Whispers in the Winter Wind

Yasushi peeked into his daughter's room, a soft smile touching his lips at the sight of both girls already asleep, curled up in their beds. He then moved to Xinyi's room, the low glow from her monitor illuminating her face as she played a game, muttering colorful curse words under her breath, which caused him to chuckle.

He then checked in on the living room to find the others, but Jingliu wasn't there, they were all engrossed in some melodramatic television program, so he decided not to interrupt them. Finally, he made his way to the kitchen, where he found Jingliu already at work, she had initiated her cooking, beginning the complex process of making a meal for him.

Yasushi had the exact same plan in mind, that he was going to also be preparing her a meal as well, so he gave her a loving peck on the lips and then immediately began his own food preparation, his mind already focused.

What Yasushi intended to make was Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, this wasn't a new or difficult dish for him as he had a great deal of experience crafting it over the long years of his life in the United Kingdom.

Jingliu, on the other hand, had envisioned the creation of Moo Goo Gai Pan, this dish is straightforward, it is chicken and mushrooms. In more detail, Moo Goo Gai Pan is a chicken stir-fry, the dish is thickened using cornstarch, and it's always served on a bed of fresh, crunchy vegetables, providing a great textural contrast.

The two of them worked side-by-side in the kitchen, a focused concentration on their separate dishes, the only sounds between them being the gentle clatter of pans and the soft sizzle of cooking food.

They would, from time to time, engage in small conversations, these exchanges centered on the most unremarkable of topics, sharing simple thoughts and passing comments as they continued their preparations.

The enticing smells that began to waft from the kitchen, slowly pulled in the other housemates, their noses leading them right to the source of the aromas. One by one they made their way into the kitchen, a mixture of curiosity and anticipation painting their expressions, as they observed the two chefs working.

Jingliu and Yasushi explained their intentions, that the meal they were making was for the other, and that they would both prepare servings for everyone else once their own were complete.

With this explanation, the housemates, happily satisfied with this arrangement, moved out of the kitchen, leaving Jingliu and Yasushi to their work, the space becoming their own private domain once again.

Once everything was finally prepared, they settled onto their stools, watching the food bubble away in its pans, a comfortable quiet enveloping them both. Yasushi reached out, his arms circling around her waist, gently pulling her close.

Jingliu responded by placing her head against his shoulder, a natural and sweet action, they simply relished the feel of each other and this comforting closeness. "Hey… why have you been so distant lately, since last month?" Yasushi asked, the question abrupt, his tone casual and calm, causing Jingliu to tense up, the comfortable ease immediately replaced with a sudden rigidity.

Jingliu didn't respond immediately; a heavy silence descended, each passing second amplifying the tension. After a complete minute had passed, she finally released a heavy breath, a sigh that spoke of a complicated internal struggle.

"...I can't tell you everything, not right now... please, just give me a little more time. I need a bit more time to fully confirm something, okay?" she spoke, the words slightly shaky, revealing an internal vulnerability.

Yasushi felt a wave of relief wash over him, a sense that this wasn't a case of anger or resentment from her, however, her thoughts were still unclear to him, he couldn't understand the true nature of her feelings.

"Okay, I'll give you more time, but I'm worried about this. Please, tell me as soon as you can," he replied, then gently placed a kiss on her temple, a tender show of affection and support.

Jingliu reached out and took his free hand, giving it a soft, gentle squeeze, a simple gesture that spoke volumes of their connection.

"I will, I promise. I'm really sorry for worrying you. In maybe a month or two I will be able to tell you everything… so just please wait until then," she said, her words laced with a mix of apology and a hopeful reassurance.

Yasushi made a small grunt, a simple noise showing his agreement. The cooking was finally complete, the food was ready to be eaten, and they tasted their dishes first, both agreeing that they tasted amazing.

"...I hadn't had a lot of this dish, but it's great, I really like it," Yasushi commented, a genuine pleasure shining in his eyes.

"Your Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding is as perfect and amazing as it always is," Jingliu replied, resting a hand on her cheek with content, this simple statement conveying her immense enjoyment and appreciation for his cooking.

They then proceeded to prepare plates for the rest of the household, carefully portioning out both dishes, this was then followed by a chorus of footsteps returning to the kitchen, each person drawn in by the prospect of a late-night snack.

The food was received with genuine enthusiasm by all, and a great sense of enjoyment and laughter filled the kitchen as they sat together, sharing the food and company, leading to an extra hour of shared fun before everyone went to their beds for the night.

As Yasushi lay in bed, Jingliu settled comfortably on his chest, her warm presence a comforting weight against him, but his mind was still actively engaged in thought, he just couldn't shake the feeling of anticipation and nervousness about what this information she was keeping from him would be.

His eyes remained fixated on the ceiling, staring at the plain surface, his mind attempting to play through different possible scenarios, each thought a mental projection of what might be coming, but his mind would draw blanks as he couldn't know the true nature.

Possible ideas he had already decided to be the case, now seemed to be completely unlikely, this made it difficult to pinpoint any one outcome that felt most probable, his mental processes struggling to find an answer.

He continued to struggle with these thoughts for another five minutes, then with a heavy breath and a feeling of mental exhaustion, he decided to give up on trying to guess and let himself drift into sleep.

+-+

"Yeah, she is beginning to show that pregnant belly, you know, it's becoming more obvious. I really think of you as my family, you know? You guys had better make it back for the birth," Furuya stated over the phone, a cheerful laugh following his words, expressing his genuine happiness.

Yasushi responded with a chuckle, mirroring Furuya's light-hearted tone and replied, "Yeah, we'll do our best to plan our return back to Japan around the birth. Please send my regards to her, I've heard that pregnancy can be a difficult experience for a lot of women, and that the severity of it can fluctuate wildly depending on the person."

"Yeah, we looked into all that and did a bunch of early tests and we found that there's nothing wrong with her, so everything looks good. It should just be a standard, normal pregnancy," Furuya responded with a long sigh from the other end of the call, showing his relief.

Two months had passed by since that conversation, and Yasushi was now standing in his kitchen, going about his task of wiping down the dishes after having made lunch for his family.

The day that Jingliu would reveal the secret she had been holding onto was approaching, and he patiently waited, trying to contain his own excitement and anticipation, which he was feeling with a great intensity.

"That's great to hear," Yasushi answered, continuing the phone conversation, talking with Furuya for a short while longer before eventually ending the call.

He then turned his attention to his two daughters and little sister, they were all enjoying the food he had prepared, their attention was focused on the food.

The mothers to his children, sat there next to him, chatting and laughing along with his own mother, who had brought his sister along to visit their home.

At that moment, Jingliu walked into their home, she greeted all three of the women, and they all engaged in a bit of casual conversation before Jingliu walked away from them and over to Yasushi, who had been waiting for her to do so.

"Can we have a talk?" she asked, her voice betraying the nervousness she felt, and he quickly agreed to the discussion.

He then gently rubbed the heads of his daughters and little sister, informing them he would be back soon, before following Jingliu as they both left the room and went upstairs to their bedroom.

Once they were inside, she first went into the conjoined bathroom before returning back out, she had her hands behind her back, a clear show of the nerves that were causing her tension.

Yasushi's mind began to make the connection, seeing all of the pieces falling into place, causing his body to start to sweat, a mix of nervousness and genuine excitement bubbling up inside of him. He wondered if this was finally the moment, the moment he had been waiting for.

After a few long seconds of waiting, Jingliu finally revealed what she had been hiding, her hands bringing forward an object she had concealed behind her back and presenting it directly to Yasushi.

Yasushi stood completely still, a complete and total stillness taking over his body as his eyes remained fixed on the item that was held in front of him, his mind trying to make sense of it.

"Is this real...?" he questioned, his voice barely above a whisper, still struggling with the disbelief that was growing inside him.

Jingliu nodded her head, her cheeks now a rosy pink, betraying a blush that had appeared, she squeaked out a quiet "Yes..." she was clearly feeling a mix of nervous and shy emotions.

In Jingliu's hands was a positive pregnancy test, the two lines clearly visible, confirming the life-changing information. Yasushi rubbed his eyes, then focused back on the test, he blinked a few times, hoping that this was some kind of illusion or his eyes playing tricks on him, but in his heart he knew this was all real, this was their reality.

He took the test in his own hands, he wanted to observe it up close, then he gently placed it on the nearby table before pulling Jingliu into a tight hug, then lifting her up and spinning her around, a pure expression of joy taking over his movements. Jingliu responded with a little squeal, clearly happy as he then gently set her down, his eyes meeting hers with a bright smile on his face.

"How long has it been? A month? Do you know how many? What's the gender?" Yasushi asked, his words a flurry of excitement, the happiness practically radiating off him in waves.

Jingliu shook her head, a small smile now appearing on her face, and then she began to explain, "I first found out about a month after the wedding. I took a number of different pregnancy tests, and each one of them showed that I really was pregnant. I then had to do a few private investigations in order to find out all the medical details about the pregnancy, but just this month I finally was able to confirm all of the details."

She paused to take a deep breath, then continued, "We're… having a baby girl... and… it's just one. My parents are aware of this but I asked them to keep it a secret from everyone else. I decided to tell them first since I needed to know if there were any serious medical issues that we should be worried about. Once I had that part taken care of, I then needed to get a few other preparations sorted out, and now… we're here, finally able to tell you."

She then added, "I was a bit moody for a while there since I needed some time to figure out all of this new information, and all the tests that I had to do, they took a lot longer than I thought they would, and for that I'm sorry." She then settled her head against his chest, a comforting and loving action.

"It's fine, it's fine," Yasushi said softly, his arms wrapping around her in a warm embrace, he didn't really care about that small issue in the grand scheme of things. He was really just concerned for her health and well being, although his ideal scenario would have been for her to tell him everything straight away so they could go through it all together, but what had happened was now in the past and they could only look forward.

The two of them started to speak about everything in great detail, discussing how they planned on telling everyone else about the new development.

After a few minutes of planning, they decided that they would tell everyone who was in the house at the time, which included Yinhaie, Nandini, Yunxue, Layena, Kohana his mother, his little sister Himari, and his two daughters Yue and Advika.

They spent a short while preparing themselves before they went downstairs, they gathered everyone together in the living room, causing confusion and curiosity amongst the group.

However, the confusion quickly turned into excitement when Jingliu revealed the news, the entire room erupted into sounds of cheering and joy, with happiness filling the space.

"We're getting another sister!?" Yue asked excitedly, her eyes wide with joy and a huge smile on her face.

"We're… going to be big sisters now..." Advika said calmly, but the tone of her voice gave away her genuine excitement, despite her efforts to seem composed.

"I'm going to be a bigger, bigger sister," Himari stated, nodding to herself with pure excitement, her face glowing with happiness.

After a short period of celebrating, every single person in the room had the exact same question on their minds, "So, when is the wedding happening?" they asked with a strong sense of curiosity.

Almost all the eyes in the room turned towards Yasushi, waiting for him to respond, he looked back at them all, then turned to Jingliu, and she nodded her head in agreement.

"We can… start making plans once we inform everyone about it. Please, would you help me with that?" she said, and everyone in the room responded with an enthusiastic agreement, they were all beyond happy to help with anything they could.

A few hours later, as night began to settle over them, Xinyi suddenly burst into the home and made her way straight to the living room, she shouted "Yasu!! You better put a baby in me soon!!" her words filled with a silly sense of humor.

Yasushi reacted with a facepalm, his hand covering his face as the rest of the room erupted with laughter, while Jingliu shook her head in slight annoyance at the ridiculousness of her statement. Yasushi's children were mostly confused by the whole situation, but didn't really question it.

The rest of the night could only be described as chaotic, with the household members, their friends, and their coworkers, all sharing in their happiness and excitement for the soon to be growing family.

+-+

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Yasushi stood at the altar of the church, his body facing the pews, his eyes gazing towards the back, waiting patiently. Today was his wedding day. Months had passed since the joyous news, and now, the day was finally here.

A mixture of anxiety and happiness washed over him, his heart pounding with anticipation, because after today, his life would be taking another significant step forward, a new chapter was beginning and he felt extremely excited for it.

He noticed in the polished surfaces of a few items around the church the reflections of the many friends, family, and coworkers who had come to witness the union, which made his heart swell with immense happiness.

However, his thoughts were interrupted as the soft music began to play, which was his cue, the one that he was anticipating.

He knew that this meant that Jingliu was beginning her walk down the aisle, his stomach filled with butterflies, and a wave of excitement rushed through him, a feeling he had been waiting for.

Eventually, she arrived, as he turned to look at her, a wave of emotion took over him, tears beginning to form in his eyes, she was so beautiful, but he fought back the urge to let them fall, not wanting to ruin the perfect image of this special moment.

He took a brief look to the side, his eyes catching the sight of everyone smiling towards him and Jingliu, their faces filled with happiness, he could see his children and his little sister, they were all dressed up as flower girls, with Furuya, his best man, giving him a huge grin from his spot beside him.

He also had other friends standing there as his groomsmen, since they had both decided they wanted to have a traditional western style wedding.

Finally, the veil was removed from Jingliu's face, she was now in full view of Yasushi and he gazed upon the woman who would soon become his wife, her face radiated pure happiness, her pregnant belly was noticeable, a symbol of the life they were creating together, and at this point the priest began his opening words, the wedding ceremony now beginning.