There was a small corner with baby photos, including one of Lili asleep on Yan Cijin’s chest and another of Bai Li crying openly the first time the child had called her Mother.

Yan Cijin stopped in front of those pictures and went quiet again.

Bai Li stood beside her. "Do you like it?"

Yan Cijin looked at the photos, then at Bai Li. Her voice came out soft and careful. "You remembered all of this."

"Of course I did."

"I did not think you would use our child’s sleeping face as decoration."

Bai Li grinned. "That one was actually Lili’s idea."

Lili jumped in place. "I said the baby picture must go there."

Yan Cijin’s hand pressed to her own chest. "You both conspired against my emotions."

Bai Li nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"Without shame."

"Also yes."

Yan Cijin laughed then, a little shaky, but real. "You are both terrible."

Bai Li leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Terrible and handsome."

Yan Cijin’s eyes flicked sideways. "You are always calling yourself handsome."

"That is because I am."

Lili agreed at once. "Mother is handsome."

Yan Cijin gave the child a look. "You are supposed to be impartial."

Lili thought about this for a moment. "No."

Bai Li laughed so hard she had to bend at the waist. "That is my girl."

Yan Cijin covered her face, but she was smiling too. "I cannot believe this family."

"You made it," Bai Li said.

Yan Cijin looked up at her, touched by the words more than she wanted to admit.

Bai Li took her hand and guided her toward the center table. "Sit."

"I am being ordered around now?"

"Yes."

"That is bold."

"I know."

Yan Cijin sat, still trying to steady her breathing.

Bai Li moved with practiced ease around the table, lifting the covers from dinner dishes one by one. There were Yan Cijin’s favorite foods, all made the way she liked them. There was steamed fish with ginger, a bowl of clear soup, tender greens, sweet buns, and the floral cake Lili had insisted on decorating herself. Bai Li had even set out the right tea, the one Yan Cijin usually saved for special days and forgot to drink because she worked too much.

"I made sure you would eat properly tonight," Bai Li said.

Yan Cijin gave her a suspicious look. "That sounds like a trap."

"It is care."

"Your care is often a trap."

Bai Li smiled. "Only because you refuse to rest without being bullied into it."

Yan Cijin took the cup of tea Bai Li handed her and held it with both hands. "You are overdoing everything again." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Yes."

"Why?"

Bai Li leaned down and kissed her forehead, then the bridge of her nose. "Because I can."

Yan Cijin’s cheeks warmed immediately. "That is not a sufficient explanation."

"For me it is."

Lili had already reached the cake and was staring at the frosting with religious devotion. "Can I have the petals?"

Bai Li nodded. "After Mommy Cijin cuts the first piece."

Yan Cijin looked at her. "You made a ceremonial cake?"

"Obviously."

"You are impossible."

"And yet you are smiling."

Yan Cijin looked away, but not fast enough. Bai Li saw it and looked entirely too pleased.

Dinner passed in a warm haze of laughter, teasing, and little private touches. Bai Li kept slipping more food onto Yan Cijin’s plate. Yan Cijin kept pretending not to notice until Bai Li’s hand brushed her knee under the table and she nearly dropped her spoon. Lili, who noticed everything, immediately asked, "Why did Mommy jump?"

Bai Li answered too quickly. "She is delicate."

Yan Cijin turned sharply. "I am not delicate."

Bai Li gave her a long, slow look. "You are very delicate when I touch you."

Yan Cijin nearly choked on her tea.

Lili looked delighted. "What does that mean?"

Yan Cijin set the cup down with extreme care. "It means your father has no manners."

Bai Li placed a hand over her heart. "I am being attacked in my own home."

Lili nodded. "Again."

Bai Li laughed so hard her shoulders shook.

Yan Cijin gave her the kind of look that should have been stern, but because her cheeks were still pink it only made Bai Li more affectionate. She reached across the table and took Yan Cijin’s hand, thumb brushing gently over the back of it.

"Happy anniversary," she said quietly.

Yan Cijin’s expression softened. "Happy anniversary."

Bai Li’s voice lowered. "You know I would do this every year if I could."

"Do not encourage yourself."

"I am not being encouraged. I am revealing my natural talent."

"You have no limits."

"Only for you."

Yan Cijin looked at her and felt the familiar little ache of being loved by someone so shamelessly and so completely. Bai Li never loved in small amounts. She loved like it was a habit and a choice and a bright stubborn force. It was embarrassing at times, especially in public, and Yan Cijin had complained many times about being kissed at inappropriate moments, but the truth was simple. She never had to wonder where she stood with Bai Li. Never had to guess whether the teasing hid coldness. Never had to fear being left alone in the middle of her own heart.

That kind of security was rare.

After dinner, Lili became sleepy in the warm way children do when they are carrying too much happiness and have nowhere else to put it. She curled up in a blanket near the bench while Yan Cijin sat beside her and brushed her hair back from her forehead. Bai Li tidied the plates with quiet efficiency, then returned carrying a small box.

Yan Cijin looked up at once. "What is that?"

Bai Li sat beside her on the bench. "A gift."

"You already made a whole rooftop."

"Yes, but I am very greedy with anniversaries."

Yan Cijin stared at the box. "You are not making me calm."

"I am not trying to."

That earned a tiny sigh. "Open it."

.

.

.

To be continued.