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"this week, we will be learning about a very special day that is coming up! does anyone want to guess what it is?"
hongjoong turns his head back and forth to look at his friends who all shout out different answers.
"my birthday!"
"christmas!"
"noo!! it's too hot for christmas! it's my birthday!"
"friday!"
their teacher smiles as she shakes her head, she holds her hand up- the classroom sign to lower their voices and listen closely.
"on sunday, it is going to be mother's day! on that day, we show our mommies, aunts, and/ or grandma's how much we love them and how much we appreciate all that they do for us!"
homgjoong gasps at the mention of mother's day. he already loves his mama so much to learn that there's a whole day just for him makes him feel over the moon!
"now, we're going to be starting a very special project for mother's day, but we have to make sure we don't tell anyone because it's a surprise!"
hongjoong raises his hand politely, waiting to be called for a turn to speak.
"yes, hongjoong dear?"
"tell my 'yungies?"
she smiles at the kitten, smoothing down his soft hair "yes, dear, you can tell your hyungies, but make sure you don't tell mama! it's like a secret"
she covers her mouth smiling, making hongjoong feel giddy about the whole ordeal. he loves his teacher, especially when she's being silly.
"now, who'd like to go first?"
everyone raises their hands excitedly shouting to get her attention. hongjoong giggles, raising his hand up as well.
the woman smiles brightly "alright! let's all go to the table! hongjoong, my dear, can you bring me the folder on my desk, please?"
-
after naptime, the kitten was blessed (or cursed) with a newfound burst of energy. he couldn't decide if he wanted to play with blocks or look at the new sensory bottles his teacher placed in the library.
he's feeling extra giddy due to their circle time this morning explaining about mother's day approaching followed by a special craft they are making for it.
he took his nap with a big smile on his face and loud purrs- dreaming about none other than seonghwa and how much he loves him.
his friends are scattered in centers, a quiet afternoon is ahead of them- giving the teacher time to plan the next part of their craft.
right now, the kitten is currently sitting in the library with one of his classmates, taking turns passing the sensory bottle with yellow glitter in it.
"py'ey co'yor" joong's voice is soft between the two of them.
the other boy, a puppy hybrid, nods his head as he hands the bottle towards him. the two hybrids are so mesmerized by the glitter swirling around, that a certain kitten didn't realize who entered the classroom. the puppy gasped at who was approaching closer, taking a seat right next to the younger.
"ye'yow twin'le! so py'ey!" hongjoong smiles as he passes it back once again to his classmate. he rubs any ounce of sleep out of his eyes as he patiently waits his turn until looks and sees who's sitting next to him.
"mama!"
"hey, there, buggie~" he greets his baby with a kiss and a little nuzzle before helping each other stand up. joong waddles over to his cubby and grabs his sweater and backpack from his cubby. the kitten politely bids farewell to his friends and his teacher.
(but not before being reminded of their special event coming up, hongjoong once again giggles secretly behind his hand with his teacher.)
-
"joongs, do you know what's coming up soon?" yunho asks, moving from the kitchen to the kitten's spot on the floor by the sliding door.
said kitten yawns softly, rubbing at his eyes with his little fists. "yunnie...s'eepy."
"well, yes, actually your naptime is coming up" he smiles and shakes his head "I mean do you know what special day is coming up?"
hongjoong tries to think, absentmindedly pawing at his cat ears. he really does try his best to figure out what his hyung is talking about.
suddenly it clicks in his mind...he remembers what his teacher was talking about at school and the special secret project they are making.
the kitten gasps, yunho mentally seeing the gears in his head turning. "mama day! mama day soo'!"
yunho smiles as he stands up to move into anotber part of the house. but before leaving, he leans against the door frame and notices where the kitten is looking intently, smiling when he realizes he's staring at a few birds that landed in the backyard. he watches the kitten's ears twitch at the smallest chirp.
the tip of his tail slowly moves and when a bird comes close to the window, joong crouches down with his eyes drawn wide.
the kitten is determined to try and catch the bird, wanting to jump and grab it. but then a voice makes him jump in his spot.
"-JOONGIE! watch, honey!"
the younger got a little scare with how loud the voice was. turning around with tears slowly forming in his eyes, he looks up at his minnie hyung jogging towards him in an attempt to stop the younger.
yunho comes back in the room, arms already open for the baby who's already in tears. he holds him close as he rocks him gently. "oh honey, you had a little scare from minnie, huh?"
the kitten nods his head as he paws away his tears "minnie...wan' the bir'yie"
said hyung comes over and smoothes his curly hair down softly "mama said last time you tried to get the birdies, you hit your nose on the sliding door. we just don't want you getting hurt is all."
joong slumps against the taller's chest, letting out a sigh. he longingly looks over to see that the bird has come closer towards the glass door.
"so, joongie" yunho starts, getting attention away from that pesky bird. it's almost as if it was teasing the kitten. "since mother's day is coming up, we have to decide on what we're going to do!"
suddenly the kitten perks up, cat ears going up as well. "get mama gif'!"
"come on, bubba." yunho pats his back as he turns towards the staircase "let's go get dressed and then we'll go find mama a special gift."
mingi was right behind them following when he couldn't help but stop in his tracks. he looks over to the sliding door and sure enough, sees the same blue bird near the door.
it's aimlessly pecking on the ground, but mingi can't help but feel on edge. he keeps his back turned as he (somewhat) successfully makes his way up the stairs; only tripping once.
"yunho, that bird is watching me!!"
-
"how about this store!?"
"ooh, no let's try this one!"
"since when do you see seonghwa ever work out...why would he need exercise clothing?"
"oh, like the same reason as to why we need to go to an arts and crafts store!?"
hongjoong giggles slightly at the way his hyungs are bickering with each other, keeping a good grip on his smoothie cup. he's not really sure what's in it, but it tastes like the ones seonghwa makes so he's trying to savor every sip.
the trio are walking around town, after having a small bite to eat at a local cafe. so far, they have been unsuccessful in finding a special mother's day gift, which was making the younger feel a little upset- cut to their impromptu trip to the cafe to cheer him up.
as he's walking with his hyungs, he tries to think 'what does mama like?' but so far, he's feeling a little stumped. he knows mama loves to clean and cook, and also has been learning how to knit and paint as well.
but he wants something that's so special, it will make his mama so happy. so, as they pass by a nearby bench, the kitten huffs as he plops onto the wooden seat and kicks his legs back and forth.
"what's wrong, joongs? are you feeling okay?" yunho is the first to ask, the other taller hyung takes a seat onto his right side.
hongjoong lets out another sigh. "wan' mama h'yappy..."
they've been with the kitten for almost 2 years, and they've definitely picked up his lingo by now. yunho gently pats his back for comfort. "bubba, mama is always happy when he's with his baby..."
but that alone didn't seem to reassure the kitten, he slumped his shoulders as he took another slow sip of his smoothie. "are you feeling upset because we haven't found a gift for mama, yet?"
the younger looks up at his minnie hyung and nods sympathetically. his hyung sat next to him on the bench, rubbing his back for comfort. "it's going to be alright, joongie...it's going to take some time to find a good gift for mama. come, let's keep searching."
yunho stands up and extends his hand out, to which the kitten holds onto a little grumpily. he's finished with his smoothie but gnaws on the straw absent-mindedly.
as they continue to walk, yunho watches as the younger nervously chews on his straw. he taps mingi on the shoulder and directs with a nod in the direction of the kitten.
they just hope he's not feeling stressed about this.
--------
it was in the middle of the night when the sounds soft whimpering woke up seonghwa. he reached over to flick the lamp on and attempt to keep his eyes open at this time of night.
he faintly hears whimpers of his name being called out and leans over to see the kitten hastily wiping at his tears, staring out the window with his cat plush held extremely tightly in his arms.
"baby...oh my honey, what happened?"
he feels the younger turn around and lands in seonghwa's chest before he even opens his arms. the eldest maneuvers the younger to sit up with him and rubs his back in slow circles.
"w-wan'...mama h'yappy..." he sniffles through each word, burying his face in seonghwa's sleep shirt. it hurts his heart a little bit when he feels the kitten shake in his arms.
before responding, the elder softly (but with with little pressure) pats his bottom as he rocks him from side to side. "what do you mean by that, dear?"
joong paws at his tear stained cheeks and sniffles softly "mama day soo'..."
and at first seonghwa didn't know what he meant by that, until he put two and two together and ultimately cooed as he held his baby closer. "my sweet honeybear, are you feeling stressed because mother's day is coming soon?"
the kitten lets out a loud mewl as he looks up at the elder. "s'yess?"
"stressed, honey. it's kind of like this yucky feeling in your chest because you know something is going to happen and you feel nervous about it." seonghwa explained as best as he could, wiping the tears away with his thumb.
"mama day soo'...wan' my mama h'yappy" he paws at his cat ears as he looks up at the elder with red puffy eyes.
seonghwa places a kiss in his forehead, rubbing his thumb softly on his cheek. "oh, my little bear, mama is always happy whenever you're with me. joongie, mama loves you so much and I don't care about the presents, if it's just you and me, mama is always going to be happy and feel safe."
he continued the rocking motion as he patted his bottom gently. he felt the weight on his chest grow heavier and when he looked over, hongjoong was fast asleep in his mama's arms.
little snores left his lips as he snuggled closer towards the warmth of his mama. seonghwa tried to reach over and flick the little lamp off but to no avail, he didn't wanna risk waking up the tired kitten; and surely doesn't want to deal with a cranky one, either.
so he scoots back down onto his pillow and holds his baby close in his arms- all with the light still on.
--------
"okay, joongs, mama is coming back a little later today but your sannie and woo hyung are here for you." the kitten looks up from his toy block tower and pleads with his round watery eyes.
he's feeling a little on the sensitive side, especially when just woken up from his nap. hongjoong is no doubt not a fan of the days seonghwa has to go to work late; he has to eat dinner without hwa, take his bath without hwa, and worst of all- go to sleep without hwa.
"alright, baby, I love you, I'll be back soon." he bends down on the floor to reach the kitten but pauses when he sees tears pooling at his eyes.
he whispers calmly in his ear to soothe him and it breaks his heart a little when joong copies the whispering tone. "wan' mama s'yay."
"my precious baby boy, I know it's different when mama goes to work later in the day." he smoothes his hair down between his cat ears "I'll be back before you go to bed, I promise, my star."
hongjoong lets out a tiny mewl before throwing himself in his arms one more time. the kiss seonghwa left on the top of his head made him take a deep, yet shaky, breath as he waved to the elder closing the front door after himself.
it remained quiet for a while- but the silence was interrupted by a small sob let out from joong.
"sweetheart, I know~" wooyoung cooed as he automatically held the upset kitten in his arms. its quiet between them as he slowly rocks him. he knows the younger is finding it a little hard to soothe himself, especially when he woke up not that long ago.
his hyung places a kiss on his forehead as he continues the slow rocking. "come, let's go see what your sannie hyung is doing."
they passed the front door into the kitchen going straight into the living room, seeing none of other than his hyung on the couch with his laptop.
"oh look, here's sannie!" wooyoung emphasizes his voice a little, nodding towards the kitten when said hyung looks up at him.
he scoots over on the couch, letting the younger sit in the middle of them. his blanket is still upstairs from his nap, along with his pacifier, so he opts to hold onto his tail instead.
he uses the fur to subtly wipes his tears, leaning over to see what san is doing. suddenly his eyes grow wide in interest, faint tear marks still adorn his cheek.
"sannie shopp'yin!" he exclaims, voice still a little nasally from the crying.
san leans over to wipe a stray tear that fell, smile still etched on his face. "yes, sannie is doing some shopping. I know mama likes to do that too, huh?"
"uh huh!" the kitten exclaims "mama buy s'yuff on here!" he points to the computer, bringing his face a little close to the screen. "mama buy me s'yuff!"
"hey wait...joongie, why dont we try finding mama something online for mother's day?"
suddenly the kitten gasps rather loudly, startling both of the hyungs next to him. one of the reasons he loves his woo hyungie is he always has the best ideas.
he gets comfortable in his spot absent-mindedly pawing at his ears as san types a little too fast and scrolls down on some website.
his hyungs are faintly whispering with each other, while the curious kitten looks at what is on the screen.
it's a lot of necklaces, which he knows that hisbhwa loves to wear jewelry and tries to wear any as much as he can. but he gives his hyungs a little scare when he gasps loudly and points to the screen repeatedly.
"mama! ge' tha' for mama!"
when the pair look at the screen closely, wooyoung squeals as he wraps his arms around the kitten's side "joongie baby, you wanna get that for mommy!?"
said kitten smiles as he nods proudly. he looks over to see san smiling encouragingly at him as wooyoung begins to pepper his face with little kisses.
judging from his hyungs reactions he knew he picked the right gift out. he watches his hyungs whisper towards each other before san shoots up from his spot and closes the laptop screen.
"the store closes soon, so we gotta go now!" he exclaims, already grabbing his shoes to slip on. hongjoong watches wooyoung squeal as he does the same, figuring he has to get his shoes as well. in his retreat for his sneakers, he doesn't pay attention and ends up lightly hitting his nose as he tries his best to shove his foot into the shoe.
wooyoung smiles softly at the tiny mewl the younger made and bends down to help him instead. "I like that you tried doing it on your own, but it's okay to ask for help, honey."
successfully having his shoes on, the trio grab their jackets and head out out the door before the apparent jewelry store closes for the night.
-
"okay, now joongs, it's very important that you don't show seonghwa the gift until it's mother's day." san gently instructs as wooyoung carefully tucks the wrapped gift away in the closet.
hongjoong somewhat understands due to the fact that san call him by his full name instead of 'mama'. he sees his hyung hide the gift in the part of the closet that he told him hwa doesn't really go into.
"it's almost like a little game..." wooyoung explains furthermore. "you have to hide the gift until sunday and then you can give mama the special surprise. can you do that, dear?"
the kitten proudly nods. this is really his first time keeping a secret- or really a surprise- from seonghwa and the tone that his hyungs are explaining to him means that it's pretty serious.
"mama be h'yappy!" he exclaims, gleefully clapping his hands.
"alright, we're all good then! now, let's get started on dinner cause mama is coming home soon" before san sees wooyoung's eye light up, he holds his hand up "and wooyoungie is on bath time duty!"
hongjoong giggles as he watches his hyung mumble under his breath but nonetheless goes up the stairs to grab the younger's belongings. his pace grows quicker as he reaches the staircase and meets his hyung in the bathroom.
--------
"since we're already out, do you wanna look around in case you wanna get mama anything else?" yeosang asks, slinging the younger's backpack over his shoulder. it's pretty light as it only contains his trusty blanket and cat plush along with his pacifier.
it's still pretty early in the morning so the stores aren't too packed as everyone is at work and children are at school, but since mother's day is approaching rather quickly (albeit- tomorrow) the stores have become more crowded than normal due to any last-minute shoppers.
but luckily his hyungs helped him buy a gift beforehand; seonghwa asking his hyungs to try their best and help joong mainly because he doesn't wanna see his baby cry from the stress he felt that day.
hongjoong gently holds a smoothie in his hand (the same flavor as when he went out with yunho and mingi) and nods his head, too busy drinking to answer.
his other hyungs were out going shopping for their mother's, but yeosang planned ahead and already has his gift wrapped and ready; so, it's just joong and his sangie hyung for the morning.
the pair take their time walking around- it's rather peaceful and calm when it's just him and yeosang. occasionally, the older would gently bump into his arm and raise his eyebrows. hongjoong smiles as he nods happily; knowing that that's how his hyung asks if he's doing okay or needs a break.
seonghwa will be coming home from work soon, but just like the other people who work or have families of their own, he will be doing some last-minute shopping for his mother, which yeosang is feeling good about as that'll give him and the younger some time to look around and buy any last minute gifts.
"do you see anything that gets your attention, joong?" yeosang asks as they complete their second round of walking through the store.
with the straw in his mouth still, the younger shrugs his shoulder. occasionally, he'll chew at the straw as he looks around wide-eyed one last time "wan' go now, sangie."
"okay, we'll go then. do you want to go home or go look in another store?"
"ano'yer s'ore, p'ease"
his hyung smiles as he encourages the younger to follow next to him. as they make their way out of the store and down the shopping plaza to the next one, the kitten gasps at what he sees ahead of them.
there's someone standing near one of the stores with a little stand of flowers next to them. immediately, hongjoong tugs on his sangie's shirt. "sangie, sangie! wan' ge' mama fo'wer!"
his hyung smiles as he watches the way hongjoong's eyes practically sparkle. he notices the way the younger seems hesitant to go but can tell in his eyes he wants to see what flowers they have. he gently nudges his arm and tells him, "sangie will go with you, we can buy mama some pretty flowers."
normally, hongjoong would be relieved that his hyung would be going with him, as he still gets scared around strangers, but even when yeosang confirmed that he would go with him, he paused. he felt as if this was something he had to do on his own, to show his hyung and tell his mama what a big boy he truly is.
"no, sangie s'ay...wan' ge' myse'f"
"if you want to, you absolutely can. here, take this though" the older digs into his pocket to retrieve his wallet. hongjoong takes the money that yeosang pulls out from his wallet. "you need this if you want to buy mama the flowers."
the younger stares at the money in his hands. sometimes when they go out shopping, seonghwa will occasionally give hongjoong the opportunity to give the cashier the money or his card. for the most part, he'll decline- not one to talk to strangers.
but right now, this feels different- even if it's just to buy flowers from a little stand outside a store.
"I'll be right here if you need me, but you can do this. you're seonghwa's big boy."
hongjoong bit his lip as he nodded, turning away from his hyung and slowly walks towards the flower stand.
yeosang is feeling a proud hyung moment as he's the first to witness hongjoong do something on his own. he sneaks his phone out of his pocket and quickly snaps a few pictures to show everyone in the group chat
he received multiple responses- some happy, some encouraging, and even some sad as they didn't get to witness it themselves.
just as he finished typing a reply, he hears footsteps rapidly approaching.
"sangie! go' mama f'ower! go' mama f'ower!"
yeosang gasps at how pretty the red colored roses are "oh my, joongs, they are so lovely! how did you know that is mama's favorite flower!?"
hongjoong smiles and shrugs "y'ove my mama"
"you must feel very proud of yourself getting those flowers for mama all by yourself." his hyung encourages "come, let's go show your hyungies the lovely flowers you bought for mama!"
hongjoong clutches the small bouquet of flowers close to his chest as he follows behind his hyung. he can't wait until tomorrow to show mama his gifts.
-
"mama! mama! mama!"
as soon as he enters the house, he's greeted by nome other than an overly excited kitten. he's bouncing on the balls of his feet as he welcomes the elder home.
"well, hello, my sweet baby" seonghwa smiles as he plants a kiss onto his cheek "how was your day with sangie hyung?"
hongjoong is still pretty excited from their shopping trip, still feels the leftover buzz from when yeosang showed his hyungs the flowers he bought all by himself.
"mama...me an' sangie-"
he covers his mouth as he looks over to his hyung who's behind seonghwa. he's placing his finger over his lips in a "shh" motion. he can't tell seonghwa what they bought earlier today, it's supposed to be a surprise!
"you and sangie did what, baby?"
"me an' sangie...uh...misth you!"
seonghwa smirks lightly "you and sangie missed me?"
yeosang decides to chip in to help the younger "u-uh...yeah! we missed you a lot! especially me!"
seonghwa stands still for a second. he glances between the two people in front of him, the way they are shushing each other and hongjoong is giggling, he knows they are hiding something. but, he won't go in detail, after all he knows what tomorrow is anyway.
"oh my sweet little baby and my precious sangie missed me!?" he plays along, opening both of his arms for the duo to hug him.
hongjoong gladly accepts with no hesitation, yeosang stumbles with growing warm cheeks.
"I love my sweet babies so much."
--------
"mama, wa'e up. wa'e up, p'ease!"
the elder wakes up to the younger softly petting his hair leaving little kisses onto his forehead. he keeps his eyes semi open as he watches the way the younger fixes any loose strands of hair sticking out, or how he smoothes his blanket down.
he zones out a little as he runs his hands on the soft fabric of the blanket. seonghwa now opens his eyes fully watching how the kitten turns his neck a little so he can nuzzle against the material.
wordlessly, seonghwa motions with his hands for hongjoong to join him under the blanket, to which the younger happily agrees to. he nuzzles closely to the eldest as well as nuzzling the blanket near his face.
it's a soft moment between the two as hongjoong continues to cuddle with his mama, almost forgetting about what day it is. the kitten suddenly gasps softly "mama day! h'yappy mama day!"
seonghwa hooks his arms around his neck and gently pulls him closer, peppering kisses on his cheek. "thank you, my sweet baby...I love you very much."
"ma'e mama b'ea'fas'!"
the way hongjoong sprang out of his spot in the bed and bounced off the mattress definitely is a tell-tale sign of how high energy the kitten will be today.
he's pulling seonghwa's hand (gently) as he gets up from the bed. "you...made mama breakfast?"
"uh huh! su'p'ise for mama!"
seonghwa feels only the slightest bit of worry when hongjoong announced- rather proudly- that he made breakfast. of course he feels happy that the younger feels proud, but seonghwa can't help but quicken his pace at the announcement.
hongjoong doesn't know how to use the stove or a knife...so what could he possibly mean by that?
the younger giggles behind as seonghwa practically speed walks down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to stop in his tracks.
"oh, joongie..." he gasps, marveling at the set up in front of him. at the dining table, there's two bowls of cereal and next to it a cup of orange juice- along with the younger's sippy cup.
but he feels his eyes become watery at the small little pile of handpicked flowers from the backyard and also a big bouquet of red roses.
the elder looks down at the younger and swoops him in his arms. he keeps his grip pretty tight and peppers the kitten's face in kisses all over.
however a small whine let's seonghwa pull away and place yet another kiss onto his cheek. "baby, how did you do all of this!?"
joongie just giggles behind his hand as he basks in the affection given to him. "mama bi' boy!"
"you are mama's big boy you're absolutely right..I love how you did this all on your own! now, let's go eat! I heard someone's tummy rumbling earlier."
-
so to say, seonghwa enjoyed his first mother's day celebration. albeit, he tried to do things that involved the younger as much as he could. after breakfast, the pair tended to their little garden in the backyard. he also made a little stop to his parent's house to give his mother his gift; which made hongjoong excited as he hasn't seen his grandparents in a while.
now as the day is almost over, bellies full with a big dinner from eating out, hongjoong decides now is a good time to give his mama the special gift.
"joongs, are you good over there? what are you looking for?"
at the same time, the kitten squeals as he pops up from the floor with his hands behind his back. "mama gif'!"
he has his back turned to seonghwa, clearly holding something in his hand. as he begins to slowly turn around, he proudly has the paper out in front of him. "mama gif'!"
seonghwa holds a hand over to his heart as he gladly accepts the gift. "awe baby, you're going to make mama cry. I love it so much."
once seonghwa said he was going to cry, hongjoong hugged him, nuzzling into his neck for comfort. "mama sa'?"
"no, baby" the elder nonchalantly wipes a tear away as he wraps his arms around the kitten. "mama is crying because he's so happy! I love your gift very much, did you make this at school?"
"uh huh! paint my han'!" he giggles as his eyes light up. he loves to recieve the praise and comfort just as much as he loves giving it.
seonghwa smiles fondly over the painted handprints of joong's placed to look like a flower bouquet and a simple 'happy mother's day' written on the paper.
"I know where we're going to place this! right on the fridge...oh! should I frame it so the color doesn't fade? hmmm, well maybe I'll just hang it up fo-"
"-mamaaaaa~" hongjoong whines, tugging on his arm with a gentle tug. "an'oyer gif'!"
seonghwa looks with curiosity when hongjoong pulls a small box from the same spot in the closet and holds it out in front of him, all wide flashing a wide smile. "I y'ove you, mama!"
the elder takes the box with delicate hands and slowly begins to unwrap the carefully wrapped paper (which he knows for a fact one of his hyungs did). when it's fully opened, seonghwa gasps in shock.
"park hongjoong! this is amazing!"
said kitten doesn't process what happens next because he's being shoved into seonghwa's arms with a strong yet loving grip.
"baby, this is so beautiful!" hongjoong pulls away slightly to see the elder smiling but also his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
"it's okay! it's just happy tears, remember we talked about that before?" seonghwa reassures "how did you get this necklace!? how did you know I love necklaces!?"
hongjoong carefully wipes his mama's tears away, watching carefully to make sure he isn't actually crying because he's sad. "sannie and woo 'yungie!"
seonghwa gently takes it out of the box and clasps it around his neck. the topaz birthstone shining in the setting sun through the window along with the silver metal spelling hongjoong's name.
"I have to thank your sannie and woo hyung for getting this then...now I'll always have my baby close to my heart no matter where I go."
hongjoong's face grows warm, bashful pawing at his ear before placing a kiss to his cheek.
"now come, we gotta take pictures to show your hyungs and grandparents before the sun sets!"
--------
"mama...?"
"yes, my angel?"
he looks over to see the younger fiddle with his fingers, he looks nervous about something and before he sits in silence, seonghwa gently pulls him closer to his side and nuzzles his cheek against his.
"what's troubling you, my honeybear?"
"I f'yom...mama tummy?"
he points a shy finger towards the elder's stomach- immediately making his face grow warm. how does he respond to a question like that? surely it would be normal for hongjoong to be curious about that...topic.
he clears his throat before he start "n-no, joongs. you didn't come from my belly...but you came from your birth mommy's belly."
"no' f'yom mama belly?"
seonghwa sighs gently as he squeezes his arm in reassurance "no honey, but sometimes it feels like you did with the way I love you and take care of you."
he sees that hongjoong looks satisfied with the answer, surely that's a discussion they can save for another day. he leans away to look at seonghwa for a moment.
he can't help but think of all the times seonghwa was there for him and helped him overcome many obstacles. how no matter what happens, it's seonghwa that he always relies on to help him find his inner strength and courage.
he sees he's still wearing the necklace he gave him, smiling softly as he runs his fingers over the silver chain and birthstone.
"you'll always be in my heart and I love you so very much. don't ever forget how important you are to me and how much I care for you." seonghwa places a soft kiss to his temple "thank you for my first mother's day celebration, I'm very thankful for you."