Wolf King and his Fox Consort [BL]

It turned out that Chu Yun did have some milk.

Amazingly, when he held the baby to his chest, she latched and began suckling immediately. Not longer after, she fell back asleep.

"Itches," Chu Yun said, handing her back to Xiao Zai. "She has sharp little gums."

Xiao Zai chuckled. "Imagine when their teeth grow in."

Chu Yun paled. Hopefully he'd have run dry by then. He felt guilty about that thought as soon as it floated to the surface of his mind.

Still, Xiao Zai could read him like no other. "I don't know how it is with foxes, but wolves at least can start eating raw meat very early. Around three months." He smiled at Chu Yun. "So you won't have to suffer long if you don't want to, nor will any innocent wet nurses."

"That's different, foxes drink only milk for much longer." He leaned back against his pillow and tried to remember the scattered bits and pieces of child-rearing information he'd learned over the years. "And I think it takes at least a year until the baby can eat meat. Raw eggs are fine before that, though."

They looked at the two sleeping babies in quiet contemplation. Chu Yun imagined there would be a lot of moments like these in their future -- pockets of quiet reflection in which time seemed to stop while they just looked at their children in wonder.

Even knowing full well how they came to be -- and that there was nothing miraculous about it -- now that they were born, Chu Yun couldn't help feeling there was something of the divine about their existence.

But perhaps that was how all parents felt about their children.

The silence was interrupted by the unbidden yawn that escaped through Chu Yun's lips. "I guess sleep is contagious."

Xiao Zai looked down at the the twins, his dark eyes overflowing with tenderness. "They do look very comfortable."

Chu Yun hummed in contentment. "I'd love to join them, but I don't want to get blood all over the bed."

"That can be easily solved."

---

Xiao Zai called two servants, ready to instruct them to buy some ready-made cribs from the market but one of them informed him Gu Wei had already arranged it.

Not long after, two beautiful, lavishly carved rocking cribs were delivered to the room, along with a wooden tub and pails of water.

"He really thinks of everything, doesn't he?" Xiao Zai murmured to himself, running his fingers over the headboard of one of the cribs while he watched the boy swaddled inside it.

Chu Yun didn't comment. Xiao Zai had to work out his issues with Gu Wei on his own.

He had already decided that he wouldn't be getting involved.

Personally, he thought that sometimes Gu Wei's diligence was useful. Even when it was uncanny.

He kept his own counsel as Xiao Zai filled the tub with warm water, and then helped him out of his soiled inner robes.

For the second time that day, Xiao Zai picked him in his arms and carried him gently to the tub. Lowering him softly into the water, until he was submerged enough for the buoyancy to prevent him from straining his stitches while moving.

Chu Yun looked down at his deflated abdomen in contemplation. It looked even odder now that he was no longer holding two babies.

"After I heal I'm making you practice martial arts with me every morning." He ran his fingers along his sides, getting reacquainted with his own body. "I feel like I've gone so long without practice that a short run would leave me winded."

Xiao Zai took a small washbasin and dunked it into the tub. "Of course, I guess better me than whoever poor servant you can rope into training with you."

He then tipped the washbasin over Chu Yun's head, letting the water soak his hair.

Chu Yun allowed Xiao Zai the dignity of pretending he believed it was that and not his jealousy that made him so acquiescent.

Xiao Zai emptied the washbasin over Chu Yun's head twice more before considering the entirety of his hair properly soaked. Then he covered his hands in one of the scented oils from the selection the servants had brought and massaged his fingers deep into Chu Yun's scalp.

"That feels so good." Chu Yun sighed in contentment and sank further into the tub. He closed his eyes and let himself enjoy Xiao Zai's strong hands, draining the tension from him with each pass of his fingers.

"I love taking care of you," Xiao Zai said, his tone mellow and deep, making Chu Yun feel even more relaxed and drowsy. "Whether it's washing your hair, or sparring with you, I love being by your side."

Chu Yun smiled, eyes still closed. Xiao Zai was so sweet.

"Little puppy, are you looking for a treat?"

Xiao Zai's hand slid from his hair and around Chu Yun's neck, cupping his throat gently. "Maybe, once you're in any condition to be generous."

Chu Yun was so relaxed in the water that the pain from the surgery was almost gone. If he put his mind to it he was sure they could find a way. There were plenty of things they could do that wouldn't put a strain on his stitches...

But that thought wasn't even fully formed when a knock sounded outside the door, and a servant's voice drifted into the room, muffled by the closed doors, "Informing his Majesty and His Royal Highness, that his Grace Chu Hean is here."

"Thank you, you can tell him to wait, I'm taking a bath," Chu Yun said, bumping his head against the tub's edge.

Xiao Zai looked down at him, noses almost touching in their mirrored positions. "Get used to it, Xiao Ziyi and Xiao Yuan are probably going to pay us a visit soon."

Chu Yun cast a baleful look towards the two cribs beside the bed. "If Chu Hean wakes them up I'm going to kill him."