She was making her way back to the kitchen when she saw headlights flash. A car was pulling into the driveway. Lori pushed her concerns out of her mind and sprinted to the kitchen. 

“Okay my lovelies, Daddy's pulling into the driveway. We're going to surprise him. I'll go out first. When I say, ‘welcome home honey’ you all rush out and hug him! Okay?”

The kids nodded their heads eagerly. Lori gave a thumbs up and walked out of the kitchen.

April looked at the cake and suddenly had an idea. “Guys, let's bring the cake out when we go to see him. It will be an extra surprise. He'll see how good we did and be so happy!!”

April's younger brother and older brother both nodded their heads in agreement and giggled at their plan. 

The door opened and Himchan walked in. Lori wasn't sure if it was his newly dyed platinum hair or the fact that he'd been away for so long, but he looked so good. Lori would've pounced on him right then if two other men hadn't followed him into the living room. 

“Love! I missed you so much!” Himchan moved quickly to where Lori was standing and enveloped her into a bear hug. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around. She couldn't help but to giggle. It felt good to be in his embrace again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a quick peck on each cheek. Himchan made a face. Lori knew he wanted a real kiss, but they had company and she wanted to be polite. 

“Channie, I wish you would've told me that some of the guys were coming with you. I would've spruced up a bit more.” The living room was neat enough, but Lori hadn't been able to clean the kitchen. Dishes and spills still needed to be tended to. There were also puzzles on the coffee table and a few toys poking out from under the couch.

“Don't worry about it love. They're no one special.”

Daehyun walked over and pretended to hug Himchan before putting him in a headlock instead. Youngjae shook his head and turned towards Lori. “Ne Lori-ssi, we're like family. You don't have to do anything special for us.” 

“Alright.” While Daehyun and Youngjae had become like little brothers to Lori, she still hated to welcome people into a messy home. “Make yourselves at home.” The two men nodded and headed towards the couch to watch tv. 

Remembering the surprise she planned with the children, Lori turned towards Himchan. “Honey,” Lori made a big sweeping motion with her arms, “welcome home!”

Instantly three children began to run from the kitchen. Ji-woon ran out first. He was headed for Himchan, but suddenly got distracted by one of the toys he left on the ground. As he bent to pick it up, his elder siblings ran out behind him. They were both carrying the cake. Everything happened so fast after that. Himchan looked at Lori in confusion. Lori turned to see what caused her husband’s uncertainty. She saw Dong-chan and April holding a cake. Before she could yell stop, the two accidently ran into Ji-woon, who was still bent over. The cake and the plate slipped out of their hands. Part of the cake splattered on Ji-woon, and the other part landed on the floor. The plate fell entirely on the floor, but thankfully didn’t break. 

Lori felt like crying. It had been a long two weeks filled with cleaning, cooking, working, and little rest. She had at least hoped that her and her family could have a nice relaxing dinner. Now she’d have to clean up Ji-woon and the mess on the floor. 

April and Dong-chan looked both disappointed and sorrowful. Himchan and the guys laughed. “My kids are cute aren’t they? They were so excited, they covered their little brother in cake to surprise me.”

Dong-Chan spoke up first. “Daddy, I’m sorry we ruined your surprise. Me and April wanted to make it more special, so we thought it would be a good idea if we brought the cake out. I’m sorry.”

“I’m really sorry too Daddy,” April added.

“Sowwy Daddy,” Ji-woon parroted. 

Himchan kneeled in front of his kids. “Thank you for being a big boy and taking responsibility for what happened, DC. And it’s okay. Just next time, ask Mommy or Daddy before doing something like that, okay?

The kids nodded. Himchan kissed Dong-chan on his head before kissing April on her’s. When he got to Ji-woon he paused and tilted up his chin. He saw the gauze pad and looked up at his wife. She had been quiet the entire time. He hadn’t realized that she had gone to get the broom and mop and was now cleaning up the mess behind them. 

“Love, what happened to Ji-woon’s chin?”

“The kids were playing, he fell, and bumped his chin. I took him to the hospital earlier today to get stitches. He’s fine now.”

Himchan noticed her voice seemed tight. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Lori had finished removing the large chunks of cake and she began to mop up the frosting. She sighed before answering. “I didn’t have the time.”

Himchan frowned at her response, but didn’t probe further. He turned to his youngest son who looked up happily at him. Himchan gave him two kisses. 

Lori straightened and turned to her two guests. “Okay, I’m done cleaning up here. Everyone can head into the dining room.”

Youngjae and Daehyun immediately got up from where they were sitting. They walked with Dong-chan and April to the dining area. 

Lori took Ji-woon from Himchan. “I’ll clean him up. It’s been a long day. You should go eat.” Himchan nodded and followed behind his bandmates. Lori went upstairs to wash Ji-woon. 

When she returned with a now clean Ji-woon, she set him at the table with his special booster seat. She began to fix his plate when Himchan stopped her.

“It’s okay love. I’m here. I can fix his plate.” He took the large spoon from her hand and began to place small pieces of meat and cut up mandu on his son’s plate. 

Everyone was eating and happily chattering. Lori, however, wasn’t in a very cheerful mood. She was extremely tired and stressed. All she wanted was to sleep.

“Aren’t you going to sit and eat, love?” Himchan asked.

“Yeah noona, you eat too,” Youngjae added.

Daehyun, whose mouth was full, could only nod in agreement.

“I’ll eat soon. Just let me take care of one last thing. I’ll be back.”

Before Himchan could protest, Lori spun on her heel and headed upstairs to her bedroom. 

She went to the bed and opened one of the draws that was attached to the bottom. She lifted her jeans and pulled out the bag of Twizzlers that was hidden underneath it. She closed her door, turned out the lights and laid on her bed with the bag in hand. She ripped it open and pulled out a single twizzler. She took one bite and felt comforted. When she was little girl, she and her Dad would eat Twizzlers whenever she had a bad day. He’d get one and give one to her. They’d toast and then nibble on their candy. She was always careful not to eat it too fast. She wanted to enjoy its flavor. Lori missed her Dad. She wished that he could be with her now and soothe her troubles the way he used to. A single tear escaped her eye. Lori wiped at it, but more followed. She sat the bag down and allowed herself to release the stress she had been feeling for awhile. Sometimes, a woman just needed a good cry. 

Lori didn’t hear the door open, but she saw a figure that looked a lot like her husband’s moving towards the bed. 

“Love what are you doing up here. Don’t you want to eat?” He reached to turn on the lamp.

“Can you leave the lights off? I have a small headache.” 

Himchan retracted his hand. He noticed that her voice sounded strained. He went around to her side of the bed and touched her face. As he thought, she was crying. He climbed in bed behind her and caressed her arms. “What is it honey? What’s got my love crying?”

Lori didn’t answer right away. She reached for the bag in front of her and pulled out two strips of candy. She kept one in her hand and stuck the other out towards Himchan. “Want a Twizzler?”

Knowing that it was something she did as a kid, Himchan quickly accepted. He took a bite and waited for her to answer his question. 

“My boss called today,” Lori said around bites.

“What did he want?” Himchan took another bite.

“He told me that the owner of the library we’re building wants to add a third floor. She decided that the Adults section should be its own floor and have a coffee shop attached.”

“Did she extend the deadline, then?” Himchan asked.

“No, she still wants the prints done by Wednesday. I told my boss that it might be difficult to have them all finished by then. The first thing he said in response was, ‘is it the kids?’ I wanted to kick him in the head.”

“He’s an idiot. How dare he insinuate that my wife isn’t capable of handling large projects!?”

“My thoughts exactly! He’s such a pig-head sometimes. But, whatever. I told him I’d have it done by the original deadline. I’ll just have to work longer.”

Himchan grabbed a Twizzler and handed it to Lori. He then grabbed another for himself. 

“DC got food poisoning.”

Himchan nearly choked. “He what!? How did that happen!?” 

“He went over to Han-jae’s house and they both ate spoiled yogurt.”

“Why do the Choi’s keep spoiled yogurt in the fridge?”

Lori laughed. “I wondered that too.When I asked her she said her husband accidently left if.”

“They should stop being nasty and clean their fridge out.”

Lori laughed.

“He seems fine now.” Himchan added.

“He’s better.” Lori agreed. “You saw him down there eating like his Uncle Daehyun. Soon I’ll have to start buying more food just for him.”

Himchan laughed and kissed Lori on her shoulder.

“You’ve been through a lot huh love? You looked tired when I first saw you.”

“Thanks Channie, that’s what every wife wants to hear from her husband”

Himchan chuckled and kissed Lori’s cheek before climbing out of bed. “Get some rest love. I’ll take care of the two kids.”

“But we have three.”

“I was talking about Daehyun and Youngjae.”

Lori couldn’t help but laugh. Himchan grabbed the bag of twizzlers and pulled the blanket over Lori’s shoulder. He kissed her on the nose and headed down stairs.

Lori shut her eyes and let the quietness of the room lull her to sleep.