This Is Gospel (ShimaxYukio)

47. As Long As You Love Me

"Alright, hon, we're leaving. You need anything?"

Rin shook his head from the couch, fixing his blanket and making sure the baby was comfortable in his arms. It wasn't advised that he do too much of anything involving physical exertion until his c-section scar healed, but he assured both Bon and Ling that he was fine and that they shouldn't worry since it wasn't his first rodeo. Ling was going back to his classes starting that morning and Bon was going back to work, but Shiemi had come to make sure that Rin had all he needed and Shiro had come to gather his oldest children for the day. They decided that would be routine for them until Rin was back at 100%.

"Alright, then." his husband sighed, leaning down to kiss him. Ling follows soon after, limping over to him to plant a kiss on his brow.

"I'll be home after class, my love. Wǒ ài nǐ~"

He grinned after saying it, leaning down to kiss the baby's tiny little hand. Rin looked at him with confused eyes and the teen smiled at him.

"It means 'I love you' in my native tongue. It feels quite strange to say out loud...seeing as my people don't often use the saying in our households..." he explained. Bon's brows furrowed together in shock. "You guys didn't tell each other you loved each other?" He asked, appalled by such a statement. Ling just laughed at him. "Not in those words, no. Not often, at least. Such declarations felt...too strong."

It was then that Rin realized that Ling had never actually told either of them that he loved them. It was just something they were expected to understand. Even then, he wasn't expressing his love to Rin...but to their newborn son.

"It's of no importance. We understand and express our love in different ways."

He turns to Bon, motioning towards the door.

"We should go before we're late, darling."

"Yeah, you're right."

They say one last goodbye to Rin and head to the door, leaving as Shiemi entered and sat down next to him before leaning over to embrace him.

"How are you feeling, Rin?"

Rin smiled at her. He missed hanging out with his old friend. He wished that he saw her on more joyful occasions and not sad ones or ones that involved her babysitting him

"I'm okay. Trust me, the drugs are doing wonders for the literal pain in my ass. How are you and Izumo?" he replied, genuinely interested in how their lives had been. "Izumo works during the day and since I'm not really good at much, I stay home and take care of things there. It gets lonely sometimes and I always think about the days where you, me, and Yuki would all hang out together." she said, a reminiscent expression on her face. "What do you mean, you aren't good at anything? Like, holy shit, Shiemi...you could've been a fucking doctor! You're so talented with stuff like medicine and natural remedies." Rin objected. Honestly, Shiemi had more talent than she gave herself credit for. That had always been a flaw of hers, Rin supposed.

"I'm not good with people; I'd be a terrible doctor."

"What did you even get a degree in?"

"It was originally for business marketing like you, but I dropped out of Uni and ended up getting trained to get my pharmaceutical license. I'm technically a pharmacy technician."

"So you could be making $17/hr but you wanna sit at home and make macaroons instead?"

"What are macaroons?"

Rin sharply inhaled and let out a sigh. This woman really was hopeless.

"Shiemi, things happened in my life that stopped me from achieving things that I wanted to do with my life but you? You and Izumo have nothing holding you down. Live your life before it's too late!"