An Almost Lan

Chapter 9

A/N: AU and OOC, just a reminder.

Thank you for your votes and comments, they really encourage me!

Thanks to @CALActorsTypist on Twitter for editing this.

It was a busy morning at the office. His assistant informed him of at least three meetings and a conference call with the New York branch. He had made the poor man cram his agenda for the day, but he had a very important appointment in the afternoon, with his family, so Lan Qiren made sure of getting his afternoon free.

All his life he had kept his office sparsely furnished. He was a lover of clean, open spaces and clutter had always seemed to him as a true sign of a disorganized mind, he just couldn't stand it. But when his family presented him with a family portrait as a birthday gift he couldn't deny he was delighted, and now said portrait was the only splash of color in his otherwise white and gray office.

His wife and their five kids were in it and he gladly looked for a privileged spot in his office where the photograph stood for his eyes only. He wasn't very comfortable with sharing this part of his life with just anybody. Even if he said it so, his wife looked gorgeous in that portrait, dressed in Lan colors and wearing the ring he gave her for their engagement.

The kids...their kids looked happy. Even Lan Zhan sported a shy smile on his face. They chose to sit in front of Yu Ziyuan: Lan Huan, Lan Zhan, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying. The boy decided that A-Li needed to be in the center, as she was in the center of their lives. They all gravitated towards their sister and would do anything to protect her.

Pondering about their bonding distracted him for a short moment. Shaking his head minusculely he tried to focus again. Almost three years had passed since his wedding and he honestly didn't think that decision to help Yu Ziyuan in a time of dire need would result in so much peace and happiness for him and his nephews.

Although his reasons had been far from selfless in reality. He had wanted a mother figure for his nephews and some help in matters related to their home in terms of a hand that reigned there since he was always so busy at work. He hadn't wanted his nephews to be raised by the staff and he knew that for all her shortcomings, Yu Ziyuan was nothing but a strict caring mother. The fact that she also had a hidden tender side was a pleasant surprise for everybody, her own children included.

His wife had been of tremendous help organizing their kids' schedules and activities. She also found his nephews' nanny lacking and made sure the kids received the best of care, more often than not supervised by herself.

She put on the table the need for everybody in their family to receive some form of professional emotional support, even him. He agreed that his nephews would benefit enormously from such counsel, but at first, he didn't think he really needed it. How wrong he was! She insisted, nagging him until he surrendered and he was most grateful for it, since therapy had helped him grieve in a way he hadn't allowed himself before. He grieved for his brother, for his nephews who had lost both their parents and for his own youth and the freedom to choose his path in life, all the things he lost the moment his brother died.

Yu Ziyuan or Madam Lan as she was now known in social circles, had forced him to rekindle his love for various hobbies he abandoned in the past due to lack of time. One of the things he had missed dearly, but he had never accepted even to himself was horse riding. It had been an activity he had shared with his father, a source of extremely happy childhood memories for Lan Qiren.

His father had loved horses all his life, going as far as convincing the Lan elders that a horse stable was a good investment for the Lan family. The elders accepted and he bought a farm where the Lan horse stables were settled in. His father had become a passionate fan of Dressage competitions going as far as training as a Dressage rider.