Zaria Joseph stepped out into the central garden, taking a deep breath to steady herself after the crush of bodies inside. Here and there, bodies sat on benches, some enjoying the beautifully sculpted topiary and flower beds, others just taking a breath as she was. She pushed her shoulder length, glossy curls behind her ears, and smoothed her hands down the puffy material of her gown. The navy blue fabric was comfortable to wear, but at heart, she was still a jeans girl, and dresses always felt a little alien. She smiled as she caught sight of her youngest brother-in-law hiding on a stone bench set against the wall, barely visible behind the shrubbery.
"I wondered where you escaped to, Hideki!" She plopped down on the stone next to the young man with a groan. "How could you leave me in there with all of those people!"
The young man grinned and scooted over to give her some more room. "I remember being worried when the Gu family adopted me that I was going to be mocked or ignored."
"Well, that certainly didn't happen!" Zaria braced her hands behind her and leaned back to look up along the wall to the skyscrapers and moons above. "It is because you and this family are both too wonderful, a perfect match. So how is school? Have you decided on your major?"
Zaria smiled softly as she listened to Hideki talk about first year courses and clubs that he was interested in. Thanks to having the ability to attend school and take extra classes while not needing to work, she only had one more semester until her own time in university was finished. She was already worrying about what she would do after. Should she take her degrees in civil engineering and architecture to a private firm? Or should she accept Gu Cheng's offer to work for the company he wanted to start up for her? It seemed like a bad idea to start her own firm immediately after graduating, so going to an already accredited company for experience made more sense. If only she could get Gu Cheng to calm down about people telling her what to do...
As though summoned by her thoughts of him, the door to the banquet hall opened again, and the distinctive figure of Gu Cheng exited, followed by the happy cries of "Mommy." He bent over and set a little figure on the ground, its legs churning trying to propel it forward before feet touched stone. Zaria leaned forward and scooped up the grinning boy. "Gu Hao Yu! What has mommy said about running so fast! What would I do if my little bunny fell and got hurt?"
"Sorry, Mommy!" The little boy spoke to her with a slight lisp and a sparkling smile.
"And now... you must be punished!" High giggles and shrieks filled the air as Gu Hao Yu tried to escape the tickle attack. When Gu Cheng caught up, he rubbed the boy's head and leaned over to kiss his wife's forehead.
"And why did my wife leave me in there with all those people?"
"Hideki did it first!" Zaria did not hesitate to throw the blame while she smoothed the little boy's hair and straightened his outfit. "I didn't think Grandpa would let this one out of his sight for even a second!"
"He decided to take a break and sit with some friends." Gu Cheng's voice was soft, and Zaria tried to smile so she didn't have to acknowledge Gu Heping's recent drops in energy. The birthday party still going in the banquet room was one filled with joy and a healthy dose of sadness for those closest to the old man. Everyone gets older, but seeing someone who had always been so full of life beginning to wind down was hard.
"I see," she said, resting her forehead against her son's and rubbing noses with him to make him giggle. "And somebody here has too much energy to let others rest!" Little Gu Hao Yu giggled more and dropped a moist kiss on her nose. She sniffed the air in front of his lips suspiciously.
Seeing her suspicious look, Gu Cheng hurried to cut her lecture off. "He only had a little piece of cake! Grandpa snuck him some when I was talking to Gu Qiang..."
Zaria scowled and made a note to yell at her oldest brother-in-law about his part as the distraction. She knew he did it on purpose...
"So, what were you two talking about while I was wrangling the wild bunny monster?"
The two brothers talked about school while Zaria stood up and offered her space to Gu Cheng. Carrying the little one, she slowly walked along the path winding through the garden, pointing out flowers and naming them as they went. Occasionally, they would pass someone taking a breather, and she would greet them before moving on. The sweet smell of flowers and Gu Hao Yu's distinctive sweet apple smell filled her nose. Her little one definitely had magic, but with any luck, they would not have to find out what kind for a few years at least. The idea of wrangling a little one who could freeze things or people was scary.
For just a moment, as she did occasionally, Zaria wondered how Rika and Yamada were doing. After leaving that world, it took two more hops to get to what they figured out was the right world, although they were dumped in the outback of Australia when they arrived. Luckily, a bush guide happened upon their tent and rescued them the first night. Upon getting in range of Sidney, their phones burst to life, hundreds of missed calls and text messages filling the screens.
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Just in case, Zaria was the one who made the call to Grandpa. If they happened to land in a world that had the same systems as Gu Cheng's, the likelihood that it held a Zaria Joseph that knew the Gu Cheng were so low as to be impossible. When Gu Heping heard her voice, she had to calm him down, his crying audible enough that Gu Cheng could hear him from two feet away. They were home.
When Gu Cheng's parents met Hideki and heard the rest of the story, they immediately made him part of the family, giving him a home and helping him to enroll in a foreign school while he learned the language. Within six months, they held a ceremony to adopt him, making him the newest addition to the Gu family. Zaria had been accepted three months before, when she took her picture with Gu Cheng for their marriage license. They decided to wait for a few weeks after the adoption ceremony to announce that the family would be greeting one more member in another 8 months.
Zaria smiled and rested her cheek against the soft hair of the littlest Gu. "Mommy, Hao Yu have birthday soon!"
"Not so fast, little bunny," she said with a chuckle. "My little Hao Yu still has quite a few months before he turns three. Don't grow up too fast."
"Hao Yu wants a sister."
Zaria caught herself as she tripped, trying not to laugh at the little one's request. "I don't think I can give you that, but Uncle Ye was telling me that he and Uncle Qiang are thinking of adopting soon. Maybe you can have a little cousin to play with! Would that be okay?"
"Mmm okay. But I want a girl cousin."
She sighed at his vocabulary. The super smart son of the cold ceo trope was unfortunately true in this world, her two year old son that spoke like a first grader clear evidence of that. Luckily, the one where the dad and the son have a rivalry was false. That was always one of her least favorite tropes of this setting, the dad being jealous of the attention the son got. But Gu Cheng doted on the little boy like he was the greatest gift Zaria could ever have given him. Which was good, since her husband had quickly taken personal measures to make sure he never had to see her go through such a horrible experience again after her labor with Gu Hao Yu.
It was not a one-sided decision, Zaria really was fine with just one child, and she was happy that her husband was so concerned about her. The teeny slight differences between them due to technically being different species of humans from different universes made her pregnancy a difficult one, her body not responding to the medications and epidural well. There would be no more children popping out. She was happy with the son she had, even if he was able to lecture her a few years earlier than she anticipated.
"I think we should leave that decision to them, don't you? You would be happy if your cousin were a boy too!"
"Maybe," he responded before burrowing into her shoulder and sticking a finger in his mouth to chew on it. Despite the sugar he had eaten, yes, she had to remember to yell at Grandpa and Gu Qiang for that, he was tiring quickly. The largest of the two moons was high above them, and the night was getting late.
Zaria finished the path and arrived back where she started. Gu Cheng took one look at the drooping eyelids of the little boy and suggested they head home. Hideki accepted the offer for a ride back to the family home where he was staying when not in the dorms at school. They all made their way through the hall, saying their goodbyes and letting all the grandparents and uncles have their sleepy bunny kisses before getting in the car.
Zaria snapped the waning child into the carseat at the back of Gu Cheng's shiny black SUV and climbed up to sit beside him. She chuckled as she thought of the article in the paper that morning about the rise in carseat usage for infants in children. Knowing that the world famous Chairman Gu insisted on his son being in one no matter what car he was in was changing the thinking of many parents across the city and country. If Chairman Gu Cheng of Gu Corp put the safety of his child above all else, then maybe they should to. It was a change that Zaria was ecstatic about.
After dropping off the youngest Gu brother and promising to come by the family home to visit later in the week, the small family made their way home to their apartment home at the edge of the city. It was getting small for their little family now that Gu Hao Yu was no longer in a crib in his room. His toys were beginning to spill out across the living room because Gu Cheng insisted his toys not be in his bedroom now that he could get out of bed easily to play with them at night. They had arrangements to visit a few houses further out of the city the next morning, hoping to find one that would feel right.
Zaria yawned as she got Gu Hao Yu out of his carseat when they arrived at the apartment. Gu Cheng kissed her forehead and took the sleeping child for her, holding him tightly with one arm and grabbing her hand with his. Little acts of public affection like that were beginning to become more mainstream as well. Only with married couples, of course. Young unmarried ones still needed to behave chastely, but the times were changing thanks to the cold ceo next to her. Zaria smiled up at him, her heart skipping when he smiled back. Not for the first, or the hundredth time, she reveled in her luck that led her to meet the amazing man. She was glad that she had not stuck to her first impression of him.
After the sleeping little boy with the sweet smile was kissed and tucked into his bed, and after a more adult session of affection was held in the master bedroom next door, Zaria sighed in her bed, content. Gu Cheng was already nodding off, but he rolled over and pulled her tight against him, murmuring words of endearment into her hair. Zaria smiled and wiggled around enough that she could plant a short kiss on his lips, feeling his smile forming beneath hers. "I love you too, Mr Gu."