I Became the Mother of His Child

She just had to think about the ride to the county hospital where Song Yuanhuan had only given their daughter a nickname, feeling utterly embarrassed that her son's name was probably an afterthought.

Moreover, this man had already started calling their daughter by her nickname, which likely meant the girl's given name and nickname were set. Since that was the case, their son's name surely couldn't rhyme with his sister's— it looked like they had to pick a new one!

"I never favor girls over boys; I like both equally. I love all the children you give birth to," Song Yuanhuan immediately defended himself. Wasn't it just that, compared to his daughter who seemed frail and kitten-like, he felt more compassion than for his son, who had hogged too much nutrition in the womb?

His little son appeared clever, bullying his sister even from inside the womb. Why would he need extra care and attention? Song Yuanhuan hummed to himself, absolutely denying any bias towards his daughter. If he accepted this accusation, wouldn't just being a little nicer to his daughter turn into favoritism? No, he definitely couldn't wear that hat.

"Joker." Xu Xiuxiu rolled her eyes at him, helpless.

Song Yuanhuan could only sheepishly smile in return, then watched his little son spiritedly gulping down the remaining milk: "My son is really impressive," he praised, taking the empty bottle from Xu Xiuxiu's hand.

Xu Xiuxiu had fed both children, and sparse sounds started coming from outside, probably the Song family waking up to cook.

"Are you going to the county to register the babies this afternoon? Have you thought of a name for our son?" Xu Xiuxiu organized the little quilt around her son, and seeing him quietly asleep, gently placed the little boy next to his sister before slowly asking.

Not yet!

Song Yuanhuan suddenly found himself at a loss for words: "I was thinking of letting Dad help with the name, he also came up with Cheng Guang's name, and I quite liked it," he cleverly threw this tricky, potential wife-annoying problem to his father: "I'll mention it to him during breakfast."

"Alright." Since it was so, Xu Xiuxiu didn't object. Cheng Guang's name was indeed good, and Father Song was a respectable man with some education; it was reasonable to let the grandfather name his grandson.

Seeing Xu Xiuxiu nod, Song Yuanhuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his wife didn't probe further.

Inside the house, Song Yuanhuan and Xu Xiuxiu chatted and bantered, and outside, Mrs. Song, who had woken up early to cook, walked into the kitchen only to find the stove still warm. She guessed that her second daughter-in-law must have woken up, and her son had come out to help heat some water, making her feel like an incompetent mother-in-law. She had planned to take good care of Xu Xiuxiu during her postpartum recovery, but after running around the county town last night, she had been too exhausted and had slept straight through to morning.

Now, seeing the stove used for heating water, she felt guilty. Remembering that much of yesterday's ginseng chicken soup had been drunk by her eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Qinghua, she gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath, then carefully prepared two types of food suitable for a new mother and carried them to her second son's house.

"Yuanhuan, is Xiuxiu awake? I made some food; take it in for Xiuxiu to eat! She must be starved after last night's exhaustion!" Mrs. Song knocked gently and spoke as her son opened the door: "I was tired yesterday, forgot to prepare some food for Xiuxiu." Mrs. Song explained, hoping her son and daughter-in-law wouldn't mind.

"Don't worry, Mom!" Song Yuanhuan took the food and then opened the door, gesturing for Mrs. Song to enter.

Inside, Xu Xiuxiu was lying down, unable to sit any longer, but she appeared quite energetic. Seeing Mrs. Song enter the room, she smiled, "Mom, thank you for all your hard work yesterday." Xu Xiuxiu politely said the usual pleasantries. Although it was her mother-in-law, it was somewhat acceptable for her to endure some hardship during the postnatal care period. Still, it was good to be polite, so Mrs. Song would do her best in taking care of her during her confinement, especially in preparing thoughtful meals which could make her confinement period much easier.

"Not at all, not at all! What is a little hardship for one's own grandchildren? You must be the one who is truly exhausted!" Mrs. Song said with a constant smile, gently patting Xu Xiuxiu's hand, "I cooked a couple of dishes without much salt. They're bland, but please try to eat some. I'll make you some soup at noon to help with milk production. The weather outside is also just suitably cold. It snowed all last night and covered the paths. Now that you are in your confinement, it's good timing since the New Year is near and the household isn't too busy. I can take care of you more attentively." Mrs. Song spoke with praiseworthy tones yet her gaze occasionally tenderly moved toward the two Little Babies sleeping in the bed.

Seeing the two children lying neatly, Mrs. Song's heart softened.

"Thank you, Mom," Xu Xiuxiu continued to express her gratitude.

Mrs. Song immediately smiled contentedly and then left the room.

That morning at the breakfast table, Song Yuanhuan mentioned to Father Song the idea of naming their son. Father Song was delighted, quickly finished his breakfast, and began flipping through the family genealogy and the Xinhua Dictionary to research.

Eventually, Father Song gave three names for Song Yuanhuan to choose from: Song Chenhuan, Song Chenbin, and Song Chenhao. Song Yuanhuan found it difficult to decide and went to ask Xu Xiuxiu for her opinion.

Xu Xiuxiu liked all three names. 'Chenhuan' suggested a refreshing rejuvenation, 'Chenbin' was derived from the characters for both the literary and martial arts implying versatility, and 'Chenhao' meant bright and clear, additionally alluding to the moon. All the names were indeed quite nice.

"Let's go with Song Chenhao!" After thinking it over, Xu Xiuxiu chose the third one, feeling it flowed better, "Does he have a nickname?" Xu Xiuxiu had always regretted not giving Song Chengguang a nickname, but since Song Chengguang was already not young, calling him by a nickname now wouldn't be habitual for him. Hence, Xu Xiuxiu abandoned the idea of giving him a nickname.

"No!"

"Then, let Chenhao's nickname be Little Moon!" Xu Xiuxiu decided firmly.

"Okay!" Song Yuanhuan had no objections.

Thus, once the child's name was decided, Song Yuanhuan left for the county's Police Station at noon to register the birth, while Xu Xiuxiu began to settle into her postnatal life at home.

Xu Qingqing had been eagerly waiting for her sister to come home since she heard that Xu Xiuxiu had returned from City Z the day before. Knowing her sister's pregnancy made it inconvenient for her, Xu Qingqing brought some gifts and visited the Song Family only to unexpectedly learn that her sister had gone into labor the very night she arrived home and had rushed to the county hospital where she gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl.