When he became pregnant with triplets, Zhongli already had known who the father was.
There was hardly anyone else, not when Childe was the one he loved the most. See, he knew instantly all three would be boys- none of them looking too alike... variety, truly, and wonderful little boys that would be as strong as both of their parents.
Shaiming was the first; a gentle, squirmy babe that sucked at his chest with no hesitation. Alexei was the second; a loud, energetic hatchling that kept clinging to Shaiming's tail, suckling freely on whatever he got his tiny hands on. Lastly, little Astropheles, a large portion an Enkanomiyan name and then a bit more added to it to add the entire butterfly genus.
Pheles: a genus of butterflies, and something Pheles had see mere minutes after his hatching. A butterfly, golden and careful, landed upon his tiny nose and caused the baby to sneeze. It was that point he added that bit to Astrophel, knowing he must have it.
Shai had... looked the most like him, with the same coloration and patterns- a truly smaller version of himself. Lei, his darling Lei- that boy had ginger hair and golden eyes, not entirely unlike his father-
But then Pheles grew into his features. A sudden thought came to him while sat in the field of flowers, butterflies surrounding them-
"You look exactly like your papa," he whispered, smiling sadly, "beautiful blue eyes, ginger hair... but you have some golden bits and amber here and there... all is fine, of course, though you look so much like him."
It was like Pheles understood, squealing and reaching for his robes to tug at. Zhongli sighed, the wind relaxing him and blowing the scent of the flowers this way and that- maybe he should send another letter to Ajax... he would want to meet them, right?
But... each time, it simply was ripped up in front of him by a fatui member, promised to be delivered but he never got an answer- or, worse yet...
The boys were 14, Zhongli had been cooking when Hu Tao had arrived with the mail. She allowed herself in, appearing excited as she ran over and scared the daylights out of the poor god. After a moment of schooling his expression, he eventually saw the writing of an official letter of the palace in Snezhnaya. Inhaling sharply, he hesitated as the boys came into the kitchen.
After encouragement from his dear friend- someone he thinks of as a daughter- he could not help but open it quicker. He was smiling at first, reading and excited-
Then he realized what it said.
When he collapsed to the floor, he could not help but sob- his children called for him, his daughter-
They grabbed at him and Hu Tao snatched the letter-
"You shouldn't get involved with the 11th, he has no time nor even thought for a family. Never contact the palace again, much less attempt to contact Tartaglia.. I am serious, Morax.... signed, The Tsaritsa."
Hu Tao hissed as she burned the letter, shaking her head while tears bubbled up and she launched herself at the man. "No way- no way no way..! I'm so sorry Mr. Zhongli, I didn't know..!"
And he cannot blame her, not when she has been there to help since the very beginning... whereas Ajax- no, Tartaglia, has never been.
