When He Calls My Name

51

Two Months Later

"Rise and shine my cute little adeptus boy."
I roll over until I'm placed directly on my fiancé's chest, watching his eyes slowly flutter open and try their best to take in the sunlight peaking through the curtains.

He groans, stretching out beneath me, before wrapping me in his arms. "Why are you waking me?" he asks in a sleepy morning voice that gives me fanny flutters. "We have no plans today."

"Because I miss you silly," I say, poking his nose. "And what do you mean we have no plans today? Do you even know what today is?" I watch his face go pale, eyes deep in mine as if trying to find the answer in them. I shake my head, tsking. "It's the anniversary of the day we got engaged."

Xiao blinks. "Are we celebrating that every month?"

"Yes!" I roll my eyes, but can't help a chuckle at the confusion on his face. "Why? Do you hate me and want me dead and that's why you don't want to celebrate it with me every month?"

"What? No!" Xiao's brows crease, and I laugh.

"I love teasing you. You always react. It's great. Anyways, I think I forgot to tell you, but your dads wanted to take us out for breakfast today. And I have somewhere special I want to take you later too." I wink at him, then place my hands on his cheeks, pulling in until our lips meet. My eyes close as our tongues dance, and I feel his hands ride my back. "Mmm," I say against him, before pulling away slowly. "Let's not get too carried away just yet."

Xiao's grip on me tightens, disabling my escape. "What if..." he whispers on my lips, "I want to get carried away right now?"

I blush hard, body steaming, and a cheeky smirk at the corners of my mouth. "You...you horny little creature. There'll be plenty of time for that later, I promise. But right now, we gotta get ready. We're supposed to meet them for breakfast in like 40 minutes."

"Creature?!" he frowns. "That's offensive."

I bite his lip. "My little untamed, wild animal!"

"Aether, that's not okay to say to an adeptus!"

He pushes me off and hits me with a pillow multiple times, as I giggle, trying to grab it from him. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! You know I love you..."

He finally stops, smirking a bit. "I love you too."

"...my pointy-eared monster boy."

"I hate you." Xiao takes the pillow again and smacks me some more. This time I laugh profusely, shuffling out of bed as he chases me around with it, not once missing a hit since my running skills are no match for him.

"Okay, okay, okay!" I say through breathy chuckles. I grab him, bringing him in close. "I'm sorry, for real this time. I really am just joking, I'd never see you as a monster, ever. You're the most beautiful person in the world. You being an adeptus only adds to your appeal. I honestly wouldn't want you any other way, you're absolutely perfect."

Xiao tries to act mad, but looks up at me with this faint smile that's impossible to mask. "...Thanks."

I smile back. "So can you love me again please?"

"Always." He takes my face gently and places his lips on mine.

——

"Hey there love birds." Xiao and I arrive at the restaurant to find Childe and Zhongli arriving at the same time. Childe smirks and gives us a nod, Zhongli trailing slightly behind him.

"Hey guys," I say. "Zhongli, you're out of the wheelchair, that's awesome!"

"Why, yes I am," he says with a smile. "The doctor said everything is fine and that I can go about my daily life as normal again, but to just be careful not to overexert myself."

"That's great!" I say.

"I'm glad," Xiao follows.

"Tartaglia party of four?" The waitress approaches us, an expression of forced happiness across her face.

"That would be us," Childe answers, and she flashes us a pursed lip smile before leading us to our table.

——

"So, have you figured out where you're having it?" Zhongli picks up a good amount of noodles on his chopsticks before slurping them down, eyeing Xiao.

"Yeah you can't have it at some old rinky dink chapel," Childe chimes in, forking at his own and stuffing a wad of noodles in his mouth. "You gotta go balls to the wall. It's a special day for you two. I'm thinking a fountain in like the middle of the hallway, a limo, some French dude taking your photos..."

"Why would you think I'd be interested in any of that?" Xiao grumbles.

I place a hand on his back. "We were actually thinking like a cute little beach wedding," I say. "Something kinda small where we just invite a few close friends and family."

"That's it?" Childe raises and eyebrow, and Zhongli elbows him. "Ow?"

"That sounds beautiful," Zhongli smiles. "Have you chosen a date yet?"

"Yeah," I say. "I was thinking I might want to bring Xiao as my date but I'm not sure yet." Zhongli finds my dad jokes hysterical so I'm always tempted—I like how his shoulders bounce when he laughs. "But yeah, no, it'll probably be a while from now. We haven't gotten all the details together, but we did want to ask you if you wanted to maybe make like these stone tablet invitations...? I don't know, Itto—friend of ours from Inazuma—was telling me about this stone tablet invitation he got before and how cool it was? And I figured with you being the Geo archon and all, you could maybe hook us up?"

Zhongli chuckles. "Ah, yes. Stone tablets he calls them, how cute. But yes, of course, I'd be more than glad to help you out with that. Just give me a list of the names of people you want to come. I'll have one at their doorsteps in no time."

"You're the best Zhongli," I say. "I see where Xiao here gets it from." I look at my beautiful fiancé with a smile, leaning in to lay a nice, wet one on his cheek.

"You know," Childe says, pointing his fork at me, "since it's at the beach, I can probably manipulate the elements a little and give you a good water show, if you'd like?"

"Ugh, cringe." Xiao shakes his head, and I hold back the laugh that threatens to expose me.

"That would be pretty cool actually!" I say. "We'll definitely consider that idea.."

"I don't want anything big and extravagant," Xiao says. "I don't even want a bunch of people around. Don't forget, as much as you guys like to tell me otherwise, I'm still not like the rest of you. Danger follows me wherever I go. Gathering a bunch of our closest together in a setting with me sounds like a recipe for utter disaster."

I frown. "Babe," I say, "gathering a bunch of your closest friends and family together is always a recipe for utter disaster, so it's fine."

Zhongli finds that hilarious, which makes me laugh at my own joke, which also makes Childe laugh. The three of us share a moment as Xiao's eyes just bounce menacingly between us.

"I'm serious, guys," he says. "I don't want a big wedding. What's the point anyway? All that matters is that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Aether. Why does everyone need to be there for that?"

"Because those people care about us," I say. "They want to witness a beautiful moment between two people they care for becoming one. But if you really don't want too many people there, I respect that. We don't have to."

"You have time to think about it," Zhongli says, reaching for Xiao's hand. He pats it gently, offering a smile. "I'm proud of you."

Xiao looks up at him. Face flushed in embarrassment, he smiles back. "Thanks...dad."

We talk and dine until our plates are clean, then Childe grabs the bill. As we fix ourselves to head out, the four of us share separate embraces.

"What are you rugrats up to now?" Childe says.

"Oh," I say with a grin, "I have some place very special I'd like to take him."
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TO BE CONTINUED (guysss the next chapter will be the last for this story ☹️ it will be a long one though)