Ling thought women would be calm when there's a bun in their oven, sweet even. That they would smile and pat their large tummies, cooing lovely words to the baby waiting to be born. He had hoped- even foolishly expected- for his wife to be like that. Her normal graceful self with a warm smile placed on her lips.
He was wrong.
Very wrong.
"I want cucumbers."
Ling looked over to Lan Fan, with bags under her eyes and her brows furrowed. They were on the bed, with Ling hugging her, placing his hand on her stomach.
"Cucumbers?" He tilted his head at her, with a nervous and confused smile on his face. She turned her head to the side to give him a death glare, her usual cold onyx eyes enraged.
"I want cucumbers. NOW."
Ling blinked at her several times, shuddering at her glowering over him. He sighed in exhaustion, pushing himself up. Gently he rubbed her stomach before getting off the bed. Heading off to the large doors of their bedroom, he looked over his shoulder and smiled tiredly.
He was still not used to it, her acting like this. Then again, they are now new parents expecting a child in few weeks. At first, both were excited and shocked. Overly elated. The new Emperor did everything he could to please his pregnant, from preparing a diet that gives all the nourishment both the mother and baby needs to giving her private foot messages. At first the guard-turned-Empress politely rejected his offers, but as time quickly passed she began to accept it. Then to a point of demanding it.
The Emperor sighed once more, scratching the back of his neck with a silly smile. What has he gotten himself into?
He returned to the bedroom with a tray of cut cucumbers. He headed to where the bed is, gazing at his wife tenderly. Lan Fan, recognizing his precence returned the stare, and smiled.
He felt his heart melt, though Lan Fan sure can be cranky, he still loves her.
"Here you go?" He carefully handed it out to her. She glanced over the plate then looking away, "I don't want it."
"But you just said-"
"I don't want it, Ling."
Ling grumbled as he set it on top of the table next to their bedpost before climbing in to the mattress. Sleeping on his side, he gazed at his wife tenderly. She fluttered her long eyelashes couple of times towards the ceiling before drifting off to sleep. He smiled leaning forward to kiss her softly on the cheek, feeling his eyes slowly sliding closed. Returning his hand on top of the bulging stomach, the Emperor slept peacefully with his wife.
