Before the twelve brothers left the camp, Designer Ninth Brother pulled Gu Zeyu aside. He measured Gu Zeyu’s head circumference with a tape measure, saying he’d make him a special new hat. Gu Zeyu’s eyes lit up excitedly as he gripped Ninth Brother’s hand, requesting, “Can you make it glow in the dark? Hai Yu has a cape like that. It’s so cool. I can show it to Lu Yunian at night. I will become a street lamp when I squat on the ground.”

Ninth Brother withdrew his hand in distaste, tapping Gu Zeyu’s head to check if it was waterlogged. He then said, “The baby’s clothes are ready in the boxes with ribbons we brought today. They’re made of top-grade cotton. Have Lu Yunian’s orderly hand-wash them. Stay away from those clothes; don’t ruin them.”

Seeing Ninth Brother tap Gu Zeyu rather hard, causing instant tears, Lu Yunian pulled Gu Zeyu close and said gruffly, “You should leave now.”

After they left, Gu Zeyu noticed Lu Yunian’s anger. He rose on tiptoes to kiss the Omega’s chin, using two fingers to push his mouth into a smile, asking, “Why are you angry?”

Lu Yunian snorted coldly, turning away with a parting shot. “You’re married now. Only I get to scold you.”

Gu Zeyu dared not argue that it was Lu Yunian who had married into the family, with Second Brother paying the bride price that drained a year’s worth of Gu family assets. Second Brother had mentioned today that after Lu Yunian gives birth, the Lu family would donate 400 million in military funds as a gift for their nephew, but Lu Yunian refused.

Unable to dwell on one thought for long, Gu Zeyu’s mind jumped to the ribbon-decorated boxes Ninth Brother mentioned. He cheerfully dove back into the warehouse to unwrap gifts.

Two months later, one night, Lu Yunian’s water broke. The air was thick with the scent of rum pheromones, terrifying the young Alpha to tears. He constantly held Lu Yunian’s hand, infusing comforting pheromones, even biting the Omega’s gland to inject Alpha pheromones through his canines.

But Gu Zeyu’s pheromones were too weak to ease the contraction-induced anxiety. Lu Yunian, not wanting to comfort Gu Zeyu at this moment, said with suppressed irritation, “Stop biting. What’s the use?”

The contraction frequency wasn’t too close yet, but since Lu Yunian’s water broke before any bleeding, he had to lie flat for hospital transport. Gu Zeyu kept holding his hand, jogging alongside the stretcher, his crying giving Lu Yunian a headache.

With contractions not frequent enough, Lu Yunian was placed in a top-tier room. Extremely pain-tolerant, he didn’t even flinch at level 1-2 contractions. At levels 5-6, Lu Yunian gripped the handrails, groaning, his pained expression frightening Gu Zeyu into louder sobs.

As sweat beaded on Lu Yunian’s forehead, Gu Zeyu wiped it with tissues. Lu Yunian, eyes closed in pain, hissed through gritted teeth, “Stop… stop crying… I’m the one… giving birth… not you…”

“No more after this, wah… just this one… wah… don’t want you in pain…” The Alpha’s crystal tears were crystal clear, hitting Lu Yunian’s heart, extinguishing the sparks of his irritability.

“Whose fault… who the fuck… shot… inside my womb,” Lu Yunian, seeing Gu Zeyu gasping from crying and not listening to reason, growled, “So noisy… cry once more… I’ll have you dragged out…”

“Lu Yunian…” Gu Zeyu suddenly lowered his head, mumbling something Lu Yunian couldn’t hear, asking him to repeat louder. “Am I… really… useless? I can’t… can’t help at all… only… only make you angry.”

He obediently stopped crying, but tears flowed even more. His blurry eyes missed Lu Yunian’s momentary guilty expression, quickly overtaken by contraction pain. Lu Yunian’s tone remained harsh, but he gently squeezed Gu Zeyu’s hand, gritting out, “If you know that… stop crying… don’t cause trouble while I’m giving birth… wait outside.”

As Gu Zeyu sat outside, Pei Xiuran, who had disappeared for nearly two months, appeared. Gu Zeyu clutched his sleeve like a lifeline, begging him to help the suffering Omega.

“Xiao Yu, though I want to help, you must understand I’m not an obstetrician. Plus, as an Alpha, my pheromones could endanger both child and parent at this time,” Pei Xiuran patiently soothed the agitated Gu Zeyu, looking at him oddly. “You’re about to become a father. You really shouldn’t be crying anymore.”

Exhausted from crying, Gu Zeyu slumped in a chair, responding quietly to Pei Xiuran, “I’m about to be a father, but I’m still a child myself.”

The delivery room light went out. A nurse emerged with a tiny, wrapped bundle, announcing, “Lu Yunian’s family, the Omega and baby are both safe. Come take a look before I report back. They need half an hour of observation inside.”

Gu Zeyu and Pei Xiuran approached. Gu Zeyu gazed at the red-faced, eye-scrunched infant, tiny fists waving as it made soft noises. Afraid to touch such a small being, as if the nurse held a delicate, fragile object, Gu Zeyu anxiously asked, “Now that it’s born, will… will it still hurt?”

The nurse, seeing his childish appearance and foolish question, turned to the tall, upright Pei Xiuran, saying, “Child’s father, please come with me to process the birth certificate.”

Gu Zeyu timidly poked his head out, tear-swollen eyes barely open, stammering, “I… I’m the child’s father.”

The nurse looked him up and down as if hearing an absurd tale, then thought of the burly Omega on the bed who hadn’t cried out even once during labor. “You two are quite interesting. So you were the one wailing in the delivery room earlier. I wondered why your wife’s room was filled with earth-shattering cries during labor, but he was silent in the delivery room.”

After the nurse took the baby inside, Gu Zeyu stood dazed in the hospital corridor. Pei Xiuran gently pulled him aside, noting his lost expression, and softly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Zeyu tilted his head slightly, though seriously, and organized his thoughts. “Does everyone not believe I’m Lu Yunian’s Alpha, or does everyone think I’m unworthy of being his Alpha?”

Pei Xiuran sighed lightly, consoling, “Don’t think that way. As long as Lao Lu doesn’t think so, it’s fine.”

A deep blue light flickered in Gu Zeyu’s eyes as he gazed intensely at the closed delivery room door, saying in a low voice, “Is that so? Does Lu Yunian really not think that?”