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Red chuckled as he closed the door behind him.
Hopefully, the room would remain untouched. According to Red’s lover, the door to this room was locked on his side of things. So hopefully, it would stay pristine and perfect until the day came.
He strolled downstairs, humming pleasantly. The cook paused when Red entered the ground floor. “Heading out early, sir,” she said. “As requested. Dinner’s on the stove.”
“Thank you,” Red said, pulling out some money from his purse and holding it out. The woman stared at it with wide eyes as she took it. He couldn’t blame her. Most of the time, Red honestly forgot his staff existed. “For your troubles,” he said. “Have a good night.”
Right until the day Red thought a ghost had taken up residence in his home.
As the cook said, dinner was on the stove. The maids had also done as requested before they left early, lighting candles on the grand dining hall table his parents had gifted him, imported from England. Red hummed as he set to work, setting up the table and finishing it with a teapot.
It was honestly a gamble if his partner would show tonight. Sometimes Red only saw him for a few seconds, sometimes a whole week. It had seemingly no rhyme or reason. But it never hurts to be prepared.
Red had just sat down when his ears popped, and his eyes ached. Despite the mild discomfort, he grinned. The world seemed to shimmer before a handsome young man appeared across from him.
“Qi Xiaotian,” he greeted.
“Red,” Xiaotian said, delight infused in his very name.
The young man was his so-called “ghost.” Except, Red had learned, his home in the year 1800 had a fascinating relationship with time. Sometimes the barrier between his time and Xiaotian’s year of 2022 would thin. Red hadn’t noticed until Xiaotian had moved into what remained of Red’s house and another human being was present for the thinning of time.
What had begun as fear evolving into a scientific interest in the nature of time and the possibility of time travel had turned into something more.
Much, much more. “How is she?” Red said, his eyes locked on his partner’s stomach. The baby bump wasn’t very big yet unless you looked properly, but you knew it was there. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Xiaotian grabbed some greens with his chopsticks and took a moment to eat. He chuckled at a memory, gesturing to his stomach. “And early today she was kicking like crazy. I honestly thought she was going to put a dent in my ribs.”
“Sweetheart,” Red raised his voice slightly in hopes his baby would hear. It would take time to head over to Xiaotian’s side and he didn’t want to waste whatever seconds he had with him. “Don’t dent your father’s ribs.” Xiaotian chuckled, rubbing his stomach.
“So, how was your day? Make any genius discoveries?”
“I was more concerned with other things,” Red admitted. He wanted to talk more about Xiaotian and the baby’s day but the conversation had been shifted to him. It was time. “You know the door on the third floor, right to the staircase?” Xiaotian blinked, thinking about it. “The one you said is locked?” he prodded.
His eyes lit up. “Oh! Yeah!”
“Well, I made a nice surprise for you,” Red said, finally picking up his chopsticks. “So hopefully it’s unlocked now.”
If it wasn’t, Red would have to figure out another way to reveal the nursery.