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Namjoon leaned back in his chair and heaved a soft sigh, his hands coming up to gently rub at his dry, tired eyes. How many hours had he spent here tonight? He lost track at about four.
Lowering his hands, he glanced at the bottom right of his monitor seeing it was already past one in the morning. Shit. He was late again. Jimin would be sure to scold him in the morning. And by scold, he meant receive those narrowed eyes of his and be given the cold shoulder until further notice. He hated that. It wasn’t his fault he lost track of time when he got stuck on a song.
He rested his hand against his cheek, leaning into it as he propped his elbow on the desk. Glancing over at the photos that decorated his desk, he tried to find inspiration for this next part he’s been stuck on. Instead, what he found was himself smiling lightly at a certain photo in particular. The photo was of Jimin and himself standing at the Han River, both of them holding one of their two year old twins, Soojin and Soobin. He held Soojin up by both of her little hands, swinging her forward to make her giggle while Jimin had Soobin seated up on his shoulders, also holding both of his smaller hands for balance. The two of them were captured laughing at the cuteness that was their children. He could hear all three of their giggles through the photo just by looking at it. They had so much fun that day taking a big walk, getting some ice cream, and of course getting a new stuffy for each of them to cuddle when they went to bed that night between the two of them. The twins normally slept in their cribs in her own room at night, but that night in particular Soojin put up a fight, sniffling and crying because she didn’t want to leave her daddies, which got Soobin worked up in the process. Who were they to deny their little angels?
Namjoon’s heart fluttered at the memory, his smile reaching his eyes as he gently brushed his finger over the photo. He loved his little family so much. He wouldn’t trade fatherhood for anything in the world. Originally, he and Jimin weren’t sure if they wanted children after they got married. Both of them were busy with work and afraid they wouldn’t be very good parents. Namjoon teased he already was a father to his bonsai and Jimin to their cat Norae, but after a long talk and meeting Soojin and Soobin for the first time…everything fell into place. They were meant to be their children.
A sudden buzz from his phone startled him from his reminiscing, glancing down to see a message from his husband. He didn’t usually text him at the studio…what could be going on?
“Joonie, can you please come home?”
He didn’t even give it a second thought. Before he knew it, he was standing, whacking his knee on the desk from getting up too fast and cursing softly as he tried to gather his stuff together as quickly as he could, limping in the process. Jimin never asked him to come home unless it was important. Perhaps something was wrong? He needed to find out. After zipping his bag shut, he turned to leave before cursing again and turning back around, hurrying to his computer to save his work and shut it down. He wasn’t about to let these four hours of being away from his family be in vain.
*~~*
“Shh, sweetheart, it's okay. Daddy’s got you…” Jimin hushed softly, gently cradling his sobbing daughter to his chest as he kissed her hair. Her face was buried into his neck, both of her tiny hands clutching tightly at his cotton shirt as he rested his hand on the back of her head, gently rocking her to comfort her as he paced around the apartment. She had woken up about two hours ago unable to stop crying. At first he believed her to have had a bad dream since she immediately reached for him the moment he came into hers and Soobin’s room. But after he had lifted her from her crib, he noticed she was warmer than usual, her cheeks flushed as she latched onto him like a lifeline. He tried to console her by talking to her quietly, afraid of waking her brother before singing her favorite lullaby, rocking her, and even snuggling with her on his and Namjoon’s bed. None of his attempts aided him in getting her to calm down enough to tell him what was wrong. He knew Namjoon would be home sometime tonight, and wanted to be able to handle this on his own so he wouldn’t worry…but after two hours of listening to their pride and joy cry her little heart out, he was running out of options. He caved and asked him to come home. They were a team.
He paced the apartment with her, gently patting her bottom as he rocked her. Soojin sniffled into his neck as she wailed off and on. He then noticed the way she held her favorite blanket against her left ear, her cries sounding like she was truly in pain. It hurt his heart to hear such cries from his baby girl.
“Soojin honey, is your ear hurting you?” He asked softly to her, pressing a gentle kiss to her hair as he rested his hand over hers, feeling her nod into his neck while her free hand tugged on his shirt. His eyes softened as he adjusted her in his arms, both of them a little tired from being unable to set her down the last two hours. As he gently rocked her in his arms, he remembered they had some ear drops for infants in the cabinet, along with other medicine they prepared days prior to bringing their twins home all those months ago. They were going out for groceries when Namjoon mentioned to Jimin he used to have a few different medicines at home due to getting sick or hurt when he was little. That same day, they headed to the pharmacy, shyly asking the staff for recommendations on children’s medications for emergencies. They wanted to prepare the best for their little angels, including being ready for them when they got sick.
He looked down at Soojin who continued to sob quietly in his arms as her hand never left her ear. He couldn’t leave Soojin alone in their room like this, so he decided to bring her along with him to the bathroom. On his way there, he paused by the nursery door to check on Soobin, feeling relieved the youngest was still sleeping soundly while cuddling his stuffed lion from his Uncle Taehyung. After entering the bathroom, he paused patting her bottom to open the cabinet, smiling in relief when he caught sight of the ear drops in the cabinet.
“Daddy might have something to make you feel better, Soojinie. Hang in there, baby.” He kissed her head and brought her back to his and Namjoon’s bedroom, feeling her slightly nod her head in response as she whined in discomfort, snuggling her face into his neck.
Jimin gently laid her down by the pillows on their bed, gently brushing her hair to soothe her as he struggled a bit to open the box of ear drops one handed. He smiled when he managed to pull out the bottle and carefully untwisted the cap, filling the dropper with some of the medicine before attempting to put some drops in his daughter’s ear...only for her to start wailing all over again in fear of the dropper. She shook her head as she tried to hide herself from her daddy, resulting in Jimin panicking quietly. “Soojin, sweetheart, this will make you feel better. Daddy promises.” He tried to gently coax her into letting go of her head but she only began to kick her legs in protest and hold her ear tighter, not wanting anything to do with the medicine. He slowly set the bottle of ear drops on the bedside table and laid down next to her, gently putting his arm around her to cuddle her and try to comfort her. He felt another pang in his heart, seeing her react so badly to the medicine and hearing her cry. He left small kisses on her hair before trailing them down to her cheek to try and distract her, quietly hoping Namjoon would come home soon to help him. Perhaps having the presence of both of them would help calm her down.
“Jimin honey? Soojin? Soobin?” He heard the faint voice of his husband from the front door. He usually heard it whenever Namjoon stepped through the front door and tried to be there to welcome him, but with their two year old daughter crying and trying to hide from him, Jimin could only softly call in response, “in here, honey.”
Namjoon dropped his bag by the door once he stepped inside and heard his husband's voice. He could only assume he was located in their bedroom since he wasn’t in the living room to greet him. He felt his heart break when he could hear the sound of their daughter’s cries from the hallway, quickening his pace a little. What was going on? He entered the bedroom quietly and saw two of the loves of his life curled up together on the bed. Any other day, this sight would make him coo and jump into the bed to cuddle with them. But not tonight. He noticed Soojin’s flushed, tear stained cheeks and Jimin’s furrowed eyebrows, clearly at a loss of what to do to calm her down. How long had this been going on? Why didn’t he call him home sooner?
“Hey, baby. I got your text. What’s wrong? What happened?” Namjoon quietly padded towards the bed and climbed onto it beside Soojin, his hand reaching out to brush Jimin’s cheek and kiss Soojin’s forehead. He looked between the two of them as Jimin brought him up to speed with the current situation, sounding defeated. Namjoon’s gaze softened as he looked at Soojin, no longer thrashing, but laying curled up into a ball, hiccuping as her tiny hand covered her ear.
“Soojin, sweetie. Hey, Daddy’s home” He talked softly to her as he lowered his head a bit to be at eye level with their daughter. He reached out to gently clean her wet cheeks and met her gaze. “Minnie daddy and I have something that will make you feel better, sweetheart. We promise it won’t hurt you. We wouldn’t ever let anything hurt you.” He looked up to see Jimin shaking his head with a gentle smile, leaning down to press a soft kiss on her head. They both spoke calmly to help her calm down a little more so they could give her medicine. After some time, Soojin rolled over to lay on her back, looking at both of them with her wet, doe-like eyes. They could see she just wanted to sleep, but the pain wouldn’t allow it. Namjoon motioned for Jimin to continue cuddling her as he reached over his husband to quietly take the bottle from the bedside table, Jimin beginning to softly sing her favorite lullaby. He wanted to distract her from Namjoon preparing the bottle and let her know she was safe with them.
Both Namjoon and Jimin exchanged a glance once the medicine was prepared, the younger gently reaching down to take their daughter’s small hand, brushing his thumb over the back of it so she would uncover her ear before bringing it to his lips, kissing it gently between lines of the song as Namjoon watched. Jimin laid his head next to Soojin’s so he could meet her eyes, smiling gently as he sang to her, his knee gently touching Namjoon to signal him to go ahead. The elder carefully leaned closer and carefully dropped a few drops of medicine into their baby’s ear, hushing her quietly when she started to whine and panic at the unfamiliar sensation.
“Now promise me, oh oh~, several times a day, oh oh..” Jimin sang quietly as he rested his forehead against hers, keeping her attention on him as he reached up to gently cup her cheek so she would keep her head still.
“Though you feel alone, oh oh~, don’t throw yourself away, oh oh…” Namjoon started to sing along quietly, his voice lower than his husband’s as he set the medicine bottle back on the bedside table, slowly lowering himself down to lay down next to his little angel.
“Oh oh, oh oh, let’s stop for a moment...pinky promise me. Just promise me, oh oh…” they both sang together to her, letting her know she was okay. The elder pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek with a soft smile, brushing her hair away from her face.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I know it feels strange. But it’s gonna help make the pain go away.” He reassured softly, glancing at the younger who nodded his head in response.
“We just gotta lay still for a little bit, okay? Then we can drain it like we do when you take a bath.” He smiled gently to her and leaned closer to leave a small kiss on her nose. “Then daddies will rock you back to sleep. I know you’re so sleepy from all that crying, sweetheart…” He pouts a little at her when she nods her head and sticks her thumb in her mouth. “Daddy is sorry he didn’t find out sooner…” He felt a larger hand on his thigh, glancing up to see Namjoon shake his head slowly in response as he brushed his thumb against the fabric of his sweatpants.
“My love, you tended to her and figured out what was wrong before I got home. You don’t need to be sorry.” He reassured softly, lifting his hand to gently cup his husband’s cheek, eliciting a small smile from the other, a silent thank you.
“Daddy…” Soojin whined quietly, lifting her free hand towards her ear before Namjoon gently caught it in his much bigger one, holding it gently.
“I know, baby girl...one more minute and we can drain it, okay? How about Joonie daddy goes and gets a paper towel ready so we can do it when I get back? That sound okay?” He asked softly, brushing her small hand gently with the pad of his thumb as she nodded her head a little, sucking her thumb as she held her favorite blanket in her fist. He leaned down to kiss her forehead before sliding off the bed to go grab a paper towel from the kitchen, Jimin gently brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, noticing how her eyes were beginning to droop again.
“My poor baby…” he whispered softly watching her as she sucked her thumb, her eyelashes still a little wet from crying. Namjoon returned not too long after with a folded paper towel and noticed her getting sleepy, making him smile a little in relief. He climbed back up onto the bed and laid the paper towel next to Soojin’s head, the two of them gently turning her head to drain the liquid from her ear onto the towel beneath her. She whined quietly at the movement and scrunched her face up, both of them leaning down at the same time to press a kiss to each of her cheeks, causing her to relax a little as they both smiled in amusement that they had the same idea. Jimin nodded his head to Namjoon, the elder slowly lifting their daughter up to cradle her to his chest, her cheek gently resting against his shoulder as he gently placed his hand on the back of her head. Jimin picked up the paper towel, it being his turn to take care of putting things away. Slowly, the elder raised up from the bed, holding his daughter close as he slowly started to sway like Jimin showed him to help get her to sleep, humming a song quietly to her as he rested his cheek against the top of her head. No feeling in the world could compare to what he was feeling right now. Soojin gently held onto his shirt with her small fist, sucking her thumb on the opposite hand as her eyes finally fell closed. Jimin returned to the bedroom not too long after, coming to his husband’s side and glancing down at their little girl as he slid an arm around his waist.
“I would say I’m surprised she’s falling asleep so quickly...but after all the crying she had done the last two hours...I’m honestly not. Poor baby wore herself out. I’m surprised she didn’t wake Soobin.” he whispered quietly, slowly swaying along with his partner as he lulled her to sleep.
“You didn’t have to handle this all by yourself, honey...you could have called me sooner. We’re a team, remember?” Namjoon said softly, glancing over at him to meet his gaze, the younger nodding his head as he shifted his gaze down to Soojin.
“I know...but I know how stressed you’ve been on meeting the deadline...so I didn’t want to pull you away unless I had to.” He confessed quietly, his arm tightening around his waist a little more. “My heart broke seeing her cry like that. I haven’t seen her cry that long since she used to wake up with nightmares shortly after we brought her home. I didn’t realize it was her ear until shortly before you got home...I felt so helpless when she recoiled from me too. She’s never done that before.” he mused at a whisper, lifting his free hand to gently brush her hair behind her ear.
Namjoon’s gaze softened, feeling bothered at seeing his husband feel insecure and guilty for something that was out of his control. Even before the twins came into their life, he always knew Jimin would be a good father. He gently adjusted their daughter on his arm to fix her position as the little angel rested on his shoulder. He took a few steps closer to Jimin and wrapped his arm around his husband’s waist, leaning down to kiss his forehead.
“Hey, you did a great job with her and it wasn’t your fault. It’s a foreign pain for her and she didn’t know what to do with it. The medicine must look scary for her in this situation.” He spoke softly as he brushed Jimin’s waist, pulling him closer to his chest.
“I’m so proud and thankful to you, my love.” He left another soft kiss on Jimin’s forehead, smiling when he noticed his husband's slight smile from the praise and affection.
“You are so sweet to me, Joonie.” Jimin smiled sweetly as he tip-toed a bit to kiss the taller one’s cheek, his arm still secure around his husband's waist while his free hand slowly brushed their daughter’s back. Glancing down at her, they both noticed Soojin’s eyes remaining closed, almost falling asleep.
“Honey, can you grab her sippy cup with water? We need to make sure she’s hydrated before she falls asleep. I’ll put her to bed.” Namjoon looked back to his husband and smiled softly. Jimin nodded his head before he pulled away from his husband's warm embrace, heading towards the kitchen to do just that.
When he returned, with both the sippy cup and their sleeping son Soobin in tow, he found Namjoon and Soojin already laying down in their bed with him brushing her hair gently. He walked over to the other side of the bed and quietly climbed onto it to sit next to Soojin, gently and carefully laying her brother down next to her, careful not to wake him. After he was settled, he helped Soojin carefully drink from the sippy cup, both of them chuckling as she drank with her eyes closed. He couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her chubby cheeks, Namjoon smiling at the fondness. Jimin waited until she was finished before he carefully set it on the bedside table next to the ear drops. He looked up when Namjoon slowly sat up and excused himself to change, nodding his head in response before taking his place next to Soojin. He gently draped his arm over his two bundles of joy, resting his head next to his daughter’s on the pillow, his eyes also feeling quite heavy.
Jimin didn’t realize he fell asleep until he felt Namjoon tapping his arm gently. His eyes fluttered open as he slowly sat up, his sleepy eyes glancing down at Soojin, their little daughter already sound asleep beside him, Soobin’s arm gently draped over his sister to hold her. Those two were honestly inseparable. Next thing he noticed was his smiling husband holding a glass of water out to him. He gently took the glass as the elder joined him on their bed, the younger noticing he had already changed into his pajamas, hair still a bit damp from the shower. How long had he been out? “Thank you, Joonie.” He said softly before taking a sip of water.
“You need to stay hydrated too, love.” Namjoon replied and leaned in to kiss his husband cheek, his hand brushing on the other’s back. “Sorry I woke you up. Let’s go back to sleep after this.”
Jimin shook his head and finished his drink before he put away the glass, carefully scooting closer to Namjoon before leaning in to capture his lips in a soft kiss. He felt Namjoon’s smile against his lips, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his body as his partner responded to the affection. “Thank you for coming home, Joonie.” He whispered as he pulled away from the kiss to look at the others in the eyes, his full of adoration.
“In a heartbeat, my love. We are a team and I will always be with you to be the best daddies for these angels. They are our whole world.” Namjoon’s gaze shifted down to his daughter and son before returning to his husband, heart full of love and warmth. They were always his favorite to come home to, even during the tough nights like these. He slowly brought his husband into his embrace before leading both of them to lay down. He brushed his beloved's hair away from his warm eyes as he stared at him. “I love you.” Jimin smiled sweetly back at him, feeling his heart flutter at the sight.
“I love you too.” Jimin replied instantly, reaching up to gently brush the taller one’s cheek, his own warming with a soft blush under his beloved’s gaze. His gaze always managed to make him feel shy and blush, even after years of being together. Namjoon left one last kiss on Jimin’s lips before slowly pulling away, retreating to the other side of the bed next to Soobin.
Jimin reached out his hand over their sleeping twins, feeling Namjoon’s much larger hand take his own in the darkness, their fingers slowly interlocking as they rested lightly between their sleeping toddlers, cuddling them between them as they faced one another.
“Good night, honey.” Jimin whispered quietly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before his eyes slowly fell closed.
“Good night, my love.” Namjoon replied softly, taking one last glance at his precious family, both of them finally at peace. Slowly, he let his eyes fall closed as well, inspiration for his new song fresh in his mind.