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It had taken Lan Xichen embarrassingly long to realize what was going on.
Wangji had always been a quiet child, mostly keeping to himself and never going out of his comfort zone to attempt to make friends. Their uncle had believed that he would eventually grow out of it, that it was just a short, rebellious phase.
But that day never came.
It hadn’t been very surprising for either of them when Wangji presented as an alpha at the age of fifteen, as most men in their family were alphas. Xichen had once again been hopeful that Wangji would become more social and confident now that he had presented, and perhaps even bring home a nice omega he was courting.
But, once again, that day never came.
Xichen had heard from all of Wangji’s teachers over and over again about how he always preferred to sit by himself in classes, ignoring all attempts of his fellow classmates trying to gain his attention. It didn’t seem like he had anyone he considered a friend, and Xichen had been growing exceedingly worried. When he was a child his behavior could be explained away, but now he was almost an adult, and he still showed no signs of changing.
And then the impossible happened- Wangji had made a friend.
At first Xichen had been unsure of what their relationship was actually like. A fellow alpha student from Wangji’s year- Wei Wuxian- was constantly chasing him around. He seemed to love annoying poor Wangji, whose ears would grow red with irritation anytime Wei Wuxian was near. Wangji’s refusal to engage with the people trying to talk to him was usually enough to make them reconsider and back off- but not Wei Wuxian.
If anything it only made him even more determined to become Wangji’s friend, now elbow to elbow with Wangji everywhere he went. And Wangji’s irritation slowly began to morph into surrender. He had officially given in to Wei Wuxian’s whims, and although Xichen doubted he would refer to Wei Wuxian as a friend, he was still the closest thing to a friend he had ever had.
It was an unconventional relationship, to say the least. Friendships between two male alphas were rare, as they usually ended up being too combative to remain on friendly terms for long. But that didn’t seem to be the case when it came to Wangji and Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian loved to sit too close to Wangji and blabber on about whatever had caught his interest that day, and Wangji would listen and occasionally respond. There was no puffing of their chests, no bared teeth or guttural growls warning the other to stay back. Nothing at all that could be seen as aggressive or territorial, or as typical alpha-alpha behavior.
If Xichen hadn’t known for a fact that Wei Wuxian was an alpha, he would undoubtedly have suspected that he was something completely different.
Xichen still remembered the day when Wangji had brought Wei Wuxian home with him after school to hang out for the very first time, making their friendship official. Xichen and Lan Qiren had been waiting for Wangji to bring a friend home for so long, but their poor uncle had a hard time accepting that the loud and unruly Wei Wuxian was now Wangji’s best friend.
But eventually he came around, not really having any other choice when Wei Wuxian started hanging around their house more often than not.
It quickly became an everyday occurrence that Xichen didn’t pay much attention, until he noticed that their relationship seemed to have drastically changed over the past few weeks.
Wei Wuxian had always been clingy, always shoulder-to-shoulder beside Wangji, and never afraid to touch him when he was teasing him. But there was something new and foreign about the way he would stand at Wangji’s side now, angled so that their bodies were snugly slotted together, as if he was an omega seeking comfort from his alpha. And Wangji, strangely enough, accepted it, resting a hand on the back of Wei Wuxian’s back when he thought nobody was looking.
And then came the cuddling.
On more than one occasion, Xichen had come across Wei Wuxian with his face nuzzled against Wangji’s chest, Wangji’s hand at the back of his neck holding him steady. It almost seemed as if they were scenting each other, but that couldn’t be the case as they were both alphas.
They broke apart and pretend as if nothing had happened as soon as they noticed he was there, but Xichen had a hard time forgetting the incident.
One day when he had come home early, he heard muffled voices from the living room. Xichen hadn’t thought much of it, going about his afternoon as usual, until he was close enough to overhear the ongoing conversation.
“Am I a pretty omega, Lan Zhan?”
Xichen froze in the middle of a step. There was no mistaking it that that voice belonged to Wei Wuxian.
He was probably making a joke as usual, Xichen told himself even though he found it hard to believe. Sure, Wei Wuxian often teased Wangji in various ways, but it was always obvious when he was up to something mischievous, his tone of voice always betraying his ulterior motives. Which it didn’t now, as Wei Wuxian for once sounded completely genuine.
“Mh, Wei Ying is the most perfect omega there is.”
They weren’t joking around, Xichen realized. They were being genuine, they were both pretending that Wei Wuxian was an omega, for whatever reason.
Xichen quickly turned and walked back out the door as silently as he could. He could not deal with this right now, more confused than he had ever been before. Perhaps he had misheard them, or perhaps they had in fact been joking around and Xichen had just misinterpreted it.
Even though Xichen tried to push the incident to the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but notice all the little signs he hadn’t seen before.
The small touches they exchanged almost constantly, be it a not-so-accidental brush against each other hands, or Wangji placing a hand on Wei Wuxian’s lower back as if to keep him steady, even when it was clearly not needed.
The bashful smiles they sent each other’s way, as if they just couldn’t help themselves. And the way Wei Wuxian always seemed to be wearing a turtleneck after he’d been over at their house after school.
Xichen wasn’t sure if he was supposed to ignore it and allow them to figure it out themselves, or if it would be better if he were to sit them down and have a talk with them both.
Alpha-alpha relationships held certain risks, and Xichen didn’t know if Wangji or Wei Wuxian were aware of them or not.
The biggest risk was simply that those types of relationships rarely lasted for very long, as the friction between two alphas would ironically enough grow stronger the closer they got. Although there was a way to remove this risk completely, which just so happened to be an even bigger risk in itself, at least if one wanted to keep one’s secondary gender.
Xichen decided to let them be, believing that Wangji would come to him when he felt the time was right to tell him about the… relationship? Fling? Whatever it was he had going on with Wei Wuxian.
But in the end he had not gotten a chance to confess before disaster struck.
Xichen and Wangji had been busy preparing dinner when there was a hurried knock on the door. Before any of them could move to answer, the door had swung open, and a moment later a panting and frazzled Wei Wuxian was standing in their kitchen.
“Wei Ying!”
Wangji was immediately by his side, momentarily forgetting that his brother was still there as he took Wei Wuxian’s hands into his own, looking worried.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice uncharacteristically low. It almost sounded as if he was afraid, his eyes wide and teary. Even his scent was in commotion, spiraling as if it couldn’t settle, as if it didn't know what it-
Oh.
“I worked, it’s happened.”
"You’re…” Wangji trailed off, his voice... hopeful?
Wei Wuxian nodded.
Xichen didn’t need them to spell it out to realize that Wei Wuxian was now an omega, or at least well on his way to becoming one.
Xichen suddenly felt an overwhelming need to sit down, too overcome with a thousand thoughts and emotions all at once.
This was exactly what he’d been afraid of- that Wangji and Wei Wuxian had begun a relationship, only for one of them to end up changing once the relationship turned sexual.
It was a quick process once it had begun, and there was no turning back. Wei Wuxian was now stuck as an omega whether he wanted to or not.
Xichen dared another glance at the couple, only to see Wei Wuxian’s arms tightly wrapped around Wangji, as he was lifted into the air in a powerful hug. His eyes were still teary and overcome with emotion, but he was also laughing, and seemed genuinely happy, his unfamiliar scent strong and sugary sweet.
…Had he wanted to become an omega?
Xichen hadn’t even considered that to be a possibility before it dawned on him. Wangji didn’t look dissatisfied either. In fact he was displaying more emotions than he had done in years, as he held onto Wei Wuxian for dear life, as if he never wanted to let him go again.
The pair eventually settled, Wei Wuxian giggling as they spoke in hushed voices. But then his smile dropped, expression turning serious and slightly scared once more.
His eyes met Xichen’s from across the room for the first time since he had entered, and he cleared his throat.
“Actually, that’s not quite all,” Wei Wuxian said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Oh god , what if he was pregnant?
“Madam Yu, she found out that I’m an omega. And she threw me out, and I don’t know where-”
“You can stay here,” Wangji said immediately, not waiting to let Wei Wuxian finish. He glanced back at his brother as if waiting for him to agree.
Xichen found himself nodding before he had even thought it over. Since Wei Wuxian had turned up on their doorstep as soon as he’d found out about his new secondary gender, it probably meant that he and Wangji were serious about their relationship. That, and the way they had held and looked at each other just moments earlier made it clear that this wasn’t just a short fling.
Plus, it was obvious that Wangji was the one who had turned Wei Wuxian into a fully-fledged omega.
“Thank you,” Wei Wuxian said in earnest, nodding toward Xichen. But the strange expression on his face didn’t disappear just yet.
“Actually, there’s kind of one more thing-”
Oh god .
“I’m pregnant.”
Oh no!
In the next second they were kissing, Wei Wuxian letting out a strangled moan against Wangji’s lips.
“I will take responsibility,” Wangji said between kisses, before diving in for another. “You can live here, you and the baby.”
Xichen didn’t have it in him to remind Wangji that their uncle was the only one who could make such decisions. Although realistically, Lan Qiren could never turn away the boy that his nephew had not only managed to turn into an omega, but also gotten pregnant.
Xichen took the couple now scenting and comforting each other with softly spoken words and promises as his cue to leave, shutting the door softly behind himself. He had no idea where he would be going, all he knew was that he needed to get away before anything worse could happen.
At least Wei Wuxian couldn’t get pregnant twice.
Lan Qiren had sat unmoving on the couch for several long, tense moments when Wangji and Wei Wuxian stood hand in hand before him, explaining what had happened. Wangji was even doing most of the talking, for which Xichen felt pride swell up in his chest. He had even made sure that Wei Wuxian was partially hidden behind his shoulder, as if to shield him from any potential bad reaction their uncle might have.
Their uncle, who was still sitting completely still, staring off into the distance.
“Well,” he eventually said, before going quiet again. He cleared his throat before trying again,
”That is- That is quite…something.”
He pinched the skin between his eyebrows, looking exasperated and as if he was currently regretting all his life choices.
“Wei Wuxian can stay here, of course, since this is all Wangji’s fault to begin with.” Lan Qiren sent Wangji a half-hearted glare. Wangji simply nodded, accepting the blame without a second thought.
It took precisely three days for Lan Qiren to come around and accept what had happened.
At first, Xichen could see the disappointment in his eyes every time he looked at his model student of a nephew, who had gotten another alpha pregnant only a few months after becoming a legal adult.
Xichen knew that he had wanted great things for Wangji, things that did not include becoming a father after barely even reaching adulthood. And Xichen understood him, this wasn’t what he had expected for Wangji either.
Three days later, Wei Wuxian spent the entire morning throwing up in the bathroom before finally collapsing onto the couch, exhausted. Lan Qiren looked as if he wanted to say something akin to ‘I told you so’, to remind Wei Wuxian that pregnancy came with many hurdles and that he had done this to himself. But thankfully he held his tongue.
Wangji had been by Wei Wuxian’s side in an instant, wiping the sweat from his brow with a wet towel while gently stroking his stomach with the other one.
Suddenly, he stopped.
“Wei Ying, I think you’re showing.”
That was enough to gather everyone's attention, Wei Wuxian flying into a sitting position and pulling the overly large sweatshirt he had stolen from Wangji up enough to show off his stomach.
Wangji had been right. Yesterday his stomach had still been almost completely flat, but today there was a round bump that made it obvious that he was in fact pregnant.
“Oh,” Wei Wuxian said as his hands joined Wangji’s on his stomach, caressing the baby bump with wide-blown eyes.
Lan Qiren chose that exact moment to hide his face behind the newspaper he had been reading, although he wasn’t quite able to hide how he wiped his eyes at the sight.
After that moment, something in him clicked. He spent the following day arguing with Wangji, asking how he had yet to build Wei Wuxian a nest.
“I have,” Wangji defended himself with a frown, offended that his uncle thought he was doing a lousy job as a father-to-be. “It’s-”
“It’s not good enough, is what it is!” Lan Qiren cut him off, arms crossed over his chest. “Your turned Wei Wuxian into an omega and got him pregnant, and that is the best nest you can give him? It won’t do, he deserves better!”
Wangji had hung his head low before excusing himself to add another dozen pillows to Wei Wuxian's already ridiculously large and pompous nest. Xichen had to bite back a smile at Lan Qiren’s exasperated huff. He acted like he didn’t care, but Xichen knew that he would join himself and Wangji in defending Wei Wuxian without a second thought.
They would be alright, all three of them.
Xichen had expected and hoped for Wangji to one day find a kind omega to settle with, but that hadn’t been the case. He had instead made himself one in Wei Wuxian, who took to the role of pregnant omega so well that it was hard to believe that he had been an alpha for several years before Wangji had turned him. And with how happy they both were with their choice, how was anyone to criticize them for it?