Letting go of self-restraint 2 - All that is missing is a little one

Chapter 14

Wei Wuxian quickly tightened his inner robe around himself, hiding his stomach; only now did he realized that he was steadily getting fatter during the last two or so weeks, only he did attribute it to him recovering his appetite and slightly lacking on physical exercise, not to being pregnant. He did not want his husband to see his distorted form and put two and two together.

Lan Zhan kneeled beside him, his face worried and his eyes full of questions. The woman looked at their intimacy and apparently deduced they were partners because she started scolding the Gusu Lan sect disciple: "Young Master, how could you leave your..."

Wei Wuxian quickly stepped in, he knew what the woman wanted to say and it horrified him. He stared intensely at the woman while smiling and reassuring the Second Jade: "Lan Zhan, everything is alright, I just stayed in the water too long and got dizzy once I got out. It is better now, I just need to catch my breath. This lady here was nice enough to help me." He now turned to fully face the woman: "Thank you, Miss, I appreciate your assistance. My husband is here now; I will be alright."

The woman, although visibly disapproving and eyeing him with concern, nodded her head in response, scoped up her child into her hands and left them alone after wishing them a good day. Wei Wuxian breathed out in relief, he was glad the woman understood and did not pursue the matter further. He got up ignoring Lan Zhan's worried eyes that followed each of his movements.

The younger boy put all his energy into pretending that he was alright, heading down the path to the inn. The older boy's eyes never left him; he stopped when Lan Zhan could no longer hold himself back: "Wei Ying, what happened? Are you really alright? The lady looked especially alarmed..."

"Ah, Lan Zhan, I really am alright. I am not feeling dizzy anymore. The lady was distressed because her daughter got lost, and as it happened, the small girl found her way to the pond I was soaking in. I just got up too quickly when I saw her and wanted to spare her the look at my nudity. Or should I have spoiled her innocence?" Wei Wuxian finished with a wink in the direction of the Second Jade.

"Shameless," was Lan Zhan's only reaction. The younger boy could see that his soulmate was not fully convinced but he did not ask for another explanation. There was a small prick of guilt, Wei Wuxian did not want to hide anything from his husband, nevertheless, he was doing it for his own good.

Now he had to think about a plan how to deal with the situation at hand; he had to take care of it as soon as possible.

***

While they were travelling around, they heard news about a big cerebration that was being prepared in Lotus Pier; Jiang Yanli was pregnant. All of Yunmeng was in an uproar, preparing for the festivities, not only in Lotus Pier itself but in many bigger and smaller cities as well.

As soon as Wei Ying heard about it, he was excited more than Lan Wangji had seen him in a long while. His soulmate did not even have to ask, they both headed towards Lotus Pier the very next day. Until now they were travelling on horseback to conserve spiritual energy and to enjoy their journey, now however, they flew on swords to reach their destination faster. The Yunmeng Jiang disciple wanted to make sure that his sister would not overexert herself while insisting on taking part in preparations for the upcoming celebration.

Lan Wangji, however, was hiding his own worries concerning his husband; once again the younger boy looked extremely tired after only a short time using his spiritual energy: "Wei Ying is apparently still not fully recovered. I am starting to worry that it could be caused by something more serious. This has never happened before, or at least I have never heard about such a significant drop in one's abilities due to natural causes.

I better have him consult a doctor; but he would not hear to that, he still wants to keep his second gender a secret... What do I do? There are only two doctors that he would perhaps speak to, Wen Qing and Wen Ning. I will try to explain to them as soon as I see one of them. It is really concerning, what if it really is something serious that puts Wei Ying in danger? We need to act quickly."

When they arrived to Lotus Pier, Lan Wangji went to greet the happy couple and then he snatched away the Dafan Wen doctor despite his feeble protests that he had a celebration to prepare. Wen Ning followed him quickly enough when he saw how serious the Second Jade's expression was and how tight his was the grip on his wrist.

Lan Wangji now knew Lotus Pier and the surrounding town well, he could thank Wei Ying for that for he was the one who showed him all his favourite spots. He headed to his husband's favourite tree in the gardens. When they reached their destination, he looked around in order to assure himself that there was no one who could overhear them.

Wen Ning did not understand why the Gusu Lan sect disciple was so secretive but he decided to wait patiently until the older boy spoke.

In the meantime, Lan Wangji was berating himself for his lack of communication skills: "How will I explain so Wen Ning would understand? I know I am not good with words, I should have brought Xichen with me, he needs to know as well anyway. Should I just let it go for now and talk to him later when I will be better prepared? I could perhaps also write him a letter; I could always explain better when it was in writing... No, what if it is really serious? Every second counts."

He gathered all his determination and faced the Dafan Wen doctor. Just as he was about to start explaining, he heard Wei Ying calling for him, his soulmate's voice was getting closer and closer.

He looked pleadingly at Wen Ning and whispered: "Tomorrow morning. Meet me here. Please." The effort he needed for this simple plea was enormous, he should really write a letter.

Fortunately, the younger boy seemed to understand: "Of course, Young Master Lan. Do I understand correctly that you do not want Young Master Wei to know you were talking to me?" Lan Wangji nodded. "If that is so, let us meet right after you wake up, I presume Young Master Wei still does not like waking up early, am I correct?"

The Second Jade nodded again, both in acknowledgment of Wen Ning's guess and out of gratitude for his understanding.

Wei Ying was already at a hearing distance. The Dafan Wen doctor winked at Lan Wangji and pretended they were having a conversation that the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciple just interrupted: "Young Master Lan, I am glad my sister's advice was to your uncles liking. We can discuss more at a later date; we have a celebration to prepare."

Wei Ying just joined them, beaming with happiness for his sister's joy, he started immediately tugging them back to where everyone was busy preparing the evening banquet.