I smile as I hear the familiar cry of Nisha’s approach, I waddle over to the windowsill and stroke Nisha’s head as I carefully remove the note from her leg and read it to myself.
Bi-Han approaches with the twins following closely behind, “another invitation from Allison?” He asks as he notices Nisha still waiting for our answer on the ledge.
“Yup, doesn’t really say why but I’d like to see Allison and her twins before our little one is born, I imagine we won’t have a ton of time for social calls with a fourth child,” I nod as I had him the note and go to fetch a pen and a fresh piece of paper.
“That’s fine, we can go, but I’m not letting you walk all that way, I’ll arrange transportation,” Bi-Han replies in a tone that leaves no room for argument.
My lips quirk into a little smirk as I laugh to myself about how protective Bi-Han is when I’m pregnant, but I can’t blame him, I don’t want walk all that way with my swollen ankles either, especially not when I’m due in less than a month. I write Allison a quick response letting her know that we’ll be there later that evening, I tie the note to Nisha’s leg and give her another small pat before sending her on her way.
A few hours pass and I fuss with the boy’s hair, trying to get it to look like the twins haven’t been training all afternoon and like Shìxuě wasn’t a seven year old with perpetually messy hair, “oh I give up, they have kids too, they know how hard it is to get you boys to stay still long enough to make you look presentable.”
A carriage pulls up to the house and Bi-Han calls us all to the door, “Sol they look fine, the driver’s here, let’s get going.”
I nod as I usher the boys into the carriage before Bi-Han lifts me into the carriage, “Bi-Han!” I squeak loudly, “I can still walk! You don’t have to lift me up.” He just ignores me as he places me in the carriage before climbing in himself as we all set off to Allison and Shang’s. The ride doesn’t take look and soon I find myself once again being carried out of the carriage and set onto the ground at the gates of their impressive manor. The guard recognizes Bi-Han immediately as the gates open and one of the ever present servants is there to welcome us and see us into the manor as we wait for Allison and Shang.