Chapter 42

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3rd Person POV

Lan Zhan was distraught. The news came as such a shock to him just as he felt things were improving. He couldn't process how to progress from this situation. How would he live without Wei Ying? How could he make life better for him? How would he survive alone? He would follow Wei Ying into the death, to never part but then again he couldn't just leave his child.

Everything had built up and Lan Zhan cried for hours. He let it all out - everything he needed to say and to release, all the guilt and tension and annoyance and anger at the world. He let it out an then it was gone. That was all he would say or do about it. He recomposed himself and walked back to the village to look after Wei Ying. The man still hadn't stirred yet after a brief examination, Wen Qing announced that he should wake up within a further 24 hours.

As night fell, Lan Zhan's fatigue beat him and he fell into a deep sleep next to his husband. He wished that he would wake up in the morning and the past few days had just been a nightmare. He wished he would open his eyes to the familiar roof of the Jingshi. He wished that everything would be fine and that together, his new family would find a solution for all of the problems that they faced. But he knew he wouldn't. It didn't work like that.

He was awakened by a light but rather persistent pressure against his chest and arms followed by a muffled noise. 

"Mhhnmmhhfm" 

Wei Ying? Fully awake now, he rolled over and sat up. Ah. So there was the issue.

"Lan Zhan! You almost killed me! You don't need to hold me that tightly, I'm not going anywhere, rather you'll suffocate me! What are you doing here anyway?" Cried Wei Ying indignantly.

"Shh!" Silenced Lan Zhan before hugging Wei Ying even tighter.

The embrace was desperate and longing, feeling the perfect way Wei Ying complemented his body, inhaling his musky scent, feeling his body warm and responsive. He was fine. Fine for now at least. Wei Ying did not resist as they slowly fell back asleep.

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Wei Ying was very unhappy with Wen Qing. No, unhappy was an understatement. He was fuming. She told Lan Zhan! She told him and left him in a state where Wei Ying couldn't comfort him. She made him worry - the main reason he hadn't yet informed his husband of his rather unfortunate predicament.

Lan Zhan never cried. Ever. And the fact that his strong, stoic and unreadable husband was refusing to let him go whilst slowly sobbing into his robes was a huge sign for concern. It was a relief that the cat was finally out of the bag in one aspect but still the constant reminder that he would have to leave them all wasn't really appreciated.

As far as Wei Ying was concerned, it was unfortunately beyond any of their control, so he would just live as though each day was his last. He would spend time with those he loved, do everything he wanted to without inhibition, enjoy his husband as much as possible and dwell on only the good.

And that was how he lived.

Time flew past as it so often does when people cherish it the most and soon it was another late night in the Burial Mounds. They had retired to bed early however Wei Ying couldn't sleep. Often due to his now prominent bump and very active baby, he couldn't get comfortable especially since it felt like he spend most of his time in bed. Recently, his feet had swollen up and his back was in bad shape so under the protective guidance of Wen Qing and Lan Zhan, he had been practically glued to his mattress. He turned over. It didn't help. He snuggled against Lan Zhan more. Nice, but not helpful. Ugghhh. He was ready to get the baby out already. Speaking of the devil, the baby decided to kick his bladder sending Wei Ying running for the bathroom. 

He did finally fall asleep; the uneasy feeling somewhat subdued however the night was fairly restless and disturbed still. Morning was still quite far off when Lan Zhan woke up. Something was up but he couldn't figure out what, his mind still fogged with sleep. Wei Ying was next to him and asleep, so that wasn't why he had awoken. Oh right. The mattress felt wet and warm and... oh. OH. This wasn't what he thought it was. No, it was still a bit early. But what else could it be?

He shook Wei Ying awake and received a disgruntled look of annoyance. 

"Wei Ying, I think your water just broke. I think it's time to meet our little baby!"

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Author's Note:

Thanks everyone for reading! Next chapter is going to be exciting - meeting baby A-yuan. What do you think will happen? As always, any thought, opinions, ideas, corrections... are welcome in the comments. I really love seeing your comments and its nice to hear your opinions. I would like to say that the next chapter will be out very soon, but whenever I say that, something happens and it takes forever. 

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