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The weight of the snow building on the ground was a little unexpected; they knew that it was coming, but no one had anticipated nearly half a foot before nightfall. Now that darkness was creeping in on the Winery grounds, Diluc was... a little worried.
Kaeya had taken their daughter that morning to go fetch a bit of excess paperwork to work on during the next week—something to pass the time while they anticipated being snowed in for a few days at least. She'd wanted to see Klee, too, but mostly because their local Spark Knight had promised to make her her very own Dodoco. That was... a few hours ago, and to Kaeya's credit the journey was about an hour both ways. The snow would only would make that longer.
Diluc was allowed to worry, though. He was Diluc. Kaeya liked to tell him that at least a tenth of the bones in his body are worry bones. This was, however in comparison to a quarter of them being, in Kaeya's words, 'very attractive' bones. Diluc has given up on reminding him that bones aren't attractive, because then he would make a half-crude joke that shouldn't be said in front of their child.
He had the fire roaring and blankets ready by the time he noticed the stable staff, lingering around the doorway to stay in from the worst of the cold while they waited for their last horse to make it in for the night, start moving outside.
The tension melted from his shoulders. A few, precious minutes after the stable staff made their way out to approach their returning mare, there was shuffling from the doorway again, and the figures of his husband and child made their way in, shaking snow from their heavy, furred winter cloaks.
The hood fell back from the smaller one. Though Celeste took primarily after Kaeya in the shape of her pretty features and dark hair, she had the pale, freckled complexion of her father. He could see that her cheeks were as red as the eyes she'd inherited from him, and he immediately had half a mind to scold Kaeya already. The rosiness was a sign of the cold, but he scooped forward with a blanket spread in his arms, wrapping it around her. At only five, it was still blissfully easy for him to lift her and the blanket both while she squealed with surprised laughter.
"Daddy!"
She was half a mess, her dark blue hairstyle disheveled by the hood. Though Adelinde had managed to mostly tame it every morning in thick twin braids, it had the thickness of Diluc's hair and it was terribly prone to flipping free in messy fly-aways and curls. He kissed her on a cheek so chubby that it smushed against own afterwards, and her little legs kicked as he wrapped her snug in the waiting blanket he’d had warming by the fire.
"I was starting to think your Papa spirited you away to a shrine, my little Seelie."
It is the nickname she'd held from near-birth, given how Klee had struggled just a little over pronouncing 'Celeste,' and the difficulties that he and Kaeya had shared bringing her into the world. Though Klee no longer struggled with the name, it'd caught on.
With Celeste warming in the blanket in his arms, though, Diluc finally looked up to Kaeya, and Kaeya could tell he was in a little trouble. They were an hour late, after all, but fortunately his husband was too distracted to be too sour over that. Diluc's hands were already working at warming his daughter's up, given how chilly her tiny fingers felt once he got her gloves off.
"We ran into a little trouble on our way back," Kaeya explained with nervous smile.
"Trouble?" Diluc shifted Celeste in his arms to carry her closer to the fire, sitting in one of the chairs there so he can work her tiny boots off to make sure that her socks weren’t wet inside.
"Hilichurl ambush on this side of Springvale. You'd think they'd be too cold to do much, too, but it seems they’re always up to something-"
"Papa punched one!" Celeste announced, with no shortage of pride.
Kaeya sat in the other chair, grinning a little more shamelessly at Diluc's quizzical look. "My sword was a little...otherwise preoccupied."
"It got stuck in a shield!" At, leave it to Celeste to give Diluc all of the little details that Kaeya might wanted to brush off as something more graceful than they actually were.
Kaeya's cheeks colored. "...It was an eventful fight."
"I'll make sure to send a couple of people with you next time," Diluc answered, clearly a little conflicted over the fact they'd been ambushed. “Or maybe you could ask for a Knight escort…?”
"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, firebug."
"Yeah! Papa looked cool!" Bless her little heart, ratting him out for questionable fighting tactics or not, Celeste was always Kaeya's biggest champion.
"Your Papa and I are going to talk about that," Diluc hummed, lowering the blanket to get her out of the half-wet winter coat. "Adelinde's already run you a bath. Go get cleaned up."
The child pouted just a bit at that, and Diluc only then noticed the stuffed animal tucked safely under her arm. When she turned her gaze up to him, it was wide, her best kicked puppy look. They may have shared the same red gaze--but her pupils were little stars, just like her papa's. "I don't wanna take a bath."
"I guess you don't want the sunsettia cheesecake we saved for dessert then, either?"
Her gasp is mortified, immediately swayed. "No! No I want that! I'll take a bath! I'll take three baths!"
Diluc snorted softly, and set her wiggling, kicking little legs on the ground, smoothing back her blue curls to press a kiss to her forehead. "Go be good for Adelinde."
It took her a moment to conclude her wiggling, and then she dragged the blanket over her head like a cowl. Celeste puffed out her little shoulders and hugged the blanket to her chest where her new, custom made Dodoco was still cradled. She seemed to gauge this blanket suitable for proper attire. "I don't have to be good! I'm the savior of Mondstadt! I'm gonna punch Hilichurls! I'm the Darknight Hero!" She announced, before the echo of her feet thundered off in search of Adelinde.
Diluc lasted all of a second before he buried his face in his hand from embarrassment. "What have you been telling her?"
"Oh, you know. Tales of Mondstadt's Heroes. She's as equally fond of stories of Vennessa as she is the Darknight Hero," Kaeya hummed, lips pursed into a smirk. His own boots were off now, as well as his winter coat. He stood to move closer to the fire, and Diluc stepped after him.
"You're freezing," Diluc muttered, brows furrowing with concern as he slipped behind where Kaeya was facing the hearth. His hands started at Kaeya's elbows and moved down his wrists to clasp both of Kaeya's hands over his stomach, so Diluc could hold them there from behind. "....And your knuckles are bruised," he added. Neglecting to hold those hands in one place, Diluc lifted Kaeya's bruised hand up he could kiss the battered knuckles over Kaeya's shoulder.
"The unfortunate side effects of a Cryo Vision and punching a Hilichurl," Kaeya reminded, softly. Like he had with his little Seelie, Diluc cupped both of his hands around Kaeya's, warming them all the way to the tips of each finger. While he did, he paid a certain amount of attention to peppering a few kisses at the shell of Kaeya's ear.
"I'll go with you personally, next time, then."
Kaeya's laugh lingered between them and the fireplace. "I really can handle it, Luc."
"I know you can." Diluc's hands slipped from Kaeya's once he was satisfied they were warmed properly, to settle on his waist, a slow sway in their bodies together as his arms wrapped around him. His kisses moved to his neck. "I'll tag along just to keep you warm, next time."
Kaeya snickered, trying not to tense up for the ticklish feeling of Diluc's lips at the curve of his sensitive skin. He knew Diluc knew exactly what he was doing. "Oh? How benevolent of you. Truly, hero potential here. No wonder Celeste is so noble."
"Hush, you," Diluc chided, offering a nip instead of those sweet kisses, and Kaeya chuckled to himself, taking the arms around him and using them as an anchor to wriggle and twist himself in Diluc's grasp until he came to face him. Once he was turned around, belly to belly, his own arms lifted to circle Diluc’s shoulders, leaning up.
"Or what?"
"Or you won't get any dessert either," Diluc warned, bemused, as he used this new vantage of his arms around Kaeya's waist as an excuse to squeeze his bottom, ever so lightly. He leaned in, ready to steal a kiss.
"I forgot!" Celeste's voice announced itself. When they had least expected it, she had popped back in from the hallway.
The two disengaged from their shameless flirting with a small clear of Diluc's throat, as he crouched before her. "What did you forget, Seelie?"
"Papa said I could have a sibling!"
Kaeya nearly choked on the spot, freezing, and not because of his Vision. "I said what?"
"When we were passing through the market, I pointed to another little girl playing with a baby! I asked if I could have one, a little sibling! You said of course! I could have anything I wanted in the whole world."
A slow realization set in. A nervous glance to Diluc followed. "...I thought that she was asking for the toy they were playing with. I may have already been knee deep in the paperwork I picked up."
Celeste stomped her little socked foot, stubborn, but not bratty. Not this time around—she considered herself properly victimized by this attempted dodge of the subject. "But you promised!"
Diluc, now amused, raised his own brow. "We'll have to talk about it. It's something he has to ask me for, too, honey. Now go get that bath before the water gets cold. You don't want to be a Seelie-cicle, do you?"
Her eyes went wide at the thought, shaking her head so hard her braids bounced in a swirl around her cheeks—and then off she went again.
"I'm starting to see more and more of you in her every day," Kaeya hummed with some fondness, leaning into Diluc's side as she disappeared down the hallway.
"Me?" Diluc asked, surprised. "I’d think she’s going to grow up extraordinarily beautiful, like you."
Kaeya smirked. "Nice try. But I mean she’s becoming a little fireball."
"A 'fireball?' You got into plenty of trouble when we were younger, too." Diluc's head turned to face him, pressing a kiss to Kaeya's temple. Kaeya can't keep that smug expression long, laughing.
"Yeah—because you dragged me into it."
"...Fair."
Though it's an admission of partial-defeat, Diluc reached down to take Kaeya's hand again, this time tugging him along to the kitchen. They'd missed normal dinner hours, but Diluc had at least made sure it'd be warm for them when they got back.
"So," he started, sliding Kaeya his plate. He doesn't continue until Kaeya is carving the roast Madame portions he'd been given, and when he did, Kaeya almost dropped his knife and fork. "A little sibling for Celeste."
He lets Kaeya chew on the piece of meat he’d snuck from the first carving, and that subject first. Kaeya would take his time to elaborate on it.
Celeste had not been an easy pregnancy. Kaeya had struggled in more ways than one, and though neither would trade their daughter for the world, Diluc was clearly letting him establish that boundary, if the joking was just that—joking. Kaeya's gaze dropped to the plate, suddenly seeming a little less hungry. Diluc was just about to say they could drop it entirely, that he got the message loud and clear, though his husband cleared his throat.
"...I'm not opposed to another. I think... I'm more comfortable."
Maybe Diluc was a little embarrassed at how that made his heart feel like a bird in his chest, fluttering in wild directions and a little too quick. "Are you sure? You know I won't ask you to, not if you aren't sure."
Kaeya set the knife down to reach over the kitchen island. His fingers trail over the back of Diluc's hand, until Diluc turned his palm over to hold them, instead. "I know you wouldn't, firefly. But I've been thinking about it, too. If Celeste is going to start asking for one, you know she won't stop. She's got your stubbornness."
"Hey!" Diluc's cheeks darkened a little at his own attempt at defense. Kaeya laughs, and squeezed his palm.
"She's already asked where babies come from today."
Diluc went still. "...What did you tell her?"
Kaeya smirked, wry. "That a little Seelie comes to live in a parent's belly until it turns into a baby."
Diluc can't help but laugh and snort at the same time. "...You're a genius. I love you."
"If we keep up that pattern, though, we'll have to figure out another name we can use Seelie as a nickname for," Kaeya teased, setting his chin on his elbow, finally poking fully at his food.
"I think," Diluc started with some hesitance, looking away, "We'd have to worry about conceiving, first."
He wasn't being subtle at all, even though he was clearly trying. Kaeya hid a smile in his hand. "That's an awfully brave comment for someone who's not doing the 'conceiving.'"
"I help," Diluc defended, but neither were taking the play-disagreement seriously.
"You do something, alright," Kaeya scoffed. Diluc had a habit of overfilling his plate, and now, he was realizing there was very little chance he had at coming anywhere close to finishing this meal. Kaeya could only assume it was some weird, Alpha instinctive drive to make sure Kaeya was taken care of, for all the years that he hadn't done that. Acknowledging that Kaeya wouldn’t be finishing the whole thing, Diluc took the plate, setting it aside to be washed before he circled the counter to steal a little kiss, ignoring how Kaeya tastes like the wine he'd had with dinner.
"You sure you want to try again?" He asked, as if doubting the earlier confirmation.
Kaeya's voice dropped low in that dangerous, playful way. "Do you need proof that badly? Want me to strip down and prove it to you on the kitchen counter? Is that what you're suggesting?"
Diluc's pale cheeks went red. "Not what I was saying, but I'm not opposed." It was rare that Kaeya got to flirt so shamelessly nowadays—usually only when Adelinde was kind enough to keep Celeste busy. Diluc enjoyed it when he could.
Unfortunately for that round of flirting, they could hear a tiny pair of feet thumping down the hallway to the kitchen again. Squeaky clean, their daughter appeared in the doorway. "Hungry!" She announced, the minute she turned the corner, giving them just enough time to disengage again before they were caught being the uselessly horny lovebirds that so many years of marriage and five years of parenthood had not quelled.
Diluc just laughed, because she was, despite his disagreements with Kaeya, very close to how he had been as a child... very to the point. He already had her plate ready to go as well. "All of it," he told her firmly the minute the plate hit the counter. Kaeya set her up on one of the island chairs. "Even the carrots."
While Celeste’s stubbornness was his own trait, her whine of petulance was very like Kaeya. Particularly when he'd been stuck on just grape juice instead of wine for his pregnancy. Diluc loved them both so much it almost hurt. “But daddy-“
"The minute you finish it all, you get a slice of cake," Diluc offered, reaching forward to ruffle her loose, wet hair. It seemed Adelinde hadn't had the patience to try and re-tame it just before bed. She debated his offer, before shoveling her least favorite foods down first.
Kaeya took the time to go peek out the window, giving a slow whistle. "We're going to be snowed in before morning, Diluc," he pointed out, drawing his husband's attention over. There was at least two feet of snow from what he could see, and it wasn't stopping any time soon.
"Well then," Diluc hummed, tone low enough to sound appraising. "It's a good thing we just discussed ways to keep ourselves busy for the next few days, isn't it?" As if he were the most innocent man in the world, he kissed Kaeya's cheek, and went to go cut a slice of cake.
The redness that lingered on Kaeya's expression wasn't exactly from that kiss. The Omega swallowed, though, not to be outdone, and cleared his throat. "I'm going to go see if we have any offerings to leave out, then. For the Seelie," he announced, casting only one, suggestive glance over his shoulder. "Don't let Celeste stay up too late, or I might just doze off early.
Diluc would get him back later for that look. For now, though, he would make sure Celeste didn't gorge herself on cake before he tucked her in, acquiescing to a bedtime story of Mondstadt's most recent Cavalry Captain—who she admired just as much of as the Darknight Hero.
He made sure it was a quick story. She was already drowsy, and Kaeya? Well, Kaeya was waiting for him.