When Iris woke up, the lounge room sounded lively with familiar voices chatting away. She found herself lying in a more comfortable position on the biggest couch. Someone covered her with a warm, fluffy blanket, probably her darling. She petted Ice Cream who was curled on top of her stomach.
The grey cat meowed, and then rolled in an adorable manner to expose her fat, fluffy belly, asking for more rubs from her mommy. Iris chuckled softly and gave her eldest what she wanted. Ice Cream purred in pure satisfaction.
Iris looked up and saw Little Jun chasing Popcorn all around the room. His loud giggles caused the adults to chuckle at his cuteness. He was holding what looked like a half-eaten pineapple bun. His mother, Jiang Ying Yue, caught him and wiped the yellow, gooey mess on his face before letting him chase his equally hyperactive cat cousin Popcorn again.
“Boss, you’re awake!” Dom’s voice exclaimed, catching everyone’s attention.
Iris looked the other way and saw Dom sitting together with Long Jinjing on another couch. There were several gift bags on the coffee table. Some of them had already been opened. There were different types of buns, cat treats and toys. She instantly knew that Long Jinjing must have been the one who brought the presents. Long Jinjing also brought some beautifully-wrapped pastries for the rest of them.
“Little Sister Xiulan,” Long Jinjing greeted with a smile. “Were we too noisy for you?”
Iris shook her head and rose from her lying position. She made small talk with her friends while sweeping her eyes across the room. Finally, she saw who she was looking for.
Jin Liwei and her big brother were sitting by the bar counter at the corner of the room. The two men were both looking at her. Her darling gave her a warm, doting smile while her big brother’s expression also gentled but only people who knew him would notice it. In other people’s eyes, he looked stone-faced.
She smiled at them but her chest tightened and her stomach did some kind of a double-flip upon seeing her brother. It reminded her that the three of them were finally going to talk today about the truth of her and her brother’s past lives. Then she turned pale as a powerful force rolled upwards from her stomach to her throat.
Jiang Ying Yue reacted the quickest. She was beside Iris in an instant holding a trash can she grabbed along the way. Iris bent over and dry-heaved over the trash can while Jiang Ying Yue held her hair up and murmured soothing words to her.
“Mama?! Mamaaaaaa!” Little Jun was shocked at seeing her Mama Xiulan acting like this. Fortunately, the little guy didn’t cry but he looked quite scared.
Dom carried Little Jun and moved to the corner so that the child wouldn’t run to her Mama Xiulan and get even more scared. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
Jin Liwei also moved quickly and was already beside Iris with a worried expression on his face. He whispered an instruction to Ketchup to call the private doctor and the butler so that Long Jinjing wouldn’t hear him.
Long Jinjing and the other members of the girl squad living outside their household still didn’t know about the existence of the cat AIs. They only knew that Iris and Jin Liwei had two additional cats, one white and one black. But for some reason, the two cats were too skittish and never showed themselves to visitors.
Lu Zihao also came over but didn’t go near because he remembered that his sister couldn’t stand his scent the last time that they saw each other. He couldn’t risk her condition worsening because of him. His stone-faced expression cracked and revealed his own worry for his sister as he watched her vomiting nothing into the trash can.
Long Jinjing came to him and grabbed his arm. “W-what’s happening? Is my sister sick?”
“No, she isn’t sick,” he said.
“Then why…” Then her eyes widened as she realized something. “Oh! Is she perhaps…pregnant?”
Lu Zihao didn’t answer her. However, she understood that his silence meant that it wasn’t his place to reveal something that held such importance for the couple. She could only wait for her little sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law to tell her the news themselves. Right now, she and Lu Zihao watched what was happening in front of them, both feeling helpless seeing their sister suffering like this.
###
Iris’ bout of morning sickness in the lounge room soon passed. She regained her composure and energy after sipping fresh, hot ginger tea that the butler delivered as per her doctor’s recommendation.
She and Jin Liwei also took that chance to finally tell Long Jinjing that she was pregnant. Long Jinjing became a little teary but her congratulations to the couple was genuine. She also promised not to tell anyone, including Chen Fei.
Iris sighed. “I don’t mind if you tell her. She’s our friend, anyway, so I know that she’d keep my pregnancy a secret.”
Long Jinjing shook her head. “It’s not my place to tell others about your pregnancy.”
“Alright. Thanks, Big Sister.”
The group chatted with each other for the entire afternoon. Then they headed to one of the nearby smaller dining rooms for an early dinner just before sunset.
This time, the food seemed agreeable to Iris and she was able to eat her fill. Jin Liwei looked relieved to see her eating like normal.
After dinner, the trio—Iris, Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao—excused themselves and made their way to the couple’s suite for their important talk.
Before leaving, Lu Zihao grabbed Long Jinjing and gave her a quick but firm peck on the lips, causing the sparkly-eyed Dom to squeal and fan himself with his perfectly manicured hands. Long Jinjing turned red while Lu Zihao didn’t care.
“Hang out with your friends and the kids for now,” he told her. “I might be late to come back, so you can head to my room first if you feel sleepy. Ask your friends to lead you there. They know where it is.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll wait for you.”
He nodded and followed Iris and Jin Liwei.
