Work Text:
“ahh!” a child’s cry rang around the whole house. anyone listening in from the outside would think that there was an odd set of family in the house but they weren’t odd, they were a special family. they were their own kind.
“daddy stop!! my tummy hurts,” the child continued screaming but his laugh resonated more. “papa tell daddy to stop! he’s tickling me too much.”
“jun, stop making the child cry. get back to work! we have a lot left to clean.” minghao whined to his husband.
it had been a few hours or so since the couple decided to have a big cleaning day. it was all going well at the start but jun, who got sick and tired of doing the same repetitive task, gave up only an hour into the day, giving minghao more work to do.
jun became even more distracted when yang, their beloved son, had gotten back from school. the two were having fun in yang’s room while minghao was doing all the house chores by himself.
as much as he would prefer to have jun helping him, he was happy knowing that jun was spending time with yang. jun doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with his family due to his work being demanding but whenever he gets the chance to, he takes it.
“haohao, i don’t want to do anymore work. please! i’ve done a lot today already, haven’t i?” jun whined while pouting, trying to act cute so that minghao would spare him the work.
“i let you slack off earlier because yang came back from school but not anymore. if you don’t help me, we’ll never get the work done.” minghao retaliated. as much as he loved jun’s cuteness, he seriously needed some help.
“yeah daddy. you should help out papa,” yang defended his father, “i’ll help you out too papa!” he said with a bright smile on his face.
“thank you baby. we’ll have so much fun without daddy. he doesn’t want to help so he can’t have fun with us.” minghao left a peck on yang’s cheek which made his son smile wider.
the two went out to clean yang’s room while jun was still pouting. he wanted to have fun with them as well. although he didn’t want to work, he’d rather be spending the day with his family.
“hey you two! don’t leave me alone, i’m coming to help.” jun ran all the way upstairs to yang’s room and barged in with excitement. “yang, you’re not allowed to have fun with papa all alone. we have to share him okay?”
“no daddy, you said you didn’t want to help so why are you here? shouldn’t you be downstairs doing nothing?” yang ran to his papa and hugged his leg while questioning his daddy.
“you see baby, daddy wants to have fun with both his babies. can’t he do that?”
hearing jun call him baby made minghao blush. it’s been so long since they called each other names like that. jun does call him haohao all the time but hearing “baby” felt so new and he liked it.
“hmm..” yang pretended to think about whether or not he should let jun join in on the fun, “of course daddy! i want to have fun with you and papa.” yang ran into his daddy’s arms and hugged him.
“okay you two. enough distractions. let’s get to work now.” minghao smiled.
“yes sir!” the two stood like military members and saluted to minghao.
a burst of laughter sprung upon the house as the family started cleaning the room. there wasn’t a lot to do since there were three of them cleaning rather than one. yang, being the sensible child that he is, didn’t make a mess and did as his papa told him.
they continued to clean for the next hour or so, with a few distractions here and there. but it was all okay because they were having fun.
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“oh my gosh, that was so tiring.” jun dropped his body on the bed in his shared room with minghao.
“get off the bed! you’re gonna get it all dirty with your sweaty body.” minghao scolded jun. “go take a shower, i’ll go and clean yang up for bed.”
jun followed his husband’s instructions and went into the shower. minghao went into yang’s room and saw that the bathroom light was on, the sound of toys on water travelling to his ears. he was so glad that yang was old enough to start a bath himself and responsible enough to take his toys out when he wants to play with them.
“baby, are you finished? let me wash your hair for you.” minghao walked into the bathroom and got the shampoo from the shelf.
“brrrr!” yang was making airplane noises with his lips while minghao was scrubbing his hair, making sure to get the sweat out.
“come on now baby, i’m done washing your hair.” minghao got yang out of the bath, wrapping him in a towel and walked into his bedroom. he pulled the hair dryer out of the closet and started drying yang’s hair, not wanting him to get sick.
after yang put on his pyjamas, he went under his covers with his teddy tucked tightly in his arms. minghao sat next to him and started brushing his hair out of the way and kissed his forehead.
“thank you for helping papa out today. you must be tired from all the hard work. go to sleep baby, you need energy for tomorrow.” minghao softly spoke.
in that moment, jun walked into the room and sat on the other side of yang’s bed.
“yang is daddy’s big boy now, huh? helping out his papa with chores. i guess he doesn’t need my kisses anymore. after all, he’s a big boy.” jun said with a sigh. although he was acting, yang still got a little sad.
“daddy?” yang asked with his eyes glistening, “i still want your kisses. i may be a big boy now but i’m still your baby, aren’t i?” yang had a pout on his face, looking like he was about to cry.
“can i have my night night kiss please?”
“of course baby! i won’t stop giving you kisses. you’ll always be my baby.” jun felt bad for making his boy almost cry but it reassured him knowing that yang still loves his kisses. he left a long peck on the boy’s forehead and lightly squeezed his puffy cheeks.
“go to sleep now. a big boy like you needs to sleep early.” jun tucked yang more into the blanket and got off the bed. “i’ll see you tomorrow morning baby.” jun waved and walked out with minghao, entering their room.
“i’m going to take a quick shower. i’ll join you in bed soon.” minghao smiles and entered the bathroom.
jun decided to read a book to help him fall asleep quicker. but he needed minghao to be beside him to fall asleep peacefully. so he waited for his husband to finish his shower.
it didn’t take too long for minghao to be out and for jun to start reading his book. while minghao sat next to him on the bed, he opened his book and rested his head on his husband’s shoulder.
minghao was also reading a book but he was slightly dozing off. all the hard work had tired him out and he couldn’t help but close his eyes every once in a while.
“haohao, i just wanted to tell you that i appreciate everything you do for this family. i know i’m not here most of the time but i also know that you work so hard to make sure yang is getting all the love he deserves. i wish i could be here more to help you out but there's not much i can do. but i want you to know that i love you and yang with all my heart. without you two, i don’t know what i would be doing. you both give me so much happiness and i can’t thank you enough.” jun finished his little speech about how much he appreciated minghao.
although minghao was dozing off a second ago, jun’s little speech woke him up more and he couldn’t help but get a bit emotional.
“jun, don’t worry about not being here. i know that you’re working hard to provide for us and to give us the best and that’s all i need. that’s all we need. yang and i also love you so much. you don’t understand how much we love you. keep working hard like you always do. i don’t know what i’d do without you either. thank you for making my life brighter and happier each day baby. i couldn’t have asked for a better husband than you. you’re the best.” minghao left a soft kiss on the top of jun’s hair and lightly stroked his hair.
“come on now, let’s go to sleep. yang is probably gonna wake up early tomorrow and we’re both too tired to deal with his energy.” minghao chuckles lightly and pulled the covers over both of them.
they lay there staring into each other’s eyes and holding each other close. they could feel each other’s breath on the tip of their noses. their foreheads touching as they got lost in the others eyes. they kissed delicately and whispered “i love you.” to each other. as they continued to hold each other tightly, a sudden streak of light entered the room.
“daddy? papa?” a small voice called.
“yang?” the couple called out in unison.
the small figure walked in and stood at the foot of the bed.
“can i sleep with you tonight? i’m not scared but i just want to sleep with you guys.” yang asked with a soft spoken voice.
“come in between us baby. there’s always space for you.” jun shuffled a bit to the side and let yang join them in bed.
yang snuggled in between them and buried his face into jun’s neck. jun kissed the top of his head, lightly patting his back, helping him fall asleep easier. minghao snuggled closely to the two of them and wrapped his arm around them. he also kissed yang’s head and closed his eyes.
“i love you daddy. i love you papa.” yang muttered sleepily.
“we love you too baby.” the two replied.
that night, the family slept peacefully (ignoring the occasional kicking from yang) in one bed, in each other’s arms. they wouldn’t have it any other way.