The Alchemists

Before L could think further, the man had walked forward and waited for her at the bottom of the stairs, spread his hands, and gave a sign for L to come down directly to him.

The girl's face instantly flushed red. She did not think London would behave so intimately in front of his men. Once she reached the last step and went down to the runway, L handed Lily to London's embrace.

The man welcomed her with a smile and kissed Lily, who was amused and suddenly laughed.

L and London exchanged glances. Lily had begun to smile often, but she had never laughed that loudly in front of them before.

"Gosh... apparently you are delighted to meet Daddy," commented London happily. He kissed Lily again and pressed his nose against the baby's nose. "You're so cute, you know that, right? You're the cutest baby in the whole wide world."

L just smiled at the interaction between the father and daughter duo. She could not deny her happy feelings when she returned to Berlin. Somehow, she already felt at home, even though the city was not her native hometown.

"Does Lily miss Daddy?" London repeatedly teased Lily, who was in his arms. "I miss you so much."

"Looks like she does miss you," L commented. "Look, she's so happy to see you."

London smiled mischievously as he turned to L. "I really am adorable and missable, of course, Lily missed me. How about you?"

L just rolled her eyes and walked towards the car that was waiting for them. London immediately followed her. Before he got into the car, he called Pammy to come closer.

"Pammy, you can go home alone, right? My driver will drive you straight home." London pointed to a black BMW next to his Mercedes. "His name is Ben."

Pammy nodded respectfully. "Of course, Sir. I will go straight to my apartment. You be careful on the road, have a good rest."

She nodded at Ben and got into the car that would be used to drive her home. London followed L, who had gotten into their car and sat next to the girl. Dave, Marc, and his security team followed them with several other cars.

This was the first time L shared a car with London in a formal setting after he revealed his identity as London Schneider. So.. this is how rich people travel, L thought to herself. The girl observed several cars around them that contained London's security team.

At that time, she felt very safe. The dark clouds that had filled her mind all night from thinking about Danny Swann's threat were now gone.

"Thank you for picking us up," L murmured almost silently. "I know you are very busy."

London just shrugged. "I am never busy for you and Lily."

L turned when she heard those words. She looked at London as if she wanted to believe his words, but it was difficult for her to do.

"Why? You don't believe me?" asked London in an irritated tone. "Try to ask anything from me, I will definitely grant it."

L bit her lip at the words. "Ugh ... you still want to be my Santa Claus ..."

London instantly remembered L's protest back then, and he finally sighed. "Ah .. actually, that's not what I meant. Now, I will only do something for you if you asked. You don't know how happy I was last night when you finally asked something from me. A man is very happy whenever he felt needed, you know that?"

L shook her head. "I didn't know that. Anyway, I don't like to bother other people."

London stared fixedly at L. "I'm not other people."

L couldn't dispute the man's words. She had no energy to argue anyway. Finally, she could only nod. "Okay."

London smiled when he saw L no longer protested and argued his words. He really felt that L had changed a lot lately. Maybe, their heart to heart conversation from at that time managed to improve the poor communication they used to have.

"Uhm ... she's hungry, I have to feed her first," L said. She reached out and took Lily from London's l.a.p. The man relented and handed over his baby to L, who immediately unfastened the buttons on her shirt and started b.r.e.a.s.tfeeding Lily.

L never hesitated to b.r.e.a.s.tfeed Lily in front of London. Maybe because she knew that the man had seen her under various conditions, including when she was the most vulnerable and unattractive in life: when she gave birth to their baby.

London, who often had a perverted mind when looking at L's body, for some reason, was never turned on every time L took out her b.r.e.a.s.ts to nurse Lily.

He could only stare in awe, sometimes a little envy. Seeing the bond between L and Lily every time they were in such condition, he sometimes wished that men were also given the gift of being able to b.r.e.a.s.tfeed their babies.

When the father fed milk to his baby through a bottle, the bond between him and his baby was in no way comparable to the deep connection developed between mother and child during b.r.e.a.s.tfeeding.

"L ... Even though I love our child very much, later when we get married, we don't have to have more children," the man said suddenly.

L, who was surprised to hear the words coming out of the man's lips without a heads-up, immediately turned to him with furrowed brows.

"Why are you bringing that up? How strange ..." she murmured almost inaudible. 

"I remember when you gave birth to Lily. At that time, the condition was terrifying... I was scared to death if anything happened to you." London confessed. "I don't want you to experience such horrible things ever again."

L actually felt touched, but somehow she automatically rolled her eyes instead. "Iishh... childbirth is a natural event experienced by all-female creatures. Not only humans, but female animals also experience that event, and they are mostly fine."

London was stunned by L's words. He reached out for the girl's left hand and placed it on his l.a.p. He looked at L with a questioning expression.

"Do you want to give birth again? Shall we make a sibling for Lily?" he asked earnestly.

Now it was L's turn to be surprised. Why were they suddenly talking about childbirth and making a sibling for Lily? 

Heyy ... focus, please. We still have a lot of problems, and we haven't addressed them all... she complained inwardly.

"Crazy ..." Finally, L could only mutter that one word. She looked out the window, watching the route they took on their way to the house. She just realized that she did not recognize this road. "Hey, where are we going? Are we not going home to Grunewald?"

"Oh ... I forgot to tell you. Your house is being quarantined. Yesterday, the house staff found pest infestation in the backyard, so I sent the cleaning team to sterilize the whole area. I don't want to compromise Lily and your comfort." London explained. "You don't mind, do you?"

L could only shake her head. She preferred that her house staff report to her directly so she could make a decision, but she quickly remembered that, in fact, her house in Grunewald was actually London's, not hers.

She didn't buy the house with her own money, but rather the guy bought it from the owner and let L use it under the pretense that she had bought it.

So, actually, L had no right to say no. Plus, London's decision to sterilize the house was also not a bad decision. L had learned not to argue because of small things.

"I don't mind," she said in the end. "Then, where will we stay until the house is ready?"

"You can see for yourself," London answered in a secretive tone.