4 Months

Kyungsoo lays quietly in his bouncer, on his hand as he slowly turns his head toward all of the different noises around him. He can now make out the voices of his parents, of his brother, and even his uncles and their kids. He recognizes them, which is why he feels secure and protected.

However, one particular gruff voice shakes him to the core and it has Kyungsoo letting out a loud wail, wanting to be held and comforted.

A blurry figure comes into his line of view and Kyungsoo does not recognize it at all. He begins screaming even louder, especially when the figure pulls him into his arms and plants a hearty kiss on his chubby cheek.

“Dad, he hates you,” laughs Minseok while he’s busy propelling himself onto a chair so he can hang the streamers and balloons better.

“My own grandson can’t hate me,” chuckles his dad, bouncing Kyungsoo in his hold slightly to calm the infant. “It’s like the law of the land.”

“Nope dad, he definitely hates you,” says Luhan amusedly, snapping a pic of the two before going to help Minseok. “Munchkin, do you want me to hang them up? I don’t think you can reach—”

“I will reach for your throat if you point out my height again,” threatens Minseok, although clearly struggling to tape the bright blue streamer.

Luhan simply chuckles at the huffs and groans slipping out of his husband’s mouth, shushing him when a few curses begin spilling out. “We have kids in the house, shortie.”

Luhan doesn’t waste a second before breaking into a run as Minseok lets out a growl and jumps off his chair, a murderous glare overtaking his features. “Take it back!”

Minseok’s dad watches the two run off, laughing as he shakes his head. He then turns his attention onto the still struggling infant in his arms, “Who ever let children have children?”

Kyungsoo only wails louder.

***

By the time the evening rolls around, Kyungsoo has become more situated in his grandfather’s arms, clinging onto one finger with his tiny fist while he drinks from his milk bottle.

“I hate living so far away,” says the older man, cradling his youngest grandson. “They’re growing up too fast and I’m missing all of it.”

“We’ve asked you to move here so many times, but you don’t want to leave the house,” says Minseok as he brings a huge platter topped with sandwiches out of the kitchen. He sets it on the dining table next to the various other foods he and Luhan cooked earlier.

It’s Kris’s thirtieth birthday and Minseok wants to celebrate the start of a new decade, especially one which indicates his older brother is officially old—although Kris would vehemently argue that thirty is the new twenty.

“It hurts every time I think about selling that house,” replies his dad, “It’s the one your mom and I built, Kris’s first home away from China, you were born in that house.”

“I know, you never fail to remind me,” laughs Minseok, mind flashing to the numerous pictures of his birth. Images of a blood covered bed has always deterred him from sleeping in his parents’ room.

“I suppose while I’m here, I can teach them how to Skype their old man,” smiles his dad as Sehun comes tumbling into the dining room with full-speed.

“I finished wrapping my gift for Uncle Kris!” he says enthusiastically, holding up a decently wrapped drawing book filled with pictures he has been working hard on for almost two weeks.

“It looks great, Sehun!” says the old man, waving over his grandson excitedly. “Come here and show your grandpa everything you drew.”

Sehun rushes to seat himself beside him, opening up and starting to explain each picture in detail.

“Chanyeol just called and said he’s on his way,” says Luhan, walking into the room with another tray of food.

“Okay, Baekhyun should be reaching anytime soon. I’ll call Yixing and tell him to bring Kris and the boys over now,” says Minseok, pulling out his cell phone before leaving the room to talk.

“I can’t believe I finally get to meet Yixing in person,” chuckles Minseok’s dad while Sehun continues his explanations of his drawings. “Anyone who can get my son to settle down already has my approval.”

“I work with him so I can assure you he’s a great guy,” says Luhan. “Plus, his son and Tao get along really well.”

“I’m happy for them. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, for my sons to just be happy.”

“You know they would be happier if you moved here.”

“I know but I can’t leave—”

“The house, I know.”

The two men share a laugh right as the doorbell rings, with Luhan leaving the room to attend to it. He opens the door, letting inside a somewhat shy Byun Baekhyun who hands Luhan his gift for Kris.

“I didn’t know what else to get him. He’s my boss and all,” says Baekhyun, explaining how hard it was to find a present, so he settled with a nice fruit arrangement—everyone likes fruits.

“Hey, if he doesn’t like it, I’ll eat the whole thing,” jokes Luhan, placing it along with the other gifts before leading Baekhyun to the dining room and then heading off into the kitchen once more.

“Baekhyun!” greets Sehun, waving to his favorite daycare employee.

“Hey, Sehun!” chirps back Baekhyun before greeting Minseok’s dad and little Kyungsoo as well. “Did you draw all of those?” he says, pointing to Sehun’s colorful pictures.

“Yeah, do you want to see?”

“Sehun would love to show you,” cuts in Minseok’s dad immediately, looking as if he needs a small break. “I’m going to go put Kyungsoo down for his nap. This little guy is all tuckered out.”

Sehun doesn’t wait another moment before flipping back to the first picture, launching into detailed explanations behind every of his crayon.

After what feels like a year, but really it’s only been a few minutes, Baekhyun finally gets a distraction in the form of Minseok and an unfamiliar, tall, lanky male standing next to him.

“Sehun, Uncle Chanyeol is here,” says Minseok, effectively ending Sehun’s lengthy descriptions. “And go put your present with the others, we don’t want Uncle Kris to accidentally see it.”

The seven year old looks up and shrieks, getting down from his chair as fast as he can and jumps straight into the arms of the tall male.

Chanyeol laughs loudly as Sehun attacks him with a tight hug and kisses. “I missed you little buddy,” he says in his deep voice.

“Baekhyun, this is Chanyeol, my cousin,” introduces Minseok. “And Chanyeol, this is Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol holds out his hand in greeting, “Hi.”

Baekhyun feels warmth crawl up his skin as the large hand encloses around his in a handshake. “Hello.”

***

When Kris and Yixing finally arrive with the boys, Minseok makes sure everyone has a confetti gun ready in their hands.

As soon as they open the door, the loud chorus of “Surprise” resounds off the walls, making Tao and Chen squeal in delight. The confetti explodes and the living room is soon consumed by falling glitter paper.

The sight drives the three young boys wild as they start running around, trying to catch as many pieces as they can mid-air.

“Wow, uh,” starts Kris, caught off-guard. “This has never happened before.”

“Yeah, but you’re thirty now and we just had to let you know in a big way,” says Minseok with a teasing grin.

“Maybe we should’ve been more careful, Min. After all, he’s old now and his heart isn’t what it used to be,” adds in Luhan.

“You know, recently I’ve been hearing his bones creak whenever he moves,” laughs Yixing, nudging his boyfriend playfully.

“Oh, very funny guys,” smiles Kris before his eyes land on another person in the room. “Dad?”

His dad simply opens his arms wide as Kris nearly runs to him for a hug.

“You came?” Kris asks incredulously.

“Yeah, how could I miss celebrating my old son’s birthday?” his dad laughs.

Kris groans loudly. “Dad!”

“Oldest! I meant oldest,” the old man smiles cheekily.

Kris huffs while Yixing walks up to them.

“Hello,” he says shyly to Kris’s dad. “My name is—”

Before Yixing can react, he’s engulfed in a bear hug by the older man. “I know who you are, son. And I only have one thing to say, please don’t ever leave my idiot son by himself. Especially now that he’s old.”

Everyone laughs as Kris whines again.

***

Dinner goes off without a hitch—well, as best as it can when Minseok’s family gets together.

“Why did you cook like you were going to feed the rest of the country?” questions Kris, eyeballing all of the food he knows he can’t possibly ever digest, not even if he ate for a month straight.

“Be nice,” mutters Yixing, poking Kris in his side as he goes for seconds.

“You already know Chanyeol eats like a man starved,” argues Minseok, pointing to the male, who looks up with his cheeks full.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be six feet tall but someone has to keep this body nourished,” he says. “It’s not like you would understand, hyung.”

Minseok glares at his cousin while Luhan laughs behind his glass of wine. He then glares at his husband.

“Something funny, dear?”

Luhan straightens up, wiping the smile off his face immediately. “Nope, not at all.”

“Thought so.”

“So Baekhyun, when do you graduate from college?” asks Minseok’s dad.

“This is my last semester, and then I’m finally done,” he replies timidly.

“Ah! Chanyeol just finished his degree recently.”

“Oh? What major?” he asks the male, eyes meeting briefly before returning them to his plate.

“Mathematics. I’m teaching at a high school right now but I want to go back for my Master’s,” says Chanyeol. “You?”

“Biology! I’m hoping to be a teacher too,” answers Baekhyun with sudden interest. “Although I want to be a college professor.”

“Same here,” smiles Chanyeol, and the two launch into a discussion over their newfound mutual career path.

“When I grow up, I want to be Spiderman,” speaks up Sehun.

“But last week you said you wanted to be Wolverine,” says Tao.

“A man can change his mind, Tao,” replies Sehun, making the adults chuckle.

“I want to be a lizard when I grow up,” says Chen eagerly.

“What he means is a herpetologist,” clarifies Yixing. “He loves lizards so…”

“No daddy, I want to be a lizard,” repeats Chen, making his hands into claws.

“You were born into the wrong species then, buddy,” chuckles Kris.

“From the looks of it, so were you,” teases Luhan.

“You’re right. I was born a God.” Kris flexes his biceps.

“Stop before you give yourself a cramp,” says Minseok.

The two brothers stick their tongues out at each other before going back to their food.

“When do we get to open presents?” asks Sehun.

“Just as soon as you finish your food,” answers Luhan, adding more vegetables to his son’s plate only because he saw him sneaking them onto Chen’s plate earlier.

“Aw, dad,” pouts the boy, but not arguing anymore because he knows he’s been caught.

“All of it,” repeats Luhan.

“More wine, anyone?” asks Minseok, pouring Luhan and Chanyeol some more before turning to Yixing. “You haven’t had any yet.”

“None for me, thanks,” smiles Yixing politely, sipping on his glass of water. “I’m the designated driver.”

“Feel free to crash here if you need,” says Minseok, offering the bottle to him once more.

“It’s best if I stick to water,” he says, sending Minseok an unreadable look before Minseok finally accepts the answer.

“Okay Kris, you better get drunk tonight then,” he says, filling his brother’s glass all the way.

***

Tao, Chen, and Sehun run to the table in the living room that holds all of Kris’s birthday gifts while the adults slowly make their way there.

“I get presents?” asks Kris excitedly.

“Anything to help you relieve the pain of turning thirty,” replies Minseok as Kris smacks his shoulder, with Minseok promptly returning the slap.

“Use your words, you two,” says their dad from the back.

“But he keeps calling me old,” complains Kris.

“Do I lie, though?” questions Minseok.

However, before anyone can answer, a resounding cry reverberates through the portable baby monitor, with the youngest Lu making his presence known.

“Looks like Kyungsoo is awake,” says Luhan, already heading toward the stairs to pick up his son.

“He doesn’t want to miss out on the presents,” says Chanyeol.

“Hurry up, guys,” calls Sehun impatiently, the three boys already at the table waiting.

“Okay, okay we’re here,” says Kris, immediately going to stand behind them. “Which one do I open first?”

“The big one,” they answer, eyes glued on the marvelously wrapped gift that holds many wonders.

“You guys want to open for me?” asks Kris, and all three boys rip into it without wasting another second.

Once they are done, and Kris thanks Minseok and the now arriving Luhan for their generous coffee maker that he’s been eyeing for a while, he lets the kids open the rest, going through each gift and giving out hugs in return.

“I wish my birthday was every day,” laughs Kris, holding up a new golf club that he can’t wait to use.

“We’d all be broke,” jokes their dad.

After looking around and making sure that each one has been opened, the boys announce that there are no more presents.

“Well, I guess we can go—”

“There’s one more,” Yixing suddenly speaks up, walking towards Kris with a small, neatly wrapped box in the palm of his hand. “But I want Kris to open it himself.”

Kris takes the tiny box, carefully unwrapping it as everyone watches. His eyebrows scrunch up when he sees the object sitting inside, confusion written all over his face as he lifts it.

“This is for…Kyungsoo?” he asks, holding up a tiny pacifier and pointing to Kyungsoo.

Yixing simply smiles, albeit a little nervously, as Kris looks at him for answers.

Minseok takes another moment before he gasps, covering his mouth as he looks at his dad.

“Oh, oh,” he hears Luhan mutter, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun let out noises of recognition themselves.

“I don’t get...” trails off Kris, looking from the pacifier to Yixing and back, trying to make the connection, and when he finally does, his face drains itself of color.

“Surprise?” squeaks out Yixing anxiously.

“What is it? I don’t get it,” says Chen, and Tao shushes him promptly so that he can see what his dad is going to do next. He’s already figured it out himself, a blinding smile making its way onto his lips.

“Yixing, you’re…” starts Kris hesitantly.

Yixing wrings his hands together, unsure of what else to do because he feels like his heart is about to leap out of his chest and run away. He’s never been this nervous before. He can feel the tension coming from everyone as they watch silently.

“I know this is, um, sudden. We just started dating a few months ago and we’ve never talked about it, but…” Yixing feels himself becoming overwhelmed. “Kris, I’m sorr—”

“You’re pregnant?” he cuts in, face still not giving away anything.

Yixing nods, tears beginning to accumulate as he waits for a definite reaction. He still doesn’t know what to expect.

“We’re having a baby?”

Yixing nods again.

“You’re carrying a child?”

“Yes, you idiot, you’re going to be a dad again!” interrupts Minseok finally, a tear making its way down his own cheek. “Say something else!”

That’s when Kris finally breaks into a shaky smile, blushing a deep red as he scratches the back of his neck bashfully. “We’re going to have another child.”

Yixing feels the dam finally break, tears starting to pour down his face as Kris hugs him tight, whispering “sorry’s” and “I’m so stupid’s” into his ear as everyone bursts into cheering and congratulations.

Even Kyungsoo lets out a loud “Da!” to celebrate the good news.

“That idiot son of mine is having a baby,” says the old man, wiping his moist eyes.

“We’re going to be brothers!” yells Tao, jumping up and down with Chen while Sehun shakes his head at the side, muttering an inaudible “amateurs” as he glances at his own little brother.

“Please let Kris’s spawn be an angel,” says Chanyeol.

“Don’t be mean,” nudges Baekhyun, turning away flustered when Chanyeol turns to smile at him.

“Hey, you didn’t grow up with that demon child, okay?”

“I heard that, Chanyeol,” deadpans Kris from across the table, narrowing his eyes at his cousin.

Chanyeol simply lets out a laugh as he goes in to hug the male.

Kris is tackled by the slightly shorter male but manages to hold his ground, laughing as he watches his other family members still talking animatedly about the news.

All the apprehension about turning thirty flies out the window, as Kris thinks this new decade is going to be the best one yet.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

a/n- I needed to punch a wall after writing this just to feel manly again. And guys, 30 is not that old. I’ll be there in 6 years so…/cries. (and that BTS album tho, im dead).