"Zhihao, explain."

After they've gotten home, Ethan waited for Lillie to sleep before contacting Song Zhihao to question his diagnose on her.

​​

[I apologize for my incompetence, Ethan. I'm prepared to take full responsibility.] Song Zhihao said in the other line, sincerity was evident in his tone.

[But please hear me out first. I believe it's better if we soothe this matter personally. That being the case, I would like to invite you and Miss Bai to visit my home. There's also...someone I want you two to meet.]

A curious brow arched at the peculiarity of Song Zhihao's words. Something compelled him to be under the impression that this wasn't just a simple case of misdiagnosis as they all initially thought.

His good friend is a brilliant physician. For Ethan to state that fact wasn't solely based on his relationship with Song Zhihao as his long-time friend, but purely because he earned it with his skills.

Song Zhihao had never misdiagnosed a patient before. That's why he had been so indignant and defensive when Cyrus and Cyra started bad-mouthing and cursing him; questioning the skills he worked so hard to hone.

But if his instincts failed him and Song Zhihao did made a mistake with his wife's diagnose, friend or not, Song Zhihao will pay a big price for endagering his wife and baby.

"We'll be there." He glaced at Lillie, who was lying on the bed taking a nap. "Probably around noon."

[Very well. I'll see you two soon then. Thank you for hearing me our first, Ethan.]

Humming, Ethan ended the call before silently sauntering back to the bed and join his wife. It was only the start of the day, and Ethan didn't anticipated that his energy would drain so quickly from that particular development.

A baby. His and Lillie's.

Oh god, he's going to be a father!

Pent up emotions that he's been concealing for Lillie were begging to be released. He kept a brave facade to not stress her out.

Honestly speaking, he also on the verge of having a panic attack when the twins dropped the bomb. He didn't know whether to be happy, excited, worried, or frightened.

Maybe all of the above. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. But there's one thing for sure, he can't wait to see their baby, he can't wait to have his own family.

Finally, his dream is gradually coming together. It's already within his reach, just a few more inches before he completely grasps it.

Ethan tilted his head to the side to get a good look on his wife's peaceful face. The healthy color of her skin returned when she had a light meal and a good rest.

The twins highly recommends that she doesn't strain herself, and rest when her body is telling her to. They also approved that Lillie should continue taking the vitamins Song Zhihao prescribed her with to increase her blood iron.

So far, the twins' prescriptions were not much different from Song Zhihao's, except for the additonal vitamins for pregnant women and the food she should and shouldn't eat.

Sigh. What a day.

"What seem to occupy your mind?" A dainty hand hovered over his eyes and uncoiled the frown he didn't realized he was wearing.

Her soft, warm fingers delicately traced his forehead in random, wavey patterns. A deep, content breath left his mouth. Lillie's touch was doing wonders to his nerves.

It's like magic. Just a few strokes and it calmed him down.

"Good morning. Did I wake you up?" Ethan turned to his side and planted a kiss on Lillie's forehead.

"Hmm...good morning." There's still a tinge of sleepiness in her voice, and it was both cute and sexy. How's that possible? "And no, I naturally woke up. I had enough rest."

"That's good. Do you feel better?"

"Much better." Lillie said before proceeding to bury her face on his chest.

Chuckling in amusement, Ethan placed his chin on the crown of her head. "I called Zhihao a while ago. He wants us to visit him at his house."

"What time?"

"Noon. We still have three hours. So in the meantime, we should cuddle some more."

"I like that very much." She muttered, her voice muffled by his shirt. A few seconds later after she said that, she added, "You didn't answered my question."

"Hm."

"Is it about our baby?"

"For most part, yes." He caressed her the back of her hand, drawing circles on it with his thumb "I was trying to picture our future."

"Is it...what you're hoping for?"

"It is exactly what I was hoping for."

Lillie felt his lips stretching into a smile against her head, and that completely verified his answer.

"Our family needs to hear about this soon. I wonder how they would react."

"Probably already expecting for this to happen—especially our mothers." Ethan can already see the mountain of shopping bags piling up filled with baby clothes and stuffs.

Then, the scene in his mind changed into three elder men holding a weapon of their choice. "Your father and grandfather would kill me. They'll probably pull Grandmaster Wei to join the fun."

Ethan cringed, imagining his motionless body lying on the pool of his own blood while the three elder men towered over him with frightening, cheshire-cat grins glowing in the dark.

"That's...a bit exaggerated, isn't it?"

"Let's hope that's the case...for our sake."

***

After a relaxing, warm shower, Lillie and Ethan put on some comfortable clothes and went downstairs. The servants prepared them a fresh plate of sliced, red persimmons to snack on.

The fruits were sweet and crunchy, a great snack in autumn as they were pretty abundant.

Back when she lived at the Bai estate, she and her family would personally pick a lot of persimmons directly from the orchard they own.

It's like a family tradition. They would peel the skin, then tie and hung them all up to air dry. When dried, they'll keep them inside a sealed container and wait until the fruits are coated in white, crytalized sugar.

The dried persimmons are then eaten as snacks during winter.

Remember those sweet treats, Lillie suddenly craved to eat some. Despite already eating the fresh fruit, dried persimmons are still the sweetest and most enjoyable to eat.

She can't wait to go persimmon picking soon. Especially since this time, Ethan would join them.

Speaking of Ethan, he's at the backyard porch over the phone with his father.

Fortunately, their respective morning schedules wasn't urgently asking for their presence.

[You have my permission, son. Luckily, there's nothing much you needed to do here—except for a few pile of documents that needs evaluation. But you still have a week before they're due, so no rush.]

"Alright, thanks dad."

Ethan's father, Li Yefeng, had grown concern of his son's frequent requests of not going to the office.

[You know, son, I noticed that your absence always had something to do with Lillie. Tell me honestly, what's going on this time? Are you two planning to go out on a date again? Although there's nothing wrong with that, and I completely understand how short-lived your leisure time with her is because of work, but please bear in mind how your actions would affect many people. You can't be like that all the time, son, you're Hong Long's CEO and future president.]

"Dad, I know well enough the consequences of my actions. But the situation we have this time is serious, and it requires my full attention."

[Why? What happened? Did something happened to Lillie?]

"I...we'll tell you soon, don't worry."

[If you say so.] Li Yifeng stopped probing. He trust that his son will eventually explain everything soon, just as he said. [Look after Lillie, alright? I pray for you two the best of health.]

"Always. Thanks, dad, see you later."