Leng Jin Yu looked up from where he had been reading a book and raised his brows. "Back so soon? I thought you'd be having trouble letting go of Xiao Yu."
Jinde laughed and went over, kneeling down next to him. "What are you even saying? Wasn't it my idea to send him back?"
"It was but … I still thought you'd have a harder time with it. You seemed to like him very much."
Jinde smiled and snuggled up to his husband, casually closing the book in his hands and throwing it onto the table. "I like all children. I was even able to love one as unruly as your son back then. How could I not love one that is as sensible as this Hua Lin Yu? It really is a pity to have to give him back to the Jian Yi Sect's Sect Master but I think that at night, it's also nice not to have a child around." He reached up and encircled Leng Jin Yu's neck, his lips twitching when he thought of how Xiao Yu had basically been doing the same just a while before.
Leng Jin Yu looked at him with his eyes rippling with love and he leaned down and kissed his lips. "Is must've been hard on you."
"Having to come out and play with a child for a full day? Actually, I feel like this was the easiest I have done in a long time."
"I guess it's difficult in another way though. You don't have to pretend in front of me, Jinde. I'm your husband."
Jinde sighed and finally gave a nod. "Well, I guess you're right. It's just that … It brings back memories. And maybe they're not the good kind. I mean there are quite a few happy memories from that time but the awful ones are far more."
Leng Jin Yu nodded and then hugged his waist, pulling him closer. "I'm sorry. All of that is because of me."
"Well, it's been a long time. I also don't think that I can put all the blame on your head. Maybe it's also that I was too stupid. Anyway, that was your past life. Now, this is your new one. And I'm still alive so … Let's just … enjoy this to the fullest, what do you think?"
Leng Jin Yu nodded again. "I guess that's the sensible thing to do. Speaking of which …" His gaze turned serious and even Jinde couldn't help but sober up when he was subjected to it.
"What is it?"
"You've said several times that you would like to have a child with me. I guess that it's indeed possible. But even up until now, you have never explained it. How is it done?"
Jinde sat up straight but a light smile still lit up his features. "So it's about that. Well, I guess it was about time that you asked. To be honest, I thought that it might be for the best if we waited with it until everything else is done. After I'm healed and when I've given you back part of Chun Yin's soul so you can find out what happened in the past. I feel like we shouldn't get into this without you knowing these things. That would feel … a little unfair."
"That's alright with me. I'm just …" He looked down, rubbing Jinde's stomach with his fingertips. Back then, when Jinde had brought this up for the first time and joked around about how he would carry the child, there had been a fleeting moment where he wondered if it might not indeed be possible for a dragon. After all, there were some scars crisscrossing his body. Maybe it was just different for the immortal races. That was what he had thought.
But later on, he had realized that that wasn't the case and that Jinde had really just been joking. So now he couldn't help but wonder what the actual truth was. "I would just like to prepare myself, you know? I mean I was born human in this life. Things are bound to be different and if there is something I'd need to wrap my head around, I'd rather have some more time to do that."
"You're probably getting bored with me staying in the lake all the time, aren't you?"
"It's not that. Just …" Leng Jin Yu couldn't help but show a complicated expression. "I know how important this is to you. You have waited for this opportunity for a long time. I … I don't want to mess it up."
Jinde couldn't help but smile and reached up to cup Leng Jin Yu's cheeks. "You won't. No, back then, even though Chun Yin had a lot of faults and even though he was way too impatient with Qiu Ling and would lose his temper on him for things that the child wasn't able to help, I think he was still a great father. Even though Qiu Ling never talks about it, after they left the capital and left me behind, they got closer. So if even Chun Yin could do it and make his son miss him like this, then I'm sure you can definitely do it. In a lot of ways, you're better than him."
"I'm happy you think that way. But … I'd still like to know."
Jinde laughed and leaned forward, kissing his cheek. "And this is why I'm saying that you're better. We don't even have a child yet and you are already putting so much thought into it. I'm very happy about that."
Leng Jin Yu gave him a look, feeling that he shouldn't indulge him any longer or Jinde would never tell him.