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Jiang Cheng is not sure where Jin Ling got the idea that he was going to be alone on Valentine’s Day. If he is a betting man, he would bet all his money on that the stupid peacock mentioned to Jin Ling that his uncle didn’t have a date. He had called him up at the great hour of 6 am to screech about how he will be taking his jiujiu on a date. According to Jin Ling, no good alpha would let an omega in their pack be dateless! Now, Jiang Cheng sits in Yanli’s driveway ready to pick up his little nephew.
Over the six years Jin Ling has been alive, this isn’t even the craziest or stupidest thing he has gotten his uncle to do. No, unfortunately, Jiang Cheng has the hugest soft spot for the little alpha and that has been his downfall. He has dressed up as a princess so Jin Ling could dress up as the knight who saves him. Jin Zixuan and Yanli were the king and queen, while Wei Wuxian was the fearsome dragon Jin Ling had to defeat. He had tried to pitch the idea where Yanli would be the princess and Jiang Cheng could be a general, but he wouldn’t stand for it.
Wei Wuxian hadn’t stopped laughing the whole day, but at least he wasn’t able to take any photos or videos of Jiang Cheng because their sweet sister stopped him. He had been able to get his revenge by telling Jin Ling how much Wei Wuxian felt left out by being forced to be the dragon. Guess who had to be the princess the next Halloween?
Jiang Cheng would do anything for his nephew and he fears that Jin Ling very much knows that and does exploit that. He’s a spoiled little boy, but Jiang Cheng can’t help himself and he knows that Yanli and Zixuan are no better. Fortunately, even though he is quite spoiled, Jiang Cheng thinks they’ve done a good job of ensuring that he isn’t entitled and rude. He just started primary school this past year and he already has plenty of friends.
His little group of friends get up to a lot of mischief especially with Jingyi as the ringleader, but they all are good kids. Jiang Cheng fears the day when they are older than twelve and their little pranks and shenanigans can get them into actual trouble. He already had to live through Wei Wuxian being a troublemaking teenager. That was enough to give him half a head of gray hairs. He doesn’t need to gray the rest.
He opens the door with the key his sister had given him. If he waited until someone opened the door after knocking, he might be waiting for a while. With a little rascal of a kid and a husky, Yanli and the peacock’s house is always up in chaos. Though, they will never reach the levels of chaos of Wei Wuxian’s home - who could at any point of time have something on fire. Lan Wangji quite literally has the firefighters on speed dial.
He makes sure to only open the door a sliver and to slide into the house so that Fairy doesn’t have the chance to run out. He is not feeling up to chasing the husky across the neighborhood for the nth time. For a dog who has a loving home and gets lots of food, he sure does love to escape. To no one’s surprise, Fairy sits right by the shoe rack looking innocent. If Jiang Cheng hadn’t pulled the move there’s no doubt about it that he would have been halfway out the door by now.
Jiang Yanli walks past holding a huge box. He rushes to take the box from her hands. It contains a three tier white cake with huge pink and red hearts sticking out of the top. If he had to guess, the hearts look to be made of fondant. Happy 10th is scrawled across the top in beautiful cursive handwriting.
“Thank you, A-cheng.” She leads him out to the garage where she has him place the cake in the back seat of her SUV. She locks the cake into place with a couple straps. “It was a rush order made today. I have to drop it off before meeting up with A-xuan.” He hopes she is charging extra for doing a delivery on Valentine’s Day. She is way too nice and her prices are far too low for the quality she delivers. Wei Wuxian and him have had to help Jin Zixuan bully her into raising her prices.
Jiang Cheng knows that Jin Zixuan is taking Yanli to a picnic at the park they had one of their first dates at. It’s supposed to be a surprise. She thinks they are just going to a restaurant. Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, and Meng Yao had helped Jin Zixuan brainstorm a perfect date for Valentine’s. The peacock is even more helpless with romance than Wei Wuxian. He knows he also booked one of Yanli’s favorite local bands to have a special show for them. The picnic had been Wei Wuxian’s idea, that particular park had been Meng Yao’s, the music show had been Jiang Cheng’s, and the specific band came from Jin Zixuan.
“Thank you so much for taking Jin Ling out. A-qing will be here at seven to baby-sit Jin Ling.” He’s glad that they will be taking the whole night off. If anyone deserves a little break, it’s jiejie. She takes over a lot of the responsibility of taking care of Jin Ling, since Jin Zixuan’s job takes up a major part of his time and effort. One would think that working for their father would be an easier job, but Jin Guangshan doesn’t allow that. He loves to work the peacock and seems to have no concept of a day off in relation to his sons (he himself takes off quite a few vacations days). Yanli, also, has recently started up a cake baking business out of her home. Though, she does all of the cooking in their kitchen she still has quite a few customers.
“Ah, of course jiejie. You head out. I’ll get A-ling ready for our date.” He can’t quite stop himself from rolling his eyes when he says “our”. Yanli chuckles briefly. She squeezes his shoulder tightly letting her gentle lavender scent out. He, in return, rubs his wrist gently across her shoulder to scent her back.
“A-ling, come down! Jiujiu is here and A-niang is leaving!” Jin Ling comes running down the stairs in his dog-themed footie pajamas. He jumps into his mother’s arms. The scent of happy alpha puppy balloons out. The smell of cinnamon, indicating a cheerful Jin Ling, never fails to make him smile. She gently places Jin Ling down on the ground.
“I’m leaving now. Jiujiu will be taking you on your date. Then, A-qing will be looking after you until tomorrow. Okay, A-ling?” She squats down so she is eye level with him and lightly strokes his back. A-qing has been his babysitter for over a year. While Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian do their best to babysit when the occasion arises, there are instances where both of them are busy and that’s where A-qing comes in. Jin Ling doesn’t like quite a lot of people outside of his family and few friends. Additionally, he is slow to grow close to people outside of his pack. That’s why it had been such a surprise when he had immediately clicked with A-qing.
Jin Ling puffs out his chest. His scent takes on a more possessive and authoritative tint to it. His eyes locks with Jiang Cheng’s.
“Jiujiu isn’t taking me! I’m taking jiujiu out on a date!” Jiang Cheng quietly wonders how Jin Ling expects them to get the restaurant. He still hasn’t told him the place they are going stating that it will be a surprise.
“Oh, of course, my sweet cinnabon! Now, you better take jiujiu on a good date! Be a good alpha.” Her voice takes on playful tone. She hugs him once again, then proceeds to litter his face with kisses. A heavy coating of lavender scent lays over him. Jin Ling giggles in response. He is still at that age where he welcomes his parent’s (and jiujiu’s) affection. Jiang Cheng dreads the day where he rejects their hugs because he is too grown up. He fears that he will never be able to see Jin Ling as anything other than the little scrunchy baby he was when Yanli placed him into his arms in the hospital after fifteen hours of labor (and fifteen hours of Wei Wuxian and him frantically pacing the hospital corridors). Jin Zixuan of course had been holding Yanli’s hand the whole labor.
“Of course I will, A-niang!” He shouts the words setting Fairy off into barking. His eyebrows have furrowed down and he sticks his lower lip out in a pout like he thinks his mother doesn’t believe he is a good, strong alpha. She rubs both of his arms in comfort.
“I know you will, my dear.” With those parting words, she is out the door. He knows that she is probably running late, especially since she still has to drop off that last cake. He grabs Jiang Cheng’s hand and proceeds to drag him up the stairs. Fairy follows them closely behind. He first got Fairy as a puppy for a birthday gift from Jiang Cheng when he turned five years old. (He had, of course, asked Yanli beforehand if he could surprise Jin Ling with a puppy.) Jin Ling had been begging for a puppy ever since he visited his grandparent’s house and saw the Australian shepherd they have.
Jin Ling has done his best to take care of Fairy. The puppy, in result, has grown quite loyal to him. Though, he is a quite friendly dog with most everyone. Jin Ling leads him to his room. He sits on the floor as Jin Ling deliberates over the clothes in his closet. Yanli has recently started letting Jin Ling decide what he wears for the day in the hopes that she is growing a sense of autonomy in him. He grabs a pair of jeans and a bright yellow Pikachu shirt. Lately, he has been completely obsessed with Pokemon. Jiang Cheng thinks that his little friend, Zizhen, is the one who introduced the show to him.
Jiang Cheng helps him unbutton his footie pajamas after he struggles for around twenty seconds trying to undo the first button. If he tries to help him too soon, Jin Ling will get grumpy and state that he can do it loudly and repeatedly. He also helps him button up his jeans once he has pulled them on. Jin Ling’s eyes drift over Jiang Cheng’s shoulder towards the right where his bed is situated at.
“Jiujiu! Close your eyes!” He screams his demand right in his face making him jump a little at the sudden loud noise. He doesn’t even try to fight him. He just closes his eyes. He desperately hopes that Jin Ling doesn’t plan to prank him. He doesn’t want to spend time trying to clean out slime out of his shirt or glitter out of his hair. “Hold out your hands!”
Once Jiang Cheng completes his request, he places something in his hands. He opens his eyes to a box of chocolate in his hands. The yellow ribbon has obviously been untied and retied very badly. Jin Ling stands half a foot away with a bouquet of sunflowers thrusted out in front of him. A couple flowers look half-eaten and some of the stems completely don’t have a flower on them. Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow at the state of his gifts.
“I only ate a couple of chocolates, because I was hungry waiting for you jiujiu! And, and, and Fairy is the one who ate your flowers! I scolded him, don’t worry jiujiu!” Jin Ling’s words exit his mouth so quickly that Jiang Cheng barely comprehends what he is saying. If Jin Ling hadn’t clarified, he wouldn’t have been sure if he had also eaten the flowers too. He wants to have more faith in his nephew, but he sadly has done it before. “I bought the chocolate with my own money jiujiu! Not A-die’s! Are you proud of me? Am I a good alpha?” He looks up earnestly at Jiang Cheng. He can literally see twinkling stars in his big doe eyes that he gets directly from Yanli.
He opens the box of chocolates to see that a third of the chocolates are missing. He can’t stop himself from smiling. A warm feeling spreads out from his chest. He knows his clove scent is sweetening.
“Hmm, it seems like you ate all the chocolates I don’t like. You are the perfect alpha, A-ling. Thank you.” He knows that he probably shouldn’t be encouraging Jin Ling taking part of a gift he is giving someone, but Jiang Cheng has always shared everything with him so he really doesn’t mind. Ever since he could walk, he would climb into Jiang Cheng’s chair when they were eating and demand that Jiang Cheng feed him half of his food. Plus, it is quite sweet that Jin Ling spent his own money to buy him the gifts. His parents give him allowance for doing his “chores” of putting away his toys and sweeping his room. He usually uses that money to buy video games.
Jin Ling’s face breaks out into a wide grin at Jiang Cheng’s words. He jumps around excitedly making leaves fall from the sunflowers.
“Come along, we need to get to the restaurant.” Jin Ling had told him that he had already made a reservation at a restaurant. When Jiang Cheng had asked Yanli whether there was an actual reservation in place, she had only confirmed there was. She wouldn’t tell him where the reservation was saying that some surprises are good for the soul. Initially, he had really thought Jin Ling would drag him to McDonald’s - his favorite place to eat out at. However, he knows that it isn’t a fast food place since you can’t get a reservation at one.
They walk downstairs and Jiang Cheng puts Fairy in his crate. He then takes Jin Ling out to his car after locking the front door. He picks him up and places him in his car seat. He puts his chocolates and flowers into the backseat. Jin Ling tells him the address of the restaurant. He explains to him how he had gotten his father to tell him the exact address of the restaurant so that Jiang Cheng wouldn’t know the place until they arrived there. It is honestly pretty smart for a little kid, but Jin Ling has always been a very bright child. He inputs the address into GPS and sees that it is taking him downtown.
As they get closer to their location, Jiang Cheng realizes that they are getting close to the rich part of town. There are fancy restaurants everywhere. He’s even pretty sure that Wei Wuxian went to one of these restaurants with his husband for Valentine’s. He vaguely remembers him blathering on about his plans for Valentine’s, but in general Jiang Cheng expressly tunes his brother out if he is talking about Lan Wangji at all. There is only so much a person can tolerate. No one wants to hear about how Lan Wangji has the most gorgeous hands and heart-throbbing laugh.
He parks his car in front of Luo’s. Oh shoot, he recognizes this restaurant from some of Nie Huaisang’s ramblings. It’s one of those extremely fancy hoity-toity places. He knows it’s pretty hard to get reservations at the restaurant, because they are always booked out. Jin Zixuan must have pulled strings to get the reservation for Jin Ling with so little notice. (Jin Ling had decided he would be taking his jiujiu on a date around a week ago.)
They walk into the restaurant hand-in-hand. Jiang Cheng had learned quickly that if he didn’t hold his hand when outside that Jin Ling would run off. The place is packed. Couples sit all around intertwined with each other. It’s no surprise — seeing that it is Valentine’s Day. Happy scents abound from all directions. Fortunately, the restaurant employs anti-scent diffusers that help remove all the excess scent so Jiang Cheng doesn’t immediately get a raging headache. He has a pretty sensitive nose - though he isn’t as bad as Huaisang who can smell another beta (who generally will have a more subtle scent) twenty feet away.
“I have a reservation for two under Jin at four thirty.” The hostess quickly looks at her tablet before leading to them a table nearby the windows. It overlooks the waterfront. Once they are about five feet away from the table, Jin Ling breaks away from Jiang Cheng and runs forward. Jiang Cheng rushes to catch up with him, but all he does is grab at the chair to pull it out.
He struggles to move the chair more than an inch. Jiang Cheng comes from the side and discreetly helps him along. Jin Ling hold out his arms wide like he is presenting the chair.
“Here jiujiu! You sit here!” Jiang Cheng sits down but then quickly stands up because he realizes he has to help Jin Ling pull out his own chair. Jiang Cheng places down the booster seat on the chair that he had been carrying. He luckily had one in his trunk and he took it out when he realized that the restaurant was fancy enough that it probably wouldn’t have accommodated seating for children. Hah, and Wei Wuxian had made fun of him for being overprepared. He also helps him climb into the chair.
“Aww, what the gentleman you are.” Jin Ling preens at the host’s compliments. She places menus down in front of them. He swiftly peruses the menu and decides on getting grilled salmon. Jin Ling holds up the menu in front of his face and looks at it with a serious look on his face like he is reading it intently. He knows that Jin Ling barely can read basic words and this menu has no pictures so he will have no idea what the foods are. Jiang Cheng gently pushes Jin Ling’s menu down so they both can look at it.
He reads out each of the options. Jin Ling is a relatively picky eater. Jiang Cheng blames the peacock. It must have come down from his genes. If he were hanging out with A-yuan, he would have been able to reasonably decide a meal for him to eat that he would like. Though, Wei Wuxian’s child is fairly easygoing. Jin Ling, on the other hand, has to be in a specific mood to like a certain food even if he liked it a lot before. Additionally, there isn’t that many foods he even likes or will even tolerate.
Jiang Cheng points out the creamy tomato pasta. Pasta is one of Jin Ling’s favorite foods and he rarely rejects it. After much deliberation, (the waiter has to come back two times) Jin Ling decides on the pasta.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” Jiang Cheng places an order for focaccia bread. Jin Ling also loves bread and even if he doesn’t want to eat it Jiang Cheng himself loves his breads and he is very much hungry.
“Of course, darling. Anything for you.” The waiter lightly places a hand on his arm. It’s not even there for one second before Jin Ling is growling. The waiter quickly jumps away and even backs away further a couple steps so that he is a good four feet away from their table. No one wants to deal with a possessive alpha or omega. Even a kid one. That’s how one loses a finger. Both alphas and omegas are fairly territorial over what they consider theirs, with children being the worst because they haven’t quite learned how to control their instincts. In contrast, betas (even pups) are generally easygoing and usually are the peacemakers in any situation.
“I apologize for the overstep.” He bows before quickly fleeing from their table. Jin Ling heavily scents the air. Their area is saturated with indignant, possessive alpha scent. It’s thick enough that it makes Jiang Cheng sneeze. He begins rubbing his wrists aggressively on top of Jiang Cheng’s wrists.
“A-ling, come on. What are you doing?” Jin Ling doesn’t stop rubbing their wrists together. He looks about ready to climb across the table to get access to Jiang Cheng’s glands on his neck.
“He was trying to steal my jiujiu!” People probably ten feet away could smell Jin Ling’s defensive scent. Thankfully, the tables in the restaurant are spaced apart quite far to convey a sense of privacy for its customers. “I’ll duel him! How dare he think he can steal MY JIUJIU!” Jiang Cheng takes his hands and strokes them gently. He releases more of his own scent to help calm down his nephew.
“A-ling, calm down. He wasn’t trying to steal your jiujiu.” Jin Ling’s eyebrows furrow and his nose scrunches up. At least, he isn’t crying yet. His nephew is the biggest crier there is and he absolutely knows how to wield crocodile tears on his jiujiu.
“He was!!” His voice is sharp and Jin Ling is still slightly growling though the boy himself probably doesn’t even realize he is doing it.
“Well even if he was, do you think your jiujiu would entertain it? Your jiujiu isn’t going to ever leave you and he will always love his little nephew the most.” Mercifully, Jin Ling is an only child so Jiang Cheng doesn’t even have to lie when he says Jin Ling is his favorite. His jiejie (and Wei Wuxian on good days) are firmly lodged in second place, but ever since the day Jin Ling was born he has occupied a section of Jiang Cheng’s heart that no one else has ever come close to. He loves his other nephew Sizhui very dearly, but he doesn’t feel bad saying Jin Ling is his favorite since he knows that Sizhui loves his bobo, Xichen, the most.
Jin Ling calms down pretty quickly after that. A different waiter brings them their bread. Jiang Cheng asks Jin Ling how school is going. He goes on to chatter about the little adventures he and his friends go on during recess. According to him, they captured a frog outside and released it in Teacher Lan’s classroom. He is sure that Lan Qiren probably went apocalyptic at the site of the frog in the classroom. Apparently, it had jumped onto his face which probably had not made the situation better.
Though, in his teen years Wei Wuxian had stressed the teacher so much that Jiang Cheng thought he was going to retire. Jiang Cheng had honestly been surprised to learn that he was still teaching when Yanli told him he would be one of Jin Ling’s teachers. He guesses that he just moved to younger students. He had probably thought they would be easier. Jiang Cheng’s heart goes out to him. Children are no easy task.
The air conditioning seems to kick on and there must be a vent directly above them because a blast of cold air hits their table. Jiang Cheng takes off his sweater to give to Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng had forced him to wear his green teenage mutant ninja turtles coat (that he carries in his car), but he can see that Jin Ling is faintly shivering. He quickly accepts the sweater and doesn’t even do his customary refusal (because he is a big strong alpha who doesn’t need material comforts like a coat) confirming in Jiang Cheng’s head that he must have been freezing. Fortunately, Jiang Cheng is wearing a long-sleeve under his sweater so he is able to give it without risking public nudity and without freezing himself.
After a substantial amount of time (Jin Ling had started explaining the backstory of the ninja turtles), a waiter brings them their food. Jiang Cheng can’t be too mad at the wait since he knows the restaurant is packed, but hearing a child detail a whole TV show sure is an experience. Though, it’s definitely better than one of Wei Wuxian’s Lan Zhan monologues.
Jiang Cheng cuts up the noodles for Jin Ling so he won’t choke on any of the pieces. It takes a good five minutes to do so. Once he is fully finished doing that, he starts cutting up his own fish. Jin Ling takes a huge bite of his pasta. Sauce gets all over his face, but at least it hasn’t dripped onto his shirt yet. His face completely scrunches up and his mouth twists into a frown. Oh, he definitely is not feeling the pasta. Jiang Cheng tries a little bit of his own fish. It’s been cooked to perfection as the meat just melts in his mouth.
“Hmm, I’m not really liking my fish. Would you like to try some of it and we could switch if you like it?” He spears a bite size piece on his fork and feeds it to Jin Ling. The difference is so obvious it’s slightly funny. His whole face has lightened up and his scent has gained a happy tone. Jiang Cheng wipes off the pasta sauce from his face with his napkin.
“Well” He draws out the word and tilts his head like he is heavily considering the offer. “Since jiujiu doesn’t like his meal, A-ling can be a good alpha and switch with him.” Jiang Cheng’s lips turn up faintly. He quickly switches the plates before Jin Ling decides to “help” and accidentally drops the heavy plate of food. At least, since he has already cut up the fish he won’t have to spend more time cutting up the fish for him. After switching their meals they both quickly consume their food. He guesses that he wasn’t lying when he said he got too hungry and had to eat the chocolates.
“Jiujiu, I has a secret.” Jin Ling waves him forward indicating he wants him to bring his head closer to him. He has told him several secrets. They have ranged to him letting Fairy eat one of Jin Zixuan’s suits because he ate the last cookie (from a batch Yanli had baked) to him thinking a girl in his class was pretty. The only person Jin Ling is more open with is his mother.
“What is it, A-ling?” He leans forward so Jin Ling can “whisper” in his ear. He doesn’t think he has ever actually successfully whispered something in his life. His lowest sound level is normal speaking level and his usual speaking tone is him on the verge of yelling voice.
“You look very bootiful jiujiu.” He then smiles extra wide showcasing his missing middle tooth from around three weeks ago. His father had promised him twenty dollars to let his mother pull the baby tooth out. He also had to hold his jiujiu’s hand and be promised ice cream. Luckily, Yanli was able to pull the tooth out in one go so it was over pretty quickly for his nephew.
“Thank you, A-ling. That is very sweet.” Jiang Cheng’s heart melts at the way his little chubby cheeks pudge out suddenly as he pouts. He adopts a very expectant look like he is waiting for something.
“Okay, now you are supposed to call me bootiful, jiujiu!” He can’t help the chuckle he lets out. His nephew is so adorable.
“Of course A-ling is the most beautiful boy ever.” Jin Ling nods his head seriously making his bangs shake.
He helps Jin Ling pack up his fish and rice in a to-go box. He had only been able to finish half of the fish and a third of the rice. None of the vegetables were even touched. Usually, he would push him to eat more greens, but he knows Yanli is pretty strict on making sure Jin Ling eats balanced healthy meals so he isn’t so worried about his nutrition. Jiang Cheng had finished the whole pasta. It actually was pretty tasty, so he doesn’t even really mind that he switched with Jin Ling. It also had been enough food because he hadn’t ordered off the kid’s menu despite his young age. He hadn’t liked their options of chicken fingers or grilled chicken.
The waiter comes by and sets the bill in front of Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng goes to grab it.
“No jiujiu! I’m going to pay it!” He pulls out his little green froggy wallet. He pulls out four dollars and seven pennies. He places it on the check. The waiter snatches the bill before Jiang Cheng can covertly put his credit card under Jin Ling’s money. The guy leaves swiftly.
“A-ling, can you sit here while I go ask the waiter for a bag?” He nods earnestly. Fortunately, the waiter hasn’t moved too far away so he is able to keep Jin Ling in his sight line as he talks to the man. He tries to give his credit card to pay for the rest of the bill.
“No, sir. This meal was already paid for by the person who reserved the table. He also told me to accept any money the kid gives.” Oh. Jin Zixuan must have pre-paid for the bill so that Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have to knowing that his son would not have enough money and even if he did Jiang Cheng would never let him pay for the whole bill. He even knew to tell the waiter to take the money Jin Ling offered because he knew that his son would throw a fit if he wasn’t the one paying for their date. Sometimes the peacock can be quite thoughtful (but it’s as rare as a blue moon).
Jin Ling loves to be an independent strong alpha. He would never have entertained the idea of anyone else paying the bill. That’s why Jiang Cheng had been trying to be covert while trying to give his credit card. He quickly asks for a bag which the waiter gives. He goes back to their table where Jin Ling has gotten up from his chair and has stacked the plates. Yanli has done such a good job of raising him up as a respectful and kind child.
After he places their food in the bag, Jin Ling holds his arms up in an anticipatory manner. He readily picks him up so he can carry him to the car. He must have gotten tired from the large meal. He snuggles closer so his face is basically notched into Jiang Cheng’s neck. He proceeds to walk out.
“Dajiu!” Jiang Cheng’s eyes dart around the room trying to find Wei Wuxian. Jin Ling starts pointing to the right. He finally sees his brother sitting there with his husband. They seem to have just gotten there. They still have their menus out. Wei Wuxian’s eyes flash up to make eye contact with Jin Ling and a wide grin spreads across his face. He jumps up from his seat as they close in on their table. Jiang Cheng places him down so that Jin Ling can hug Wei Wuxian. He hugs him quickly then Wei Wuxian aggressively ruffles his hair which makes Jin Ling slap at his arm.
“What are my favorite brother and favorite nephew doing here?” Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.
“We are your only brother and nephew.” His voice is flat. He nods at Lan Wangji who nods respectfully back. He then immediately goes back to reading the menu.
“Semantics, semantics A-cheng!” He side hugs his brother who proceeds to scent him with his coffee scent using his wrist.
“I’m taking jiujiu out on a date, since he had no Valentine’s date. No omega in my pack is going to be dateless!” Jin Ling yells this out ensuring that the people nearby think that Jiang Cheng is a loveless loser. Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen.
“Oh ho ho. Our dear A-cheng is dateless. How kind of you take him out.” Wei Wuxian’s grin is so bright it could light up the ocean for a ship. Jin Ling juts out his chin and he has a proud look on his face like he saved Jiang Cheng from dire circumstances. He kind of wishes he could melt into the ground. It seems like no good deed is left unpunished.
“Are you also going to take me out on a date, A-ling? I’m also an omega in your pack.” He points at himself confidently as he says that. People usually have several packs. So Jin Ling himself has a pack that includes his parents and uncles. Then his school friends are probably in another pack with him. Different packs have varying levels of bonds.
“Eww, no dajiu!” He scrunches up his nose at the thought. Wei Wuxian’s mouth drops. He starts sputtering. His scent stays mellow showing that he isn’t really offended.
“Oh, my heart! How will I go on? Lan Zhan, you still will take me on dates, so I don’t have to be a sad lonely omega, right?” He leans pathetically on Lan Wangji as he spouts his nonsense. Lan Wangji doesn’t even mention how they are already on a date right now. He just nods and pats Wei Wuxian’s arm. His brother is the most dramatic person he knows.
Jin Ling tugs on Wei Wuxian’s shirt. He crouches down so that he is eye level with their nephew. He whispers how he wants to give his jiujiu a special kiss so his dajiu has to pick him up. Wei Wuxian complies with the request and picks him up so his back is to Wei Wuxian’s chest and his legs dangle. His arms wind tightly across their nephew’s stomach. Jin Ling places his hands on Wei Wuxian’s arms and leans forward. Just as Jiang Cheng moves forward to present his cheek to him, a loud fart issues from Jin Ling. His face turns immediately bright red.
“Dajiu!” Jin Ling wails. “You ruined it! You made me fart!” His eyes become big and glittery with tears.
“I didn’t do anything. Oof, A-ling what did you eat?” His face scrunches up further and his little fingers dig into Wei Wuxian’s arm. Why is his brother arguing with their kid nephew? He almost wants to face palm.
Lan Wangji tries to subtly wave the smell away with the menu. Except, being Lan Wangji, he really isn’t subtle and Jin Ling easily sees this. If Jiang Cheng was a more rude person, he would smack Lan Wangji upside the head. Jin Ling’s scent starts to sour as it takes on a distressed tone.
“Wahhh! The date is ruined!” Huge tears pour down his cheeks. Lan Wangji, for once, is a help and immediately hands over his cloth napkin to Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian tries to soften his scent to calm him down. Jiang Cheng’s own warm clove scent is flowing out at the sight of his tearful nephew.
He gently wipes away his tears using the napkin. He then holds his face in between his hands and rubs his cheeks with his thumbs transferring over his scent.
“A-ling, the date isn’t ruined. It’s actually been perfect. You’ve been the best alpha I could ever wish for. You would still love me even if I farted, right?”
“Yes jiujiu! I love you so so so so so so much!” He holds out his arms wide to illustrate how much he loves his uncle almost hitting Wei Wuxian in the head if he hadn’t moved his neck backwards. Jiang Cheng takes his brother’s glass of water and helps Jin Ling drink a couple sips. Wei Wuxian gently pats his head. His tears start to dry up.
“You know I don’t usually fart, right jiujiu? It’s only because dajiu squeezed me so tight!” His eyes widen plaintively. He takes him from Wei Wuxian’s arms and cuddles him close to his chest. Jin Ling heartily clings to him.
“Of course, A-ling. I believe you.” Jin Ling glares at Wei Wuxian who apologizes for squeezing him too tightly after Jiang Cheng kicks him. Jin Ling graciously accepts his apology and scents him goodbye. Jiang Cheng nods at them both before striding out of the restaurant. He is sure that Lan Wangji would probably like to go back to his date with Wei Wuxian.
He looks at his wrist watch which shows that it is half past six. Perfect timing. He will be just in time for when A-qing comes over. They drive back to Yanli’s house. There’s a bit of traffic because it seems like everyone is driving out to dinner right about now. He pulls into the driveway. A-qing’s green jeep already sits parked to the right side.
He knocks at the door so he doesn’t have to struggle to get the house key out of his pocket since he is holding Jin Ling in his arms. He has mostly settled down — staying quite for most of the drive. Initially, he had thought he had fallen asleep but his eyes had been wide open when he looked over. He doesn’t have to wait long for A-qing to open the door. Jiang Cheng walks in and places Jin Ling on the living room couch.
“A-ling, I’m going to be leaving now. A-qing will be here until your parents come back.” He draws Jin Ling into a hug. When he goes to release him, his nephew grabs onto his shirt with a strong grip.
“Jiujiu, don’t worry! Even if you never get a Valentine’s date, I will always take you out!” He proudly shouts his words. Jiang Cheng can see A-qing full out laughing from the corner of his eye. At least, she is doing it quietly so Jin Ling doesn’t notice. She never has had any respect for her elders. Does his nephew think he will never have a partner? He feels like he should be embarrassed, but he reminds himself that this is a six year old’s opinion. He doesn’t know who will be more surprised when he does get married - his mother or Jin Ling. Neither have any faith in his romantic skills.
“Thank you, A-ling. You are such a good, sweet alpha.” He cuddles Jin Ling closer to him. His nephew really can be so sweet sometimes. He also is a terror, but he blames the peacock’s genes for that. He doesn’t seem to want to let go of him until A-qing offers him a mango ice cream bar if he showers and gets into his pajamas. He lets go of Jiang Cheng hastily and runs upstairs with only a shouted goodbye. Good to know that ice cream ranks above him.
Jiang Cheng waves at A-qing before leaving. The traffic has seemed to died down as he drives to his apartment. He has just entered his home and walked to the kitchen to drop off his chocolate and flowers on the counter when arms encircle him from behind.
“So how did your date go, my heart?” Lan Xichen had been a good sport and had been willing to push back their date so that he could take out his nephew. He doesn’t think he could have found a better man. He doesn’t know why his brother settled for Lan Wangji when he could have had his hotter, kinder, and funnier brother. He is happy though because his loss is Jiang Cheng’s gain. His scent takes on an affectionate teasing tone.
“Hmm, it went pretty well. You are going to have do quite a lot to surpass it, A-huan.”