It’s when Minseok’s busy giving Sehun his evening bath that he hears Luhan’s voice calling from downstairs announcing that he’s home.

Sehun immediately perks up, dropping his action figure in favor of reaching upwards with his hands, wanting his daddy to pick him up so they can go see his dad. “Up!”

“After we finish bath time, baby,” he says, trying to keep the bite out of his voice.

His own blood is curdling at the sound of Luhan’s voice—the man hasn’t shown his face in almost three weeks.

“Up!” Sehun lets out a loud whine, lips forming a pout as he splashes his tiny feet into the water.

“Sehun!” Minseok is shocked and a little frustrated at his son’s adamant behavior.

He thinks that the scolding and time-out he gave him last week for hitting that one kid in his class would last, but his son seems to be reverting back to his bad behavior. 

“I wanna see dad,” whimpers Sehun, his bottom lip jutted out even further as his wide eyes well up with tears. “Why can’t I see him?”

“I said after your bath, and we’re almost done,” he sighs as he lifts the container and pours water over Sehun to wash off the soap. “Then you can see dad, okay?”

Sehun continues to pout but remains silent, letting Minseok finish washing his body and wrapping him snug in a towel. He lifts Sehun and walks out of the bathroom, only letting go when Sehun starts to squirm in his arms.

“Where’s my little guy?” says Luhan, setting his bags by the couch as he walks toward the staircase.

“Dad, I’m up here!” Sehun calls out excitedly, wrapping his small hands around the railing of the staircase and mushing his face in the space.

Sehun begins to giggle loudly as Luhan spots him while climbing the stairs. He makes it a dash for it behind Minseok’s legs and peeks through them at his approaching father.

“Now where did my baby go?” asks Luhan, feigning ignorance as Sehun giggles even louder behind the open legs.

Minseok remains quiet as he watches Luhan spot the boy and begins chasing after him, the towel long forgotten on the floor. He bends down slowly to pick it up, a frown taking over his face.

“Hey Minnie,” calls Luhan, and Minseok turns to face his husband who’s walking back towards him with their son in his arms.

He leans over to give Minseok a kiss, which Minseok allows very briefly before turning his head.

“Eww, dad kissed daddy on the lips!” squeals Sehun, covering his eyes.

Luhan lets out a laugh as Minseok forces out a smile. He is not amused in the slightest, but he doesn’t want to show it in front of his son.

“Okay kiddo, let’s put you to bed since you have to wake up for school tomorrow,” says Luhan, giving Minseok a look before turning and walking towards Sehun’s room.

Minseok huffs as he walks toward their his room, going straight into the bathroom and locking the door.

He’s pissed. No, he’s beyond pissed and he hates how hard it’s becoming to keep it normal in front of Sehun. The poor boy does not need to see his parents fighting and avoiding each other, but Minseok doesn’t think he can keep it up for very long.

Luhan has finally decided to show his face after three long weeks of no contact—except for that one phone call that let Minseok know he was going out of the country again last week. And Minseok has been fighting the urge within himself to not call and ask Luhan his whereabouts. He’s getting tired of being the only one reaching out and wanting to keep in contact.

He’s had a lot on his own plate, between throwing up virtually everything that he puts into his stomach and trying to parent Sehun and his worsening behavior.

He’s exhausted—physically and emotionally drained. 

He knows he should shower but he’s not in the mood tonight. He decides he’ll just do it when he wakes up for work tomorrow. He brushes his teeth and washes his pale face before looking at himself in the mirror.

He notices the slight weight gain in his cheeks, and he reaches up to squish them with his hands. He knows it’s the pregnancy weight but he wishes it wouldn’t be so obvious in his face. Maybe his or something, but why his cheeks?

He slowly lifts his shirt and stands sideways. It’s still flat for the most part since he’s only nine weeks along and won’t show for at least another few, and that gives him enough time to decide how to tell Luhan.

Because he knows he has to tell him. He is the father after all.

But Minseok doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know what words to use, when to tell him, how to say it—should he just tell him now that he’s finally home? Or wait until they resolve whatever it is that is making them so…hostile towards each other?

He’s scared of what Luhan’s reaction will be because at this point he can’t tell anymore. If he had gotten pregnant last year, he knows Luhan would have been over the moon at the good news. But this year—their seventh year together—has just not been good.

Minseok runs his hand over the bump, feeling sorry for the little baby because he knows he has been projecting all of his stress onto it. He knows he should be happy especially in his condition, but all he can feel is disappointment and frustration.

“Minseok?”

He hears Luhan call his name and he quickly phases out of his thoughts, putting them on the back burner for now as he drops his shirt back down.

He’s not ready to tell Luhan just yet—there’s still so many things they need to talk about first.

***

Two days have passed and Luhan is still hanging around the house, and that's when Minseok begins to question it.

He’s become aware of the other male’s presence, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. It’s actually weird having him around the house for so long.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Minseok snaps out of his gaze as he realizes he’s been staring at Luhan eating his cereal at the breakfast table.

It’s a Saturday morning and Sehun’s still upstairs sleeping away, and Luhan happened to venture down to join Minseok for breakfast.

“Nothing,” he replies, turning back to finish cooking his pancakes. He woke up craving them after his dream last night, and his mouth is salivating nonstop at the smell.

“I haven’t had homemade pancakes in so long. Can you make me two?” says Luhan, walking up behind Minseok and wrapping his arms around his waist. “They smell so good, Minnie,” he mumbles, putting his face in the crook of Minseok’s neck and placing a gentle kiss there.

Minseok pauses his actions, unsure of how to respond to the sudden physical contact as Luhan presses another kiss, but he doesn’t push him away.

Luhan slowly grips the side of his hips, kneading and massaging the skin there as he the smooth skin at the nape of Minseok’s neck, and Minseok can’t help but close his eyes at the feeling.

There is a rush of hormones and heat spreading throughout his body, suddenly making him feel weak in the knees. Luhan’s grip is becoming harder and he’s pressing into Minseok’s back as Minseok leans his head back onto Luhan’s shoulder, spatula still in the air with batter dripping off.

Luhan works on lightly biting at a spot on Minseok’s neck, and the area slowly, sensually, while Minseok struggles to keep a moan from slipping. He can feel Luhan’s half-hard bulge pressing into his inner thigh, and he almost reaches back with his hand to take care of it.

It’s the smell of burning pancakes that brings him out of his daze, and he pushes Luhan off with his hand, working on scraping the burnt remains with his other.

“Min—”

“No, stop.” He cuts off pointedly, turning around and pointing his spatula at Luhan with a glare. “You burned my pancake!”

Luhan can only watch in disbelief as Minseok moves to drop the pan in the sink with a loud clang, wiping his hands furiously on the hand towel before facing him again. “Why are you here, Luhan?”

Luhan furrows his eyebrows. “What? Am I not supposed to be here?”

“I meant what are you still doing at the house? Don’t you have a deadline to meet or some project to work on?”

“There’s always something to do but I decided to take a small break and spend it with my family. Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes because now you’ve burned my pancakes and I can’t use the pan again till it cools down.” Minseok realizes how overly dramatic he’s sounding, but the words aren’t stopping. He can almost feel his eyes begin to sting from collecting tears. “This wouldn’t have happened if you were at work! I’ve been craving those pancakes for so long, and now I can’t eat them!”

“We’ll just make them again,” reassures Luhan, walking over to his husband who’s wiping away a stray tear. He is definitely surprised at the outburst, but he tries not to show it to avoid offending Minseok further. “Baby, they’re just pancakes. I’ll make them for you if it makes you feel better.” He pulls Minseok into his embrace, but the latter pushes him away almost immediately.

“No, you’ve done enough.”

Luhan watches in confusion as Minseok rips off his apron and tosses it onto the counter before rushing out of the kitchen, wondering exactly what he did wrong this time.

Meanwhile, Minseok is now sobbing as he walks up the staircase and into their room.

His mind is full of absolute ery ranging from his anger at Luhan to wanting to mope in his bed because he didn’t get his pancakes.

He doesn’t exactly know why he’s crying like his puppy died, but he can’t help but feel overwhelmed at all of the emotions. He knows he and Luhan still have so much to talk about, but they haven’t been able to hold a decent conversation in months.

On top of that, he knows his hormones are clouding his mind and making him want Luhan more than ever. It’s tangling up all of his feelings for his husband, and he’s trying to fight them all at once.

The worst part is that he still doesn’t know why Luhan is at the house.

***

“Minseok, I’m going out for a bit,” Luhan says as he walks into their room.

It’s been thirty minutes since the dramatic waterfall of tears, and Luhan figures half an hour is plenty of time to give his husband to collect himself. He’s learned to give Minseok his space whenever the latter is upset, and he figures it shouldn’t be any different this time around.

“Of course you are,” he mumbles in response, and Luhan feels a tinge of annoyance at the tone.

“Are you still mad at me?”

Minseok remains silent, letting Luhan know that he is indeed still angry.

“They’re just pancakes, Minseok! Get over it,” he says exasperatedly, running his hand through his hair as he gives Minseok a wide-eyed look.

Minseok’s face darkens and Luhan swears he’s plotting his death now. But Luhan just shakes his head because whatever has gotten into Minseok, the elder should be mature enough to deal with it and let it go.

“Whatever. I’m going out for a bit, do you need anything?”

Minseok glares at him before responding. “You’re coming back?”

“I’m not going to work if that’s what you’re wondering. I told you that I’m taking a break.”

“Did you get fired?”

“What? No! In fact, the boss is so happy with me that he’s looking to find me a position at the new branch that’s opening up.”

“Where?”

“It’s in Manila since we’re expanding overseas. He wants me to take over there. I told him I would think about it.”

Manila…?

“You told him you would think about it?”

“Yeah, this is a huge decision that could change my whole career. It involves at least some level of thinking—”

Minseok scoffs out loud. Manila?

“And as usual, you don’t seem to be happy for me but what’s new?” Luhan is now irritated.

Why can’t Minseok at least be supportive? It’s not as though he’s actually going to take the position in the first place—his family, his home, his friends are all here.

“Why would you even consider it?” Minseok is fuming—all the previous mixed feelings gone and replaced with anger. “Do you want to leave us so bad that you’re thinking of moving all the way to the Philippines?”

Luhan can’t believe this is happening. One second they’re sharing an intimate moment and the next they’re biting each other’s heads off—again.

And out of frustration that Minseok could even think this way about him, Luhan yells. “Maybe I am so I can get away from all these arguments because I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this!”

He storms out of the room, and Minseok can’t help the angry tears that slide down his cheeks. He wipes at them furiously, feeling helpless and just so—

“Why is dad so angry?”

He hears Sehun’s small voice say out loud, and Minseok immediately goes to his son and scoops him up in his arms. His son is trembling and Minseok can’t help but cry while clutching him to his chest.

“Dad’s not angry, baby. We were just having a discussion.” He feels bad for lying but he feels even worse that his son just witnessed their argument.

“Why do you and dad yell all the time now? He always leaves and doesn’t come back! He always leaves me alone because you make him leave!” Sehun suddenly sobs into Minseok’s chest, and the elder is frozen with dread. “Is dad gonna leave us forever? Is he not coming back?”

Minseok doesn’t know how to answer those questions because he himself doesn’t know the answers. All he can do is pat his little boy’s back and assure him that everything is going to be fine.

Even though everything is on its way to falling apart.

***

Luhan doesn’t come back home until late, and he doesn’t expect Minseok to still be up waiting on the couch.

He isn’t sure of what to say as he removes his shoes and places them in the closet. He walks over to the couch and silently takes a seat.

A few minutes pass and neither make any move to talk, but finally Minseok clears his throat. “I sent Sehun to Kris’s for a few days. He could use a change of pace and spend some time with Tao.”

Luhan remains quiet, so Minseok decides to continue. “I’m also going to stay there for a few days. I thought I should tell you in person rather than have you come home to an empty house.”

Minseok stands up and picks up his packed duffel bag as he heads to the shoe closet.

“Minseok,” he hears Luhan say, and he’s ready to argue with him again if Luhan asks him to stay because he’s not going to—he’s already made up his mind.

He turns to listen to what his husband has to say before he leaves.

“Happy Anniversary.”

And with that, Minseok watches as Luhan leaves to go upstairs. He feels his heart drop into his stomach, and realizes that’s why Luhan took off from work.

To celebrate their seventh year together—their tiest one yet.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

a/n – don’t kill me lol. Happy endings are the best anyway T^T
sorry that I haven't replied to any comments yet, I will just as soon as my exam tomorrow is over! :] thank you guys so much for reading!