Such plump hands, such a round little face, long lashes, and fair skin, the cutest little “gas tank” imaginable. And Huo always had one… no, two of them!
“Assistant Qin.”
“Yes, Mr. Huo.” She snapped her attention back to the documents.
Huo Rulan slid the papers toward her. “Go over the outline again, remove unnecessary steps, and then…”
She jotted down his instructions, then left, but not without sneaking another look at the baby before gently closing the door.
Huo Rulan rested his chin on his hand, tilting his head toward the crib. “They were looking at you.”
The little one’s mouth moved, eyes shifting faintly beneath half-closed lids, but he didn’t wake.
Huo Rulan glanced at the time, still about an hour before the babies were due to wake, and picked up his pen to quickly finish approving the documents in his hand.
When everything was done, he made up a bottle of milk and sat down on the sofa with the just-woken little one, who was whimpering for his feed.
He looked out the tall windows at the sky, frowning slightly. The weather was cooling again; taking the babies out too often could make them catch a cold.
“Ah-puh~” A soft chubby hand patted the back of his own. Pulled from his thoughts, Huo Rulan wiped Jing Xing’s mouth with a wet wipe and bent his head. “All full? What do you want to do now?”
“Mm-mm-wu~” The baby waved his arms and rubbed his eyes in Huo Rulan’s arms, a little off somehow.
Before long, Chen’an also tossed aside his bottle and, like Jing Xing, rubbed his eyes with a trembling lip before tears welled up. “Wu-wu~”
“What is it? Are you uncomfortable?” Huo Rulan set the bottles aside and felt their foreheads — no fever. Holding one in each arm, he paced the office, softly humming to soothe them. “Don’t be scared, Daddy’s here.”
“Waa-wu waa-wu~” No matter how he coaxed, the babies howled with all their strength, clinging to his shoulders in loud, desperate sobs.
The tiny, milky cries made his own eyes sting.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Wrapping them in thick blankets, he quickly gathered their things, gave brief instructions to the office, and rushed them to the car for the hospital.
***
Upstairs, the study door was open. Ye Xi was bent over taking notes when he suddenly froze, lifted his head, and listened.
A chill shot through him. He bolted from the study so quickly he almost tripped.
Before he even reached the ground floor, he could hear Chen’an and Jing Xing’s cries — desperate, rasping, until they broke into coughing fits.
He stumbled down the stairs, losing a shoe on the floor, but didn’t stop. Limping across the room, he scooped them into his arms, helping them catch their breath as tears slipped down his cheeks. “Don’t cry, babies, don’t cry. Daddy’s here.”
The moment they were in Ye Xi’s arms, the little ones cried even harder, clinging to their daddy as if they’d found their safe place. Ye Xi’s heart clenched painfully, his own tears dripping as he kissed their heads and choked out, “Good babies… Daddy’s here, shh…”
Huo Rulan came over with bottles of warm water, eyes red, head lowered like a scolded child.
Once they’d calmed a little, Ye Xi took the bottle from him and offered it to one baby, helping them drink to replace lost fluids.
Looking at their swollen eyelids and flushed faces, his eyes went wet again. He kissed their cheeks, holding them close until they finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
Only when they were deeply asleep did he set them gently in the crib.
Turning, he stepped into Huo Rulan’s lowered frame and hugged him. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
Tears shimmered again in Huo Rulan’s eyes as he buried his face in Ye Xi’s neck, voice hoarse and heavy with guilt. “I’m sorry… I didn’t take good care of them…”
Ye Xi shook his head, holding him tighter, stroking his back in reassurance.
Seated on the sofa together, they looked at their sleeping babies. Huo Rulan gently stroked their tear-stained cheeks.
“They woke from their nap and started crying after drinking their milk. I thought they weren’t feeling well, so I took them to the hospital. The doctor said they’re still too little to be away from you for long.”
Ye Xi leaned against him, gaze lingering on the children. “Because they were premature… they probably feel insecure.”
Huo Rulan didn’t answer, only pressed his face into Ye Xi’s hair.
“It’s alright. Let me take care of them.” Ye Xi squeezed his hand, then glanced at his wrinkled clothes. “You don’t look great yourself. Go take a shower and change. We can go buy groceries later.”
He kissed Ye Xi’s forehead, glanced once more at the babies, and headed upstairs.
Left behind, Ye Xi leaned over the crib to straighten their blanket, murmuring, “As long as you’re safe and healthy…”
By half-past twelve, the little ones woke on their own, lying quietly in the crib. One smacked his lips, yawned wide, and rubbed his eyes with a chubby fist.
Ye Xi set down his notebook and tugged Huo Rulan, who was reading a file, to watch them with him. They both smiled.
After a while, one baby reached for Ye Xi, babbling in soft baby-speak. Laughing, Ye Xi lifted them and rubbed their heads.
Snuggled in his arms, they cooed happily, without glancing at Huo Rulan.
Watching from the side, Huo Rulan felt a twinge of loss. But then Chen’an and Jing Xing stretched their arms toward him, eyes sparkling.
The gloom vanished instantly, though he put on a gruff act. “What’s with you clingy little things? Fine, fine, milk time.”
He took one soft, warm dumpling from Ye Xi’s arms and helped them hold their bottle.
As they drank with half-closed eyes, he pinched their cheeks and said to Ye Xi, “Crybabies. Clingy, too.”
Ye Xi, chin propped on his hand, saw the way his smile stretched almost to his ears. He leaned over, grabbed the back of Huo Rulan’s neck, and bit his lips lightly. “Mouth says no, heart says yes.”
When he tried to pull away, Huo Rulan caught him back and kissed him deeper. “Not hard. Soft. Wanna try again?”
Ye Xi bolted for the kitchen, and Huo Rulan shook his head, tapping the babies’ plump feet. “Your daddy, hopeless flirt, adorable fool.”
From the kitchen, a mock-angry voice rang out. “I heard that! No juice for you later!”
“Why not?” Huo Rulan called, exaggeratedly wounded.
“Because I made it.”
“I washed the fruit!”
Silence. Huo Rulan chuckled at the glimpse of Ye Xi bustling in the kitchen. Lowering his head, he rubbed the babies’ soft hands. “You’re just as cute as your daddy.”
He wiped their mouths, pretending not to notice Ye Xi peeking out again.
After burping them, he laid them back in the crib and moved colorful cards in front of their eyes to help train their visual tracking.
“Mm-wu~ ah-da~” They kicked excitedly, then sucked on their fists. He gently pulled their hands free, wiped them, and replaced them with pacifiers.
Ye Xi came over with two glasses of juice. Huo Rulan took one, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, baby.”
Ye Xi squeezed his mouth into a duck bill. “Are we going grocery shopping?”
He tried to answer but it came out garbled. Ye Xi let go and laughed so hard he doubled over.
“Later,” Huo Rulan said, holding his waist. “Go change first. Wear something warm — it might get colder.”
After draining his juice in one go, Ye Xi went upstairs to change. Huo Rulan cuddled one baby. “Let’s go see what vegetables look like, so you can help buy them for Daddy in the future.”
The little one blinked curiously from the baby carrier, sucking on his pacifier.
At the supermarket, Huo Rulan had the baby strapped to his chest, one hand pushing the cart, the other holding Ye Xi’s hand as they headed for the produce section.
But somehow, they stopped in the snack aisle.
Following Ye Xi’s gaze to the shelves of chips, Huo Rulan felt a tug on his sleeve. Ye Xi massaged his arm and coaxed in a soft voice, “Huo Rulan, it’s a new flavor. Let’s buy it~”
Expression cool, Huo Rulan shook his head. “No. You’ve already had too many snacks this week.”
“I haven’t! I only had one bag of chips this week,” Ye Xi insisted.
“Heh.” Huo Rulan gave a knowing chuckle. “Don’t think I don’t know you hide them behind the bedroom curtains when I’m not looking.”
Ye Xi’s proud posture wilted… then he remembered something and straightened again. “So that’s why my chips kept disappearing, you took them!”
“Mhm, it was me.”
Ye Xi tugged on him. “I won’t hide snacks anymore, okay? Can we buy some now? We’re almost out at home.”
Huo Rulan thought of what he’d seen that morning, the storage cabinet stuffed to bursting with snacks. “…”
“If you can control how much you eat every day, then we’ll buy them,” he said.
Ye Xi immediately promised he could, then pulled him back to the snack aisle and began happily picking out his favorites, chips, jelly, beef jerky, seaweed… so many he lost count.
Standing beside him, the baby strapped to Huo Rulan’s chest waved a chubby hand. “Mhm-hm~”
Huo Rulan looked down, rubbing their soft cheek. “What is it?”
Chen’an and Jing Xing were staring fixedly in one direction, kicking their chubby feet, little hands grabbing at his.
He followed their gaze, then glanced at Ye Xi, who was still busy picking snacks. After a moment’s pause, he bent his head to ask, “Do you want to buy one too?”
Four tiny hands patted his much larger one, accompanied by sweet baby babble.
With a resigned sigh, he said, “Alright, alright, we’ll buy it.”
He picked a red-bagged, tomato-flavored chip packet from the shelf and held it up. “This one?”
“Mhm~” The baby hugged the packet and immediately tried to gum it with toothless enthusiasm, smearing drool all over it before he could stop them.
Snatching it back, he scolded gently, “Silly thing, do you even have teeth yet?”
The baby reached again, but Huo Rulan held it up and said, “It’s dirty now. We’ll wash it at home before you chew it.”
Ye Xi, watching from the side, laughed. “They’re just like me — even their favorite chips are tomato flavor.”
As they pushed the cart toward the produce section, Huo Rulan chuckled and explained, “A kid with no teeth doesn’t know what tomato chips are. They just liked the big red bag. You watch, when we get to the veggie aisle, they’ll want the green ones too.”
Ye Xi found that hilarious. Babies were so fun, their little heads full of the cutest ideas.
Sure enough, as they passed another shelf, the babies started waving and kicking again.
Huo Rulan stopped, wiped their drool with a tissue, then tickled their double chins. “What now, little one? See something else you like?”
“Mmm-wu~”
They pointed insistently, and Ye Xi followed their line of sight before bursting into loud goose-like laughter.
Huo Rulan looked too, and rubbed his temple. “Do we really need to buy that? We already have plenty at home…”
The babies puffed their cheeks and cooed softly.
Pressing his lips together, he picked up a big blue pack of diapers. “This?”
The eager reach of chubby arms told him it was. He let them hold the pack for a moment before putting it in the cart, then pulled Ye Xi along to finally get the vegetables and head home.
By the time they were back, they were loaded down with vegetables, meat, snacks, diapers, and odd little toys.
After unstrapping the carrier and setting the baby in the crib, Huo Rulan held up the bags and “reported” to them:
“You picked spinach, lettuce, water spinach, napa cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers…”
Then he held up the rest. “Chips, diapers, a dancing rabbit, a sheep roly-poly toy, a teether…”
The babies, not understanding a word, just grinned and reached for the toys.
Huo Rulan rubbed their round bellies, making them giggle harder, their little hands clutching his fingers.
He hung the new mobile over their crib for them to play with, then took their chosen toys to disinfect and brought the groceries to the kitchen.
After washing some fruit, he carried it out. Ye Xi, slouched on the sofa, said, “I’m starting on lunch now. If you’re hungry, eat some fruit first, it’ll be ready soon.”
He tied on an apron, rolled up his sleeves to reveal toned, pale arms, and began washing, chopping, and cooking with practiced ease.
Ye Xi, plate of fruit in hand, wheeled the crib over to stand a short distance away, watching. The apron cinched in his lean waist, the height and build making him look all the more striking — slim in clothes, solid muscle underneath. Ye Xi liked it… maybe more than he’d admit.
Glancing down at his own soft belly, he pinched the flesh, popped a strawberry in his mouth, and wondered if he should work out.
Noticing him staring, Huo Rulan came over with a rib and fed it to him. “What are you spacing out for? Here, have a rib.”
Ye Xi poked his abs before eating it, then said with a hint of gloom, “I was wondering if I should lose weight and work out. My belly’s all soft.”
Huo Rulan’s brow twitched as he fed him another rib. “Why would you? You were already too thin, I finally got you to put on some weight.”
“But my belly…”
“It’s cute. Soft.” Then he laid out the “downsides” of dieting: “If you lose weight, no snacks. Less meat, more vegetables and fruit. Every day, for at least three months.”
Ye Xi shook his head instantly. “Forget it.”
Suppressing a smile, Huo Rulan nodded. “You’re perfect now. I’d actually like to see you with a bit more meat on you, okay, baby?”
Dazed by the compliments, Ye Xi hugged his arm and nuzzled him. “Okay. I’ll eat well from now on.”
Kissing his forehead, Huo Rulan coaxed, “You can do it, right? Like having one and a half bowls for lunch?”
“Yes, I can!”
“Good. Go wait in the dining room, lunch will be ready soon.”
Watching him roll the crib to the table, fruit in hand, Huo Rulan went back to the kitchen to finish up.
During lunch, Ye Xi asked, “Do you have work this afternoon? Want a nap first?”
Shaking his head, Huo Rulan gave him some greens. “No nap. I’ll work from home this afternoon.”
A moment later, he added, “And don’t you dare fish those greens back out. No being picky, eat your vegetables.”
Ye Xi silently retracted his chopsticks, snuck a glance at him, and quickly shoved the greens into his mouth when he saw that impassive face watching.
This would be updated on a random day, but I promise to try and update weekly. Thanks for reading!
