Mei got out of the car, the envelope, which she had gotten from the doctor before, hidden deep in her bag. She still hadn’t made up her mind about how and when she was going to tell her fiancé. In the beginning, she had wanted to wait until their honeymoon, but now she thought that she couldn’t keep this all to herself for any longer. Deep inside, she was happy. Yet, her fingers were still trembling in slight fear.

“Mei, are you alright?” Her mother stood beside her and looked at her with much concern. “Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m scared,” she breathed.

Mei had talked with her fiancé about children only once. And that was a long time ago. Back then, he had expressed that he wanted to have children one day – one day. Throughout the past year, they had never brought up this topic ever again since they had both been working hard on their careers.

They had wanted to wait until their actual wedding day, so when it still had happened, they had been admittedly really careless. Mei didn’t blame her fiancé and vice versa, but from then on, they started to be more careful. And now she was pregnant, at the tender age of 22. This child was not planned, so what if it was inconveniencing him?

Suddenly, Mei felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder. “The greatest blessing to a couple is a child of their own. There is no husband who wouldn’t feel happy about his wife’s pregnancy.”

From the other side of the street, through the glass windows, Mei could see her fiancé standing in the flower shop which was hers now. Her heart jumped at his sight like it always did (and she believed this would never change).

A few days ago, she had started to notice how much he had actually changed throughout the past year. His hair was dark again now, framing his face softly. He was wearing elegant clothes, the sleeves of his formal white shirt rolled up, and his hands were gesticulating energetically while he was talking to her father. He had grown more mature and responsible. It was because of his newly set aim and his awakened determination for this path in his life that made him radiate such adultness. Inside, she knew, he would always stay the carefree, happy-go-lucky boy she had fallen in love with. He would never change. (And she never wanted him to change.)

He would make a great father, it suddenly hit Mei. There was nothing she needed to be insecure about.

“You’re right,” she told her mother then and sealed her certainty with a smile. “Everything is going to be fine.”

They walked to the shop, but before they could step in, a male person came out. Mei’s mother smiled mildly and discreetly left to give the two people time of their own. “I’m going in.”

Mei nodded and stood alone in front of Ren now. “Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hey,” he answered back.

And despite the fact that they didn’t say much, there was no awkwardness between them; no guilt, no regret, no unspoken feelings and truth. Everything they had wanted to speak about, they had told each other a long time ago.  And now, everything that was left between them was easiness.

This was not a given, though. Mei had cheated on her longtime-boyfriend, hadn’t told him about this herself and left him precipitately a few days later. She had wronged him in so many ways, because she was being selfish for once in her life. Of course Ren had been angry, disappointed and hurt on very deep levels.

Ren hadn’t talked to Mei or Luhan in a very long time except for that one message after her arrival in Beijing. Especially towards her, he had been holding deep grudges and only approached Luhan in the beginning. Mei hadn’t known why, but not too long ago, it had become clear to her: It hurt him to see her – the girl who was his first love, who he had spent many years with. She had reminded him of everything he had done wrong.

But now, standing in front of each other with nothing but easiness between them, Mei was sure that they could call each other friends again.

“The flowers you sent to the church,” Ren then began, “they are really beautiful. Marguerites, huh?”

Mei’s gaze dropped on the floor, the corners of her lips tilting up to form a smile. “They have a special meaning.”

And Ren smiled too. An honest, generous smile. “I’m very happy for you.” Every word came from the bottom of his heart. He truly meant it. Seeing how she was blossoming now, it had become clear to him a long time ago that he would have never been able to give her the life that she could live to the fullest. But he could.

“Mei!” he called from behind.

Ren smiled without turning around. After all, they had found their happiness. And he had found himself a lovely fiancée as well. (But this was a whole other story.) In the end, it was all well.

Ren turned around and saw Luhan stepping out of the shop, a bright smile on his face as his gaze fell upon Mei.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked her as he stood in front of her and she nodded pleasantly in return.

“I wish you a great evening,” Ren said. “If you still need anything, call me.”

“You already did enough, Ren. Go home and rest. I couldn’t thank you enough,” Luhan returned. “Seriously… thank you. For everything.”

And this simple “Thank you” bearded deeper meanings than Luhan could have possibly expressed in that moment. After everything, his best friend was still by his side. This was not a given, he knew that. He had risked everything, but there they were now, as close as ever before. But Luhan didn’t need to say anything further either. Ren knew. True friendship was not about being inseparable at last. It was about being separated and nothing changed.

Ren just nodded with a smile. “See you tomorrow. Rest well until then.” Then, he walked back to his car.

“Where have you been?” Luhan asked Mei. “I heard your mother saying to your granny something about a doctor? Are you alright? You won’t get sick right before our wedding?” His happy expression got replaced with a concerned one.

Mei dropped her gaze and averted eye contact. The grip around her bag tensed, the envelope weighing a ton suddenly. “It was just a routine, nothing to worry about, everything is fine,” she partly lied. She looked up at him again, her eyes full of hope while she felt her heart sinking at the same time. She was truly determined to tell him today. (But not now, not here.)

“Thank god,” Luhan breathed in relief and took her hand, leading her to his car. “Don’t make me so worried, silly. Come.”

They arrived at Nanhu Lake Park when it had already gotten dark. Since it was summer, there were still a lot of people out and about at this time. Walking along the path that circled the lake hand in hand, Mei reminisced about the last time she had been here. It was the first official date after her engagement with Luhan about a week after she had come back from Kunming.

Luhan led her to the nine-arch scenic bridge that crossed the lake. At the highest point, they stopped and stood by the balustrade, leaning forward to watch the scenery. Mei let her gaze waver over the water in which the moon was mirrored, making it sparkle prettily on the surface. On their first date, they went here by that time of the day as well and stood on the exact same place. Now, she was sure, there wasn’t a more perfect moment to announce what she had to say.

Slowly, Mei placed her hand over Luhan’s which he had laid on the balustrade. Unbeknownst to what big news was awaiting him, he squeezed her hand back tenderly.

“Luhan,” Mei started. Suddenly, there was no sign of fear or insecurity in her anymore. Suddenly, she felt so brave and mature. “I have something to tell you.”

He turned aside to face her with a curious gaze. “Yes?”

“I’m pregnant.” Her voice was so light, the sentence could’ve gotten carried away with the wind.

Yet, he had still heard it. But Luhan just couldn’t believe his ears. “What?” he asked in disbelief, his brows furrowed and his mo