s intimidating gaze on him, though, eventually, the little dragon wiggles her way over into his lap and the bard has to bite his lip to keep from squealing too loud and potentially scaring her.
You sigh contently, leaning back into your husbands side, enjoying the feeling of his fingers slowly raking through your wings as the four of you chat, for the moment, your anxiety about your child alleviated, knowing you could trust everyone in this room to care for her, two gods and a kindhearted winery tycoon did not make for a very conventional family.
But it was yours.