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When Joshua comes home, the first thing he's greeted with is the loud sound of something clattering to the kitchen floor. No shriek or curse followed the concerning noise, but it still had him sprinting across the living room without a second thought. Although he was looking forward to getting rid of his exhaustion by cuddling his mate to sleep, he's learned recently that rest doesn't come easy for him nowadays. Not when these sort of situations happen a little too often than normal.
"Seungcheol, baby, are you—" And just as Joshua skids into the kitchen, his question is immediately cut off by the sight of Seungcheol standing amidst a sea of metal bowls.
Some part of him was relieved to see that nothing sharp had threatened to chop the omega's toes off, but the other part was literally doing mental gymnastics in an attempt to piece together what he was trying to do in the first place. Joshua slowly glances up at the shelves where the bowls originally belong, trying to figure out the mystery on his own with the use of clues lying around. He doesn't get very far, though. Not when Seungcheol decides to hand him the answer on a silver platter.
"I wanted to bake something," Seungcheol explains, tone firm to hide his underlying embarrassment, yet the red on his cheeks betray him. "It's your fault for putting them up so high."
Now, the thing about Seungcheol is the fact that he was lucky enough to be mated to the most patient alpha the world has ever seen. In textbooks, alphas are described as aggressive and short-tempered. Due to their nature being built solely on their authority and dominance, alphas have always been the epitome of impatience.
Seungcheol, on the other hand, managed to win over an alpha who was none of those things.
As Joshua bends down and gathers the bowls, he doesn't sigh nor does he choose to scold his mate in turn. Instead, he straightens himself after picking everything up, the top of his head lightly brushing against the outstretch of Seungcheol's pregnant belly, and asks, "What is it you wanted to bake, love?"
Seungcheol feels guilty in a matter of seconds. He's briefly convinced that this was Joshua's plan all along— to be so nice that it makes him feel like the worst person on the planet.
"Sorry," Seungcheol mumbles between adorable pouty lips, eyes casted downward in shame.
Joshua smiles softly in response. He places the bowls on the kitchen counter before bringing two large hands to the curve of Seungcheol's stomach. He feels a light fluttering against his palm, his heartbeat quick to mimic the motion. Knowing that he successfully made Seungcheol carry his pups will always be his greatest achievement as a devotee to Seungcheol, first, and an alpha, second.
"Don't apologize," he says, rubbing gently. "If you say sorry, then that just means you answered my question wrong. I thought omegas are always right?"
Seungcheol rolls his eyes, unable to stop the smile that breaks upon his glowing face. "I wanted cake. Matcha." He's tasted a matcha-flavored pastry before, but after the experience— he decided that matcha just wasn't for him. That is, until he got knocked up.
Upon finally hearing Seungcheol's confession, Joshua reacts to it by simply standing there.
He stands there, stares, and waits.
Waits for the inevitable attachment to the verbalized desire like the patient alpha he is. He's been on this rodeo far too many times to accept that Seungcheol wanted ONLY matcha cake. There's always something else.
"Is that all?" Joshua carefully questions, hoping it's enough to coax the answer out of his mate.
Seungcheol's eyes start to wander, one hand coming to rest on his belly to give it a few strokes. He suddenly feels exposed, but he supposes that he shouldn't have expected any less. This was, after all, a very common occurence in the household. His odd cravings that would make Gordon Ramsay ban him from ever eating food again are no surprise anymore.
"Can I also have vanilla ice cream? And beef jerky? Does the convenience store by the apartment building have beef jerky?"
Joshua doesn't mind going out to the nearby convenience store to fetch the requested items, but it would be most ideal if he knew the specifics before leaving. Last time he left to buy cup noodles for Seungcheol, he came back to the omega telling him that he didn't want this brand, he wanted the other one. Joshua didn't get mad, but he still sighed as he got back in the elevator.
"What brand of ice cream?" Joshua tucks a few of Seungcheol's curls behind his ear. "I think they have beef jerky, yeah. If not, we can always have some delivered."
The omega hums softly, leaning into the crook of Joshua's neck to nuzzle his nose against his skin. The scent of cinnamon instantly fills his lungs and the twins stir inside his womb in response to their father's scent. "Häagen-Dazs, please..."
Joshua suddenly doesn't want to leave. Not when his mate smells so sweet as he continues to inhale him. His hands slowly rest on either side of Seungcheol's waist, thumbs slipping under the oversized shirt to rub delicately at the bare skin. "Sweetheart, you're making it difficult to leave," he breathes.
One second is all it takes for Seungcheol to detach himself from Joshua. He pulls away, pries the alpha's hands off him, then pushes him towards the door.
"I need ice cream and beef jerky," Seungcheol reiterates while opening the door and shoving Joshua out.
After giving him a quick kiss to his cheek, he smiles sweetly and adds: "I love you! And don't forget the cake!"
Joshua doesn't even get a chance to speak before the door shuts close, leaving him half-aroused yet more tired than he was initially. Joshua is a very patient man and he has so much love for Seungcheol and the pups inside him— but he also just wanted to have a nice warm bath so badly.
After Seungcheol had consumed half of a whole matcha cake and some ice cream with beef jerky toppings, Joshua, thankfully, got the warm bath he was craving for.
He originally planned on bathing alone, but after spotting Seungcheol lingering at the bathroom doorway, he just couldn’t resist extending an invitation.
“What if I don’t fit?” Seungcheol asks with a small voice as Joshua lifts his large shirt past his belly.
Joshua looks up at him, pausing from pulling the shirt over the omega’s head. Seungcheol’s eyes are big enough for Joshua to see the mild insecurity that swarms in them. Seungcheol was only in his second trimester, but he was much bigger than other pregnant omegas considering the fact he was carrying twins.
Don’t get him wrong! He cried the day they found out that they were blessed with two pups.
It’s just that his hormones have brainwashed him into thinking that he was bigger than a whale.
But luckily for him, his alpha mate always knew what to do.
Without a single word, Joshua places his hands on each side of Seungcheol’s exposed belly and leans in to press their lips together. He kisses him, slow and soft, as though pushing it any further would shatter him and leave him mateless. Fluttering his eyes close, Seungcheol rests his hands onto Joshua’s broad shoulders to ground himself. He feels his knees buckling slightly and takes it as a sign that he would be melting by now if it were physically possible.
Whenever Joshua kisses him like this, Seungcheol swears that fairy tales used his mate as reference for what romance truly feels like.
As Joshua finally pulls away, Seungcheol finds himself desperately chasing after him, fingers digging into his shoulders and body leaning forward.
Instead of kissing him again, Joshua beckons Seungcheol to raise his arms with a quick flick of his head upward. “You’ll get more later, Cheollie,” he promises, “but let’s get you in the bath first, yeah? You’re going to fit, don’t worry.”
As much as Seungcheol wanted more, he’s obedient enough to do as his alpha tells him. On certain days, he willingly acts like a brat to trap Joshua into making him submit. Most days, however, praise is just too good to pass up.
So once his shirt and his sweats were removed for him, Joshua rewards him with a quick kiss and a few pats to his head which causes the omega to beam brightly. From the looks of it, he’s already forgotten what he was upset about in the first place.
After setting the water to the perfect temperature, Joshua carefully guides his mate into the tub then proceeds to position himself behind him. With Seungcheol straddled in between Joshua’s legs, back turned to him and stomach facing the other end of the tub, the doubt fades away completely and all that is left in his heart is the love for his reassuring alpha.
“Feeling comfortable, my omega?” Joshua was lathering Seungcheol’s hair as he spoke, making sure his fingers pressed down to massage his scalp in the process.
They don’t do it as often as they used to, but taking a bath together like this was always one of their favorite pastimes. It was relaxing as it was domestic.
Personally, Seungcheol thinks sharing a bath with your lover is the highest form of intimacy there is. There is not a thing in the world that could top the warm emotion that bubbles within him as Joshua shampoos his hair in a languid motion.
The bathroom is filled with the scent of cinnamon and cherries dancing together while a mist of artificial citrus surrounds them. It’s heavenly. Seungcheol could die right now and it would honestly be the best way to go.
“Mhmm,” he lazily replies, keeping his eyes closed in order to better experience the skill of Joshua’s hands. “Will I rinse it? I don’t mind.”
A chuckle falls past Joshua’s lips as they glisten under the dim orange light. Seungcheol always liked having the fake candles out whenever they bathed together.
“I can rinse it just fine, sweetheart. I have my trusty water dipper right here to help me out.”
The omega huffs, the obvious need for a purpose hanging on the sound. “Then can I scrub your back? You deserve to be taken care of too, Jisoo.”
Joshua wanted to argue that Seungcheol should be exerting little to no effort since he’s heavily pregnant, but saying so would probably upset him more than flatter.
He was perfectly capable of moving his arms, idiot.
“Alright, you can scrub my back after I rinse you. I’ll just get out of the tub and sit in front of you so you don’t have to get up.” Joshua replies, smiling painfully wide at the way Seungcheol giggles in delight.
Fortunately, Seungcheol doesn't need to wait too long for his turn as it takes at least two minutes of kneading fingers into his sudsy hair for Joshua to be satisfied. But before rinsing everything off, the alpha first creates a sharks fin out of his lover's hair just to hear more of those tiny giggles he's grown so fond of. It works just as planned, even triggering Seungcheol into blindly splashing some water behind him in hopes it lands on the culprit.
“What girl name are you thinking of?” Seungcheol decides to ask after Joshua poured water over his head for the second time.
Forgetting that Seungcheol couldn’t see him, Joshua shrugs. “We’re gonna have to think of two sets of girl names, right?”
“Oh, right…” Cue more water splashing over his head. “How about we both come up with one name for each pup?”
Joshua gathers Seungcheol’s hair into his hands and squeezes out enough water to get rid of its extremely soaked state. Once he finishes his duty, he quickly changes his position as promised and sits in front of Seungcheol this time. Only then was he able to answer the given question. “I’d like that,” he says, “they’re more ours that way.”
Instead of feeling the wet sponge hit his back, Seungcheol’s belly lightly presses Joshua’s spine as he leans in to litter a few kisses to his shoulder blades. It may have been a bit of a struggle to reach, but Seungcheol doesn’t care. He wants Joshua to feel the same type of romance he makes him feel every day. He deserves it, after all.
“They’ll always be our pups either way, Jisoo. Never forget that.”
Joshua wants to turn around and kiss him.
He wants to get out of this tub, scoop his mate into his arms, and kiss him silly right then and there.
… But even when he so badly wants to do all those things, he chooses to stay put and allow Seungcheol to scrub his back for him.
If his omega wants to take care of him, then the least he can do is let him and be eternally grateful that fate led him to a love that is as precious as this.