* * *
"Why didn't you wait for me? We could have gone to the hospital together," Hanlu whined, running towards his wife and son. When he got close to them, he immediately lifted Lan on his arms before he neared Ian and kissed his forehead. And being that they are in the hospital lounge with many patients and their families around, when people heard and saw him coming, all of them who had already noticed Daniel, Laotian, Ian, and the kids looked at them in awe including the doctors and nurses. It was not every day that they could see such breathtakingly beautiful individuals in such a small hospital so they were star struck.
"We had a schedule we needed to catch, Luu. When I called, you were just about to take a bath," Ian said, slightly rolling his eyes. If they waited for the Alpha to arrive then they wouldn't have finished early and had time to stroll around the town.
"Tch. Still," Hanlu stubbornly said but then wasn't able to finish his words looking at the three sets of eyes looking at him from the side. "Oh, you two are there?" Hanlu asked monotonically, making Daniel frown in annoyance while Laotian just chose to ignore the Younger Alpha as he was about to walk away. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do so when Luangmin was so happy to see his favorite uncle.
"Uncwle Anluu," Luangmin called and reached out his hand, wanting to be carried by Hanlu as well. Counting the time when Hanlu and Ian were abroad and him getting blind for more than 2 weeks, it should be a month since Minmin had last seen Hanlu so he was so excited to see him again.
"Ahww, my precious baby Minmin. Come to me, I'm you're real Dada," Hanlu said using his baby voice and neared Laotian, but as he was about to snatch Luangmin from his Older Brother's arms and to his along with Lan, Laotian suddenly stepped back while a frown formed on between his forehead. Although what Hanlu said was a joke, he did not like to hear such things for such childish reasons.
"Ack, so stingy. Minmin, your Dada is so stingy, he's bullying uncle Luu," Hanlu whined, shamelessly acting like a child, making Ian rub his temples. On the other hand, Minmin hearing his uncle's words, frowned and looked at Laotian before he pouted.
"D-Dada mweanie," Little Minmin said and was already about to cry. Clearly, even though he had gotten closer to Laotian, in his heart Hanlu was still heavier just second to Daniel. He would listen to him just like how he would listen to Daniel.
"Stop teasing my Baby, Hanlu," Daniel interrupted, giggling as he neared Luangmin and tried to calm him down. When the two-year-old started struggling out of his father's arms, Daniel then urged Laotian to finally let Hanlu carry the two-year-old to which the Alpha reluctantly did at first but seeing that Luangmin was ready to burst into tears, he had no choice but to do it. Now, Hanlu both have Lan and Luangmin in his arms, laughing triumphantly as he got what he wanted.
"Now where do you two want to go? Daddy will bring you there now," Hanlu chirped enthusiastically, walking as he swayed the two on his arm like he wasn't carrying an 8-year-old and 2-year-old healthy kids, and instead just stuffed toys.
"First though, we need to eat lunch," Ian said, interrupting Hanlu's attempt to have an adventure with the just as excited Lan and Luangmin.
"Yes, lunch goes first," Daniel agreed because he was already feeling famished. It's nowhere near 12 noon yet but it felt like if he waited until then, he would definitely faint out of hunger regarding that usually at this time when he's at home he gets to eat snacks in between meals so he never gets hungry, but now that they're outside waiting for the examination to end that really tire him up that he needed to replenish his strenght asap.
"Yeah, okay. Where should we eat then?"
"Mom had a reservation from a local restaurant for us. We used to eat there a lot when I was younger so I can assure you that the food is good despite being in a small town," Daniel said as they finally started walking out of the hospital facility and away from the people's view. When they reached their service, Ian, Lan and Minmin decided to all ride with Hanlu so that leaves Laotian and Daniel alone in the car with the driver and one bodyguard.
Since unlike Hanlu who didn't know where the restaurant was compared to the driver who already studied the routes beforehand, Daniel and Laotian's car drove first following Hanlu's car and then another car in charge of security.
"Minmin really likes Hanlu, he even chose him between me," Daniel pouted, sitting next to Laotian in the back passenger seat while the Alpha was in the process of taking his suit off leaving on his inner sleeves because the suit was dirtied with Luangmin's lollipop earlier.
"It's been a while since he saw him," Laotian replied, he actually didn't mind this. At least this way he gets to be with Daniel alone even if it was just for a couple of minutes.
"Well yeah, you're right," Daniel said with a chuckle, leaning his head on his husband's shoulder to which Laotian enjoyed very much. They were silent for a while before Daniel remembered the art gallery he was supposed to attend within this week. Of course, he wasn't thinking of attending considering their current situation but he thought Laotian should know about it.
"By the way, Laotian. My art collaboration with Mr. Bronson," Daniel suddenly mentioned. Meanwhile, hearing what Daniel said, he pretended he didn't mind as he intertwined his fingers on Daniel's.
"What about it?" He asked, kissing the back of Daniel's hand. Even though he told Daniel about his other identity, he didn't have the chance to tell who was the person targeting them and that Joshua Bronson was related to them because Daniel didn't have any interest in that. Daniel just simply wants to know who Laotian really was. Whether he was true to him all this time or not, anything else just didn't matter to him as long as Laotian wasn't lying or keeping anything on purpose from him.
"Well, it's happening in three days. He called me about it and asked if I was going to attend. I said I wouldn't but I told him you might go?" Daniel said, chewing on his lower lip after he finished. The painting he did was mainly dedicated to Laotian so even if he couldn't come, he was hoping Laotian could at least see it.
"Do you want me to go?" Laotian asks even though in his mind he already decided that he would. Of course, when it comes to Daniel and anything related to him, he promised to be his number one fan and supporter.
"Well, if you don't want to... I can tell Joshua--" Daniel said, pouting a little, however he wasn't able to finish his words when Laotian interrupted and touched his cheeks.
"Of course, I'm going, Honey. I promised I would support you," Laotian said dotingly. As far as he could remember, the event was an art auction so definitely to show his support he would bid the highest price possible for his wife's paintings.
"Thank you, Laotian. You see, I really wanted you to go and see my paintings because you were my inspiration, a-and I kinda want to know what you think about my art," Daniel mumbled shyly as a pinkish hue appeared on his cheeks. Honestly, he wasn't a very good artist in his opinion. He was just one of the many who knew the basic principles and practiced them for many years. He had never competed in any competition or shown his arts in public. This will be the first time that his art will go out there for people to see, he was a little embarrassed about it but he especially believes that nothing could go wrong when it comes to art. He was very much happy about this golden opportunity but it wouldn't matter if the person he dedicated his art to couldn't get to see it.
"Oh but don't bid for it, okay? I know you want to support me but it wouldn't really matter anymore if you were the one to bid for it," Daniel added, smiling gently. He's happy that Laotian supports him, that's already given. But he wanted to know whether he was good enough or not without the Alpha's help. Besides, how would his art spread and be known if Laotian was going to be the one who would buy it anyway?
"If you want the painting, I can always paint another one for you, okay? I want to know how my art would look for other people," Daniel said again, making Laotian hum. He was indeed planning to bid for Daniel's painting because he just wants anything that of Daniel's to be all his.
"But I can't promise, these paintings are painted with the thought of me. Of course, it's natural for me to want and keep it for myself," Laotian said, after all, he really can't let some stranger get these paintings that were made with the thought of him.
"Seriously Laotian, you're so childish," Daniel whined as he laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll be bidding anonymously if you're worried about your identity," Laotian assured, thinking the Omega might be worried about achieving something that he felt he didn't deserve. To which sounded very ridiculous to him, every good thing that is happening and is to happen to Daniel is what he deserves. An angel like him should receive more recognition even though he would hate it if people coveted his beloved wife.
"Thank you, but really, that's not the point here," Daniel pouted, acting upset this time but it wasn't too effective with him easily swayed by the Alpha's advances.
"Don't be upset. Please understand my feelings as well. I really hated the thought of other people possessing the things that you put your heart into. If I let it happen you might have to compensate me big time, and I won't accept just a painting of the same picture," Laotian whispered against Daniel's ears before kissing it. When he felt Daniel's body shiver, he quickly drew away with a teasing smile leaving the Omega all red and bothered.
"Jeez, you're so evil," Daniel puffed his cheeks.
"Did I tell you that I missed you already?" Laotian asked suddenly before his hand extended to press the button for the automatic partition between their seats to the drivers. He had been wanting to do this since earlier, unfortunately, he couldn't do so because there were too many disturbances. If he doesn't take this chance now, there might be no chance like this that will come again any time soon.
"W-Why'd you close it?" Daniel asked in a panic, his heart started pounding faster. He wondered why the situation had escalated so quickly.
"Do you prefer having an audience instead?" Laotian asked, raising his eyebrow. He held Daniel's pinkish cheeks and a smirk form on his lips as his lips neared the Omega.
"L-Laotian, m-my stomach is too big for this," Daniel mumbled, inhaling the same air as the Alpha. He wanted to say more but his words were pushed down to his throat as he felt the Alpha's lips and soon tongue against his mouth. The car was moving but somehow it felt like it wasn't. They kissed earlier but Daniel could feel that the current kiss was far different that it instantly took his breath away. He realized it really has been a while, he thought he got used to not having Laotian around, he thought he got used to not feeling Laotian's touches but now he realized that was all a mistake.
Pulling away from the kiss, Daniel was out of breath as he clutched against the Alpha's sleeves. His eyes were in a daze, everything just sunk into him when he was pulled away from his thoughts feeling the twins inside his stomach kicking his side.
"The twins didn't like that," Daniel pouted, the stubborn pinkish hue remained on his cheeks while he led Laotian's palms on the energetic kicks happening on his side.