Chapter 174 - 173 – Birthday Lunch

When Rudy finally brought Ren and Fang home, everyone else was already up, and the ice cream they had bought was gone before they could say 'ice cream' (or 'happy birthday' for that matter).

Rudy, who had assimilated himself on Ren's phone as well, was introduced to his corporeal siblings – one human baby and three furballs. The amazing thing was that Rudy could actually converse with the furballs as if they were speaking normally.

Ren didn't understand how Fang had managed to achieve this – only people with magic could communicate with their three baby furballs – so how was Rudy, who had nothing to do with magic, able to do so as well?

To be honest, Fang didn't know the answer, either.

Ren wondered if Fang had accidentally infused some of his magic into Rudy when creating him, and thus, Rudy had developed his own independent existence as well as magical features…

In any case, Ren was quite pleased with the outcome and had no complaints either way!

After the ice cream was devoured, everyone came back to wish Ren properly, this time, remembering to bring the gifts that they had gotten for him.

Soon enough, Ren was buried under a small mountain of gifts, which he happily opened until it was time for lunch, and then Fang dragged everyone to a special light lunch prepared by Chef Jules.

"Dinner will be special, so it is best to have a light meal now," Fang said to Ren. "We will rest for a bit after lunch, and then we will start getting ready for the evening."

Ren blinked. Then he remembered that Fang had ordered matching outfits for their family for today's dinner, and excitement bloomed in his belly. Ren was having an excellent birthday so far, and golden eyes had been glowing like molten gold since the morning, much to the satisfaction of everyone else.

"Why don't you wear the new outfit I designed for you, Chairman Ren?" Prince Uno suggested. "The style is a bit different from what you usually wear, but I think you would look rather dashing in it."

"Ren can wear that tomorrow," Fang said. "For today, we already have our outfits set."

Prince Uno stuck out his tongue at his younger cousin and Fang rolled his eyes.

"Why don't all of you do a photo shoot for me?" Prince Uno asked. "Come over to Star Nation and walk the ramp for me – Chairman Ren, Cousin Fang and my little nieces and nephews – it will be really nice!"

The four babies looked at their two fathers pleadingly. It had been a while since they had travelled overseas, and they wanted to see a new place, too.

"Star Nation also has some excellent cuisine, you know," Prince Uno dangled the ultimate bait in front of the babies.

Ren chuckled and shook his head. "All right, perhaps we could make a short trip next month," he murmured, unable to turn down the cute faces of the babies.

"Daddy! Rudy will find you the best places to eat in Star Nation!" Rudy spoke up from Ren's phone.

"Thank you, my dear boy," Ren said happily from Ren's phone.

"You do have the most unusual children," Zeus said to Ren and Fang with a laugh. "A human baby, a little kitten, two little pups, and now there's an AI child as well."

"There's also a little snake that doesn't appear very often," Prince Uno said with a wink at the human baby Sylvia.

Sylvia stuck out her tongue at this newfound uncle of hers.

"Oh, right," Zeus said. "I've heard about that one – Chairman Ren brought the snake back from Sand Country, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's correct," Fang said. "All right, lunch is served now, so we should eat and then get some rest."

He took Ren's hand and dragged him away before anyone could say anything.

The dining table was set up nicely to accommodate all of them – but the centre piece was rather eye catching. It was a huge cake! And the cake even had little figurines of Ren, Fang and all the babies – there was even a red car, like Rudy (which had just been added after Ren and Fang came back and Rudy was introduced to his siblings)!

"Wow," Ren said, staring at the cake.

"It was the babies' idea," Pax said quietly. "They wanted to make a cake like this for you."

Ren gathered all the children in a tearful hug, overwhelmed with emotion. What else could a man wish for when he had already been blessed with a beautiful family like this?

Lunch was a happy affair, and the cake was the most delicious cake that Ren had ever eaten.

True to his word, Fang dragged away Ren to take an afternoon nap after lunch. The babies, too, were sent off to their rooms.

The Dragon Queen had some matters to discuss with Princess Una, and Wolf had to do a last minute check on the security arrangements for the grand party in the evening, so he was busy with the Blue Wolves.

So, it fell to Pax to entertain Prince Uno and Zeus.

"CEO Pax, why don't you show us your favourite thing in Cosmopolis?" Prince Uno suggested, grinning flirtatiously at Pax.

Pax promptly bought Prince Uno and Zeus to Sirocco's main office.

Prince Uno was dismayed for a moment when he realised what had happened, and then he burst out laughing.

"You are a really interesting person, CEO Pax," he teased.

Pax shrugged carelessly. "I have been accused of worse things than being interesting," he said mildly.

Zeus watched the two of them interact for some time, and then texted his fiancée Princess Una, saying, "I think your brother is interested in CEO Pax. They seem to be flirting. What do you think?"

Princess Una, who was chatting with the Dragon Queen about the matters of the past relating to Fang and their plans for the future with respect to Ren and Fang, saw this text and chuckled. She also showed it to her mother.

The Dragon Queen raised her eyebrows. "If Chairman Ren doesn't mind, I think CEO Pax would be an excellent match for our Uno," she murmured. "And we will finally be able to get rid of that horrible princess from Dune Country that has been chasing him all these years."

Princess Una couldn't agree more. She would be more than happy to lend a helping hand to her brother to win CEO Pax's heart – after all, it was quite rare to come across a man of his abilities. The only thing was, would CEO Pax be interested in Prince Uno at all?

The two of them were discussing this when Fang appeared, and he was pulled into this discussion on matchmaking.

"Big Brother Uno seems rather – er, casual…?" Fang commented. "And Pax is a very serious person. Please don't involve Pax with such things." He narrowed his eyes. "If Pax takes a liking to Big Brother Uno, then it's fine, but if Big Brother Uno wrongs our Pax in any way, he will have to answer to Ren and I and Wolf. And the babies, too. They adore their Uncle Pax."

The Dragon Queen and Princess Una agreed with Fang. It was best to let nature take its course. If Pax and Prince Uno decided to date each other, they would all support them, and if not, then they would leave the matter alone.

In any case, Princess Una had learnt her lesson about interfering in other people's relationships already.

"Is – is Chairman Ren all right?" she asked Fang nervously.

Fang sighed. "He is happy today," he murmured. "But in general, I am not so sure." He rubbed his face tiredly. "I haven't been a good fiancé to Ren."

The Dragon Queen patted her nephew's shoulder. "You're still young, and Chairman Ren is a very patient man," she consoled Fang. "And it's not like he doesn't know that you love him very much," she pointed out.

Princess Una nodded. "You just need to get your thoughts together and act accordingly," she said. "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday; I should not have made the assumptions that I did."

Fang sighed again. "It wasn't your fault, Big Sister Una," he said quietly. "You were right about one thing – I don't seem to be able to react appropriately in my capacity as Ren's fiancé. It's just like you pointed out – you wouldn't let anyone speak to your fiancé Zeus the way Big Brother Uno spoke to Ren, and I did nothing. Even yesterday, I should have made it amply clear to you that I had no intention of breaking up with Ren the first time you mentioned it, instead of putting it off for later." A hint of frustration showed up on Fang's beautiful face.. "I love Ren so much that I want to pluck the stars out of the sky and gift them to him, just so that he would smile at me, but I seem to be messing up all the time. How do I show Ren how much I love him?"