Chapter Text
"alright! we're all ready upstairs!"
"I...I might need some help downstairs..." hongjoong's voice sounds wary from the distance.
seonghwa rolls his eyes playfully at the comment shout from the downstairs living room. he turns to face his elder babies and crouches down at their level. "okay, boys, it sounds like daddy needs our help. who's ready to help him?"
all three of the children raise their hands excitedly, waving their little arms desperately trying to get their parents attention.
"I'm ready, mama!"
"me, too!"
"I...I wanna help, daddy, too"
seonghwa smiles at his second eldest baby almost sympathetically, running his fingers through his brown soft hair. he makes a mental note of how long its gotten and has to ask the child if he wants to have it cut or keep it long...maybe later...
"yeosangie, my love, of course you can help...in fact we all are!"
"yeah!" yunho chimes in, noticing how his brother's expression wasn't the same as theirs "daddy helping with our baby...that's...3 whole baby by himself..." seonghwa snorts to himself at how his eldest was entirely focused on holding up 3 little fingers for show.
"I'll race you down to daddy!" san- his third eldest- shouts. he gently holds onto yeosang's hand as he drags him down the hallway.
"we're not running inside, right!?"
"n-no, mama! we running outside!"
"no worry, mama" yunho places his chubby hands onto seonghwa's jaw and rubs his thumb softly onto his cheeks. the two just stare at each other in a sort of weird yet comfortable silence.
the parent- who's taking notice of yunho's actions.
the child- who's enamored by his mama and how warm and soft he is.
"I help daddy with our baby...all 5 baby!" he proudly holds up 5 fingers and wiggles them in front of seonghwa's face.
the parent laughs, grabbing yunho's hand and pulls him closer in his arms. "I didn't know I had 5 babies?"
"yunnie not baby! yunnie big boy!"
"alright, yunnie is my big boy." seonghwa gives him a brief side hug before placing a kiss on his forehead "always remember that no matter how old yunnie gets, you'll always be my sweet baby, okay?"
yunho presents a shy smile before doing the same and placing a kiss on his mama's cheek. "wanna help daddy now?"
"yes, baby, you can go help daddy"
the hallways grows quiet the second yunho runs down the hall and carefully makes his way downstairs on the steps. he watches him go down two at a time and grips onto the railing tightly- remembering the one time he slipped on the steps and hurt his knee.
seonghwa can hear the excited shouts of all his 6 babies in one room, sure enough will give their father a growing headache and will eventually go down to help but for now he takes his time.
he walks down the hallway, smiling at all the family pictures displayed neatly and decorated on the walls; all seonghwa's idea. he loves his little family so much, having to go through almost hell and back from the start of it all.
-
at the time, him and hongjoong were just newlyweds, basking in the honeymoon phase as they began the steps of their life together. just now finally finished moving their personal belongings together and now getting a chance to finally settle into a new environment. it felt so surreal to be actually living together. like it's not something that was talked about and brushed under the rug anymore- this was real and it was actually happening.
it was a little wary at first, they've been over each other's houses and have slept over numerous of times; but now this wasn't just a little sleepover anymore. no longer were they sneaking kisses around seonghwa's mother or dodging the judging (but loving) looks of hongjoong's older brother.
the couple both worked with full time jobs- hongjoong knowing that seonghwa absolutely adores his job and holds it dear to his heart; as well as seonghwa knowing that hongjoong takes pride and carries passion in his work. there are times when their schedules align and either of them both have the day off, but sometimes it can be a little tricky on hongjoong's part. his position can be a little demanding and there are times where he won't come home until almost 11:30 at night, and yeah occasionally he will come home exhausted out of his mind and find every little thing irritable; he knows that at the end of the day, seonghwa is always there to lend a comforting hand and open ears to listen.
they fell in perfect sync- getting adjusted to their new home and the responsibilities that came with it, and balancing time for each other and also their work. seonghwa didn't like labels but he felt like he was living the perfect life. a lovely home with lots of space (probably too much space for just the two of them), a big backyard with a few trees for shade and a little area for gardening purposes. neighbors who were just as friendly as he was (which hongjoong found a little too much...he knew seonghwa was just naturally bubbly and bright which he had no problem with, but when the neighbors come over just because...it's as if there's a family reunion that no one has seen each other in years with all the loud laughter and shouting.
(those times, he buries himself in his office busying himself with make believe work)
a little thought didn't occur to them until one day where hongjoong had the afternoon off and decided to stop by seonghwa's school to visit during his lunch hour. he walked with a big smile into the front door and received a visitor pass from the lovely woman who works at the main office. she always goes on about how much she adores seonghwa and loves to see his bright and glowing face in the morning. he doesn't focus on how she doesn't say anything about him. it's okay though, hongjoong has visited only a handful of times, which to be fair is not enough time to develop a bond with someone.
he makes his way towards seonghwa's classroom, which he ends up getting lost and one of the security guards helps him and ends up taking him there himself. it warms his heart hearing everyone saying all sweet and positive things about his husband and adorns a goofy smile until a knock on the door interrupts his thoughts.
"seonghwa-"
"-oh, perfect! i actually need help with- oh! joongie!"
the excited squeal he let out made hongjoong's heart burst with ten times the warmth. he was almost knocked down by the force of his husband rushing to hug him. the way he clings onto him as if he hasn't seen him in days when it's only been a few hours. "what brings you here!?"
the younger smirks and gently pokes at his cheek. he knows seonghwa's face has to be hurting just a little bit with all the smiling he's doing. "just wanted to see my favorite guy is all." that earns him a slight slap on the shoulder before ushering him inside, thanking the security guard for showing his husband the way.
hongjoong will never get over how warm and inviting seonghwa's classroom is- he has artwork displayed on the walls and projects they've worked on. some of them he remembers when the teacher brought all kinds of crafting supplies home to start the next day in class. he doesn't have many desks, remembering how seonghwa said he believes children learn better when they're up and moving and not sitting in one spot for hours on end.
he has a smartboard in his room, playing soft classical music as he touches up some stuff around the room and cleans a little before sitting down at his teacher desk. hongjoong fights the urge to burst with adoration when he sees a few family pictures framed near the edge and one classroom photo that was recently taken due to seonghwa's hair color change from black to brown.
hongjoong carries one of the desk chairs to the side and watches seonghwa with literal heart eyes. call him a simp all you want...he won't try to argue with facts. "how long is your lunch today?"
"hmm, i have an hour...cause my kids left for lunch and recess." he's doing his daily check of cleaning behind cabinets and shelves. it's like he's at home with the way he's double and even triple checking for things to clean. his husband walks up to him and lowers his arm that's clutching a cleaning rag and gently lowers it. "come and sit with me, i won't see you until later and i know it's your thing to do but stop cleaning for one second and join me at your desk."
seonghwa smiles sheepishly and does what the younger said, placing his cleaning rag out of sight so the children won't come back and play with the dirty towel. he visibly relaxes the minute he sits down, not having much time to do it in the mornings. "how was this morning?"
"it was good, just the usual stuff." he digs out his packed lunch from the little mini fridge he has in his classroom and zips it open. "i want the children to have an easy week after all the back-to-back lessons, so i'm kind of just doing gross motor and crafting stuff while trying to incorporate the lesson in it." he wordlessly handed a small, wrapped plastic bag towards his husband as he finished explaining what he was doing.
seonghwa always did that- he would pack an extra small lunch on days when hongjoong doesn't work or has the afternoons off- a small hope knowing he'd come and visit him. hongjoong tries to do that too, but all he can manage are wraps and sandwiches, which seonghwa doesn't mind; he knows it comes from the heart anyway.
the pair eat in comfortable silence and share a few quick kisses. they discuss matters of the house and their workplace while trying to cram in as much time together as they can. "oh," hongjoong interrupts "my mom was thinking of visiting on friday."
"yeah! she mentioned before about wanting to share new recipes with-"
the classroom door opened to his children rushing to place their lunch boxes and anything else away before they went outside. the teacher with them apologized for the interruption and gently hurried the children along.
"mr. kim, is this your best friend?"
seonghwa smiles, placing his hand on joong's shoulder "yeah, i guess you can say he is my best friend. this is hongjoong, he is my husband."
a few of the children giggled behind their hands and left the room but not before running to give their teacher a quick hug and leaving to go outside. hongjoong sat next to him and smiled as he watched the children hug seonghwa as if they won't be able to see him anymore. "oh wait! mr. kim!"
"yes, my dear?"
"are you and...and your husband going to have a baby?"
immediately both of the adults' smile dropped, seonghwa rushing over to do some slight damage control. "what makes you say that, honey?"
she smiles brightly "you're warm and soft like my mommy! an' my mommy has a baby in her belly!"
seonghwa smiles over to his husband, who looks just as shocked as he does, and turns back around to face the little girl. "well, thank you for saying i'm warm and soft like you're mommy. and you're going to be a big sister, that is so exciting! we will talk more about it later after recess, okay?"
the little girl accepts the answer and nods happily as she gives him one more hug and runs to meet her classmates in the hallway. the door closes and the once loud classroom is as silent as night.
the elder looks over to his husband, wary of his reaction. "a-are you okay?"
"y-yeah! i'm good..." however seonghwa wasn't convinced of his answer.
"joong, she's little. at that age, they just blurt out whatever is on their mind." seonghwa goes to clean up his lunch and zips it shut, placing it back in the mini fridge. hongjoong shakes his head a little, as if to shake off the comment made by the sweet little girl.
"she asked if we were going to have a baby..."
his husband smiled at him "yeah, she did."
"and she said you were warm and soft like her own mommy"
"where are you going with this?"
"do you think we should start a family?"
seonghwa's smile slightly dropped "w-what?"
suddenly hongjoong stood up, cringing at the sound the chair made from squeaking against the tiled floor. "think about it! she practically called you her mom...your job is flexible with maternity leave...my job allows me to work from home almost all the time...we'd be equipped with money and knowledge of raising a child together...seonghwa! i think we should do it!"
now it was seonghwa's turn to look at his husband with a crazy look in his eye, holding his hand up to stop his husband from going any further "joong, my love, as much as i feel appreciated and loved that you would love to start a family with me, we need to properly discuss this as it's really important. we can do it when i come home, okay?"
that seemed enough to calm his husband's excited mind and jumped in place of joy. he pulls seonghwa by the waist and peppers his face with multiple wet kisses. "oh i love you so much. let's discuss more when you come home! ugh, can't you just leave now!? no no, you can't do that...okay, well i'll just wait until 3 then."
the elder places both hands on his cheeks and rubs his thumb over one side of his face. "hongjoong, my love, relax a little, okay?"
he notices how his husband visibly relaxes at his words and calming motions. just as the pair were leaning into each other, seonghwa's alarm on his phone blares loudly and jolts the two away from each other.
"what the hell was that!?"
"that" seonghwa glares, placing a hand over his beating heart "was the alarm that i have to go now and get my kids...and watch your language! there are kids all around! i'll see you later, okay? i love you."
hongjoong nods as he places one last kiss on his husband's soft lips. "i love you, too, sugar." he sits back for a moment and watches seonghwa make sure everything is in place before smiling back at his lover and leaving the room. he doesn't understand why he felt so affected by the little girl's comment but something inside him just woke up, as if it was in front of him this whole time but the line was too blurred with his job to even notice it.
and so to speak, the couple discussed thoroughly of wanting to have children- who would work part time until the child was old enough to attend daycare, who would they have as an emergency contact if something were to happen, where would the baby's room go, how to change the layout of the house if needed to, and etc. that night was filled with a lot of smiles and even happy tears as they came to the final conclusion that they were ready to start a family.
and lo and behold, 9 months later, their first child, yunho was born in march.
-
"wooie! that hurt! i'm telling daddy!"
"noooo! no tell daddy!"
"bu' that hurt! no like that!"
"i'm telling mama before you tell daddy!"
"not nice!"
seonghwa shakes his head as he makes his way down the carpet staircase into the living room. immediately he's met with two of his frantic babies. he looks over and sees his other babies occupied with puzzles or their own infant toys. 'god bless you, hongjoong' he thinks as he looks at his husband, who's carrying the youngest in his arms. he would prefer not to keep him on the floor while his older brothers are around and playing, which occasionally turns to rough housing.
"mama!" wooyoung frantically cries out, wiping his tears with his little hand "minnie not be nice!"
"nuh uh!" one of the younger babies, mingi, chirps in. seonghwa's heart breaks at how visibly upset he looks from his red eyes and the occasional hiccup let out from all the crying. "wooie hur' me an'...an' no s-say sorry! i'm telling daddy!"
however wooyoung was not happy with what his brother said as he threw himself on the floor in a fit of tears. seonghwa held out both of his hands for both his children to hold onto and the trio walked into the den, which they usually reserve for instances like this.
he sat on the floor and held his arms open "come here, my babies. let's have a little reset with mama and we can talk about what happened." the younger ones threw themselves into their mama's arms, immediately being swayed back and forth for comfort.
normally when their children grow too upset to use words, hongjoong and seonghwa always encourage them to have a little reset away from everyone so there's no distractions and the said parent can help their child. it always works, although sometimes it can get a little tricky and may take longer than what they thought, but they woud do anything to help their children out especially at such young age's to understand their feelings and emotions.
"there, there. mama is going to help you, you let me know when you're ready."
wooyoung managed to calm down only after a few pats on the back and a few kisses on his forehead. mingi, however, needed more time as he was still letting his tears flow, still visibly upset about what happened.
the youngest brother saw his sibling still upset and crying so he rubbed his back with his hand like what their mama does, and nuzzles up against his arm. "wooie sorry, no hurt my minnie. i love my minnie."
mingi slowly lifted himself out his seonghwa's neck and nodded "forgive wooie, love my wooie." he crawled over to wooyoung and wrapped his arms around him, or as much as he can with him sitting on his mama's lap, giving him a little boost of height.
since the children are both calm and collected, seonghwa decides to let it slide, but not without a small discussion about it. "woo, i heard mingi say he doesn't like when you hit him."
"i say sorry!"
"yes, you did say sorry" the mother placed his hand on his little cheek for comfort "but if someone says they don't like it, then you stop right away. that is called being respectful...that's a big word to say."
"it's okay, wooie! jus' not too rough, you can play rough with yunnie or even sannie! or! or! or even daddy!" mingi exclaims, wiping the last bit of tears away from his chin.
wooyoung nods, goes to nuzzle against mingi as he smiles at mama. "wanna play with daddy!"
seonghwa smiles "daddy was holding jongie, you have to ask daddy first okay?"
"yes, mama!" before he knew it, wooyoung was standing on his chubby little legs and kisses his mama on the cheek before running back into the living room. mingi and him sit in somewhat silence.
"can i play with jongie and yeo yeo?"
"i think it might be time for jongie to have a nap, but i know yeo yeo would love to play with his baby brother." he stands up and holds out his hand for mingi to hold, the pair walking into the living room. "let's go ask him first, okay?"
just as they were making their way back into the living room, wooyoung is heard screeching as he sees hongjoong run past him and out into the backyard.
"gonna get daddy!"
"wait for me wooie, my leg not fast yet!" seonghwa coos as he sees san try his best to catch up to them. yunho suddenly joins in, grabbing onto san's hand and helps him catch up to his brother and father. the four of them stay outside with the door, while seonghwa stays inside with the remaining three babies. no matter how old they get, he will always call his children his babies. they could be well into their 20's and he would still call them his babies.
mingi and yeosang sit in comfortable silence as they play with a puzzle together as seonghwa carries the infant, ready to head up the stairs. "mama is upstairs with jongie and daddy is outside with your brothers, you two let me know if you need anything, okay?"
"yes, mama." replies only yeosang. he sees mingi too focused on the puzzle, absent-mindedly chewing on a small piece of the corner. yeosang lowers his hand and helps him figure out where it goes.
as seonghwa holds his youngest baby close to him, he passes by all the boys' bedrooms. they all have their own rooms, except mingi wanted to share a room with yeosang.
he finds it adorable how enamored the little one is by his older brother. yeosang is calm and collected for the most part- definitely has gotten that from hongjoong- although there are some times where he'll participate in mingi's crazy antics. the pair balance each other out well.
it worked out because finding a house that has 7 separate bedrooms was a little on the higher price than they were looking for. and although having all boys, they'd most likely wish to have their own rooms by their teen years. but they will cross that bridge when they come across it.
jongho's room is right across from san's room- the hallways beige and keep the house simple and open, but each boys' bedroom holds color and a little splash of their own personalities. when he looks across san's room, he sees a collection of plush animals on the floor near his closet- a majority of them are cats of all colors and sizes.
jongho's room is simple and a sage green, only a little personality is shown as of course he is still an infant; but a few accents of bears and rabbits and cute little forest animals decorate the walls and his crib sheets.
the one with the most vibrant room is yunho, their eldest. he may only be 5 years old, but he has such a loud and vibrant personality it makes sense that his room is the same. he chose to have yellow walls as "it's a happy color", along with dinosaur and trucks and legos and all the typical young child toys. there is even a few toy dolls in his toy chest as they were once in the store and yunho was so focused on the doll, he thought he would cry if he didn't get it.
seonghwa and hongjoong are the type of parents to always encourage their children into doing what they want, playing with what they want to play, and dress how they want to dress. their children are still so young and learning everyday, they would never want to limit them and keep them in a box of "what boys are supposed to play with/ dress/ and do."
wooyoung, san, and yeosang and mingi's room suited for their own interests as well. wooyoung chose a light baby blue, san chose purple (which technically the paint card he chose from was labeled "indigo", but they kept it simple and kept it with purple), and yeosang and mingi's room is a beige almost orange.
he feels butterflies swarm his stomach at the mere thought of his babies and how each one of them added another piece of their family puzzle. as he changes the infant and swaddles him in his blanket, he sits in his rocking chair; that hongjoong's mother gifted when yunho was first born. after all these years it's still in great condition and has been passed down to each of his children.
when they decided to have one more baby, getting to hold jongho in his arms felt like his whole life was complete now, their little family now whole as 8 of them. if you were to tell seonghwa a few years prior that he would have ended up having 6 children, he'd look at you with an egg in his mouth.
but he's grown simce them, and has learned to adapt to the excited squeals, the messy tables from mealtimes, the babbles from the ones still learning to talk, the tears when someone gets hurt, the warm hugs and mushy cuddles in the early mornings, and his favorite part- the diaper changes and learning to potty train.
"get some rest, my sweet baby bear, you are loved so dearly." seonghwa kisses the now sleeping infant's forehead and carefully places him in his crib. he watches for a moment and grabs the baby monitor before leaving the door ajar.
"see, now that's not cool, woo! i'm telling mama!"
"nooooo daddy! no tell mama!!"
seonghwa groans lightly as he makes his way downstairs, ready to interrupt the light disagreement between his husband and their second youngest baby.