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Diluc was a nervous mess. Outwardly, he was calm, stoic as ever; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Inwardly, he was a wreck. His heart raced, he was queasy, he was worried. All because it was Kaeya’s birthday. No—that wasn’t it. He wasn’t like this because it was Kaeya’s birthday, he was like this for another reason, but he kept telling himself it was because it was his birthday.
“Cake,” Diluc told himself, “finish the cake.” Diluc… was not the best baker. He took a few classes when he had the time, but it was few and far between.
He did his best with the cake. He pulled it out as the timer went off and carefully placed it in the fridge before working on the frosting. Once the frosting was ready, he scooped some of it into his piping bag and set it aside. What was left? A gift. Right, Diluc had one of those. He had it buried in his closet. He needed to occupy himself while the cake cooled. How he was going to do that, he didn’t know, but he had to do something. He had to.
Diluc went to his closet and pulled out the pile of blankets that were stacked up. Beneath them was a box, carefully wrapped in decorative blue and silver wrapping paper. He pulled it out and sat it on the bed before returning the blankets to their rightful place. Kaeya wasn’t due to return home for a few hours. What Diluc was going to do with himself until then… well, he didn’t know the answer. TV perhaps? No, that wouldn’t distract him enough. He sighed and carried the gift to the living room, where a small pile was already sitting on the decorated table—gifts from others.
They had wanted to throw a big party for Kaeya, but Kaeya had declined the offer. Diluc didn’t understand why he refused, but he had. He was surprised by it, too. Typically, Kaeya enjoyed parties, especially ones that centred around him. Even so, Kaeya had declined the party, yet their friends still stopped by to drop off gifts… which were now carefully stacked on the table.
Diluc took a few minutes to rearrange the gifts… again. It had been the third time he’d done it. At least, he thought it was three. It could’ve been more. He wasn’t paying attention. He just did things to keep his mind off the something that was really bothering him. Well, not bothering per se; it was the thing that made him nervous. More nervous than he’d ever been in his life.
Somehow, half an hour passed, and Diluc found himself returning to the kitchen to finish the cake. He pulled it from the fridge and got it onto a plate. He was pleased with how it came out. Now was the hard part—decorating. He was careful when frosting the cake. It didn’t turn out as clean as he’d hoped, but he did his best. Once the initial layer of frosting was on, he returned the cake to the fridge and started cleaning up the mess he’d made.
Looking at the clock, he still had at least two hours before Kaeya returned. He sighed. He was going crazy waiting around like this. He turned to the TV to distract himself until the frosting set—not that he paid attention to what he was watching. It was just noise to his ears while he waited.
Time ticked by, and Diluc returned to the cake for the second time. It was time to finish the cake. He grabbed his piping bag and began piping. As nervous as he was about decorating, he did a surprisingly good job, at least, he thought he did. He hoped Kaeya would like it—no, Kaeya would like it. Love it even. It was made by Diluc himself, after all, and Kaeya loved everything Diluc made for him… or he lied about it. He shook his head. That wasn’t the case. That wouldn’t be the case with the cake. It was Kaeya’s favourite flavour, from frosting to filling.
‘When will you be home?’, Diluc texted Kaeya after setting the cake on the dining table.
The answer was almost immediate: ‘About ten if you’re ready for me.’
Diluc should’ve been surprised that Kaeya knew his plans, but he wasn’t. ‘Everything’s ready.’, Diluc replied.
‘Be there soon! 💙’, Kaeya replied.
Diluc couldn’t stop himself from smiling. Kaeya and his dumb blue heart emoji. He used it often. Not that Diluc minded in the slightest. Ten minutes and Kaeya would be home. Ten minutes… Diluc suddenly realised he wasn’t ready for Kaeya to be home. At least not mentally prepared. He hurried to the bedroom and changed into something a little nicer—and a little less comfortable. His pants were quickly growing too tight around his waist. It was impossible to his now. He was surprised Kaeya hadn’t noticed. Even so, he pulled on a more fitted shirt, but it was still loose enough not to show too much. He pulled his hair up into a high ponytail, and when he was looking himself over in the mirror, he heard the front door open and close.
“Diluc!” Kaeya called, “I smell something amazing!”
Diluc greeted Kaeya with a smile as he entered the living room. “Welcome home.
“You look nice today,” Kaeya complimented.
“Thank you,” Diluc replied, heading over. He placed a hand on Kaeya’s arm and leaned in, giving him a quick welcome home kiss, pulling away before Kaeya could trap him in his arms. “I made you a surprise.”
“Oh?” Kaeya grinned, “lead the way.”
Diluc did precisely that. He led Kaeya to the dining room and presented the cake he’d made. “It’s by no means perfect, but it turned out quite well.”
Kaeya sneaked a kiss on Diluc’s cheek, “It looks fantastic. You did a great job. When can we eat it?”
“It’s your birthday,” Diluc said, “you can eat it whenever you want.”
“All right,” Kaeya grinned and took out his phone. He snapped a quick photo before putting his phone away. “Let’s have a taste.”
Diluc was more than happy to give him one. He had their plates already ready. As Diluc expected, the cake was delicious, and Kaeya enjoyed it.
“Present time?” Kaeya asked.
“If you’d like,” Diluc replied.
“I would,” Kaeya said, getting up and offering his hand to Diluc. Diluc took it graciously and made their way to the living room to the pile of gifts. “Seems like everyone sent me one,” he said.
Diluc nodded, “you have many friends.”
Kaeya nudged him, “so do you.”
Diluc chuckled softly, “I do.”
It didn’t take long for Kaeya to open all his gifts. One by one, he thanked the person who’d left it for him. By the end, it was only Diluc’s gift left, and Diluc knew he’d left it for last on purpose. He didn’t say anything, of course; he knew how Kaeya was. Diluc’s gift was, in Diluc’s opinion, not all that impressive. The real gift wasn’t something he could present in a colourfully wrapped gift box.
“All right,” Kaeya announced, “you’ve waited this long; what do you want to tell me?”
Diluc was only a little surprised by this. It was Kaeya, and Kaeya knew him better than anyone. “You didn’t hurry through your birthday gifts and cake simply because you wanted to know what I have to tell you, did you?”
Kaeya shook his head, “no, but it’s only gotten more obvious since I’ve gotten home that you’re hiding something from me. So, if you’re ready…”
“I’m ready,” Diluc said, “just nervous.”
“That’s surprising.”
Diluc could only nod because Kaeya was right. Diluc being nervous was strange. It wasn’t like he got nervous or worried very often. He wasn’t sure how to start or how to say it. Was he just supposed to blurt it outright? Surely there was a more ceremonious way to go about this, but he wasn’t sure what it was. “You’re going to be a father.” The words left his lips in a bit of a rush.
He watched as Kaeya’s expression softened and then brightened. He reached out and placed a hand gently against Diluc’s abdomen, “I was wondering when you were going to tell me. It’s gotten a bit difficult to hide, hasn’t it?”
“You knew,” Diluc said. He wasn’t entirely surprised; at the same time, he was. “How long have you known?”
“You started wearing looser pants, and your mood kept souring in the strangest circumstances. I didn’t want to bring it up, just in case.”
Diluc nodded, “I wasn’t sure how to tell you. You seem excited about it.”
“I’m having a son with the love of my life; how could I be anything but excited?”
“Are you ready?”
“Not in the slightest, but we’ll get there together.”
Diluc nodded again, “I’ve already been looking at parenting classes.”
“Of course, you have,” Kaeya chuckled, “you’re always prepared for things. I’m not surprised this isn’t any different. It puts me at ease, to be honest. It’s been difficult not to ask about it, but I could hardly keep it to myself when I first noticed.”
“Usually, you can’t keep your thoughts to yourself,” Diluc mused.
“Be this the one and only time,” Kaeya said.
Diluc could still hardly believe he was having Kaeya’s child. He’d been worried about telling him for weeks now, and to finally have it out in the open was a weight off his shoulders he hadn’t realised was so heavy.
“Out of everything today and all the gifts, this one is the best.” Kaeya wrapped his arms around Diluc and pulled him into his lap. “You really outdid me. My proposal can’t top this.”
“Your proposal was adorable,” Diluc said, “but yes. I’ve outdone you. What will you do now?”
“Spoil the heck out of this kid?”
Diluc feigned offence. “You would dare spoil our son?”
“Every day of my life.”
Diluc couldn’t help himself as he leaned in and kissed Kaeya. He was happy. So very happy. Happier than when he’d gotten married to Kaeya. They were starting their family, and he was nervously eager to share the news with all their friends.
“Kaeya,” Diluc prompted the man when they parted from the kiss, “happy birthday.”