Glaze Lilies (Chili Flower Shop AU)

Chapter 14

A dull rain pattered on the windows as Zhongli sat at his desk. He scribbled on some papers, signing off on some of the documents presented to him. It had been months since he had left his office and he had a pot to catch up on. He had spent so much of his time in meetings and talking with Ningguang and Keqing to learn what he had missed. Barbados as well had helped him quite a bit with settling back into being Liyue’s Archon.
"Papa!" Venti whined, pulling on his pant leg.
"Yes Little Bird?" Zhongli asked softly, smiling down as he pet Venti's head.
"Gogo and I are getting hungy. We wanna eat!" Venti huffed.
"I'm almost done baby, give me just a couple more minutes and then I'll make you boys something to eat, I promise." Zhongli assured him.
"Noooooooooo, I wanna eat now!" Venti whined, stomping his little feet.
"Baby, I'm almost done with my work. I'm almost done, it won't be long." Zhongli promised again.
"No! Now!" Venti insisted. Zhongli sighed and finally stood, lifting Venti into his arms.
"Okay little bird, okay." Zhongli said, carrying Venti out of his office.
He brought him back out to the living room before setting him down on the floor. He moved into the kitchen where Gorou was sitting at the dining room table coloring. He beamed when he saw Zhongli enter.
"Pa!" He grinned, standing up on his chair.
"Sit back down in your chair, baby." Zhongli said as he moved over to his son, sitting him back down.
He pressed a kiss to Gorou's head before moving over to the kitchen. Venti ran in, climbing into the chair beside Gorou, giggling as he watched his papa make dinner. He put together a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the three of them. He set the plates down in front of the boys before grabbing his and sitting across from them. Venti and Gorou happily dug into their sandwiches, glad to have some food in front of them. Zhongli chuckled softly, smiling as he ate his. When the three of them were done, he collected their plates, carrying them into the kitchen. He washed them, setting them on the drying rack and Gorou and Venti ran off to go play again.
Zhongli’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he sighed. He had only been back a week and he was already exhausted, taking care of his three boys and managing politics were exhausting but he was doing everything he could to be present for his boys and his people. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, answering it.
"Hello, this is Morax." Zhongli answered.
"Well, I have no idea who this Morax is, but is Zhongli around?" Zhongli nearly dropped the phone when he heard the voice.
"Childe. You're alive." Zhongli said, leaning against the counter.
"Of course. Did you expect so little of me?" Childe chuckled. Thunder rumbled outside, followed by a flash of lightning.
"Of course not, but I hadn't heard anything from you since the fire." Zhongli explained.
"Well, I saw your announcement last week. Sorry it took me so long to get back, I was in Fontaine." Childe chuckled. "Now, as much as I love talking on the phone like this, it's downpouring out here and I would like to dry off a little bit."
"What?" Zhongli moved to the door, pulling it open.
Standing in the driveway, holding his phone to his ear, was a very soaked Childe. He grinned, offering a wave to Zhongli as he hung up the phone, sticking it in his pocket. Zhongli’s phone slipped from his hand as he ran out into the rain. The two collided in a sopping wet hug. They held each other for a long moment, the thunder rumbling overhead. Childe chuckled, rubbing Zhongli’s back.
"I promised I would come back, did I not?" Childe chuckled, stroking Zhongli’s cheek.
"So you did." Zhongli smiled back at him.
Zhongli hesitated a moment before leaning into Childe, their lips meeting as Zhongli kissed him. Childe pulled him closer, deepening their kiss. Moments passed before Zhongli pulled away finally, resting his forehead against Childe's.
"I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome, I have to admit." Childe chuckled softly, soft blue eyes staring into Zhongli’s soft golden ones.
"Seems I've missed you more than I realized." Zhongli admitted. His face flushed in the dark.
"And I've missed you but we are still out in the rain." Childe chuckled, shaking his head.
"Of course. Come right in. After all, this will be your home for now." Zhongli said as he stepped away.
"Only for now, huh?" Childe smirked.
"Don't push your luck." Zhongli said, rolling his eyes.
Zhongli led the way back inside letting them both out of the rain. Venti and Gorou were watching from around the corner but lit up when they saw Childe. The two boys immediately ran over, hugging his legs.
"Hey boys, I missed you." Childe beamed as he knelt. He tried to hug them but only got Gorou as Venti was already pulling away.
"You're wet!" Venti accused, pointing at Childe
"Yes well your father left us both out in the rain a little too long." Childe said, glancing up at Zhongli who was ringing out his long hair.
"You wanted this reunion to be dramatic. Don't blame me for you not coming to the door to knock." Zhongli said, still ringing out his hair. "You boys go play, Childe and I need to change into something dry." Zhongli said.
"When we come back I'll give you boys some gifts. Did papa give you the ones from before?" Childe asked, smilling at them.
"Yeah! Treats from all around Teyvat!"  Venti beamed, jumping up and down.
"The boys are still working through them." Zhongli said as he peeled off his sweatshirt, hanging it on the coat rack.
"Well, no sweets for you this time but I promise you'll like it." Childe beamed.
"Where exactly are these gifts?" Zhongli asked, raising an eyebrow at Childe.
"In my car. It's a rental. I wanted to get here as quickly as I could." Childe smirked.
Zhongli sighed, shaking his head. "Come on, let's get changed." Zhongli said.
He closed the front door before leading Childe to his bedroom where they could change. Zhongli passed Childe a dry shirt and pants. They were a bit more fitted on Childe's form, but not uncomfortable and he was grateful to be in dry clothes as Zhongli changed into dry clothes of his own.
"A beautiful home you have here." Childe hummed softly as he looked through the room. Aside from a couple photos of Zhongli’s family and a crib, the room was mostly undecorated.
"Thank you. It works for what we need. Far bigger than I would have liked." Zhongli sighed before pulling on his shirt. Childe crossed over to him, placing a hand on his back.
"I know you didn't want to do this, but I think it was the right thing to do, especially with your boys. You had to protect them." Childe said, his voice gentle.
"I know I did. I just didn't want my boys to have to endure this life." Zhongli said quietly. "We didn't have much, but we were happy in our little apartment with the flower shop." Zhongli swallowed, turning back to Childe. "I know it's selfish, but I do wish I hadn't had to make this choice."
"I'm sorry I brought this on you. I tried not to make you and the boys a target." Zhongli shook his head.
"Don't apologize. I was the one who made the decision. I could have kept living hidden away at Barbados's place but what life would that have been?" Zhongli asked. "No, I couldn’t live a life like that or force my boys too. If the Tsaritsa wants to target me, she can do it in the open where there will be real repercussions and where I can fight back to protect my family." Zhongli explained
"You didn't seem like the kind of man to hide." Childe chuckled.
"Nor do you." Zhongli smiled. "But you are under my protection now so you will be free to move about without being targeted. That being said, I would still be careful. We don't know what the Tsaritsa has planned." Zhongli said.
"It's not something we have to worry about right now though." Childe said, shaking his head.
A soft cry came from the crib, stopping the conversation. Zhongli moved over, lifting Xiao out of the crib, gently cradling his baby boy as he rocked him to calm him down. He carried him over to the little nursery he had managed to set up, changing him into a clean diaper.
"Why don't I go get the gifts from my car while you tend to your son." Childe hummed as he watched the two.
"I believe he is hungry. He had a late nap today." Zhongli explained, gently rocking Xiao.
"Well, go get him a bottle and I'll meet you and the boys down in the living room." Childe chuckled before leaving the room.
Zhongli left his room, heading back down to the kitchen. He made Xiao a warm bottle, feeding him as he moved back into the living room where Gorou and Venti were playing together. Zhongli sat in the rocking chair beside them as he fed Xiao, watching over his two older boys. Childe came back in with a few boxes and bags and the boys lit up when they saw. They immediately ran over to him, grabbing for the gifts they knew were for them.
"Boys, let Childe in so he can sit down. Don't crowd him." Zhongli scolded.
Venti and Gorou moved back, letting Childe sit down on the couch. Childe passed the boys a couple of wrapped gifts which they were excited to open. Mostly toys from the different cities and a few more sweets. When Zhongli was done feeding Xiao, he set him in a little playpen, letting him crawl around in there.
"Here, this one's for you." Childe said, holding a wrapped gift out to Zhongli. "There is one other one too."
"Thank you Childe. I wasn't expecting any gifts for myself." Zhongli said as he took it.
Zhongli carefully unwrapped the gift where he found a bound book. He opened it up, flipping through pages of writing.
"It's silly but I wrote in it every day. I saw all your journals you had back at the apartment, I thought you might like something like this. It talks about all the different places I went and saw while I was on the run." Childe said, beaming at Zhongli.
"I love it, thank you Childe. I'll have to read through it while I have the time." Zhongli said, smiling back at him.
"Ah, and this is the last thing."
Childe passed Zhongli another wrapped package. It was softer and squishy and when Zhongli opened it he found a beautiful long coat, fur trimmed at the top and cuffs.
"It's a jacket from Snezhnaya. I had one made for you and each of your boys." Childe explained.
"It's beautiful. Thank you for this Childe." Zhongli smiled, looking up at him again.
"You bet. I put the orders in before I went on the run, after our dinner, and they recently finished them. I hope they keep you and the boys war this winter." Childe smiled.
"I'm sure they will. Thank you." Zhongli said, setting the jacket aside as Childe moved over to play with the two younger boys, happy to keep them entertained for Zhongli.