WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 113 Surprise

Lan Zhan reached over and held Wei Ying’s hand. It felt a little cold so he covered it with his other hand.

Such a small gesture, but it never failed to make Wei Ying feel treasured, and he knew Lan Zhan felt the same. When they held hands together, the comfort and the love went both ways. The affection and reassurance that they each were not alone was mutual.

"It will be okay." Lan Zhan told him.

"I know..." Wei Ying took in a deeper breath. "I know..." He placed a hand on his flat stomach, trying to quell the sudden nerves. "It's just...I don't know why we didn't do this sooner...you know? And I can't help feeling that he's going to think that we're tacking it on like a late addition...and I know how much that hurts."

"He's not like that." Lan Zhan soothed.

"I hope so."

Wei Ying did not seem to believe it, and so Lan Zhan lifted him up into his lap. Their arms fitted around each other and Lan Zhan cradled his precious head, kissing his hair. A sigh passed between them, an understanding that nothing could beat this feeling, this togetherness which enlivened and soothed simultaneously.

It was so simple too.

Breaths mingling, hearts beating and slowly calming together...there was a magic in this, a secret delight that they only knew.

Wei Ying paid attention to each breath as it left his body, and when it returned, it came with the sweetest gift of sandalwood, spicy, aromatic and only full of Lan Zhan’s scent. It did wonders for his mind as Wei Ying slowly calmed himself.

Lan Zhan knew how important this day was and he understood how significant it was in particular for Wei Ying, ever so empathetic to their children. And because his life had mirrored this situation in the past, it was doubly so.

The soft knocking on the door, followed by his normal one, had the nerves coming back a hundred times more powerfully.

"It will be alright." Lan Zhan said firmly, meaning every word, when Wei Ying tensed up immediately again.

Only when Wei Ying nodded, did he release him to sit by himself. Wei Ying poured tea for everyone, hating the way his hands shook, needing to do something to keep them busy, while Lan Zhan went to open the door.

JingYi followed Lan Zhan into the Jingshi, wondering why he had been called over. He had received the message earlier and was thinking back carefully over his actions on the past few days, whether he had made a mistake or if he had done anything worthy of a punishment since Lan WangJi was still responsible for dishing them out.

But he got nothing.

In fact, he had been on his best behaviour, really biting his tongue when he wanted to let out a verbal diarrhoea of his true thoughts. So this summoning was indeed a proper mystery.

Adding to that, was the strange tension in the room. Lan WangJi looked calm...but there was a different kind of tension in his eyes, and Wei Qianbei looked jittery and uncomfortable.

Just what exactly was going on?

He sat down opposite them and inhaled the fresh jasmine tea.

"Hi..." He sort of bowed.

Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan and grabbed his hand under the table.

Okay...this is it...he told himself, plastering a smile on his face.

"JingYi...we have something we really want to ask you...and we're hoping you'll say yes." He sounded different too.

JingYi was already nodding. He sipped his tea and grinned back, because he knew exactly what it was.

Wei Qianbei wanted to talk to his babies...that was easily arranged.

"Yes...that's no problem. I don't get why you're so stressed about it though...I agree...as if I could ever say no..." He rolled his eyes.

Wei Ying couldn’t believe his luck! Was it really going to be that easy??

"Really? You agree? Just like that?" He wondered aloud.

Even Lan Zhan looked surprised and nothing much managed that these days.

"You know what we want to ask?" Wei Ying asked him suspiciously.

"Of course!" JingYi drank more tea vigorously, because after all, this was a rare occurrence that he was actually invited into this forbidden place.

He was so busy looking around that he almost missed what they were saying.

"Then I will inform Xiongzhang." Lan WangJi said, solemnly.

"I don't get why you're being so serious about it...it's normal for me." He commented, his gaze drifting past the untidy heap of scrolls in the corner and the tidy pile of clothes meticulously folded on the dresser.

"It is? This is normal?" Wei Ying waved a hand between them.

"Yeah, absolutely. I'm surprised you guys don't just follow me around!" He stared at the teapot until Lan WangJi noticed and poured him some more. "This is great, by the way. I love spending time with you. Both of you." He added, looking at Wei Qianbei now.

Why did he tear up at that? JingYi wondered.

"I just...I didn’t want you to think that we had forgotten about you." Wei Ying accepted the white handkerchief Lan Zhan gave him.

"As if! Pftt!!" JingYi made a disbelieving sound.

"So it is settled. When would you like to have the ceremony?" Lan WangJi was asking him.

Wei Qianbei was very emotional this morning though, because he was openly sobbing now.

JingYi scooted closer to him and warily put an arm around his shoulders. He was alarmed when Wei Qianbei threw his arms around him instead and cried loudly. His eyes lifted to golden ones, expecting there to be disapproval and a swift punishment...but there was only warmth...and moisture?

Was his hero, the Great Hanguang-Jun, Lan WangJi, the Second Jade of Gusu that grateful and happy to see the dragon babies too?

"You know, you could ask me any time...I would never have said no." He wished Wei Qianbei would stop the waterworks though, because he could feel his robes getting wetter. "And what ceremony?" He asked, just remembering Lan WangJi's last words.

"The ceremony where we put your name in our family tree...as our son." Lan Zhan told him.

JingYi went very still.

Wei Ying was still hugging him and noticed right away.

"You want to...adopt me?" JingYi whispered, barely enough that they heard him.

"What did you think we were talking about?" Wei Ying blew his nose out loudly and handed the filthy handkerchief back to Lan Zhan, who quietly put it aside to wash and disinfect later.

"I thought you wanted to talk to the dragon babies!" JingYi said.

And then he burst into tears.

*************

A/N

Dear Beautiful Readers,

Hopefully we've given enough time to Wattpad for them to sort out the glitches and all of you get this chapter. I spent the time working on Solstice Souls book 2, White Flame, Black Fire collaboration with the bestest co-author ever in the history (my own only) of collaborations, edzooc8r I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to work with her, and her writing?? *Chef's kiss...it's simply marvellous.

If you don't already follow her as well, please do because there's a surprise coming your way...I don't want to get into trouble but I can't keep a secret to save my life...

Anyway, this chapter is for ZippyZapper2 who requested early on the adoption of JingYi and I was thinking along the same lines myself so it worked out beautifully.

I really missed updating and hopefully we're back on schedule  - I say that like I have one...

I hope you all have a lovely day full of sunshine and cookies...

Charlie.