Another Chance - A Wangxian story

Chapter 26

No surprise to anyone, the second Wei Wuxian entered Cloud Recess he had already broken many rules and as respectfully as he could Lan Sizhui was rushing right behind him. “Father! Please slow down, Lan Qiren will scold you again!” With a defeated sigh Lan Sizhui followed behind on foot while Wei Wuxian rushed in on his sword shouting at one of the disciples to get one of the doctors for him. Lucky for him it was already past 5 am and everyone was up if not his scolding would be even worse.
Pushing past his exhaustion he went into a spare room and placed the young boys on separate beds before he himself dropped on the floor.

“Agh I wish I had the Lan’s arm strength.” While waiting for Lan Sizhui and the doctor he rubbed his sore arms and made sure both boys were still breathing even if they looked as if they would disappear before his eyes. Although he never mentioned it to anyone, he missed the twins. He knew they weren’t human and that he hadn’t seen them before they sacrificed themselves to save him, yet the lingering fear that these small boys would disappear before his eyes had him glancing at them more than he wanted to. Yet this wasn’t the first time he had been like this.
A while ago Wei Wuxian had followed Lan Wangji who was watching the younger disciples go on one of their missions.

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“Lan Zhan look!”
Lan Wangji had turned and noticed Wei Wuxian pointing at a painting that had a long haired beauty playing the flute with small white rabbits with pink ears and noses surrounding them. The painting had reminded Lan Wangji of Wei Wuxian while Wei Wuxian commented on how cute the rabbits were and how cute the painting would look in their room.
Without batting an eye Lan Wangji went into the small shop where a woman was holding a small baby in her arms and watching over another that was no older than 2 playing with his toys by her feet.
“The painting-”
“Ah you would like to buy one of the paintings?” Before either one of them could nod she was already calling for someone. “Father someone is here to buy a painting!” Her voice although loud was calming and didn’t disturb the baby in her arms that was in a deep sleep.

“How can I help you two young sirs?” Lan Wangji was the one to talk to the old man but Wei Wuxian couldn’t help watching the small boy on the floor play with a small smile on his face.
“His name is Zhou Xu” With a start his eyes went back onto the young woman. “Ah he reminds me of when A-Yuan was little.” With a cautious hand he waited for her to give him her ok to touch Zhou Xu. With her nod of agreement he placed his hand on his small head and smiled at the curious yet confused look on his face. “How old is your child?”
“He’s already 19 but the twins would have been-” Realizing where his mind had drifted he clamped his mouth closed and acted as he hadn’t said anything. The young woman wasn’t blind and easily saw through him. “Actually my sister had lost her child a year ago, she would have been 5 this year and although she is pregnant she has never forgotten her, what I’m saying is; it’s ok to talk and to think about the ones we have lost.” With a sad smile he listened to the young mother rant about how her husband who spent his time painting and how she had to drag him to help her care for their children. 
“But no matter what he’s still such a good father and a kind husband. What about you? How is your wife?”
 With a slight laugh he glanced over at Lan Wangji who was now quietly waiting for him. “My ‘wife’ is the quiet type who although doesn’t say how much they love me but will show it through their actions, especially with their cooking!” 

“Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go before my ‘wife’ gets jealous” With a goodbye to all three he grabbed onto Lan Wangji’s arm. “Let’s go, my dear husband”
 With wide eyes the young wife could only laugh as she remembered who the men before her were. “Come back anytime!” 

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Soon enough Lan Sizhui entered the room and the Lan clans doctor came in close behind him.
With a quick greeting to Wei Wuxian he began checking the boys. 
“Dad, who are these young boys?”
“Right now I don’t know, Wen Ning found them by the lake side and went to ask around the nearest town.” Lan Sizhui watched his father closely and noticed how his eyes shone with a certain sadness that he hadn’t seen in a long time.