Jiang Cheng was pacing in front of the hospital's VIP room with so many thoughts running in his head. He wanted to go straight to Wei Ying's house and dragged that stubborn a** person here even if it meant having to knock him out and put him in the sack. Nevertheless, he wouldn't risk upsetting Lan Zhan again, for the scene from yesterday still made him break into cold sweats. It is said that the pregnancy hormone was not to be taken lightly, and he intended to heed this advice. Not only did he be killed by Wei Ying before he could marry Xichen if anything were to happen to the pregnant man, but he also wouldn't be able to forgive himself. As such, the only thing he could do now was to be patient and wait for the good news from Lan Zhan, for the latter texted him yesterday that he would convince Wei Ying to come.

Nevertheless, it wasn't one of his best specialties when it came to staying calm. The wait with no news drove him crazy, making his eyebrows drawn together and almost forming into one line due to his frown. Pacing back and forth on the marble floor to the point that it almost abraded the ground, Jiang Cheng was clutching his phone and kept looking at it once every two minutes to see if there were any incoming texts or calls. Once there wasn't, he groaned and continued with his pace, each time quicker than the previous one. Just then, the phone in his hand vibrated, making him stop short in his track and unlocking his phone immediately to read the text. After a gasp, he broke into a run without caring about the eyes the nurses were giving him.

Qiren was lying on the hospital bed, eyes closed but awake, and his left hand was covered with tubes and wires. His body was heavy even to move, while his chest felt tight at the struggle for breath. With a glance, one would have thought the older man was no longer with us if it weren't for the occasional oxygen mask turning foggy, indicating that he was still breathing. Nevertheless, as weak as he was, the moment he heard the creaking sound of the door, Qiren tried his best to open his eyes and looked at the approaching figure that seemed blurry to his vision.

"Jiang Cheng, did...you...find him?" Qiren weakly asked the blurry figure who was walking towards his bed in silence, "Did he...agree to come?"

Each word was spoken with difficulties, yet he put his effort to finish, for he really wanted to hear the answer. It was just yesterday when Jiang Cheng told him he had found where Wei Ying had moved. But on that very same day, Qiren collapsed in his office due to his hypertension and emotional distress. The moment he came to, he asked Jiang Cheng to help bring Wei Ying to him right away, for he wanted to see his son for the last time.

Though the question had been asked, the answer was not given, leaving the room in total silence. Qiren took this as a hint that Jiang Cheng couldn't make Wei Ying come to see him.

Right, why would he even care if I am about to die? In his heart, I was dead a long time ago, Qiren thought to himself as he swallowed back his tears and the lump on his throat.

"You look bad."

Qiren's eyes widened at the unfamiliar voice that did not belong to Jiang Cheng. He tried blinking to make the cloudiness vanish from his vision to which it was only a little success. Still, even though the voice and the appearance had changed over the years, there was no way Qiren wouldn't be able to identify his own flesh and kin. The very one he longed to meet.

His son.

His Wei Ying.

Tears began to roll down the older man's cheeks, blurring his vision once again. He was oscillating between joy and surprise, which rendered him speechless.

In his early sixties, the sight of a man crying like a baby made Wei Ying sighed before he picked up his words.

"Lan Zhan was right. I might live my life with remorse if I missed this chance," said Wei Ying as he went to pull a chair to sit next to the bed, "I know you may have me tracked and learn all about me; still, I wanted to tell you this myself. Lan Zhan is my husband.

Qiren nodded as an acknowledgment that he already knew.

Leaning back on his chair, Wei Ying crossed his arms over his chest and sat with his right ankle topping his left knee before saying, "who would have thought the owner of the largest supermarket in town could be in this state? Everyone said he's unbeatable. It seems to me that he can't beat old age."

Even when hearing those harsh words, Qiren wasn't angry even the slightest bit. The fact that his son, Wei Ying, was here right in front of him made the older man happy enough to even care about anything else. It had been more than ten years since his son left home and disappeared, and every single day, he had always missed his boy badly. Wei Ying's presence seemed to give him the strength to speak again.

"Thank you for coming, Wei Ying. My son." His voice was weak, yet it was clear and full of affection.

Wei Ying's stubbornness and ego crumbled down after hearing such an emotional voice. He found a lump clogging his throat, whereas mist of unshed tears blinded his vision.

Getting up and turning his back to the older man so he could hide his face in case tears would come down like a broken dam, Wei Ying lifted his face and blinked as if to prevent the crystal droplets from flowing. After composing himself and making sure his throat was clear to speak, he spoke his shoulder.

"I really don't want to forgive you. I want to hate you as long as I live," he paused to take a deep breath as if remembering something painful before continuing, "do you know why?"

Qiren's face turned grim, for he certainly knew the reason why. Thirty years ago, his obsession with opening up the biggest supermarket in town caused him unfathomable losses. The ambition drove him away from his sweet family. He remembered the day his wife collapsed in front of him and Wei Ying. He also remembered choosing his wife's basic treatment instead of surgery because he wanted to save the investment money.

If and only if he prioritized his wife's health over investment, he wouldn't have created the beginning of the rift between his joyous family.

As if knowing what exactly was on Qiren's mind, Wei Ying started speaking again.

"I begged you so hard to choose the surgery, but you convinced me that the result would be the same. And I believed you. After all, what did a three-year-old know?"

Wei Ying's shoulders shook from anger as he memories of that day popped up in his head.

"But it wasn't. You knew for sure that it wasn't the same, and yet you ignored it. Even to the last minute of mom's life, the only thing you think of at that time was that supermarket of yours."

The image of his wife's cold and lifeless body flashed before Qiren's eyes. That time, Wei Ying was panicking and calling him to say that his wife was sick. His son begged him to immediately come to the hospital; however, Qiren convinced his son that everything was okay.

"I called you, begged you to come to the hospital because mom wanted to see you one last time. And what did you do? Do you still remember?" asked Wei Ying; his voice trembled due to the cry that he could no longer contain.

Yes, I remembered. I ignored your call, said Qiren inside his head as he closed his eyes and blinked away the tears.

His wife hid her illness from him, saying it was just mere exhaustion. And for months, despite his wife having showing the same syndromes, Qiren was too busy to care as he engaged himself in generating sales for his small supermarket to ask for a loan from the bank. On the day he went to the bank, Wei Ying kept calling and asking him to come to the hospital right away because Meilin had collapsed. Thinking it might be just another same old syndrome, Qiren turned off his phone and waited for his turn to speak with the bank manager to discuss the loan. He didn't even spare a little thought in his head to think about his family, who was desperately waiting for him.

On that very day, Qiren got the money he had always wanted; yet he lost his family. His wife passed away without getting to see her husband's face one last time. A day after his mother's funeral, Wei Ying stopped talking to him and acted as distant as possible. For years until the midnight of his sixteen birthday, the cold treatment was carried on where Wei Ying left home and cut off all contacts with him.

"At that time, instead of asking for the biggest supermarket, I should've asked for a happy family. I wish I could turn back time and ask for my mom back," Wei Ying choked on his words; his face was in his hand as he sobbed.

"But I guess I also played a part in mom's death as well. If and only if I didn't ask for a supermarket, maybe the warm and caring family I once have had might still be here."

Qiren looked at his son's trembling back with a broken heart. He wanted to shout out and said that it wasn't his fault that his mother died. It was solely his obsession with power and money that drove the family to this state. Still, the words that came out of his lips were an apology instead of solace.

"I am...so...sorry..."

Wei Ying turned back immediately, making him arrive at Qiren's bed in a flash, "I don't want a sorry from you."

"...for taking away...a once happy family...from you," Qiren finished his sentence weekly. His eyes were getting heavy, and he felt like sleeping. However, he used every last strength in his to stay awake.

"I don't come here to accept your apology. I'm here to reclaim the thing I once lost. And not from you, but with you."

The older man looked up at his son in surprise, unable to utter even a single word.

"This morning, I read all the letters you've been sending me all those years. Lan Zhan made me do it. He said that the only way to avoid living a life full of regrets was to come out of hiding and face it. So I did."

Lifting the wrinkled and frail hand from the bed, Wei Ying gently held his father's hand and continued, "to finish writing, each of that letter must have been hard for you. Because writing them meant you were reminiscing those hurtful pasts over and over and putting them into words; still, you overcame the pain and finished each piece meaningfully. Admitting faults had never been easy for a prideful man like you, but you did it in each and every of that letter. It made me realize that you've been living as a failure despite becoming a successful businessman when it comes to your personal life. You're just in so much pain as I am, and I think that it's time to put a stop to this."

Qiren's face was plastered with a combination of astonishment, relief, and happiness as he looked at his son. Wei Ying gave a slight smile and stared out the window before motioning with his chin for his father to follow.

"Can you see that first leaf on that big tree? I bet it wasn't visible yesterday; however, today, they tried so hard to get out of snow. Do you know what that means? It means spring is coming. When spring comes, it always marks the beginning of something."

Wei Ying paused before directing his gaze back to Qiren.

"And I want you to be a part of my something new this year, dad."

With the word 'dad' coming from Wei Ying, Qiren let go of everything that was binding him. His last wish to reunite with his son was accomplished. Right now, his body was as light as a feather. Using the remaining of his strength, he squeezed his son's hand as hard as he could before bringing his eyes to a close.

Meilin, I finally dared to face you now when we meet again.

Qiren felt his consciousness drifted away, for he could no longer see nor hear anything around him.

Seeing his father in this peaceful state, Wei Ying put the weak hand back gently on the bed and sighed. With one last look, he turned on his heels and stepped out of the room, to where his Lan Zhan was waiting.

Four years later...

"Happy birthday, grandpa."

A pretty girl with round, honeyed-color eyes held a birthday cake with two candles lightened─ six and seven. The cake was in the same shade as her dress, given it was a strawberry cake.

"Don't forget to make a wish before you blow the candles," said a boy in the brown eyes and short black hair.

An older man in his wheelchair did as his grandchildren had told him to do. He put both his hands together and closed his eyes, mumbling inaudible words. Once he was done, he opened his eyes and blew the candle, earning applause from the people surrounding him.

"What did you wish for, grandpa?" the girl asked curiously.

"A-Qing! You can't ask someone for their wishes!" scolded the boy.

"Why, Xue Yang? Why can't he tell us?"

"Because if everyone knows about it, the wish won't come true anymore."

A-Qing pouted, disappointed, and was about to ask another question when her father, or rather, male mother, cut her off.

"Children, go and wash your hands. Food will be ready soon."

"Yes, mommy," said A-Qing as she began to break into a run towards the bathroom inside the house. She turned back and shouted over her shoulder, "Xue Yang, whoever washes the hand last will get smeared by the cake."

"What?!" Xue Yang was surprised at the unexpected challenge. But as a boy, there was no way he would lose in terms of the run even if it were a match between his twin sister.

"Oh no, you won't!"

Xue Yag began to chase after A-Qing, ignoring Lan Zhan's scream behind them.

"Don't run! You'll fall!"

"They'll be fine, babe."

Wei Ying slid his hand over Lan Zhan's shoulder, who sighed after watching the fraternal twins disappear inside the house.

"Why do they keep calling me 'mommy'? I am a man for Pete's sake."

"Well, what do you expect them to call you? They have learned in school that whoever gives birth is the mother."

"But I am still a man."

"Then what do you want them to call you? They can't call you dad since I already crown that title."

With another sigh, Lan Zhan rolled his eyes and said, "They can call me daddy then. You're the dad, and I am the daddy. It is way better than being called mommy. Just imagine they shout this out while I am doing grocery shopping."

"Why?"

"It would be lovely."

"Lovely? Just..."

Sitting in his wheelchair, Qiren smiled as he watched his son and sons-in-law began the couple's quarrel.

If they keep fighting like this, I might as well start thinking of the proper name for my next grandchild, Qiren thought to himself.

"You'll never catch me!"

"You bet!"

Joining the fighting ring was the sound of Xue Yang and A-Qing running back from the house. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan decided to put their lover's spat on hold and started looking after the twins who were beginning to make a mess.

Qiren watched the chaos before him with a broad smile before glancing around his villa, feeling countless emotions hitting him. He couldn't believe that his once quiet house had become this lively.

It was unbelievable, yet it was real.

He did not just own a house.

He now finally had a place to call 'home.'

And home is where the heart is.

~~~THE END~~~

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