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Taehyung had never thought about it before, but he really needed to call his mother the next morning to profusely apologize for being such an energetic and inconsolable child growing up. He had heard stories of how he would spend nights awake and running around with no sign of stopping, keeping both his mom and dad awake as they tried to sleep. That's not really something you think about until you have your own kid.
Taehyung and Namjoon have one child, a little girl named Taeun, courtesy of Taehyung, and she was a bright-eyed, energetic, and intelligent little four year old. She was at the age where she was finally growing into her large personality she has had since she was four months old. She kept Namjoon and Taehyung on their toes, but she was always the same sweet and loving girl at the end of the day, exhausted from all the love she gave and all the friends she has run around with.
Taehyung just wished she would chill and calm down.
Don't get him wrong, Taehyung loved his daughter and loved the little person she had become, but since he was a good 33 weeks pregnant with twins and being tired, exhausted, and big, his patience was running a tad thin. Especially now as she ran around the house at midnight.
"Mom!" Taeun yelled loudly as she stood in the doorway of her parents' shared bedroom. This was about the fifth time she had yelled at Taehyung, trying to get her mother’s attention. Her shrill voice was loud, a combination of both her parents’ own voices. She would use those lungs to sing professionally one day, this Taehyung and Namjoon believed.
But now was really not the time to use them.
“Taeun,” Namjoon warned, groaning as he tossed his covers off again, feet plopping onto the ground, “It is time for bed and you know it.”
“But I’m not tired,” she yelled back, stomping her small foot on the ground, “I want to play!” she screamed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Play with me!”
“It is bedtime,” Namjoon reiterated, heading towards his daughter, “I’m going to count to three and if you aren’t in your room by three, you’re in big trouble,” but really, how could he punish his sweet baby girl.
Taeun huffed and stood still, small hands fisted at her sides as she stood her ground, determined to stay still. Namjoon began his countdown and just as Taehyung expected, when his husband reached three, she still stood in her place.
“If I have to, I will tie you to your bed,” Namjoon warned as he reached with outstretched arms to grab his daughter, but being in his groggy state, he let Taeun slip right past him and run into the master bedroom, screaming how she was the fastest girl in all of the Republic of South Korea.
“Catch me, Daddy!” she yelled, giggling as Namjoon fumbled after her. In Namjoon’s haste, he had failed to put on his prescription glasses, which he needed since he was almost blind without them. His depth perception was off and he could barely keep track of Taeun.
Taehyung quietly laughed at the sight but was soon frowning again as the twin girls inside him started to protest, kicking him in both the bladder and the ribs. Taehyung struggled to sit up, going as far as propping himself up on one arm. His baby belly was too heavy for him and he couldn’t even sit up without help, “Namjoon ah, please help me up. I have to pee.”
Namjoon sighed, giving up on Taeun momentarily to help his very pregnant husband. Namjoon helped the younger man up and watched as he heavily waddled to the bathroom to relieve himself. Namjoon grabbed his glasses on his side of the bed and put them on, clearly seeing where Taeun stood staring after her mother. Namjoon took this as his chance to catch her since she was off guard and not paying any attention to her father.
With one giant swoop, Namjoon caught Taeun in his arms and the four year old protested loudly, trying to squirm out of her daddy’s arms and escape, “No! Put me down!” she screamed.
“It is bedtime, kiddo,” he stated for hopefully the last time that night. He carried Taeun to her room on his hip, holding her tightly to his side. She eventually gave up and went limp against Namjoon’s shoulder, cheek squished against the bone.
Once in her room and tucked into bed, Namjoon kneeled next to her bed and stared her in the eyes, the only light visible being from the hallway outside Taeun’s room. He made sure he was eye level with Taeun so she could see how serious he was, “Taeun, remember how Mom has two babies in his belly?” he asked. Taeun nodded vigorously. She had been told many times how her sisters were growing inside of Taehyung and it fascinated her every time she heard it, “Well, Mom needs to sleep so your sisters can grow and get as big as possible. And when you keep Mom up, your sisters can’t grow. And when you wake up Mom, your sisters wake up. That’s no fun for Mom, understand?” another nod from Taeun, “So both Mom and I need you to go to sleep and stay in here where you are supposed to be, yeah?”
“But Daddy I’m not tired,” Taeun whined again, lower lip sticking out in a pout. It was remarkable how much she looked like Taehyung when she pouted. Almost like she was his exact clone, “Can’t I stay up and play with you if Mom can’t play?”
“No,” came Namjoon’s simple answer, “I need to sleep too so I can help Mom tomorrow, okay?” he cleared, leaning down and placing a puckered kiss to his daughter’s lips. If she wasn’t kissed on the lips, she would throw a fit and it was too late for a tantrum, “I love you, Energizer Bunny,” he fondly called her. Namjoon then stood up to leave, ankles popping in the process. He was getting too old for this.
“I love you too, Daddy,” Taeun wished sweetly, seemingly settling in for the night.
Namjoon left the door slightly cracked, making sure Taeun’s jellyfish nightlight was still on before finally leaving. So far so good. Namjoon headed back to his room and smiled as he witnessed Taehyung trying to get comfortable again on the bed after his third trip to the bathroom, “Need help? Another pillow?”
“No,” Taehyung replied, “I have enough pillows, I even took yours,” he pointed out and Namjoon glanced over to see that indeed he was left with no pillows, “The girls are just moving like crazy. They’re just as uncomfortable as I am,” Taehyung groaned, huffing as he tried to lay more into his side with a pillow placed underneath his rotund belly, “They’re running out of room.”
Namjoon chuckled and climbed onto the bed, reaching over to lay a large hand over Taehyung’s even larger swell. He could feel the twins shuffling inside and he almost winced with how powerful their movements were. Namjoon lowered his head, pressing his lips to the firm belly and placed a few kisses along where he felt his daughters kicking, “Hey now, why don’t you let Mom sleep? I’ll make you whatever you’re going to make Mom crave tomorrow, how does that sound?” he asked expecting no response.
“Oh thank God,” Taehyung sighed, head laying comfortably on the mountain of pillows under his head with a hand smoothing out over his swollen belly, “They actually stopped moving.”
“Daddy is magic with words you know,” Namjoon joked with a large, dimpled smile, “Now I’m going to grab a pillow from the living room, since a certain someone took mine,” he quirked an eyebrow as he focused on Taehyung. The younger man pouted and again, it reminded him of Taeun. The pregnant male mumbled a quiet sorry and Namjoon laughed, not meaning what he had said. He wanted Taehyung as comfortable as possible and if that meant he needed all the pillows in the bedroom including Namjoon’s then that was okay with him.
Namjoon made his way expertly through the dark towards the living room where he knew a variation of pillows sat. Namjoon would grab the big blue one since it was the softest. But his plans were thrown to the wind as he realized who had beat him to the living room, playing with the toys placed in the room.
“Taeun!” Namjoon yelled, effectively catching his daughter’s attention, deer in the headlights look since she was caught, “Why aren’t you in bed?!”
“Time to play!” Taeun screamed equally as loud back, piercing her father’s ears with the sheer volume.
“Time for bed!” Namjoon yelled back, grabbing the blue pillow and making his way towards Taeun, anger fuming now, “You’re in so much trouble,” he growled, exhaustion taking over and throwing all calm reserve to the wind. Namjoon was a patient person in general, but there was only so much he could handle and he was at his limit. Taehyung didn't have Namjoon's patience, but now that the calm one was losing to his own self control, that was when things were heading downhill.
"No!" Taeun screamed, easily passing Namjoon again as she ran after her with his arms braced to catch his daughter, "I said no!"
"And I said yes!" Namjoon shouted back, turning the corner of the couch the same as Taeun did. This didn't go as smoothly however and Namjoon instead bumped his hip into the armrest, knocking him down against the toys on the floor. Namjoon grimaced as he felt a toy pony's hoof dig into his ribs, "Taeun!" he yelled, close to giving up on this entire ordeal. He was prepared to give up and stay awake all night with his overactive daughter.
There was no reply to her name being called and Namjoon's brows furrowed. He lifted his head and searched for Taeun, but she was gone. Where she would usually stand to wait for her father to stand back up, there was no one in her place. She was in a different room now and possibly disturbing Taehyung. This was motivation to get up and head to his bedroom to check and see if his eldest daughter really was keeping her mother awake.
The house was quiet again, which was odd. Taeun was no longer screaming and Namjoon could hear himself thinking now. If she was anywhere, it wasn't close. The bedroom, the farthest room from the living room. With that in mind, Namjoon scrambled up and ran towards the hallway that led to the master bedroom.
"Taeun?" Namjoon called as he pushed the door open and headed into the room. The light was on still and Namjoon could hear his daughter before he could see her. When the door was entirely open, Namjoon's eyes softened and his demeanor changed. It was too cute to be mad at.
Taehyung was laying on his side still, facing inwards and laying in front of him was Taeun, clinging onto her mother and smiling as Taehyung talked to her. Taeun's hand was pressed against Taehyung's massive belly and her little fingers were flexing along his skin, most likely feeling the movement of her two younger sisters. Her small body was basically wrapped around Taehyung's middle, legs thrown over his sides as though she were giving his belly a bear hug. The most heartwarming thing was the smiles Namjoon could see. Taehyung's smile was wide and loving as he stared down at his daughter. His eyes were droopy and lidded with admiration. Taeun's own smile was wide and boxy, mimicking her mother's. Small giggles slipped past her lips and she cooed soft words to the babies inside.
"Just let her sleep with us," Taehyung cooed, facing Taeun but speaking to Namjoon, "She promised she would try to sleep if we were with her, so just let her stay," Taehyung practically begged, settling his head closer to Taeun's so could press a kiss to her forehead. Her black hair was lighter like Taehyung's.
Namjoon smiled and couldn't possibly deny such a request, "Of course, she can," he agreed, heading towards the bed to lay on his side of it. He got himself comfortable and scooted closer to Taeun where he could wrap his arms around Taeun and reach some of Taehyung. It was harder to reach with such a big belly in between them. Namjoon placed a kiss the back of Taeun's head and he reached over to lightly kiss Taehyung on the lips. A goodnight peck, "Goodnight, my babies. All four of you."
"Goodnight, Daddy!" Taeun wished a little too loudly, "Goodnight, Mom."
"Goodnight, Taeunnie," Taehyung cooed, sleep already heavy in his voice, "Now sleep."