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The scent of rain-soaked irises was always a little heavier when Shen Wenlang was exhausted.
It wasn't a sharp, biting scent—not the kind of aggressive, S-class Alpha pressure that made subordinates in the high-rises of HS tremble in their oxfords. To the rest of the world, Shen Wenlang’s pheromones were a cold, towering wall of clinical perfection, a weapon used to dominate boardrooms and secure international patents. But here, within the quiet, expansive warmth of their suburban penthouse, that iris scent was thick, velvety, and laced with the distinct, low-frequency hum of a man who had spent fourteen hours dismantling a hostile corporate acquisition.
Gao Tu stood by the kitchen island, his fingers lightly tracing the rim of a cooled porcelain mug. His own pheromones—the quiet, grounding, ancient-library whisper of dried sage—brushed gently against the air, instinctively reaching out to soothe the frayed edges of his Alpha's mood.
They had both returned late. The life of a CEO and his chief secretary was rarely dictated by a standard clock, and tonight had been exceptionally brutal. A late-stage clinical trial report had required emergency formatting, and the subsequent debriefing had stretched long past dinner time. They had eaten a quiet, delayed meal in near-silence—not out of a lack of affection, but from the deep, companionable exhaustion that only a married couple who worked side-by-side could truly understand.
"You're letting your shoulders crowd your ears again, Mister Shen," Gao Tu murmured, his voice retaining that smooth, unflappable secretary’s cadence even though he was dressed in a pair of cozy, oversized sweatpants and a faded cream sweater that belonged to the man on the sofa.
Shen Wenlang didn't open his eyes, but his head tilted back against the dark leather cushion, a faint, rare tug of a smile touching the corner of his lips. He had already stripped out of his tailored suit jacket, his crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. "If my secretary is going to criticize my posture after hours, I might have to report him to HR."
"HR is heavily biased toward the CEO," Gao Tu replied softly, walking over to the living room. He set the mug of warm honey-and-goji berry water on the low marble coffee table. "And the secretary is heavily biased toward getting his husband to breathe."
With a low grunt, Shen Wenlang reached out, his large, calloused hand wrapping unerringly around Gao Tu’s wrist. He didn't pull hard—he never had to—but the suggestive pressure was enough. Gao Tu let himself be guided down, shifting his weight until he was sitting sideways across Shen Wenlang’s broad, solid thighs.
The S-class Alpha immediately closed his thick arms around Gao Tu’s waist, burying his face straight into the crook of Gao Tu's neck where the sage scent was strongest. A deep, rumbling inhale vibrated against Gao Tu's collarbone, a low purr of satisfaction echoing from the Alpha's chest.
"Better," Shen Wenlang muttered, his voice muffled by soft skin and knit wool. "The board meeting was loud. The R&D report on the new suppressants was inconsistent. But this... this is consistent."
Gao Tu smiled secretly into the dim light of the living room, his fingers running through Shen Wenlang’s thick, dark hair, untangling the neat, gelled style the corporate world had seen earlier that morning. Beneath the expensive fabric of his own sweater, Gao Tu’s lower abdomen felt... different. Not larger—not yet—but heavy with a quiet, miraculous warmth that had occupied his every waking thought for the last five days.
"Stay right here. Don't move," Gao Tu whispered, his voice holding an unusual, tender weight.
"A difficult command for a CEO," Shen Wenlang teased gently, though his arms reluctantly loosened to let his Omega go. "But for you, I'll manage."
Gao Tu stood up, the sudden absence of the Alpha’s heat making him shiver slightly. He walked down the quiet, carpeted hallway toward the master bedroom. The apartment was peaceful, illuminated only by the amber glow of the city lights filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Inside the bedroom, the walk-in wardrobe smelled entirely of them—a perfect, seamless blend of iris and sage. Gao Tu stepped inside, his heart beginning to thumping a steady, frantic rhythm against his ribs. He reached up to the top shelf where his private organizer boxes were kept, his hands trembling slightly as he pulled down a small, beautifully textured cream-colored gift box tied with a sage-green silk ribbon.
He had prepared it days earlier, the moment the private clinic had confirmed the bloodwork. He had specifically waited, counting down the days on his personal calendar. Today was the third Sunday of June. Father's Day.
Holding the box against his chest, Gao Tu took a long, steadying breath. His S-class Alpha husband was incredibly perceptive; hiding a shift in pheromones for five days had required an immense amount of self-control and a very subtle application of scent-blocking patches, but Gao Tu had managed. He wanted this moment to be perfect. We're going to tell him now, he thought, his hand dropping for a brief second to press flat against his still-flat stomach. We're going to tell your Papa.
When he walked back into the living room, Shen Wenlang hadn't moved an inch. He was watching the doorway, his eyes dark, attentive, and deeply relaxed in his cozy environment. The moment Gao Tu stepped into the light, Shen Wenlang’s eyes dropped to the box in his hands.
Gao Tu walked over, his steps deliberate. Instead of handing the box over, he sat back down on Shen Wenlang’s thighs, settling himself comfortably against that broad, dependable chest. He placed the box gently on Shen Wenlang’s lap.
"I have a gift for you," Gao Tu said, his voice a little breathless now, the professional mask entirely gone, leaving only the vulnerable, deeply in love Omega.
Shen Wenlang’s large hands came up to frame Gao Tu’s waist, securing him in place. He looked from the beautifully wrapped box up to Gao Tu’s face, a rare flash of genuine puzzlement in his sharp gray eyes.
"Is today something special?" Shen Wenlang asked, his voice low and rich.
Gao Tu leaned closer, his eyes locked onto his husband's, a soft, profound smile breaking across his features. "It will be."
With gentle hands, Gao Tu guided Shen Wenlang's fingers to the sage-green ribbon. Shen Wenlang, completely intrigued by his Omega's mysterious demeanor, tugged the silk loop. The ribbon fell away silently. He lifted the textured lid, setting it aside on the sofa cushion next to them.
The first thing that caught the ambient light of the living room was a pair of tiny, incredibly small yellow wool shoes. They were hand-knitted, small enough to fit into the very center of Shen Wenlang’s palm, looking beautifully delicate against the massive size of the Alpha's thighs.
Shen Wenlang froze. His entire body went rigid, the S-class Alpha pheromones in the room instantly spiking, turning sharp with a sudden, overwhelming shock.
Beneath the yellow shoes lay a tiny, folded white cotton onesie. Printed across the chest in soft, grey cursive letters were the words: I love my Papa.
And nestled perfectly underneath the clothing, resting at the very bottom of the box, was a slender plastic stick. Two distinct, dark pink lines stared back at him, solid and undeniable.
The silence in the living room became absolute. The tick of the wall clock seemed to vanish.
"Tutu..." Shen Wenlang’s voice didn't just shake; it cracked. The powerful CEO of HS, the man who handled high-stakes hostile takeovers without blinking, looked entirely lost. His S-class composure shattered into a million pieces. He reached out with a trembling finger, gently touching the tiny yellow shoes, as if afraid that breathing too hard would make them disappear. "This... is this...?"
"Happy Father's Day, Wenlang," Gao Tu whispered, a tear finally escaping his eye and splashing onto the sleeve of his sweater.
In an instant, the iris pheromones exploded.
It didn't turn aggressive—it turned wildly, beautifully sweet, blooming into a suffocatingly thick, joyful canopy that wrapped around Gao Tu like a heavy, protective blanket. Shen Wenlang didn't just pull Gao Tu close; he hoisted him up entirely, pulling him flush against his chest, burying his face deep into Gao Tu’s neck. His large hands gripped the back of Gao Tu's sweater so tightly his knuckles turned white, his body trembling with the sheer force of his emotion.
"A baby," Shen Wenlang breathed, his chest heaving against Gao Tu's. His S-class alpha instincts were roaring, a primal, possessive, fiercely joyful sound vibrating deep in his throat. "Our baby. You're... we're having a baby."
"Yes," Gao Tu cried softly, wrapping his arms securely around his Alpha’s broad shoulders, letting his own sage pheromones mingle happily with the overwhelming sweetness of the irises. "We're having a baby. You're going to be a father."
Shen Wenlang pulled back just enough to look at him, his own eyes suspiciously bright, a fierce, brilliant smile breaking across his handsome face—a smile so raw and full of pure devotion that it completely melted the cold exterior of the corporate tyrant. He cupped Gao Tu’s face in both hands, tilting his head up to press a deep, desperate, sweet kiss against his lips.
"Thank you," Shen Wenlang murmured between kisses, his forehead resting against Gao Tu's, his breath warm and trembling. "Thank you, my love. My beautiful Omega. My perfect secretary."
"I think I'll need to request maternity leave eventually, Mister Shen," Gao Tu teased through his tears, his hands resting over Shen Wenlang's heart, which was beating frantically.
"Granted," Shen Wenlang whispered fiercely, his hand moving down to cover Gao Tu’s flat stomach, his large palm spreading wide, instantly pouring warm, comforting Alpha pheromones into the space to soothe and protect the tiny life growing inside them. "Granted for as long as you want. I'll buy the whole world for both of you."
The initial shock of the revelation took hours to fully settle, transitioning from a burst of raw, overwhelming S-class emotion into a deep, enveloping warmth that filled every corner of the penthouse. The cream-colored gift box remained open on the coffee table, the tiny yellow shoes and the onesie sitting like sacred artifacts under the soft glow of the ambient lamps.
Shen Wenlang refused to let Gao Tu move from his lap. Even when Gao Tu complained that his legs were getting numb, the Alpha merely shifted his weight, adjusting his hold so that Gao Tu was cradled like something incredibly fragile, tucked securely against his chest.
"You've been keeping this a secret since Tuesday," Shen Wenlang murmured, his voice rumbling low against Gao Tu's hair. His fingers were tracing slow, hypnotic circles over the fabric of Gao Tu's sweater, right over his lower abdomen. "The day you insisted on taking a long lunch break for a 'dentist appointment'."
Gao Tu leaned his head back against Shen Wenlang's shoulder, a soft sigh escaping his lips. The sheer relief of finally sharing the news had left him feeling pleasantly drowsy, his body melting into the S-class Alpha's powerful hold. "You're too observant for your own good, Wenlang. I had to coordinate with the private clinic's head of department just to ensure the medical records weren't automatically uploaded to the company's executive health portal. If your system had flagged it, you would have known before me."
"I would have broken every speed limit in the city to get to you," Shen Wenlang admitted, his tone perfectly serious. The thought of his Omega handling the initial shock of the positive test alone made his inner Alpha stir with a possessive, protective urge. He tightened his grip, his nose brushing against the scent gland at Gao Tu's neck, inhaling the sweet, creamy undertone that had finally broken through the sage pheromones. "Five days, Tu. How did you manage to keep your pheromones so perfectly controlled during the quarterly review?"
"Scent patches and pure willpower," Gao Tu said, a soft chuckle vibrating in his throat. "Every time you looked at me across the conference table, I had to remind myself that if I let a single drop of my pheromones slip, your S-class senses would decode it instantly. You already noticed the change tonight before I even gave you the box."
"Because you smelled different," Shen Wenlang whispered, his eyes dark and full of a profound, primal adoration. "Sweeter. Like sage after a spring rain. My instincts knew before my brain did. I just... I couldn't dare to hope it was this."
He picked up one of the tiny yellow wool shoes from the box, holding it on his index finger. The contrast was staggering—the S-class Alpha whose hands directed a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical empire, holding a piece of yarn no larger than a walnut.
"Where did you get these?" Shen Wenlang asked, his expression softening into something so incredibly tender it would have shocked his corporate rivals to their core.
"I bought them at a small boutique near the clinic," Gao Tu said softly, reaching up to touch Shen Wenlang's hand, his fingers intertwining with the Alpha's. "The woman at the counter asked how far along we were. I told her I didn't even know yet. But the color felt right. Neutral, bright, and warm."
"It's perfect," Shen Wenlang said, his voice thick with emotion. He set the shoe down and placed both of his large hands flat against Gao Tu's stomach again, his fingers splaying wide as if he could physically shield the tiny embryo inside from the harshness of the outside world. "Tomorrow, I'm reallocating the R&D budget for the prenatal vitamin division. I want the absolute purest, highest-grade supplements delivered to the house by tomorrow evening."
Gao Tu laughed, a bright, clear sound that filled the quiet living room. "Mister Shen, the HS prenatal line is already the top-rated premium product on the market."
"It's not for the market," Shen Wenlang countered, his eyes flashing with that stubborn, S-class authority that Gao Tu loved so much. "It's for my husband. And my child. If the current formula can be improved by even half a percent, it will be done by the end of the week."
"You're going to spoil them before they're even born," Gao Tu murmured, leaning up to press a soft kiss against the corner of Shen Wenlang's jaw.
"I'm going to spoil both of you," Shen Wenlang corrected, his voice dropping to a gravelly, possessive whisper. He shifted them both, pulling Gao Tu closer until there was absolutely no space left between them, their pheromones weaving together into a thick, intoxicating cloud of iris and sage—a perfect, harmonious scent that smelled exactly like home, like a family, and like the sweetest, most beautiful future they were about to build together.