3^rd October 2017

“Ahh it feels weird teaching again. Even if it is only for a couple of days.” Says Jongdae as he gathers his things for the day.

Yesterday morning had received a frantic call from the secretary at the school that he used to teach at asking if he could fill in for the senior art classes for the week. The regular teacher had had an accident and would be out and the person who was supposed to be taking the classes just didn’t show up, so they were at a bit of a loss of what to do.

Jongdae couldn’t be any happier to fill in. He had missed teaching immensely so when the call came in he didn’t even hesitate. And it couldn’t come at a better time. Baekhyun was still off for another week before he had to head back to work so Jongdae didn’t need to worry about trying to find someone to take the kids.

Baekhyun couldn’t be any happier either. He knew that teaching was one of the many loves in Jongdae’s life. He had felt guilty when Jongdae had to leave his position when he got pregnant and Jongdae had tried to reassure him that it was something that he shouldn’t feel bad about. But still there was this voice in the back of his head that told him that it was his fault.

So when Jongdae came back from his first day and started excitedly talking about his day, about the wonderful pieces of art that he had seen as well as students that he had taught previously, the smile on Jongdae’s face was mirrored by Baekhyun as well. Baekhyun loved it when Jongdae gets lost when talking about something he’s passionate about, mouth moving fast and arms moving in wides movements as he tries to describe what he’s talking about.

“Babe, you’ve got about 15 minutes until you have to be there.” Says Baekhyun as he passes a mug of coffee into Jongdae’s hands.

Eyes widening, Jongdae takes the offered mug and skulls the thankfully lukewarm liquid of life before leaving it on the bench. He collects his bag and quickly kisses his children goodbye before doing the same to Baekhyun, except this kiss is a bit more intimate. Before it can go any further Jongdae is out of the door as if he wasn’t even there to begin with.

Smiling in amusement at Jongdae’s ability to manage time, he turns towards his little munchkins. Minseok and Luhan are sitting in the lounge room, eyes glued to the Tv as they shovel their breakfast- Baekhyun’s famous pancakes- with the majority of it missing their mouths and ending back up on their plates, to only be picked up the next time they went for them. It wasn’t that often the they were allowed eat in front of the Tv. 

Littlie Junmyeon was entertaining himself with his play gym having already eaten. He was on his back with his hands reaching up to grab the toys that dangled from the bar. When he had managed to grab a hold of one of the toys he would bring it to him mouth to bite on. It would them slip from his grasp and be pulled back because of the elastic. Every time he would cackle, thinking it was the funniest thing on earth.

Baekhyun smiled at his boys. They were his world. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to them.

“Hey Minnie, Lulu.” Says Baekhyun and there gazes pull away from the Tv to look at their father. “Do you want to go to the park today?” he asks and the curios gazes soon turn to ones of excitement.

“Pak, pak! Go!” says Minseok happily, clapping his hands together.

“Play pak!” echoes Luhan.

“Well then, we better get you guys clean then. Let’s get you little rascals in the bath.”

Picking up his two pancake and syrup covered boys, he takes them into the bathroom. Setting them down on the floor he turns away from them to turn of the tap, making sure to adjust it a manageable temperature. By the time he turns around there are two little boys standing before him.

“You must be really excited to go then, huh?”

“Mmhh.” Says Minseok and Luhan simultaneously making Baekhyun laugh as he lifts them one at a time into the warn water. Baekhyun grabs a bottle that is situated on the window sill and pours some into the bath. Immediately after the bath starts filling with bubbles and causing Minseok and Luhan to let out excited squeals.

By the time the boys are bathed and clean Baekhyun is a dripping mess. There is no way you can make it through bath time without ending up with half of the water all over you. Especially considering the twins love to splash.

He gets them dried and dressed in record time despite Minseok having a little spat when Baekhyun tried to get him to wear his green shirt. However it was settled quickly and without any tears when he got out a blue shirt instead. Satisfied, Minseok was all smiles again.

Baekhyun takes them back into the lounge room before getting changed himself. After that he gets out the pram and gets a bag ready with the boys things as well as some food, a picnic blanket and a soccer ball.

“You boys ready!” calls out Baekhyun, however he receives no response. Huffing, Baekhyun makes his way over to where the boys are seated in front of the Tv yet again. He swears that they love Pororo more than him sometimes.

“Come on. Time to go to the park.” He says as he turns off the Tv and corals them over to the pram.

“No! Walk!” declares Luhan.

“No walking today.” Says Baekhyun, gently but firmly. “Mama’s not here to help me and I only have so many hands.”

“Appa walk!”

“No Lulu, not today.” Baekhyun says again, finishing the little disagreement by strapping Luhan into his seat, soon flowed by Minseok who unlike his twin is completely fine getting a free ride to the park. With the twins strapped in and secured he gets Junmyeon and puts him into his seat which is above the twins.

“Alright then. Lets go!”

The walk there was an enjoyable one. Baekhyun mostly kept quiet, instead listening to Minseok and Luhan babble with each other and excitedly point at things that caught their attention while Junmyeon napped. Being only 4 months old he still napped quite a bit. Baekhyun likened babies to cats.

Soon they arrived at the park Baekhyun could tell that Minseok and Luhan were getting excited. They loved playing at the park and they had way to much energy then Baekhyun would expect to come from toddlers.

When the playground comes into sight Minseok and Luhan look about ready to burst from their confines. They start wiggling around in their seats and trying to undo their buckles which thankfully they hadn’t figured out yet, but Baekhyun was sure that it wouldn’t take them too much longer to do so.

Reaching the playground he moves the pram over to a bench before he unbuckles them from their seats.

“Now I want you two to stay over in this area okay?” Baekhyun says, pointing over to the smaller playground designed for the littler kids.

“Ne Appa.” Says Luhan.

“Minseok?”

“Kay Ba.” Says Minseok, confirming that he had understood what his father had said. He always found it cute when they alternate between Mandarin and Korean.

“Go on then.” He says, which prompts them to run over to the playground. Laughing silently, Baekhyun goes and sits down on the bench next to the pram.

It was a beautiful day to be outside. The sun was shining and the birds were out and singing. Baekhyun made sure to soak up as much of the sun that he could with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms supporting him out to the side, head facing upwards towards the sky. To onlookers it must looks like he’s photosynthesising.

20 minutes later Junmyeon wakes up with little whimpers escaping from his mouth as he stretches his arms and kicks his legs around which alerts Baekhyun who picks him up.

“Oh my baby. Did you have a good little nap?” he coos, bouncing him on him lap and kissing him on the forehead. The only response he received was Junmyeon garbing either side of his face and babbling at him, drool dripping from his mouth.

Baekhyun turns Junmyeon around so that he is seated in his lap with one of his hand on his stomach acting as a brace to keep him upright. Junmyeon looks around with curios eyes, taking in all of the new sights and sounds. This is a new experience for him.

“When you’re older you can play like that with your brothers. You’re a bit to young now.” Says Baekhyun. “You and little Yixing can play together as well.”

Baekhyun wonders if Junmyeon will be as charmed as everyone else seems to be with Yixing. The wonders of dimples.

Time passes quickly and soon it they have been there for an hour. Checking the times Baekhyun sees that it’s just past 12:00 and knows that the boys must be hungry. Still holding Junmyeon, he heads over to the sandpit where Minseok and Luhan had spent most of their time playing.

“Minnie, Lulu. It’s time for lunch. Come on.”

He watches as both of them clumsily make their way out of the sand. Minseok falls over onto his stomach looking a bit stunned at how he ended up there though he picks himself up and continues to make his way out of the sandpit. When both of them had reached him he goes back over to the pram and starts pushing it onto the grass.

Finding a nice spot in the shade of a tree he stops and lays out the picnic blanket (one hand mind you- who says men can’t multitask). Once it’s laid out he gets put the food that he had packed. In the meantime Minseok and Luhan come and sit down in front of their father, waiting patiently for their promised food.

Once it had been laid out Luhan reaches for a piece of apple, however he is interrupted by his father.

“Ahh! You have to wash your hand first Lulu.” He lightly scolds. Opening the baby bag he gets the wipes out and proceeds to clean their hands of all the sand and god knows what else.

“Et now?” asks Luhan.

“Yes. You can eat now.” He confirms and they both dig in. Luhan goes for the apple while Minseok takes the watermelon, juices already staining his face and clothes. Baekhyun himself munches on a sandwich he had prepared earlier.

“Do you want to play with the ball after?” Baekhyun asks and he receives to nods in return.

When they had finished Baekhyun cleans their hands and faces again. Making sure that Junmyeon is occupied with his own toys, he gets the ball out of the pram and throws it a short distance away from where they are sitting. Luhan hadn’t been paying attention so Minseok is the one who runs after it. Hearing his brother laughing brings his attention to the ball which was already at Minseok’s feet.

Confused as to how Minseok ended up with the ball he runs over to join him. Minseok kicks the ball to Luhan as he gets closer. Not reacting in time, the balls rolls past him so he has to turn back around and run after it. The process would repeat with the ball occasionally making its way over to Baekhyun who would stand up and kick it and watch as they would both race to see who could make it to the ball the fastest.

Watching them smile, laugh and having fun makes his heart warm. He felt like the luckiest man on earth. He had a beautiful husband and three gorgeous children, what else could he ask for?

Suddenly a cry drew his attention away from his thoughts and back to his boys. Minseok had fallen over- how Baekhyun hadn’t seen- and was now beginning to cry. Even from a distance Baekhyun can see his bottom lip beginning to tremble and his eyes welling up with tears.

Luhan, who sees that his brother is hurt, abandons the ball and runs over to him and hugs him, trying to stop his hyung crying.

“Min no cry.” He says, patting Minseok’s head.

Baekhyun just wants to melt at the sight.

Getting up, he makes his way over to MInseok and Luhan. When he does he crouches down and brings Minseok into his arms.

“Did you fall over.” He says, rubbing Minseok’s back.

Minseok nods and buries his face into Baekhyun neck.

“Appa Min hurt.” Pipes up Luhan who is still standing diligently beside his older twin.

“Yeah Lulu. Minnie’s hurt himself. He’ll be okay.” Smiles Baekhyun, smoothing Luhan’s hair off of his forehead.

All of a sudden he can feel Minseok yawn into his shoulder.

“Tired? I think it’s about time for us to go home. You boys need to take a nap.” He says and as it on cue, Luhan yawns as well.

“Could you go and get the ball for me?” Baekhyun asks Luhan before he gets up and starts walking over to where Junmyeon and their things are. Nodding, Luhan obediently retrieves the ball before joining them.

Baekhyun tells Luhan to place the ball into the pram, which he does before Baekhyun straps the boys in, MInseok first followed by Luhan and Junmyeon. Once all of their things had been put back into the pram Baekhyun turns and pushes the now full pram off the grass and onto the path.

The walk back is much quieter on then it was on that way there. This time all of the kids were asleep. It was no wonder though, Minseok and Luhan had played for hours. They’d had a big day, as are all days when they go to the park.

Arriving home, Baekhyun carefully manoeuvres the pram inside, trying not to jostle it too much. He didn’t want the kids waking up. Shutting the door behind him he pushes the pram into the lounge room.

Picking up Junmyeon, he carries him upstairs and into his room, placing him in his crib. After kissing him on the forehead, he heads back downstairs and back to the pram. He unbuckles Luhan first and places him in his bed before doing the same to Minseok.

Looking around the room he finds their plushies lying on the floor. Picking them up, he puts them under the covers with the boys, the cat for Minseok and the deer for Luhan. With one final look, he closes the door, leaving it slightly ajar. With the nap time ritual now over, it’s time for him to complete some more menial tasks.

An hour late, Baekhyun hears the sound of the front door opening and there’s no mistaking who it is. Getting up, he meets said someone in the hallway, warpping his arms around the shorter mans’ waist.

“Hey baby.” He greets. “How was your day at work?”

“God, I’m so used to saying that to you it to you it feels so weird the other way around.” Confesses Jongdae with a smile on his face.

Baekhyun laughs. “I think it’s a nice change.”

“It is.” He agrees. “And it was good. I forgot how tiring it can be though. I’m out of practice.”

“I’m sure your fine.” Soothes Baekhyun. “The kids are all asleep.” He says, knowing that that was going to be Jongdae’s next question.

“Really, why so late?”

“We went to the park for a couple of hours.” Explains Baekhyun.

“Ahh. They much have tired themselves out.” Says Jongdae, understanding completely. “I should get dinner started, shouldn’t I?”

“No forget about that.” Says Baekhyun. “Why don’t we order in tonight? How do you feel about Chinese?”

Jongdae moans and he can already feel his mouth watering. “That sounds amazing.”

“You go and relax on the lounge while I’ll order.” Baekhyun says, pushing Jongdae in the direction of the lounge room. 

After ordering Baekhyun joins Jongdae on the lounge. As soon as he sits down Jongdae attaches himself to his side, curling around him like a cat and Baekhyun instinctively wraps his arms around him. They sit there in silence. No words need to be said. They only thing they needed was to be in each other’s embrace.

“Mmh. This is nice.” Jongdae says, breaking the silence as he buries his head in Baekhyun’s chest.

“It is.” Agrees Baekhyun, holding Jongdae tighter.

“I love you.”

Baekhyun smiles. “I love you to.”

Baekhyun gets to spend some quality time with his kids! Truth be told, I don't really have a lot to say this chapter, nothing much has happened this week. My exam results haven't been posted yet so I have no idea how I went. In Australia we're having an election so I have to vote on Saturday, seeing as I'm legally considered an adult now (damn, nearly missed out on it as well).

I just posted a oneshot called Bonds (The Ties that Bind Us) and it's available on AO3 and AFF It's a Pathcode/Lucky One/Monster/Powers au. I would greatly appreciate it if you went and checked it out!

Anyway enjoy and until next week!