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“Appa!!”
The shout is loud, panicked. Jeonghan jolts out of bed, feet stinging from the chill that clings to the floorboards. His back protests the sudden shift and he winces, rubbing at the stiffness. Muscle memory carries his stumbling legs to the door where he fumbles with the knob. The stupid thing sticks and he remembers asking his husband to fix it more than once.
“Appa!!”
The little voice is crying again. He finally wrenches the door open and squints into the dimly lit hall. He takes a few steps, still aching, when the door cracks open to his right and a small boy, five-years-old, peers out at him. “Appa?”
He shushes the boy, gently petting his hair. “It's okay, Mingoo,” he whispers, “get back in bed.”
“But brother…”
Jeonghan leans to kiss Mingyu’s head. “I know, my love. Appa is going to get him.”
The child nods, rubs his eyes and turns around. Jeonghan watches him climb into his race car bed.
He closes the door and continues his way down to the next door. He opens it and finds Hansol staring at him from the floor. His shock is only broken by the pained cry that fills the air when the one-year-old sees him. He holds out chubby little hands, face blotchy, noticeably redder on the left side, with wet, teary eyes. “Appa, owie!!”
Jeonghan moves forward, picking his baby up from the floor and tucking him in the hollow of his neck. “Shh, my baby. It's okay. Appa has you. You're okay now,” he soothes, rubbing gentle circles up and down his son's back as the little one cries harder, hiccuping. “Okay. Okay.”
He's trying to figure out how in the world the baby got on the floor when he was definitely asleep in his crib an hour ago. Then he notices the blanket shoved against the bars. Oh, no - climbing.
“Did you try to climb out?” Jeonghan asks softly, walking them to the chair in the corner and taking a seat. He arranges his youngest son on his lap and wipes away tears and mucus from his sad little face. “My poor baby,” Jeonghan sighs. He examines the red cheek, noticing the small scrapes, skin rub burned.
Jeonghan carefully dabs at the injury with a water wipe and the baby cries even more. His brain says get a bottle and then he wars with the idea because they had been finally making progress weaning their youngest off the bottle since he turned one last month.
“Let's get you some water, yeah?” he asks the child fusing in his arms. He stands and notices his son's favorite stuffy on the floor under the crib. He figures that’s what Hansol was trying to get to. “Come on, Hansollie, let's rescue your bear.”
“Appa, Polly! Polly!”
Jeonghan kneels down, grabbing the bear with some difficulty, it’s stuck on who knows what. He gives a tug to Hansol’s delight. He hands it to Hansol and kisses his head again as the baby clutches the toy tightly.
“Appa,” a voice calls from the door and his eldest is standing there, holding a bottle filled with formula. “I heard Sollie crying so made him a bottle. I know Dad says he's too big but he's crying.”
Jeonghan's heart squeezes and he wraps an arm around his seven-year-old. “Thank you, Soonyoungie.
“Appa, can I sleep in your bed?” Soonyoung asks, hugging Jeonghan's side.
“Of course, you can. Come on.” He takes Soonyoung’s small hand in his and walks back to his room, leaving the door open because he knows that without his big brother there, Mingyu will come find Soonyoung.
Jeonghan settles Hansol on the bed, handing him the bottle Soonyoung made. He stuffs pillows against the baby's side to make sure he doesn't roll off. He climbs in next to him and lifts the blanket for Soonyoung. The boy jumps on the bed and wraps his arms around Jeonghan. Jeonghan laughs softly as his two clingy boys curl into him.
Hansol grabs a lock of Jeonghan's lock hair and twists it in his fist. Soonyoung rests his head on Jeonghan's chest, sighing when he hears the steady beat of his appa’s heart.
Jeonghan pulls Soonyoung in closer, kissing the crown of his head. His eyes sting while he pets the boy's hair. This was his first baby. This was the first person who had his heart completely.
He feels the bottle roll against his arms and sees Hansol has fallen back to sleep and has milk and saliva rolling down the corner of his lips. Jeonghan rubs it away and pushes Hansol to lay on his back. His fingers find Hansol’s little foot and he holds it, counting the perfect little toes.
Mind drifting, Jeonghan misses the shadow that falls over the bed and the whisper of, ‘Hyung?’ It's when Mingyu’s weight settles over him that he looks down, finding the little boy laying on his stomach. “I was waiting for you,” he tells his middle child quietly. “Are you sleeping with us, too?”
Mingyu pouts up at him, definitely his father's pout. “Hyung left me alone.”
“Look, hyung is here. Brother is here, too.” Jeonghan motions to Soonyoung and Hansol.
“I miss Daddy,” Mingyu says sadly, rubbing his face into Jeonghan's shirt - his husband's shirt.
“I know, my love. Me, too.”
He feels Mingyu settle against his stomach and he starts singing lullabies to them, until they are all snoring quietly around him. He can't move at all. It's not the most comfortable position but he's had worse nights.
Seungcheol caught the red eye last night, and walks into his home much earlier than anticipated. The house is quiet, save for Kkuma and Latte who rub at his legs, yapping happily at his feet. He shushes them and walks to the kitchen, knowing they will follow him. He pauses at the counter when he sees an open canister of formula. He grimaces because there's a mess of formula and spilled water near the sink.
He feeds the dogs, refreshes their water, and cleans the mess on the counter. He puts the formula in the cabinet and sets off to check on his family.
The baby's room is empty but he figured it would be given the bottle mess.
Soonyoung and Mingyu's beds are also empty and he sighs. He should have known…
His husband is practically buried under their children. Mingyu is laying over his legs, Soonyoung draped over his chest, and Hansol, the only one in the pile awake, is crawling over Jeonghan's head, smiling up at him as he lays his little head on top of his appa's. His chubby hand is trying to pat Jeonghan affectionately but it's really only slapping him. Jeonghan sleeps through it. He smiles at Seungcheol, “Daddu! Daddu!”
Carefully, Seungcheol begins to untangle them. He starts with Mingyu who whines and then rests against him with a big smile when he cracks an eye open and sees his Daddy is home. He carries him back to bed, tucking him into this red race car bed. He hands Mingyu a beat up fox stuffed animal that's seen better days and watches him sleep. Mingyu’s long legs kick out of his blanket and Seungcheol wonders if his son is going to be taller than all of them. Seungcheol kisses the boy’s forehead and leaves the room to grab the next one.
Extracting Soonyoung is much harder. He's stronger and reluctant to let go of Jeonghan. Jeonghan begins to stir when Seungcheol finally gets Soonyoung into a sitting position and picks him up on his shoulder, feeling the wet patch of drool forming on his shoulder. He gets Soonyoung in bed and covers him, pushing his hair away from his face. He grabs the tiger plushie his oldest pretends he's too big for now and tucks it under the blanket with him.
Seungcheol turns on their nightlight even though the sun will be up soon. It's more a comfort to him, he thinks, because they're both getting too big too fast and he still thinks of Soonyoung begging him to sleep with him in his tiny bed because there were monsters in his closet. ‘Daddy will protect me, right?’
Seungcheol huffs, trying to tamper down his nostalgia and the ache that follows. He goes back to his bedroom and sets his eyes on their youngest.
Hansol is babbling, his words still not entirely distinguishable to Seungcheol’s ear when he returns. Jeonghan, who can decipher anything their children say, is fighting to stay asleep for as long as he can. He reaches out a hand and pats Hansol’s back. “Come on, baby. Go to sleep.”
Hansol’s little eyes narrow at Seungcheol suspiciously, much like Soonyoung's used to whenever he was taken away from Jeonghan. The favoritism was real.
Seungcheol gets hold of Hansol, lifting him off his husband and the baby trills happily at being carried. Jeonghan jumps up then, fear painting his face as he pats around the bed and finds all of his children missing. His hair is a mess and his lips are dry when he finally notices Seungcheol standing there.
“Cheol? What time is it?”
“Hi, babe,” Seungcheol whispers. “4 AM. Let me go get this one changed and we'll go back to sleep.”
Jeonghan hmm's at him and turns over, scooting to his side of the bed. Seungcheol bounces Hansol on his hip, kissing his cheek when he notices the marks. “What did you do here, buddy?”
He takes the baby back to the nursery and then the changing table. He makes quick work of getting the old diaper off and a fresh one on. The ease of a practiced father.
“Time for you to get back to sleep,” he says. He picks Hansol up and settles the boy on his shoulder. He walks circles in the small room, patting Hansol's little back before he feels him sag with sleep. Carefully, he lays him in the crib and covers him with the mysteriously balled up blanket.
Seungcheol forgoes closing this door and his own as goes back into his bedroom. He strips down to his boxers and climbs into bed with Jeonghan. He knows had he come home at a later hour, when his husband was coherent, he'd get yelled at for not showering first.
He pulls Jeonghan by his hip, curling around the warm body. He kisses his husband's cheek and rubs his hand over Jeonghan's swollen belly. He remembers asking his husband, begging more like it, if they could try one more time. ‘A pretty little girl, as beautiful as you.’
“I love you,” he whispers, “Daddy can't wait to meet you, princess.”
Jeonghan's laughter breaks through his happy musings. His husband moves away, taking something from the bedside table and handing it to him. “Sorry, babe,” he tells him, fluffing his pillow to go back to sleep.
Seungcheol is familiar with the black and white sonogram. He pouts at the picture. He knows what that is. “Daddy can't wait to meet you, Channie,” he amends, rolling Jeonghan back toward him and talking to his belly.
“Daddddduuuuu!” comes the cry from the nursery. It's followed by a louder, clear, “Daddy!!”
Jeonghan kisses his forehead and smiles at him with sleepy eyes. “And with that, welcome home, babe.”