She stands up from the couch and makes her way over, blushing. “Yeah, I am.” Eden swallows. “I know we’ve only talked about it in passing, but—”
“I’m going to be a father? I’m going to be a…” Shang beams, a soft laugh bubbling out of him. “I’m going to be adad?”
Eden giggles, elated beyond words. “You’re going to be a dad.”
He wraps her up in his arms, holding on like she’s the most precious thing in the world. Sheisthe most precious thing in the world.
“I love you,” he whispers in her ear. “I love you so much.”
She cups his face in her hands and kisses him tenderly. “I love you so much, too.”
Five Years Later
“Careful, careful,” Eden says to the little black-haired boy climbing the stairs in front of her. He’s determined to carry the tray all by himself, though Eden makes a point of carrying the glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to keep it from spilling.
“I’ll be careful, Mama. Don’t worry.”
They make it all the way down the hall to the master bedroom. It’s early. Far too early for breakfast, technically, but Liam’s eager to surprise his father on Father’s Day with a meal he prepared all by himself.
Well, mostly.
His clumsy little hands couldn’t quite flip the pancakes just right, so most of them were broken lumps of unevenly cooked batter. The sunny side-up eggs frantically turned into scrambled eggs. It was a quick save. Totally on purpose, he’d argued. The toast was burnt around the edges and somehow perfectly soft in the middle.
Eden isn’t sure how her son managed that last one.
Her husband is wide awake, though he hid his face beneath one of the many pillows they had to give their son the impression that he was still sleeping. It was kind of hard to sleep through all the banging of pots and pans downstairs in the kitchen, despite Liam’s best efforts to cook as quietly as possible to keep things a surprise.
“Happy Father’s Day, A-Ba!”
Shang makes a show of snorting awake. He stretches, yawning wide. He wears a goofy grin as he says, “Well, isn’t this lovely? How did you know I wanted breakfast at five in the morning?”
Liam places the fold-out tray across his father’s lap and climbs onto the bed, sitting comfortably next to Shang in the crook of his arm. “Do you like it?” Liam asks.
Shang takes a few bites and rubs his stomach. “Oh, wow. This is… delicious, sweet pea.”
Liam beams. “Do you like what I did with the eggs?”
Eden actually has to turn away to keep from laughing. Shang’s all smiles, but she knows the look in his eyes.
It’s horror. Thinly veiled, at that.
“Is that... Did you add sardines?” he asks, keeping his tone as level as possible.
“Yep! You always say that the best dishes come with secret ingredients!”
“I did say that, didn’t I?”
“Aren’t you going to finish it?”
Shang’s smile stiffens, but only slightly. “I will, don’t worry.”
“You better not leave a single crumb,” Eden teases as she sits down on the other side of her husband.
Shang gives his wife the side-eye. Eden pretends not to know what it means.
“Need to pee,” Liam says as he climbs off, heading toward the bathroom on the other side of the hall. “Can we call Grandpa and say Happy Father’s Day when I’m back?”
Shang nods. “Sure thing, sweet pea.”
