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"Mongmong?" Felix' soft voice calls through the darkness, pulling Seungmin out of his slumber once again. He doesn't know how long he's been trying to get Felix to sleep, but he's completely sure he managed to let him doze off the previous time he heard his name.
Not, apparently.
"Yes, baby?" The taller huffs, rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other tugging Felix closer. He feels the little one curl up next to his body, one of his small hands toying at Seungmin's shirt. "Why're you not asleep, huh?" Seungmin sighs, turning on his side to face Felix. He can just see the sparkle of the smaller's eyes through the darkness of the room, though uses that as a guide to gently stroke back his hair.
"Excited for tomorrow, bub? You will have to sleep first, though." He whispers, tucking the blond's messy hair behind his ear. "Mhm. Mongmong come too?" Felix asks quietly, laying his head back down on Seungmin's chest. He closes his eyes, blindly finding his pacifier back and putting is between his lips. He suckles on the soother as Seungmin takes a deep breath and nods, closing his own eyes as well.
"I will, baby. We're gonna have so much fun, yeah? But we can't go if we don't sleep enough. Close your eyes and count until you get to the biggest number you know." Seungmin says, keeping one hand on the back of Felix' head. Felix hums around his pacifier and nods, his body relaxing against Seungmin's.
~~~
"Can't we... I don't know, make him sleep forever? He's gonna be so sad, and have those sparkly puppy eyes all day!" Jisung whines, receiving a hiss in response that tells him to be quiet.
"We'll explain that there's enough time to go in the break we got." Chan sighs, pitifully scrolling through his phone to look for a possible date. "If it's even open by then..." He adds quietly, frowning down on his screen.
"Mongmong?" A small mumble comes from the hallway, snapping everyone's attention to the little one walking into the living room. "Baby, good morning. Can you come here, please?" Chan smiles, patting his thighs. Felix rubs his eye and nods, waddling over to crawl into the oldest's lap.
"Gonna get ready? Wanna see the fishies." The little one sleepily asks, bouncing on Chan's thighs. Chan looks up at the rest and sighs, wrapping his arms around Felix. "I'm sorry, baby. I don't think we can go today. There's a lot of snow, and a lot of the fishies got a little bit sick. It's better to go another time when they're healthy, yeah? We can play outside today instead. Is that okay?" Chan winces when he notices the little one's teary eyes, his bottom lip trembling just slightly. He ducks down on the older's chest and hides himself in the crook of his neck, covering his eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie.
"It's okay, baby. You're allowed to be upset. Dada's too. Where's your binky, dear?" He finishes in English, rubbing Felix' back. The little one pulls back a bit and shrugs, keeping the back of one of his hands over his eyes to catch his falling tears.
"Get him his pacifier, please?" Chan asks Changbin, who immediately rushes out of the room to get one of Felix' soothing pacifiers. He takes a blue one he knows the little one likes, pushing it between the younger's pouting lips once he's back in the living room.
"Do you want to play in the snow, or not? First we have to eat a little bit though, kitten." Minho hums quietly, brushing the few knots out of the little's bed head. "Just play. No...no snack." Felix mumbles, shaking his head. Minho just keeps brushing through his hair, knowing he would get such a response.
It wasn't exactly expected to get Felix to eat a full meal nowadays, and every single one of his caregivers knew. It started with Felix himself refusing to eat proper food, though it quickly became a dangerous habit to his little side as well.
They had tried plenty of time to at least fill little Lix with food, though soon realized once he would age back up he would put himself through an unhealthy amount of exercising because he knew the others gave him full meals.
"How about Min cuts it up pretty, love? Little stars to match your pretty cheeks. And hearts for your pretty eyes. You always have to eat in the morning, yeah? To fill your pretty tummy. Lixie will always be the smallest and littlest boy. Just so tiny, hmm?" Minho presses a kiss down on Felix' head, sitting down on the couch besides the boy.
"The fishies got a little sick because they saw other very pretty fishies. But the ones they saw were so incredibly small, yeah? So they thought they could be as small as those little fishies. But they're not the same kind. One is meant to be big and strong, they get sick if they try to be the tiny ones. You see, kitten? You're already our pretty tiny fishie. And Dadas are the big ones protecting you. So no need to become an even smaller fishie, right? Lixie isn't a fishie. Lixie is our kind, smart boy. No need to be small. You can't be the kindest and smartest if you're like a sick fishie." He says, pulling Felix on his lap. He knows it's cruel, but seeing the boy constantly being cold, having no energy and lose his balance when he's simply getting up feels more cruel. It feels like torture.
"C'mon. Mongmong is gonna get the warmest clothes for you, and then we'll play outside. And after we're done, we're gonna watch all the fishie movies in the world. Just let Dada worry about the day we can go to the aquarium, when the fishies are all better. Okay? Minmin's gonna make you pretty fruits." Seungmin gently takes Felix' hand and guides him back to his room, letting him sit down on his bed. Felix watches the taller man look through his closet and grab a long sleeve and a hoodie, pairing it with thermo leggings to go underneath the warm jogging he chose.
"Here, baby. We're gonna wash up after playing anyway." He smiles, helping Felix in his warm outfit. He leaves the hoodie off because he knows it's way too warm inside the house for all the layers, and quickly gets ready himself.
Once he's done he combs Felix' hair, putting it in two little braids so it would be comfortable under a beanie. He leads him back downstairs and feels him slow down at the sight of the dining table being filled with dishes, everyone but Minho dressed in warmer clothes.
"It's okay, pup. Mongmong's gonna stay with you the whole time." Seungmin smiles, tugging Felix closer so he can wrap an arm around the little one's waist. He guides him further to where everyone's sitting and places him between Chan and Minho, walking around the table to sit over Felix.
"You can choose, kitten. Do you- ...okay. It's okay, Min will do it, love." Minho soothes the younger, who immediately shook his head at even imagining filling his own plate. Felix frowns as Minho carefully places some leftovers from the previous day on his plate, along with freshly cut fruits and vegetables.
"Eat as much as your belly wants, yeah? Not your pretty head." Chan smiles, taking a piece of fruit on Felix' fork to feed the little. The boy frowns at it but accepts it, munching away on the little fruits he's being fed for the next couple minutes.
Seungmin talks to the boy and takes a bite every time Felix' mouth is empty, noticing his habit of copying his caregivers is just as useful for meals.
Minho secretly places a couple more little things on his plate, just to show him it's okay to have some leftovers. Once everyone's done Felix scans over their plates, frowning softly. "C'mon, time for shoes." Seungmin says, preventing any negative emotion to form if the little one notices any of their leftovers.
Everyone quickly puts on shoes and jackets, adding some scarfs and beanies here and there. Jeongin makes sure Felix' gloves are snug on his fingers, smiling at the size difference of their hands. "Look how tiny you are." He grins, catching Felix' attention. The little one giggles at the big hands closing over his own, trying to do the same with his other hand.
~~~
Once everyone is outside, Felix forgets the sad feeling of not being able to go to the aquarium and plays in the snow for hours. Everyone makes sure to check his hands plenty of times and don't play too heavily, keeping the snow balls more on the upper body and legs than face or neck. Felix starts building a big snowman with Hyunjin and Jisung while the others play fight for a little longer, admiring the snowman once it's finished. After that they make snow Angels, and take a few pictures of Lixie with his wings.
"Tired?" Hyunjin asks the little, fixing the beanie slipping in front of the little one's hair. Felix shakes his head, though steps closer to the older's open arms. "Cold. 's a bit cold. But I wanna play." Felix pouts, burying his face in the warmth of Hyunjin's neck. The older shudders at his cold nose, guiding him to the terrace door.
"We can play again tomorrow. C'mon, Mongmong is inside too." Hyunjin says, taking Felix' gloves and beanie off once they're inside. His shoes and jacket go next, and then Hyunjin guides him upstairs, to where Seungmin has already filled a warm bath.
"Mongmong doesn't stay in the cold for long, it makes my skin feel yucky. C'mere, get your clothes off so you can bathe." Seungmin smiles, letting the little one choose a fun colored bath bomb to throw in the bath as well. He leaves the room so Felix can warm up for a bit, and goes to fetch some clean clothes out of the dryer Hyunjin had turned on earlier. Felix' favorite hoodie is in there, so he grabs it and heads back.
Once he has the clothes he quickly bathes Felix, who's excited to watch movies with his family. He eagerly gets out of the tub and has Seungmin put his clothes on, leaving just the hoodie he can put on himself.
Felix is left alone in the bathroom when someone calls Seungmin's name, something about getting a towel because everyone is soaking the floor with their shoes and jackets. The little cringes at the back of his neck being touched by his wet hair, going to stand in front of the mirror to get one of his easier clips to hold his hair away while he waits for Jisung to come and dry his hair.
He tries his best not to look up, though has to at one point when he's struggling to get all of his hair. His eyes fall on his chest and tummy, so he quickly turns back around and puts on his favorite hoodie.
Felix frowns deeply when he struggles to fit his head through the collar, though knows for sure it's his favorite hoodie by looking at the stars inside the hood. He finally gets it on but now can't properly move in it, the fabric feeling incredibly tight around his arms.
Before he can even think of making sure the hoodie is actually his oversized, baggy, favorite hoodie he had gotten from Chan when the oldest realized how much he stole the man's hoodies, tears fill his eyes. He knows even after eating a lot it should still be very loose and baggy, as it was even a size too big for Chan.
Felix panics and tries to get the hoodie off of his body, clumsily tugging at the sleeves. He starts crying once he realizes he feels stuck and falls to the ground, full on sobbing by the time someone comes in and gently guides him to their neck.
"Baby, what's wrong? What's the matter, my love?" Jisung calmly asks, his voice full of worry. He notices how Felix struggles in the hoodie and frowns at his short and tight it looks compared to the big clothes he usually wears, and gently helps him pull it off his body.
Felix cries in relief in Jisung's chest, though still seems upset. The older man checks the hoodie to make sure it's one of theirs and frowns at the inside of the hood, now being sure it's Felix'.
"Got-got too big. Don wanna eat, please, neve' wanna eat 'gai-"
"Lixie, you did not get bigger. Not a single inch. Don't say that, my love. C'mon, let's go and get one of Dada's hoodies and get downstairs, yeah? I'll comb your hair and make it all pretty when you've got another hoodie." Jisung says, pressing a kiss to the younger's cheek. Felix doesn't seem the least convinced but nods, following his Mama out of the bathroom to sneak into Chan's.
"You can choose anything you want , okay? Mama's gonna do something. I'll be back before you know it." Jisung smiles, opening Chan's closet completely. Not that it would matter a lot, since everything is black either way. The most colorful thing he's got is grey socks.
Jisung quickly heads downstairs, seeing everyone piled up in the couch, waiting for just the twins. He goes to stand in front of them and holds up the hoodie, seeing a few confused looks. "Is this some sick joke?! Who did this shit? It just yanked him back to the very bottom of wherever he's gotten with eating." Jisung hisses quietly, making sure Felix wouldn't hear anything.
"Why is it so small? Are you sure that belongs to one of us?" Chan asks, his frown not only clearly confused but a tingle of sadness at seeing the little one's favorite hoodie clearly not being it's original size.
"I got that out of the dryer. Is it not his?" Seungmin frowns, looking around a bit. Hyunjin's face is full of confusion before it crumples in something completely guilty, a hand covering his mouth. "I-I wanted it to dry fast. That's the hoodie that can't handle heat, right..? Fuck I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to-I'll buy him anything he wants. Chan hyung I promise I'll pay for it. Can it be-fuck I'm sorry." He swallows heavily, looking sadly at the fabric in Jisung's hands. Chan sighs and bites his lip, shaking his head.
"It's custom. And it's unavailable to get anywhere. I was only able to get him a set because there was a sale going on, and since I bought so much from them I could-hold up!" Chan yelps, jumping over the back of the couch to spring upstairs. Everyone watches him disappear into the hallway, staying gone for a couple more minutes.
Only when Felix' sniffles are loud enough to be heard again does everyone get up to try and comfort him, though stop when Chan has his arms around the little one.
"As I was saying, I got a set. Because I knew this pretty boy could accidentally spill things or lose it." He smiles, guiding the sniffling little one to the couch. Hyunjin immediately gets besides him and apologizes, almost crying himself.
"I'm so sorry, baby. Hyunnie was so silly, huh? Pabo Hyunnie. Such a pabo. I'm sorry, baby." He says, giving Felix a tight hug. The little one smiles and nuzzles in his chest, eyes heavy from the crying and playing outside. "It's okay. Just had a difficult day, huh? Not being able to see the fishies, and then seeing your favorite Channie hoodie hurt because of pabo Hyunnie." Jeongin smiles, taking the chance to tease Hyunjin without honorifics.
"Mhmm... Pabo Hyunnie." Felix whispers, smiling softly. He turns to the tv and sees the front of Finding Nemo on it already, gasping and pointing at the screen.
"Fishies!" He yells around his pacifier, squirming in his spot to get everyone quiet and the movie put on. Jisung throws the wasted hoodie somewhere on the side of the couch, cuddling up next to his baby.