"Jie! Do you want me to complain to gege?" Meiling asked with her hands on her hips and a pout on her face. "I'm almost done meimei" Qiuyue promised. She put the containers of leftovers in the fridge and finished wiping the countertop. She washed her hands and finally settled on the couch under the watchful of eyes of her sister in law. 

"Good. Now stay" Meiling instructed as she handed Qiuyue a blanket. The couch could be pulled to form a bed and Meiling had pulled out the extension in order to give the two girls more space. Qiuyue leaned aginst the armrest and Meiling settled with her head in Qiuyue's lap with a book. Meiling turned and patted the slight baby bump that had begun to show on Qiuyue's tummy before beginning to read.

"Once upon a time" Meiling started. Qiuyue slowly relaxed listening to her soothing voice recite fairytales. Qiuyue had woken up this morning with a strong craving for fairytales. But sadly she had given away her storybooks when they had shifted last year and reading on the phone just hadn't cut it. She had been on the verge of tears when Yifan noticed and remembered that Meiling still had her book on Grimm's Fairytales. So he had called his sister over to read to his wife. and that was pretty much how they had ended up here.

Qiuyue felt happy and she knew the baby inside was feeling happy too because she had that pleasant feeling inside. It was the same pleasant feeling she got while she ate ice cream or held hands with Yifan on their nightly excursions or when he smiled proudly as she praised one of his drawings (despite how childish they really looked). She smiled, and started to softly play with Meiling's hair. Meiling smiled, feeling nice at the gesture and continued to read the story in a rather pompous voice, inducing laughter at funny quotes and mock fear at the scenes with the evil stepmothers and other such villains.

Meiling looked up when she realised that Qiuyue had stopped her hair. She found the elder's eyes closed and her head leaning comfortably against the back of the couch. "Jie?" Meiling asked softly, not wanting to interrupt her sleep. Yifan had told her that the baby took its toll on Qiuyue and she could see it clearly in her weary frame. She frowned, clearly worried for her sister in law. Qiuyue kept insisting she was fine and went about her work regularly and Meiling did not approve of this. She would be talking to Yifan gege about this the moment he got home.

"Keep reading" Qiuyue replied in a quiet voice. "Even if I fall asleep, the baby is listening. So keep reading." "Okay" Meiling replied, nodding slightly. "Wake me up when your gege gets home okay?" Qiuyue asked Meiling. "I will" Meiling said, with no intention of disturbing her if he came home when she was deep in sleep. Meiling continued reading till the end of the story, reading to the baby bump now. 

"The end~" she sang as she finished a story and closed the book. she turned to face the baby bump, feeling rather silly about the entire ordeal. The baby inside, was he or she even listening to her? If so, did they like it? Did they even like stories? What if she had read out loud but the baby didn't even like this particular story? What if it liked some other one instead? Meiling pouted as she stared at the baby bump. What did the little being inside like?

If the baby was anything like Qiuyue jiejie then it must like short stories which got to the point quickly. Or long stories with intricate interesting plots that kept your attention. But if the baby was like Yifan gege, then the baby would like long stories which were descriptive. Yifan gege loved stories which took time to develop and painted vivd images of various scenes in his mind. He appreciated philosophy, though in her opinion he missed the point by miles, bringing out new interpretations. 

Meiling pondered on this flow of thought longer. Yifan gege and Qiuyue jiejie were different people. She sighed at this realisation. Though they were similar in some aspects, they were very different in the others. It would be interesting to see how the baby turned out to be. Would some part of the baby be like her? Maybe they would share similar interests. A love for reading was a given considering how everyone in this family loved to read. Maybe it would like cooking, like she did. If the baby liked cooking then they would have a wonderful time in the kitchen together. Maybe Kyungsoo would join them too. Kyungsoo, her fiancee, was a chef and he ran a two star restaurant. If the baby liked cooking then the three of them could spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Just like gege and jiejie's baby would love to read, would Kyungsoo's and her's like to cook? Maybe she would like to do something creative with food. Maybe Kyungsoo could cook and their daughter would decorate it and make it look yummy. She could imagine it so easily. A little house with a well furnished kitchen. Kyungsoo and a mini Kyungsoo in the kitchen with her father's chef hat on her head and flour on her cheeks holding a plate of salad with all the leaves and fruits arranged artistically. And she could also imagine her running up to her and showing the plate proudly as Meiling insisted she place it on the table less she drop it and ruin the arrangement.  Long sundays devoted to experimenting with food.

Or maybe her daughter would be athletic. Meiling might get the chance to be a soccer mom, driving around her daughter to and from practices. Maybe she would be a dancer and Meiling and Kyungsoo would clap loudly at recitals. Maybe she would be hyper and flit between activities, never giving her a moment of rest. Or maybe she would be silent and artsy, preferring to silently sketch and admire life as it happened. If that was the case, Meiling promised she would help her get discovered and praised for her art. 

No matter which way she looked at it, there could only be a happy ending to this. Meiling sighed yet again. Qiuue jiejie was lucky. She felt envious of her brother and sister in law. She wanted a little baby too. Maybe not just yet. She wasn't even married! But sometime in the future, a little one to take care of. To fight with playfully, to admonish, to teach and to learn from. 

"Are you both asleep?" a deep voice asked her quietly. "Gege! You're home!" Meiling exclaimed, surprised. He shushed her, not wanting to wake Qiuyue up, who appeared to be in deep sleep. Meiling blinked, wondering how long she had been daydreaming. "When did she fall asleep?" he asked quietly. "Thirty minutes ago I think" Meiling said, checking the time on her watch. "Let her sleep" Yifan decided, helping her get up carefully and then covering Qiuyue with a blanket. Qiuyue leaned in so naturally to his touch even in her sleep that Meiling couldn't help but feel touched at the sight. Yifan smiled himself before following Meiling to the kitchen so that she could make some tea for him.

Meiling wondered if she could have a small happy family like this. With Kyungsoo, she knew she would be happy but she had moments of insecurities too. Someday in the future, near or far, she would like to share a similar moment with him. Preferably cuddle on a couch together and enjoy some of his home made chocolate she had grown fond of. 

-x-

A/N - to my meimei whom I have stolen from her gege and made my favourite :)