Chapter Text
The next morning, the sound of faint crying woke Kim up. Groaning as he stretched out his arms, he squinted facing the baby monitor on the coffee table. It seemed that he and Chay fell asleep on the couch after putting Venice to sleep in his crib. Not wanting to keep the baby from crying even louder that it would wake up Chay, he quietly pushed Chay off of him, settling him back down before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Kim walked into the bedroom to see Venice laying on his stomach bearing most of his weight on his arms, which pressing into the soft mattress. His forehead was creased as his lips were downturned and his eyes were tight with worry.
When he saw his uncle, he plopped his upper half onto the mattress before turning over onto his back and holding onto his feet. Kim walked to the table that they were using as a makeshift changing table to take out an extra diaper just in case. Noticing that Kim wasn’t near him anymore, Venice’s bottom lip wobbled before he let out a high-pitched whimper. The older man sighed, walking up to the baby who quieted when he saw his uncle.
“I’m right here,” Kim said softly, in a voice that was only reserved for his boyfriend. Guess it was also spoken to Venice as well. “I know that you’re at the age where you think I disappeared because you can’t see me. But look, I’m right here.” He reached out his left hand to Venice, who wrapped his hand around his ring finger, and the other hand gently wiped away the tears that were on his cheeks.
Wow his cheeks were soft, and he thought Chay’s cheeks were the softest.
“I’m right here,” he repeated in a hushed tone before taking a look around the room. The room was quite dark save for the lighting peeking through the windows courtesy of the sunrise. “Hmm why are you so awake, huh?” Kim looked down at the baby who was munching around his finger. The first time it happened, the older man freaked out and pulled away as fast as he could, resulting in Venice sobbing soon after.
Chay later reassured him that their nephew was likely teething and chewed pretty much on everything to relieve the itch and pain. So now, Kim was a little grossed out but let him be.
“Are you hungry? Or do you have a full diaper? Hmm?” Kim cocked his head to the side, raising his eyebrows making Venice squeal. He did so loudly that Kim quickly raised his finger to his lips, trying to quiet him. The baby silenced himself before turning himself onto his stomach. As he did, he let go of Kim’s finger so now he was reaching out to take hold of it again.
Kim just stood where he was, fatigue filling his body once again as his eyes started to close on their own. A hard pressure on his finger brought him back to reality. It was just Venice chewing on his finger again.
Kim sighed, there was no way he was getting any more sleep. Gently, he slowly manoeuvred his finger out of Venice’s mouth and hoisted him up by his armpits. “Up and at ‘em,” he whispered gently, before opening the door to the balcony.
The two them looked into the early morning sky, and although Kim was used to this view from his very late night into early mornings, it was nice to experience it with Venice.
He looked down to his nephew who let out a noise and wiggled forward, whilst staring at the top of the sun that was peaking above the horizon. “It’s pretty right?” He took another noise that Venice let out as a yes. Kim patted the baby’s back in a steady movement to keep him calm and in turn, making sure that he wouldn’t cry or make too much noise that would rouse Chay.
Venice had one hand on Kim’s shoulder whilst the other was grasping his front collar. He pulled on the hoodie string until the end went in his mouth. Kim huffed out a small smile watching him chew on the fabric.
“You know, you aren’t as bad as I thought.” Kim said, making Venice peer up at him with his big brown eyes.
Kim didn’t know what compelled him, maybe it was the rays of sunlight hovering over his irises making them appear like puppy eyes. Maybe it was the way his toothless smile widened, causing his cheeks to turn rosy red and his tiny button nose to crinkle. Whatever it was, it made Kim lean down and press his slightly chapped lips against Venice’s velvet-like skin.
He pulled back with a closed-mouthed smile.
“You know, when I first met you, I wasn’t a big fan.” Venice mouth dropped open. “I know, right?” Kim feigned shock. “Me, not liking you? Adorable, chubby, happy little you?” He bounced the baby with every word, causing him to reveal a toothless grin. When Kim was able to get a better look, he was able to spot one teeny tiny speck of white protruding from his nephew’s gums.
Kim took a seat on one of the pull-out chairs, stretching his legs out with his nephew on his lap. The baby had his legs out on either side, but they were too short to actually touch the seat, so his tiny feet just reached the outside of Kim’s thighs. “But you know, once I started to spend time with you more, I understood why Chay was so excited to take care of you. You just have everyone wrapped around your tiny, little fingers, don’t you? Even when you poop, you’re just so cute.” Kim wrinkled his nose causing Venice to grin and reach out to hold his nose.
Eventually, the pair quieted down, and Kim looked ahead at the sunrise whilst lightly patting the baby’s back. He glanced down to see him sleeping, a river of drool streaming down Kim’s jersey shirt. The older man sighed and rested his head back against the seat, closed his eyes, and his heartbeat matched with the tune of Kim’s hand against Venice’s back.
Kim felt a soft graze on the side of his face causing him to blink his eyes open. Chay was sitting on the leftover space on the chair, softly smiling at him before looking at Venice. He leaned down to give Kim a quick kiss before sitting down in other pull-out chair next to him just as he put his phone back into his pocket.
“How long have you been out here?” Chay asked, leaning on his side and clutching the pillow to his chest.
Kim hummed, “probably. I heard him through the baby monitor and brought him out here.”
“I could’ve gotten him.”
Kim shook his head, “I didn’t want to wake you up. You have been working so hard in taking care of him, you deserve a break.”
Chay smiled, “you look good with a baby.” Kim quietly laughed and snuck a glance at his nephew.
“Never thought I’d hear that.”
Giggle covered his mouth to smother the sounds of his giggles. “It’s true, you’re so sweet with him.”
Kim smirked, “Yeah well, he grew on me. But you’re even cuter, angel. How are you so good at taking care of him?”
Chay hummed and turned his head so he was facing the upcoming sunrise. “Well, when I was in middle school, my neighbours would ask if I could watch their children after I was done with school and on the weekends. I said ‘yes’ obviously because we needed the money. But I think after some time, I really liked it. I guess you could say that I became a kid person. Most of them were school-aged, but a few of them were babies.” He shrugged and smiled cheekily.
“You are amazing,” Kim blurted loudly, causing the sleeping baby to snap open his eyes, completely startled. He blinked two times before dissolving into tears.
Chay couldn’t help it; he giggled. He found the situation so funny, even thought Kim looked one second closer to crying as well. He laughed even louder, covering his cheeks with his hands when Kim glared at him. The older man stood up and rocked the very upset baby whilst walking around on the terrace. He kept his right palm on the baby’s back and patted him rhythmically until Venice’s screaming transitioned into hiccups until he quieted altogether.
“Poor baby,” Chay cooed, tucking his hand inside of his long-sleeved sleeping shirt so he was able to gently wipe the tear drops on Venice’s apple like cheek. “Uncle Kim is a big, dumb meanie isn’t he?” He dramatically pouted and then grinned when his nephew reached out to hold Chay’s finger.
Kim only glared and walked with his boyfriend inside with Venice in tow.
---
“I can’t believe he’s leaving!” Chay crossed his arms and pouted as he sat down at the foot of his bed.
Kim smiled, shaking his head, before sitting beside his boyfriend. Putting his arm over Chay’s shoulder and pulling him close, he murmured, “Baby, Venice’s parents are coming back from Singapore and picking him up. He’ll only be a drive away, it’s not like he’s moving to the other side of the country.” Chay’s pout got even bigger, making Kim let out a loud laugh.
“I’m just going to miss him,” the younger man mumbled.
“I know, me too.”
“I’m going to miss his cute face,” Chay kept speaking, smushing his face onto Kim’s shoulder, making his left cheek bunch out. “I’m going to miss feeding him, bathing him, pinching his squishy cheeks, giving him kisses and cuddles, and dressing him up in the most adorable outfits.”
At the last reason, Chay threw his head back with a dramatic gasp, causing the couple to fall back against the mattress. Kim turned his head to the left, getting a glimpse of the sleeping baby in his crib.
“You’re so dramatic,” snorted Kim, placing a soft kiss to Chay’s forehead. “You could still do those things, you know?”
“Okay,” Chay rolled his eyes, “but it’s not the same.”
“Well, you could do all those things to our own kids.”
Chay’s head snapped to meet Kim. “Really?”
Kim tilted his head in confusion, “what do you mean?”
“I-I didn’t know- I mean, you never mentioned-”
Chay paused when he felt Kim’s cosy rumble with laughs. At the annoyed look on his face Kim quickly explained himself. “Babe, I’m not laughing at you I swear. I’m serious.”
He took a deep breath before looking up at the ceiling. “I never thought about having kids you know? Especially with everything that home, I just didn’t think that it would be a good place for a baby to grow up. I don’t know, I don’t know.” He shook his head. There was a lot going on in his head, and he didn’t know how to put his whirlwind of thoughts into words. “I never thought about kids, other people’s or my own. I also didn’t think that I was parent material.”
He turned on his side, tucked his right arm under his head and reached out his left arm to brush his fingers delicately through Chay’s fluffy hair, before pulling him even closer. “But then I saw you interact with Venice, and it’s not like I changed my mind overnight, and it’s not like I’m saying we should have kids next week. But seeing you with him made me see something that I didn’t know I wanted.”
“I want you, always, and as long as you’re with me, I feel like I can do anything. I didn’t think I was capable of even taking care of myself, let alone a child, and then,” he waved his hand to gesture to the room, “I ended up being able to do it after all, and it’s all because of you. And I actually enjoyed it, which makes me want it even more with you.”
Chay smiled ear to ear and pressed his face into Kim’s neck whilst peppering kisses to his soft, blemish-free skin. “I want that with you too, P’Kim.”
They separate themselves to kiss. “You know P’Kim, you say that you’re not ‘parent material’, but you’re so kind and generous. When you care about someone, you put your whole being into them, and I see that with when you’re with me. You didn’t want to take care of Venice before, I knew that, but you stayed to help me because you wanted to help me. You spend time with P’Tankhun, even though you always put up a fight before you watch his dramas with him. And the way you are with Venice, it shows me all the qualities that will make you a great parent. I always saw it; I just think you needed a little push to see it yourself.”
“I love you,” Kim whispered.
“I love you more,” Chay whispered back, and smothered his giggles when Kim rolled on top of him with a playful growl.
“I think that our baby will look adorable with your nose and smile,” Chay suddenly spoke after several minutes of silence. They had moved back onto the head of the bed, with their hands tangled together in between them.
Kim made a thoughtful sound, and he moved his head side to side on the satin pillowcase. “Hmm I don’t know,” he tightened his grip on Chay’s hand. “I think that our baby should have your eyes, cheeks, and hair. They’ll be gorgeous, regardless but even more so.”
“Okay fine, the first one will look like you, and second one will look like me.”
“Two?” Kim raised his eyebrows in shock, “I was thinking more like five.”
“Five?” Chay sat up so quick, and it was perfect timing because Venice grumbled as he woke up from his slumber. As he was sitting there in surprise, Kim rolled off of his side of the bed to pick up Venice from his crib, rocking him in his arms to gently bring the baby to awareness.
“P’Kim, five?”