Glaze Lilies (Chili Flower Shop AU)

Chapter 4

A slight breeze rustled the sprouting trees in the park. It was a relatively warm day thanks to the sun, but Zhongli still wore a light jacket as he walked alongside his siblings, Ayaka and Ayato. Ayaka was holding onto his arm, talking about the twins and how big they were getting. Ayato was on her other side, smiling softly as his sister went on about her family. Zhongli was lost in thought though, worrying about his own boys and the shop. He rarely took a day for himself and had Ayaka not dragged him away he still would have been sitting at the shop like every other day. Only Xiao was with him, far too little to be away from his father. Not to mention he refused to leave him too.

"Zhongli~" Ayaka's voice cut through his thoughts. He glanced over at her knowing smile. He was worried about his boys and any parent would understand that. As much as he trusted Guizhong and Thoma to watch the two, he was still worried. "How have the boys been? Gorou is still teething, isn't he?" Ayaka asked with a smile.

"He is. I've started working on potty training as well, though he doesn't seem to underneath it as well as Venti did. I may wait a little longer until he is more comfortable with the idea." Zhongli answered with a smile.

"How is Xiao? I know he was sick for a little while." Ayato asked curiously. He had only just returned from being deployed and was making up for all his lost time away. Ayaka was over the moon having her brother back. Ayato smiled as little Xiao looked over at him, hearing his own name mentioned.

"Yes, he is doing much better now. Just a small cold thankfully." Zhongli's eyes softened talking about his baby, glancing down at little Xiao. He loved all three of his boys, but Xiao held a soft spot for him.

"You've done well raising three boys alone. I'm sure it hasn't been easy, and looking after Diluc on top of that. You certainly are impressive." Ayato said, reaching over their sister to pat Zhongli's shoulder.

"I could have never raised the twins without Dusty. She is so good with them and they love their mama." Ayaka said with a soft hum as she praised her wife. "I couldn't imagine raising them alone."

"Neither could I." Zhongli sighed. "Sometimes you don't have any other choice."

"I'm sorry Zhongli, I didn't mean to sound insensitive." Ayaka said, her face falling as she watched her brother.

"It's okay Ayaka, you weren't." Zhongli assured her with a small smile. He missed his late wife greatly and it still hurt not having her there, but he had three boys who needed him. He didn't have the luxury of mourning.

"Oh! Let's sit over there!" Ayaka grinned, pulling out of Zhongli's hug as she ran past him.

"Always on the move." Ayato chuckled, following after her. Zhongli smiled watching his two siblings run off.

Zhongli took a step forward to follow after them, as someone plowed into him. He barely had the chance to brace Xiao as he was knocked off balance by the force of the person running. Zhongli's shoulder collided with the ground with a hiss of pain, but he had avoided Xiao being hurt. Xiao was crying loudly though, scared from the fall, and worried about his papa.

"Hey, watch where you're going." The man frowned, not bothering to help Zhongli up. He simply scowled at father and son. "Why did you bring such a fussy kid to the park anyways? Just leave him at home with his mother." The man huffed as Zhongli managed to sit up. "It's not a man's job to care for the kids anyways. That's a woman's job."

Zhongli shot a glare at the man as he stood, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he gently quieted Xiao. "How I choose to care for my son is none of your business. He wouldn't be crying right now had you not run into me and scared him." Zhongli said with a glare. The man scoffed.