Iris' thoughts were interrupted when the bedroom door opened and in came her best friend slash personal assistant, Dom. He was carrying her daily basket of morning snacks and some documents that she needed to read and sign.
"Thanks, Dom," she said with a relieved smile. "The twins are starving."
"I can see that." His eyes were trained on her rippling belly.
She winced and continued massaging her humongous belly while Dom busied himself with showing her the snacks the chefs prepared for her this morning.
"I saw sir boss leave," he chatted with her. "He told me to keep an eye on you because our cutie-patootie baby twins are being naughty again."
Iris only grunted. She wasn't really in the mood to eat anything but the twins wouldn't stop tumbling inside her. They were usually like this whenever they wanted her to eat.
Dom handed her a small chicken and garden salad wrap when she dropped the food to the floor.
"Huh, boss—"
"AH!!!!!"
Iris doubled over and clutched her belly in pain.
"Boss!!!"
###
Jin Liwei was reading a backlog of business e-mails while Xu Tian recited his busy schedule for today beside him in the backseat. His assistant fetched him from home in person because of the importance of the meeting scheduled for later this morning.
"Reschedule my appointments this afternoon to other mornings," Jin Liwei said with a frown.
Xu Tian inwardly sighed but maintained a professional expression. "I already rescheduled these appointments several times, sir. It's really not…I understand. I'll figure something out."
Jin Liwei nodded and continued going through the e-mails as quickly as possible. He was in overdrive mode in an effort to finish everything so that he could come back home early to his wife.
Their vehicle was just about to enter the highway when a child's frantic voice started crying all of a sudden.
"Daddy! Daddy! Meowuwuwu! Mommy is in labour! She is going to give birth to Ketchup's precious little baby brothers soon! But Mommy is in super-duper to the highest level great pain! Ketchup is soooooo scared for my mommy, Daddy! Meowuwuwuwu!!!
Jin Liwei felt like his heart stopped beating for a moment before it started hammering inside his chest.
"Return to the mansion! Quickly!!!"
###
Within an hour, people started rushing to Dragon Palace Home #10.
Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing arrived first. At first, Lu Zihao intended to go by himself as soon as he heard that his little sister went into labour. However, he got a call from Long Jinjing telling him that she wanted to go with him as well. Bacon apparently informed her about the situation. Lu Zihao didn't want to waste any time arguing so he just sped through the traffic and picked up his fiancée at Orchidia before rushing to Dragon Palace.
Chen Fei also wanted to go with them but couldn't leave Orchidia during work hours. The company was extremely hectic right now with its rapid development and the recent launch of Orchidia Mommy and Orchidia Baby. Someone needed to man the reins, so Chen Fei could only grit her teeth and continue working even as anxiety for Iris' safety ate at her.
Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing met with Grandpa Lu at the newly built hospital wing.
Soon after, Grandma Li and Huang Yuyan came as well. When Iris entered her final trimester, Grandma Li temporarily moved back to the Jin's old family house from her mountain villa so that she and her daughter-in-law could rush to Dragon Palace together as soon as her granddaughter-in-law went into labour.
"Uncle, how's Xiulan?" Huang Yuyan asked.
Excitement and worry were obvious in the gentle eyes of Jin Liwei's mother. The worry appeared greater, though.
"Still in labour," Grandpa Lu replied. "Your boy is with her inside."
Huang Yuyan wrung her hands as she glanced at the closed door of the delivery room.
"How come Xiulan went into labour so early?" she asked in a shaky voice. "It's not her due date yet. Did something happen?"
Grandma Li put a firm but reassuring hand on her back. "Calm down, Yuyan my dear. Although it's earlier than the actual due date, it's not too early for the baby to come out premature. Remember that you also gave birth to Chonglin a bit earlier than the due date and he came out just fine."
"I know, Mother. I'm just worried. Xiulan didn't have an easy pregnancy. And her belly…it's, uhm, it's…."
Nobody filled in the rest of Huang Yuyan's sentence but they all knew what she was going it say. Iris' belly was abnormally ginormous compared to the rest of her delicate frame.
Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing who were sitting nearby knew the reason. Iris was expecting twins just like them. However, both couples hadn't announced this fact to others yet.
The elegant Grandma Li with her slightly frosty demeanour was the calmest among them. She glanced at Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing. Her eyes lingered a few seconds longer on Long Jinjing's big belly before looking at the closed door of the delivery room.
Something flashed in her sharp, wizened but still dignified eyes. She smiled in amusement but didn't share her speculation to the others.
Grandpa Lu appeared calm until now. He slapped his thighs and started pacing around the waiting lounge area.
"Xiulan my girl will be fine, right? I'm sure she'll be fine! Right? She'll give birth to our precious great-grandbaby safely, right? Damnation! Someone tell this old man that Xiulan will be fine! I want to know!!!"
Grandma Li sighed and tried to calm the old man next. She felt like a kindergarten teacher coaxing her toddler pupils to stop making such a big fuss.
Nearby, Long Jinjing's nervousness only increased with each passing minute. She peeked at the cold-faced Lu Zihao beside her. He looked ready to wreck something with his bare hands.
So scary.
However, she now knew his personality well enough to sense that he was just as nervous as she was at the moment. No, perhaps he was even more nervous than her.
Long Jinjing didn't doubt that if something bad ever happened to Iris at the delivery room, Lu Zihao would burst inside and strangle the doctor and the rest of the medical staff before anyone could react.
