Shen Yi stared at his wife as she slept and at Little Yuyan as she drew on her newest sketchpad that he bought for him. The girl was obviously taking a liking in arts and crafts while her twin brother was busy reading several random books that took his interest.
Whether it was business, educational, or medical books; Shen Yi and Lu Xinyi occasionally found the boy sitting at the corner with a book while his twin sister lying on the carpeted floor holding a huge crayon on one hand.
“Stop it, Yi,” Lu Xinyi grunted and rolled on her side.
“Stop what?” He demanded confusedly.
“Stop tapping your fingers on the table and overthinking,” she mumbled without opening her eyes.
“I’m not doing anything,” he argued, but instantly stopped his fingers so he wouldn’t anger her any further. Did he disturb her sleep? Shen Yi wondered if his tapping was loud enough to wake her up.
If his calculations were correct, Lu Xinyi was about to enter her twelfth week along her pregnancy. The knowledge was strange to him as he couldn’t see any visible difference yet, except that she was getting sicker each pa.s.sing day.
Was this even normal for expectant mothers?
Shen Yi stared outside the window of the room, seeing the bright sky. As she slept, he’d contemplated this newest development in his life with Lu Xinyi. She was pregnant, and the thought alone was astonis.h.i.+ng for him.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t planned on having a child with her; in fact, it was the opposite. He wanted to have his own family with her, but the biggest problem now was to keep her and their family safe.
Whatever life he did have before meeting her suddenly became insignificant and couldn’t be comparable to the life he had now with her. With the twins joining their family and a little bun coming soon, Shen Yi didn’t regret marrying her one bit.
True, he was the reason why her life was subjected to danger, but there was this sick part of him that relished on having her around him, near him and pregnant with his child. Shen Yi loved her so much that he didn’t think he could ever let her go even in the afterlife.
As a child, he’d come to love her even if she’d disappeared completely out of his life after his Uncle Jin’s pa.s.sing. Even if he’d forgotten what she looked like, Shen Yi would never forget the feeling she evoked in him when they first met.
He didn’t realize how much he missed her until he’d met her again on that cruise vacation.
“By the way, are you sure you’re still going to finish your second year at the academy?” He asked in defeat. There was no arguing that he was wrapped around her finger. She wanted to finish her studies, and he wasn’t able to say no to her wishes.
Lu Xinyi slowly sat up and brushed a stray hair away from her face.
“Yes, I’ll limit my partic.i.p.ation in extracurricular activities though. I just hope my other schoolmates won’t issue any cooking challenge to this poor pregnant woman anytime soon.” She grimaced. It was obviously too late for her to change her mind since her enrollment at the academy had already been processed.
“What about the twins?” Shen Yi asked.
“They’ll be continuing their studies too, of course. We’ll have to drive them to school though,” she a.s.sured him.
Shen Yi frowned but didn’t object. The twins were old enough to attend regular school and didn’t need to do homeschooling like they used to.
“Can’t they just continue homeschooling?” He pushed, but Lu Xinyi snorted.
“Darling, the twins need to socialize with other kids, too. Here, there would be no one to accompany them but adults and bodyguards. Are you sure you don’t want them to see the world outside this mansion?” she countered.
“I cannot change your mind on this, I guess.” He sighed.
Lu Xinyi laughed. There went her control-freak husband again. He wanted to have control of all aspects in his life which already screamed perfectly. From the clothes he’d have to wear to the tiny details of the business deal he was entering, Shen Yi made sure he wouldn’t overlook anything; and those things he couldn’t control easily got on his nerves.
“They’ll be fine. Let’s just add capable guards if you’re worried about their safety.”
Neither of them said anything as Shen Yi continued his work while Lu Xinyi entertained herself by watching Little Yuyan make a doodle on her sketchpad right beside her, with Shen Zichen seated on the floor with another book he’d found from Shen Yi’s study.
There was no need to say a word as both enjoyed their quality time with the twins. Now that they were back, the twins were calmer and had stopped worrying about them leaving again.
Lu Xinyi was also thankful that they didn’t throw a tantrum when Shen Yi explained about their baby to them.
Alright so Lu Xinyi wasn’t sure when he knocked her up, but she supposed it was during the week before her departure for the World Patisserie Challenge. Her husband couldn’t keep his hands away from her, and she wasn’t free until she left the country to compete abroad.
Pregnant. The thought was terrifying for her. She didn’t know how to face it and was nervous, but Shen Yi was with her throughout her pregnancy. It didn’t sound so scary anymore.
Her hand rubbed her lower abdomen where her baby was. This was the rare time that she hoped her mother was still alive to guide her through this new milestone in her life. She didn’t know how this was going to be like as her pregnancy progressed.
Being pregnant was new to her; aside from being huge later on in the last weeks of pregnancy, Lu Xinyi had little idea of what would happen and what to expect. Her hand rubbed her lower abdomen again. Perhaps she and Shen Yi would learn through experience. She had no doubt that he would strive to become a perfect father to their children.
Seeing her daze again, Shen Yi asked her. “Are you hungry? I just asked Qiao He to buy all the sweetest strawberries he could find. Do you want some?”
Lu Xinyi’s eyes lit up. He was good alright. She’d give it to him. Shen Yi knew how to spoil her well.
“Yes, please.” She nodded at him.
Shen Yi went out of the room and walked to the kitchen, to the fridge, and pulled out the strawberries Qiao He bought for his wife. He made sure to remind him and the other servants to remove all the junk food within the mansion and keep the fridge full of healthy snacks his wife and the twins could munch on.
Lu Xinyi complained at first when he forbade her to eat or bake her favorite cheesecake. Later, she ended up sneaking some junk food courtesy of Shen Xue who received an earful of a lecture from his brother.
He came back to the room and gave her a bowl full of sweet strawberries much to her delight. Lu Xinyi ended up giving him a quick peck on his lips as a reward for his thoughtfulness.
“It’s nothing.” Shen Yi coughed at his hand and looked away, trying to ignore the slight blush that appeared on his face.